They have been called “one of the best bands of their kind” by the editor of Drumbeat Federation, but Invisible Boy almost never played a note together.

In 2003, the band’s founder took a vow of musical silence. “Music was kind of taking over my life,” Townsend says. “But after a long time it became clear that I was meant to be singing – not to get applause, but to give a gift. This is what the band is all about.”

Today the five unlikely friends are widely known for their lively and hopeful...