Bio

If you can count on Gordon Gregory to be anything, it’s honest and authentic. His debut album, “Between Redemption and the Pain,” is a collection of songs that open up his heart, struggles and experiences to the world and welcomes the listener to join him in the journey. It walks the delicate balance between validating the pain and the brokenness experienced in this life, while still offering the real hope of redemption. To listen to this album is, in essence, to hear Gordon tell his story, and in the process, discover the heart of his God.

 

His story is one of paradox, contradiction and tension. Although he was born in Dallas, TX, the heart of American pride, most of his life was spent as the son of missionaries in the suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa. A self-proclaimed “White African American”, he grew up during the political unrest of a country struggling towards democracy. The cultural overhaul that went on in the country at this time gave Gordon a unique view of humanity in all its glorious mess. This empathy for the human condition is one of the marked characteristics of Gordon’s songwriting.

 

It would be safe to say that music wasn’t as much a discovery for Gordon as a natural outpouring of his desire to express those things deep within that just are not able to be expressed through words alone. Beginning with a small solo in a Steve Green “Hide ‘em in Your Heart” children’s concert, his affinity for music quickly emerged and grew. After incessant begging for a piano, his persistence was rewarded with a piano and lessons for his 10^th birthday. His basic experimentation with guitar began soon thereafter and he had written his first song before he hit his teenage years.

 

As a teenager, life was very tumultuous, although one would not necessarily have known this from a surface glance at Gordon’s life. The instability of life as a missionary kid, combined with a couple of significant deaths left him with a need to express the varying extremes of the emotion he was facing at the time. No music he encountered was able to touch the wrestling going on between his heart, his mind and the God that He had come to love. This void soon began to fill with song after song, as Gordon began creating a musical journal of sorts, in which he was able to pour out his deepest fears, hopes, struggles and victories. This was such a prolific time of songwriting that he had written over 100 songs by the time he graduated from High School. He also began to discover how many of these very personal songs were impacting the lives of those who heard them.

 

To hone his songwriting skills and dig deeper in his relationship with God, he moved back to the Philadelphia area to pursue Bachelors’ degrees in both Bible and Music Composition at Philadelphia Biblical University. It didn’t take long, though, for Gordon to discover that his musical gifts were not merely limited to songwriting. As he was given increasing opportunities to lead worship in chapels and church services (among other venues) he discovered a heart that came alive when it was able to lead others before the throne of grace with confidence. This desire grew, as did the opportunities, and soon his worship leading had risen to the level of his songwriting in his passion and pursuits. This heart of worship began to influence his songwriting and is felt undergirding even his most personal songs.

 

It was during these college years that Gordon first began to come to terms with the effect that childhood abuse had on many different aspects of his life. Unbeknownst to him, the shame and fear, that had been the core from which he had lived for so long, had slowly been leading him down some crooked paths. Having only ever considered these as “sin areas” in his life, he had never realized the deep healing that needed to take place in his heart. As he began to heal, both spiritually and emotionally, he also became more aware of how his understanding of God had been viewed through these skewed lenses of shame and fear. It was this time of process and discovery that inspired many of the songs found on His debut album, “Between Redemption and the Pain.”

 

This is an album of journey. On a surface level, this is initially expressed musically, as the songs ebb & flow like oceanic textures throughout the course of the album. In a day of single song downloads, Gordon was not willing to settle for the status quo, as each individual song contributes to the overall ambience of the album as a whole, and is best experienced in its entirety, from beginning to end. The recording journey was also unique, being recorded entirely outside of the studio. This led to a raw and honest production tone, which only further enhanced the authenticity of the lyrics. Even the album artwork, a combination of The Smiths’ artistic photography and Christy Tempies’ stirring artworks, take the viewer on a creative sojourn of contemplation and reflection on the songs themselves.

 

It is ultimately Gordon’s faith journey, expressed through his refreshing songwriting style, which is felt throughout each song on the album. It is a journey that has led him to the depths of his depravity, brought about the necessary death of his old self and, having found resurrection through the life of Christ, is now able to live each day in a desperate need of the grace that is so freely given. These are songs that are not afraid to wrestle through the tough questions, challenge the assumptions of hollow religion and seek earnestly for the truth that still applies to those who are broken and wounded. Though still a young man and musician, there is a maturity to Gordon’s songwriting that will encourage the brave listener to excavate his own heart and life for the diamonds that only time and brokenness will unveil. These are the priceless treasures that are only discovered through the white-hot healing of the Holy Sprit. And they can only found in that small space formed by the tension between heaven and earth, between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’, “Between Redemption and the Pain.”