The Beginning - The Beginning
In the spring of 2005, I went to Pat Vaughn, who had just recently moved to Annandale, VA, and asked him if he would be willing to direct a recording idea that I had been brainstorming. I had known Pat since 1998 when we sang together as members of the Lake Junaluska Singers down in North Carolina and knew he would be the perfect musical leader for such a project. I had just helped another friend, Mike Himes, build his basement studio and in return he offered me some free recording time. We spent a few lunches together chatting about our game plan and decided to tackle the recording in the style of Glenn Draper, the music director we met under at Lake Junaluska.
At that time I had been working in Washington, DC for six years as a member of The United States Army Chorus and former member of The United States Air Force Singing Sergeants and had gotten to know plenty of great singers in the area. I promised to provide an octet of top notch singers and he was prepared to pick and plan the charts we were to record. Originally, I had hoped to gather some of my Christian friends and record a handful of my mother's favorite hymns as a Christmas gift to her. That plan was altered slightly only when I found out about the production costs for such an endeavor even though the studio time only cost us a few pizzas. What transpired that weekend was truly God's plan. Each of the nine guys involved brought two of their mother's favorite hymn titles, and when all was said and done, we were able to record 11 of the 18 submitted. Even though the the audio product was completed, it took almost an entire year to produce the physical product. During that time, those involved kept inquiring when we would be able to sing again and why not do a concert, so with a product in hand, we started booking concerts at local churches and have been gathering once a month ever since October, 2006.
KC Armstrong
Through the years, Brethren has not only become larger in numbers, but it has become a larger part of all of our lives. Although we agree to disagree on some theology, what holds us together is our love of God, our love of this country, and our love of music.