| The Jody Brown Indian Family | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Robbinsville, NC, USA |
| Genres | Progressive Southern Gospel Southern Gospel |
| Years active | late 90's-2007 |
| Labels | Crossroads |
| Website | Inactive |
The Jody Brown Indian Family (JBIF) was a professional Southern Gospel group from Robbinsville, NC. The family recorded on the Crossroads Recording Label.
Contents |
The band was composed of Jody Brown who sang baritone, plays bass guitar and also served as the band's bus driver; Donna Brown who sang alto; Jeremy Brown who sang bass/baritone, played both the guitar and mandolin; Stephanie Brown who sang mezzo-soprano, plays mandolin and also writes most of the material for the group. Finishing out the group was Ashley Brown, who sang soprano for the group. Jeremy Brown currently works for the Cherokee Indian Tribe as an Audio/Video specialist.
The family was known for their Progressive Southern Gospel sound but also incorporated traditional southern gospel as well as some Bluegrass flavor to their concerts. Due to the fact that most of the group were tribal members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the group performed several songs in the Cherokee language in almost every concert.
The group had increased success in the Singing News charts in the mid-2000s. The group enjoyed success in 2003 with their hit song, "Where Is Your Faith?", which peaked at #22. The group's most successful single was released in 2003 entitled, "Life Is Good". The song peaked at #5 on the Singing News charts in the spring of 2004. This would later be the highest the group got in the charts. Later in 2004, the group released what most people believe to be their best album, "God Writes Our Story". In 2005, the group enjoyed 2 Top 10 songs, "Jump out of the Boat" and "Nothing's Too Hard for God", which both peaked at #10. These songs were from the album, "God Writes Our Story". In 2006, the group had their last Top 20 song, "God Is Great", a song that peaked at #15 from their "Come Ride with Me" cd. They continued singing until 2007 with hit songs like "It Still Excites Me" (#21), "Mad Mary" (#59), and "Come Ride with Me" (#80).
The JBIF also enjoyed a number of accolades during their decade in Southern Gospel Music. In September 2000 they were nominated for the Singing News Magazine Horizon Group Fan Award. In May 2004 they were given the honor of singing for the Klaudt Indian Family at Lee University for the Klaudt Indian Family scholarship presentation.
By 2007 however, the road life grew tiresome, and the family retired from the road, returning home to their comfortable family lives in the mountains of North Carolina. Stephanie Brown soon married Dale Scragg (a former member of Karen Peck & New River's band); and the couple has now made their home in Huntington, West Virginia. Jeremy and Ashley Brown continue to pursue a career in music, doing studio work and filling in with various Christian bands from time to time. Jody and Donna Brown continue to perform locally.