Introducing: Brother

 

Getting on the Market

Going into the last week of Vietnam, we had an idea. I play guitar and sing a bit and Nick plays cajon, guitar, and sings a bit, so we decided to take a different approach to the coffee shop ministry. We took one night and walked around to a whole bunch of different coffee shops, bars, and restaurants asking to see if any of them would let us play some live music for them. There were a few times we got straight up rejected, there were a couple maybes that never got back to us, but then there were two places that said yes, and man those were fun.

 

The First Gig

Brother’s (Our unofficial band name) first gig was one Friday morning at this small local coffee shop. We played for about an hour or so out on their street corner, a mix of well-known chill acoustic stuff and Christian songs (which, I forgot to mention explicitly, was our goal – to bring the gospel in through our music). It was a pretty chill morning, we met a couple Irish dudes, but besides that not much happened. We finished though and we’re talking to the employees, and one of them who’s not much older than we are asks if he can jam with us. We go back outside, he picks up Nick’s guitar, and he grinds Careless Whispers like crazy for like five minutes while we’re just giving him a back track. It was super fun – we were actually really close to asking him to see if he wanted to play with us at our next gig.

 

The Second Gig

The next place we played at was a huge step up from the local spot, as in, probably the biggest coffee shop in the whole city. We had to go through their employees, their manager, their marketing team, all just to play a little background music… or so we thought that’s what they wanted us to play. We show up, and the first thing I see outside are five reserved tables… that’s a scary sign. Then I look up on their deck and see two massive speakers blasting Taylor Swift, two mics, and a place set out just for us… then I about poop my pants. The manager greets us and offers us coffee and banana bread, which comforts me a bit, but then I walk inside and see this poster they made to advertise us at checkout and I’m like ohhhhh shoot we really got ourselves in over our head here.

Honestly though, the night went pretty smoothly. We played for about two hours, a similar mix that we played at the last place, the only downside being that that’s not exactly what they were expecting nor wanting to hear. By the time we were done it was just our friends that we’re actually still there 😂. I like to tell myself that’s because it was 9:30 at night at a coffee shop… but I honestly don’t know. It’s ok though, we accomplished what we went to do, and who knows how many people walking by on the street heard the name of Jesus for the first time that night.

 

An Unexpected Finale

This last music story I have to share isn’t about Brother specifically, but it all started at an open mic bar…

One of our last nights in Đà Nẵng we were invited by a couple English club students to this bar. There’s a British dude that’s MCing/playing bass, an electric guitar, and a drummer, all of whom are incredible musicians. They’ll were trying to get as many people up to sing or play as possible, and would basically give a back track to whatever you asked them to play. I was there for probably an hour and a half, and then it was about curfew, and Sam had an awesome (but bold) idea.

We went up, I grabbed the acoustic guitar that was there, and all four of us guys sang Drift Away (which I was stunned that none of the musicians knew that song… but oh well). Right when we finished, Sam pulled the mic off the stand he’d been using and prayed over the bar. That was just one of those beautiful moments that gets you fired up. He was shaking the whole time, but even still it was clear God was speaking through him, and it was amazing.

 

In Christ,

Jackson

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