HELLO: MY NAME IS LAIN GRAY
Full article: Celebrating #UKGospel: Brits Abroad
I am a: Singer/songwriter, producer, label owner, real estate investor, and online entrepreneur
I’m a Brit in: Houston, Texas, USA
You might know me from: the Wookie UK Garage hit song Battle or if you’re not into that kind of thing, UK premier gospel/RnB vocal group Nu Colours
I started doing this because: it seemed like the natural order of things, from my homemade shoe box and rubber band guitar as a 4-year-old, to writing my first song aged 11 or 12.
If God gives a talent and if we recognize it and nurture it, it will blossom at some point
Find me at: @Sir_Lain_Gray on Instagram and I’m also on Spotify
Here’s a random fact about me: I am a huge Liverpool fan (from the age of 5, so I’ve known initially from their glory days, right through to the painful premiership era. Long may Klopp reign!)
Favourite thing I did: I love that I got to share a stage with Kofi Annan while performing with Ms. Dynamite at the 2005 Live8 concert
Favourite thing I wish I did: Songwriter envy is a real thing, but meant as a compliment really
There are so many songs I wish I’d written. Anything from early Fred Hammond or early Coldplay to name but two
You’ll be my new best friend if: You get me tickets to a Liverpool game. Ha!
Everyone thinks I’m a: Comedian (which really doesn’t speak much volumes for my music, but hey, what can you do)
But in actual fact I’m a: bit of a grump until my first tea (or coffee since moving out here) “Dem cyaa mek tea”, so I gave up ordering it. WHO BRINGS [WARM] WATER IN A CUP WITH A TEABAG NEXT TO IT IN THE SAUCER??
WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT??
The one thing I like about where I am now is: It’s nearly always sunny with blue skies, even when it’s a bit chilly
The one thing I miss about the UK is: Well, tea obviously for starters, ha! Might sound strange but, the people.
We Brits are special and I’m not sure I realized it until I left
You can publish a story on any ONE topic that’s close to your heart on UKGospel.com. What would it be about..? As a black brit who was raised in the UK countryside, racism was actually very low in the pecking order of my life.
It was there and I had to deal with it when it came up, but since moving to the states, it’s SO glaringly out there, that I have to speak on it at every opportunity.
There’s the blatant side everyone sees: [police related] shot while: sleeping, jogging, playing with a TOY gun, running AWAY from police, oh and kneeling, in plain sight, on a man’s neck for the whole world to see.
And then…. there’s the church racism that is so deeply ingrained in the fibre of society at large, it seamlessly flows into church hierarchy without missing a beat.
I saw an artist (Lurine Cato’s entry in Celebrating the Ladies of UKGospel – link below) mention “why the divide of Christian and gospel music?”, well it goes deep into the racism issues and not all are ready (or willing) to start that discussion.
Some may ask for specifics, so for me, seeing a new church grow its multi-racial congregation to need 4 services and then 4 additional locations is phenomenal, but if the congregation is mixed across the locations with no diversity in leadership, that’s a problem.
The thought process that black pastors are not good enough to lead white or mixed congregations is where that comes from.
Let’s start more of these hard conversations, please!!!