Standing at 6’3”, Chris played basketball throughout college at Campbellsville University, a small Baptist school in the center of Kentucky. He moved to Nashville after graduating and makes his living as a reading teacher in a local elementary school. Christopher Mark Gray’s songs are eloquently focused on detail and layered with emotion. Most of them, he says, come to him when he least expects it. “Something I hear on TV, a billboard, something I read, something someone says,” can inspire him. “Most of the time, I write the hook into the chorus and then build the verses around it.”
Chris doesn’t want to be a performer. “I don’t have aspirations of even attempting that. For one thing, I am an adequate singer at best. My passion is really songwriting. My personality is more that I like to be behind the scenes rather than up front, so it’s a good fit.” Chris’ profoundly beautiful song “The Star” was placed on a CD in the book “A Country Christmas,” co-authored by Edie Hand and legendary record publisher/producer Buddy Killen.
Though he only knew him for a brief time, Buddy Killen was a positive force and mentor in Chris’ life. “When I met Buddy Killen for the first time I asked him, ‘Mr. Killen, tell me about the music business.’ He said, ‘Chris, I got out of the music business a long time ago. I’m now in the business of making dreams come true.’ I knew right then I was in the right place with Buddy. Although he passed away a little over a year ago, I know that Buddy was always a dreamer, and he encouraged me to never give up the dream.”
Chris offers this advice to others seeking the dream: “There are going to be obstacles and people along the way that may brush you off and may not have the same vision and dream that you do, but not to take it personally, just continue pressing on and eventually you’ll find those people who do believe in what you’re doing and just take it and go from there. In Nashville that’s often a hard thing to do because there are so many people trying to get in a very small door.”
Chris says, “One of the reasons that I like country music is because it’s not just about the music---the lyric and the story matters. One of the coolest things about great songs is that they often cross through lines of prejudice. A song can often be appreciated and loved by a diverse group of people who sometimes can’t seem to agree on anything else. I tend to have always believed there’s a spirit and heart behind a song and that is what comes through.”
“Songwriting is a progressive thing. I think I’m a lot better this year than I was last year. Hopefully I will be even better next year. I think you continue to develop. I don’t think you ever arrive as a great songwriter. When you think you’ve arrived, you’re going the wrong direction. “
This past year, a song Chris co-wrote with Brent Wilson entitled “Braid My Hair” was played on WSIX during their annual St. Jude’s radio-thon. It tells the story of a young girl’s determination to win her battle with cancer. The song came to the attention of Alabama lead singer Randy Owen who recorded and released it in early 2008.
Chris is passionate about his songwriting and draws strength from the encouragement he was given by his parents and grandparents. They taught him to “never give up the dream, to keep pressing on, and always be upfront.” Those words and positive feedback from people who are moved by his songs help keep him motivated. “You want to hit some emotion. Whether it’s to make you laugh, or make you cry, or just touch something in a person, that’s the goal of a songwriter. ”
| written by Debbie DuBois Miller
