Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 49

Faith filled Family Magazine is honored to welcome Jason Gray, an incredible singer, with a message in his album; “Where The Light Gets In” which reveals that there is Hope that abides when the worst happens. And as Jason, so eloquently puts it; “One of my favorite quotes ever is by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross,” Jason says. “She wrote that ‘The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.’ I wanted to capture that idea in my songwriting. I think Where the Light Gets In is really about having a more fully realized hope. It’s not a hope based on circumstances or on things going the way you hoped they would, but on a hope that abides, even when the worst happens.” You are a singer, songwriter, and a father. Tell us, before becoming such a remarkable singer, what was life like for Jason Gray? Ha! Well… I don’t know if I’m all that remarkable of a singer… but I guess in some ways my life is not that much different, but in others ways it is—though I’m still more or less the same me. I suppose the biggest difference is that I’m (hopefully) much wiser now. I’ve been blessed with many different kinds of rich experiences and as a travelling artist I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to see life from a unique perspective and meet so many wonderful and different kinds of people. All of their stories have become a part of mine, and because of that my story is deeper and wider than it’s ever been. At what age did you realize you were destined to become a singer? What circumstances can you attribute to you becoming a singer? I remember walking home from school as a 3rd grader and having a deep sense that I was supposed to make music. There’s a quote I love by Frederick Buechner about vocation, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” I feel very blessed that I knew where that place was in my life at a very young age. I suppose the fact that I grew up on the road with my mom’s bar band helped me think of a career in music as a possibility, but it was also because music played such a big part in my life even when I was young. As a shy kid with a stutter from a broken home, I was pretty inward, kind of a loner and I’d listen to music for hours in my room by myself. It was a companion to me, medicinal, and made me feel like I wasn’t alone. I knew I wanted to be a part of that medicine. Now, you went through a divorce, resulting in you becoming a single father. What impact has that had on your life? What do you say to