`Bragg'n about Jesus'
By Nathan Straus News Reporter

Adults: James, Barbara, Roxanne and Marcus Bragg; children are Kaylee and Curtis.

They're known `round these parts as the Singing Bragg Family, and their motto is "Bragg'n about Jesus". James, Barbara, Roxanne and Marcus Bragg have made it their life's work to travel the country singing hymns and gospel music to audiences ranging in size from a small town church audience to much, much larger groups.

Barbara Bragg, family spokesperson, said the family's gospel singing tradition began with James Bragg, Barbara's husband.

"James was raised in country music," Barbara said. "His father, Doug Bragg from Brownsboro, had the number one traveling country band in the `50s."

James and Barbara married October 10, 1968. James didn't have too long to enjoy his marriage as he was drafted three weeks later.

It was in the army James came to Christ. He received a Gideon Bible while in the army and took to reading it at night. He read by the light coming in through a crack in the wall of the barracks.

After leaving the military James got a degree in Christian ministry and pastored in Wyoming.

While preaching in Germany in 1973 James began to wonder what it would be like to go into gospel music full time; he wrote his wife a letter detailing his thoughts. Amazingly, Barbara was wondering the same thing at the same time and wrote a similar letter.

In 1982, a while after Marcus and the Braggs' daughter Cheryl were born, the family had a group meeting to decide what was to be done about their desire to go into gospel music.

The family was in agreement; the Singing Bragg Family was born.

The traveling band plays mainly guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, harmonica and vocal chords.

James and Barbara sang and played the guitar and the kids caught on fast, learning to sing and play stringed instruments while young.

"I guess it must be a family gene," Barbara said.

With the music aspect of performing covered, the traveling family needed something to travel in.

"At first we were traveling in a Ford Maverick with packed tents," Barbara said. "Then we got an old school bus we named Resurrection, and it lasted us seven years."

When Cheryl left for California to get married, the band was down one member. This changed when Marcus married his sweetheart Roxanne.

Roxanne said she, as a pastor's child, had experience singing for a crowd. A few months after becoming engaged to Marcus, Roxanne started on the Bragg family tour with a mandolin. She also picked up the banjo and learned to play.

She is only the newest member, having been in the band for around nine years, if she and Marcus' children Curtis and Kaylee aren't counted.

The biggest portion of the Singing Braggs' singing tours includes the western part of country, but the Braggs find their way to Alaska, Hawaii and areas in the eastern United States.

Barbara said the group's goal is to reach lives for God.

"We've had chances to sign contracts, but if we did we couldn't go to native villages in Alaska. We would have to go to the larger areas for revenue. "

Alaska is one of the family's favorite destinations, Marcus said.

"We've been to the biggest church in Alaska," Marcus added, "Anchorage Baptist Temple."

Barbara said she loves traveling to the Allusian Peninsula in Alaska.

"Our pilot swooped down over the area to let us see the wildlife, and it was amazing," Barbara said.

This occurred during a visit to Pilot Point, a village with no established churches, and six Christians out of the 100 villagers. The Bragg family came to play at a graduation ceremony, and Barbara said their work in the village opened the door for a Vacation Bible School program to take root.

"We love to see these things happen," Barbara said.

Marcus said his favorite part of singing is experiencing the different cultures and meeting the people.

James said a great deal of hard work goes into the Braggs' daily life.

"We really enjoy what we do so much, though," James added.

A portion of the work goes into keeping the current bus operational. The new Bragg vehicle, Miss Molly, is an old passenger bus the Braggs have transformed to look more like a passenger train or mobile home than a bus. It has three bedrooms, a bath, a living room and electricity; all feats of automotive work accomplished by the Braggs themselves.

And the family doesn't have to rely on fast food while on the road as the bus has a kitchen for making homemade, or in this case, busmade, food.

Marcus said knowledge of how to service the bus is a necessity for the type of life the Braggs lead.

"When you're traveling in the middle of nowhere and your vehicle breaks down, you really have to know what you're doing," Marcus said.

Miss Molly will continue her transportation of the Singing Braggs to various locations in the states. James said the family has performed around 150 shows a year in the past, though this figure has been reduced a bit since the junior members were born.

Once the summer months hit, the family will likely leave on extended tours, playing at several locations over the span of a single weekend.

Barbara said the band reaches to all denominations of the church.

The Singing Braggs, James said, will serve all year as a tool to bring people to Christ.

As the family motto says, the family will spend their days "Bragg'n about Jesus".