The publicity brought the Browns a few invitations to perform. It probably would have gone no further than that if fate hadn't lent a hand.

Diamond had actually learned about the Browns a decade earlier. Unable to sleep one night because of an illness, he was channel-surfing when he saw Ryan performing in a PBS talent contest and decided he would be a perfect addition to a boy band he was trying to assemble. After failing to find BrownRyan through TV contacts, he finally tracked him down the old-fashioned way — by calling every BrownRyan residence in the Utah phone book.

Keith politely rejected the boy-band idea, explaining that Ryan was a classical musician and still in school. But as they closed the conversation, Keith said, "Just so you know, there are four more just like him."

Diamond, whose 36 years in the music business has been in pop, was intrigued. For the next three years he contacted the Browns periodically with various pop-related proposals, all of which were rejected. When pianist/vocalist Norah Jones collected five Grammys with her debut album in 2002, Diamond sensed the time was right for the Browns' classical act.

He called Keith, asking if he could set up a two-day showcase for record labels and booking agencies. Diamond had the connections to pull it off. The five Browns performed one day for label executives and the next day for booking agencies in a New York Steinway store. Sony, BMG, Atlantic, Universal, Columbia, William and Morris, and IMG were there. Within a week, every one of them had contacted the Browns to sign them.

"I've been in this business a long time, and let me tell you it's rare to get callbacks from every label and agency wanting them," Diamond says. "I knew there was something special here."

The Browns signed with BMG (which later merged with Sony) in March 2004 and released their first CD a year later.

"It was Joel Diamond's efforts and connections that resulted in a record deal and led to concert tours," Keith says. "Otherwise, probably none of it would have happened."

Family unity

It could be recipe for trouble — five siblings, thrown together for weeks at a time, combined with the irritations of travel, erratic sleep, hotels, the occasional bad meal, and the drudgery of rehearsals, not to mention the potential for jealousies on stage. The Browns paint a different picture.

"We'll be out on the road for 10 days, and when we get back, the first thing we do is call each other to go to a movie or to go skiing," says Melody.

Says Desirae, "People think we need our time away from each other. But a couple of days into our break, we're calling each other — 'Hey, guys, want to get together and do something?' — It sounds lame, but we are friends."