Featured Live Music Artist of the Week - Branches Band

I am going to borrow from the website of Branches Band to start this off :

"Branches Band exists to serve and praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through our words, actions, and specifically our music. We serve congregations by assisting in worship and creating resources, serve fellow Christians by playing Christian concerts, and serve our community by performing for a variety of public and private events and activities."

The bands name comes from a Bible passage - John 15:5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches".

I had the pleasure of seeing this band perform at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crete, IL a few weeks ago.  At that time they were passing through Illinois in the midst of a 50-state tour.  Yes - all 50 states - including Hawaii and Alaska.  One look on their webpage and you can see all of the congregations they have visited.

Andy and Rachel Braun make up the duet, playing mostly piano and acoustic guitar with some various percussion and string instruments added - and of course vocals.  The music is soothing and sincere and echos perfectly though the great acoustics that exist in most churches.  Both band members move seamlessly between instruments and musical styles providing that perfect "church choir" sound that is ideal for a worship service.  They mix both traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs, and can present just one or the other based on the service style.

Their performances are not limited to just worship services, they have also played at various community events and private functions, while still spreading God's word in their music.  They are very friendly people, readily available to talk to those present at the performance and truly live the same fellowship that they sing about.  If they are ever in a church (or event near you), which given their schedule is highly possible, I most definitely recommend seeing them. 

One must admire any band that embarks on a 50 state tour - mostly by road (except Hawaii) - as that shows true devotion to their craft and their beliefs!