Co-founder of Liberty’s Tunnel Worship begins raising funds for his first album

 Braxton Mann balances the nuances of modern music with nontraditional sound to heal broken hearts. 

Mann’s vision for his music has lead him to begin to raise funding for his first album. 

Mann has always been involved in church worship, but he first felt God calling him to leadership when he founded Tunnel Worship, a Friday-night-worship event in the tunnel connecting East and Main campus. Now he is working on a worship album. 

“It’s always been a desire of mine, something I’ve always wanted to do,” Mann said. “I’ve had people ask me where they can find my music, but I have had nothing to tell them.” 

Although he has always loved music, he never thought it would become his career. When Mann enrolled at Liberty, he was majoring in nursing. As God pressed on his heart, he had less peace about the medical field and realized music was his passion. With the blessing and emotional support from his parents, he switched his major to songwriting. 

He has never looked back. 

Mann’s goal for the album is to show the light of Christ to broken, hurting people. 

“I write music that allows people to connect with God,” Mann said on his GoFundMe page. “I hope this album impacts those who have been put off by God or the church and be reminded of the Jesus that opened blind eyes and fed the poor.” 

He warned that the album is not just happy praise songs written in the major key. It is designed to lead listeners to ask “questions about God and tough issues regarding spirituality, faith and doubt,” according to Mann. 

He hopes the listener will be challenged, but also inspired, in the faith. 

Naoto Barrett, a vocalist and guitarist who works closely with Mann in Tunnel Worship, sees the potential healing the album offers. 

“It will allow people to have a broadened perspective on songwriting and the church and allow people to see old things in new ways,” Barrett said. 

As a college student, Mann understands his audience’s wants in a worship album. His main goal was to keep away from mainstream modern worship while establishing his own individual musical brand. To keep in tune with the desires of listeners, he created something with an independent air. 

Mann made the music and lyrics completely different and balanced. He got creative with the use of metaphors and uncommon instruments. 

“(I) use simple lyrics with profound meanings and imagery you wouldn’t normally see in Christian music,” Mann said. 

Mann used strong theological truth to appeal to older audiences and the passionate, excited vibe for students. 

“People want real,” Mann said. “They don’t want cliché. They want genuine, heartfelt, thought-out lyrics, nothing just thrown together.” 

Barrett acknowledged that no creation is perfect and that something that draws him to Mann’s musical style is the unique, unabashed humanity in the lyrics. When he listens to Mann’s songs, he said, he can see the whole scene coming to life in his mind. It is organic, human and real. 

“I think what will attract our peers to his music will be that authenticity that’s woven in,” Barrett said. “We’re at a place where we’ve gotten over the polished and perfect-looking façade that often is pop music. From the way Braxton crafts his words to the instruments he chooses, all the way down to the way that the album will be recorded is going to have that sense of humanity to it.” 

What advice does he have for fledgling songwriters? 

“Don’t avoid heavy, deep topics,” Mann said. “That is what people desire, and that is what they need to listen to.” 

The album is scheduled to be out by summer. Mann will market it using social media and word of mouth. The album, containing only original songs, will be available to purchase, but it can also be streamed on Spotify. 

“Just listen to it,” Mann said with a laugh. “And get your parents to buy it.”