Tony Cummings reports on the Bonner siblings from Pennsylvania, BONRAY

Bonray

Last summer a new name made it into the Cross Rhythms Top 10, Bonray. This effervescent fourpiece consist of siblings Zac (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jesse (electric guitar), Jake (bass) and Morgan Bonner (drums and vocals). Hailing from Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania, they grew up in the church where their dad was a pastor and is still pastoring to this day. The siblings have been playing music and performing together for most of their lives, crediting their parents for always having music in the home. In 2014 they officially become Bonray, a name they explained coming from a combination of "Bon" from their name and "ray" which "symbolises the light of hope" they desire to bring through their music. Since forming the group have been touring around the US while also vlogging and creating popular mashup/cover songs for You Tube from artists such as Needtobreathe, TobyMac, Danny Gokey and even Justin Timberlake. Bonray also had their song "Good Life" featured in US TV series Imaginary Mary.

It was with their signing to the Provident Label Group in 2017 that things really began to take off for Bonray. Their first single and the title track of their debut EP "Turn My Eyes" was a song co-written with Jonathan Smith (Zach Williams, We Are Messengers) and produced by Bryan Fowler (TobyMac, Mandisa). The song was featured on the Billboard Christian Airplay charts, peaking at number 26.

"Turn My Eyes" was a powerful response to fear and unbelief that can grip all of us. The band shared, "It's so easy to allow fear and worry to overwhelm and paralyse us when we're facing difficult situations, but we can find peace and courage when we look to Jesus. He is the only real answer. We wanted to write this song to remind us to take our eyes off of our own circumstances and turn to Jesus."

Last year Provident released the single "Inside Out" which received a lot of Cross Rhythms radio play. CR's reviewer enthused, "The acoustic guitar on the track adds a fresh sound with lead singer Zach Bonner offering a top rate vocal. The energetic, bouncy and fun video sets off the song beautifully."

When signed to Provident they made a bold statement, "We're a family and we're a band, we work together and we do life together. Faith and music was such a big part of our family growing up. . . and this is what it's meant to be. We're all best friends and we work through everything together. It's awesome to be able to experience these things with people that you know will be with you for the rest of your life."