Interview: Gospel Brunch with Wesley Bray & the Disciples of Joy
For the past ten years, Wesley Bray & the Disciples of Joy have been been performing Gospel music as a family band. Afterglow caught up with Wesley Bray to reflect on his life as a Gospel singer.
Written and photographed by David Koeller
Wesley Bray & the Disciples of Joy have been performing together as a family for 10 years. The band is led by Wesley Bray with his wife Cynthia and daughter Jasmine.
Religion plays an important part of many genres of music, but in Gospel music it takes center stage. Afterglow spoke with Wesley Bray after a Gospel Brunch at Stubb’s to talk about his background in gospel, his songwriting process, and the connection between music and faith.
How long have you been doing the Gospel brunches for?
This particular band, we’ve been doing it probably eight years. We’ve been singing together for about ten years, but we’ve sang at the brunches for about eight years.
I had a real blast.
Well, thank you. There was a lady who thanked me after the show and she said she feels touched more by what we did today than by all the churches she’d been to in the past year. That’s the type of thing that keeps us going. Knowing that we’re helping people and knowing that we’re spreading joy to people.
The word joy is in your name, and that’s something I felt throughout the concert. Your music is joyous — talk about where that comes from.
I prayed to God about what to name the band. Before I speak directly to that, however, I want to back up a little bit and tell you how the band started. I played with many bands in my younger days; I came to Austin touring with a band called the Soul Revivals. I liked Austin so much I moved back here. I believe I was led here by the Lord because when I got here I joined a band, and they were called The Spiritual Jubilees. And I played with them as the Spiritual Jubilees for about a year. The founder of that band and myself started another band that we called Malachi and we were together for 17 years. During that particular time, we were in the running twice for a Grammy award in ‘97 and ‘99. After that band broke up, I was with the band called Bells of Joy. They’ve been around for about 60 or 70 years, and as a matter of fact, they’re in history as being the first black gospel band to sell a million copies of a single. After five years, I quit playing with them, and I decided I was going to rest.
My daughter came to me one day and said to me, “Dad, I saw some videos of you and Mom singing in the old days, and it looked like so much fun — will you start a band and allow me to be a part of it?” And she said, “If you do, I promise that I’ll learn to sing, and I’ll learn to play an instrument.”
I didn’t take her seriously at first because she was between eight and nine years old. She kept coming back to me; at this time, she didn’t sing, she didn’t play an instrument. But she promised me that she would learn. And finally, I told her, “I’ll teach you but I’m not going to teach you as a child.” I asked her if she was ready to handle pressure because I wanted her to be a pro at singing. She said, “Yes, sir.” I formed the band and then let her join as a keyboard player. And she didn’t play well, but the guys I had in the band didn’t sing well either!
The other members were upset with me because they didn’t want her in the band but I said, “This is her band.” Eventually it became what you see today. It’s basically a family band, and I consider all the guys in the band part of my family. They’ve stuck through it like glue. And I prayed, and I said, “Lord send me the right people, the people that are going to stay, that have staying power.” And these guys, every one of them, they’re faithful. They've been faithful to the band. For that I thank God.
I prayed about what to name the band and I pondered it for quite a while. I had been with a band called Bells of Joy and the Lord kept putting this name in my mind: Disciples of Joy. The name of the band is just the title of a book, and it should tell what the band is all about. And that’s what we set out to do: spread joy in people’s lives.
You were in the first black gospel group to sell a million records, and another group you were in was nominated for two Grammys. Share some of your favorite memories.
I have a lot of favorite memories. Everything I’ve done as a musician and as a music minister points to where we are right now. Back when I was with the band Malachi, we got offered a contract by Arista Records and Motown Records, but they wanted us to do a split CD: half gospel, half Soul and R&B. I’ve only ever had a heart for singing positive, Christian music, and I don’t put anyone down for what they do, but I have to follow my own heart. Back in the day some of the guys got upset at me because I didn’t want to do the R&B thing. They felt like that was their big chance, but I have to follow my own heart. I think God has finally sent me a group that wants to do what he’s calling me to do.
Gospel music has so much hope in it. I certainly felt hope in your songs today.
Well, thank you.
Where do you think that comes from?
Well, it comes from your soul. The kind of music that we do, you have to really believe what you’re singing about, or it’s not possible to sing it. In other genres like R&B and country, people tell stories about their lives and it becomes emotional. It’s not that much different in Christian music, except in Christian music, I believe God gives the songs to me. And because I believe God gave them to me, I can be emotional with them. That’s pretty much where it comes from. It comes from the spirit of the Lord within you.
So you mentioned you write most of the songs. Speak to your songwriting process.
The way I write songs, I’ll finish a song in my head before I ever write it down. It may take one day, it may take two or three years. Some of the best songs that have ever come to me have been lost because I never wrote them down. But the way I look at it is if God intends for me to remember it, I will. The ones that I retain are the ones that I believe are meant to be.
This interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.
Listen to Wesley Bray & the Disciples of Joy on Spotify and find them on Facebook.