So, the pop charts have seen another major Christian music breakthrough, with the delicious R&B gospel anthem "Shackles (Praise You)" by MARY MARY zooming into the UK Top 10. Mike Rimmer tracked the girls down in Nashville.

I meet sisters Erica and Tina Atkins, now known throughout popdom as Mary Mary, backstage in Nashville. The Wild Horse saloon is one of those country-eating joints where the punters usually eat, drink and hear good ole boys play their music. Tonight it's a bit different. It's crammed full of people. taking in the delights of a showcase from Word Records. I have been trying to interview Mary Mary for three days and finally I have tracked them down to this venue. As Nicole C Mullen struts her stuff on stage performing "Shooby", I am ushered backstage and meet Erica and Tina.

Finding somewhere quiet to chat, now there's a different story. Backstage is buzzing as Word artists wait to perform. In the hospitality area, Skypark sit on the floor being interviewed by a rather earnest American journalist. Various production announcements blare from a tannoy. Record company personnel wander about mingling with important looking people with clipboards running orders and headsets. I keep meeting members of new band Salvador who are waiting for their moment to hit the stage. Amidst the throng, Mary Mary are introduced to the president of the Christian label who is distributing their album. Flesh is pressed and encouraging words are spoken. Finally we manage to commandeer a dressing room and get down to business.

They took their name from the two Marys in the Bible, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. During interviews it immediately gives them an opportunity to talk about God. Erica comments, "People ask questions and it gives us an opportunity to talk about the name and the meaning, which is really great. That's the purpose of it all, to tell them about him. You get your witness out before they get to all of the musical questions."

Most remarkable, of course, is the big pop success of their debut single "Shackles (Praise You)", a catchy R&B hook with worship lyrics. Tina shares, "They accepted it a lot quicker than we thought everybody would. The message is 'don't worry about your problems, God can get you through this.' Everyone calls on God when they're having problems. If you realise that God is bigger than what you're going through, you can shout and dance. People can relate to that message."

The message is what sets Mary Mary apart. The duo were raised in a strict Christian home with five other sisters and a brother. Gospel music was the only music allowed in the household. Tina remembers, "We started singing very young but didn't join the choir until we were about 12. That was definitely a major part of our lives. I know some people don't have a great experience growing up in church but we did! We had a lot of young people, a lot of youth activities. There was school, there was home and there was church and the choir, so ft was a lot to keep us going with the friends and all of the energy."

In 1995 they joined the cast of the travelling gospel show, Mama I'm Sorry. Tina remembers, "Erica auditioned and wouldn't leave without me, so I auditioned and made it." The schedule of performances meant that the sisters had the opportunity to strengthen their voices and hone their stagecraft. Their talents earned them slots in a second Matthews play, Sneaky, In this period, they also performed with mainstream acts like Brandy, Brian McKnight and Eric Benet, but some of the secular songs they performed made the sisters uneasy.

In the usual fashion, demo tapes of their own gospel material floated around the industry until executives were so enthused that Erica and Tina landed their own publishing contracts. Early successes included a song on the Or DoolittLe and Prince Of Egypt soundtracks. Yolanda Adams also recorded two of their songs, "Time To Change" and "Yeah," for her current album.

Not surprisingly, in the face of such talent, there were a number of labels who wanted to sign the group. Wanting to take their gospel music to a wide audience, they chose to sign with Columbia Records. The pair are the first gospel act to be signed to the label. The history of black music is littered with singers coming out of the Church and crossing over to pop or R&B success leaving their faith at the church door. So where do Mary Mary stand? "You know what?" Erica responds. "We're just gospel singers. It was in us. Instinctively, when songs come to mind, gospel is what comes to mind. We have a relationship with God. That's more important than any relationship we can have with any man. We figure why not? Another thing is, sometimes in R&B, sexual is music that sells the most and artists that reveal a little bit of body and get a little sexual on stage are the ones that usually do the best. That's not necessarily conducive to Christian music and Christian living in our opinion. We weren't really willing to take that risk. We could have written our own music and written nice, pure, wholesome songs but people don't want that stuff now, which is terrible. We figured we'd do music our way and see where God would take it."

Lyrically the album is uncompromising. Erica explains, "The world at large hasn't heard gospel music this way, so they think it's something really, really new, but gospel artists have been doing it for such a long time, we're just adding a Mary Mary twist to it." Tina cuts in, "They asked us if we were sure that we didn't want to do R&B, but we didn't want to. We're not against R&B; we're against music that is contrary to the Word of God. Music that promotes things that are against what Jesus is telling us we need in our lives, that's the music that we're not for. We might sing love songs when we're in love, inspirational songs, etc, but for us, what was in our hearts the most was gospel music so that's what we're doing. That's what we plan to do until this music career is over."

There are lots of temptations to compromise and pressure, from a record company point of view, to sell units. Are Mary Mary prepared for that? Erica responds, "I can't say that I know everything that's gonna come, or how I'm gonna handle it, but I know that my commitment to God is more important than money or anything else. Fortunately for us, we grew up in an economically challenged family, so life does not revolve around money to us. We had a happy life being broke. It's not about who can give me the cheque the quickest. If we were searching for that we would have taken R&B deals. A few years ago, I was offered a million to sing R&B and I said no. It was in a lawyer's office in Beverly Hills and my Mom and sister were with me. I think my Mom was very proud of me. Money that comes too quick you can't appreciate. You blow it and 10 years from now, you're broke. I wonder if the artists who get their first deal and wear diamond rings and have cars have ever heard the word 'recoup'. That's cool, if that's what you wanna do but we believe you plan your business well, spend your money wisely and don't lose it as fast as you've gained it."

Listening to their debut, it looks certain that Mary Mary are going to make a huge impact. The songs leap out of the speakers, musically and lyrically demanding attention. Tina comments on "Somebody", "Everybody thinks they've found love but you don't know love until you've found God. He loves anybody and everybody. He does not love the priest more than he loves the killer who has given his life to God. That's what that song is about. God loves everybody. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians don't realise there will be no VIP section in Heaven." She laughs, "It's not like, 'Oh! I've been serving him longer so we're gonna have diamonds over here, you guys will just be in the gold section.'"

That might be true for eternity but while we're down here, Mary Mary are in a business that creates VIPs. Even the Christian business music does that. The band are new and fresh and hot and everybody is excited to meet them. Looking at the backstage throng and introductions being made, people are making a fuss of them. Even their record company president is really pleased to be working with them. How do they balance that with the roots of their faith? Erica responds, "My pastor at my home church in Los Angeles, California always says, 'I ain't all that and you ain't either.' If you remember that everything you have comes from God, what are you getting all up on yourself for anyway? If he takes it away, what are you? What* purpose are you serving? Okay, if you're this great person but not giving it to anybody, what makes you so great? If we're singing gospel music to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ so that God can get the glory and we're taking all the glory, we're defeating our purpose. God is not getting it if we are trying to take it all ourselves. Of course you have people around you telling you how great you are but when you sit by yourself and you look in the mirror, you know who you are. You're not deceived. You're just a regular person striving to get to heaven. Everybody has their time to shine but when your time to shine is over, get back to the normal because you don't have all these people waiting on you. If you don't get caught up into it while it's going on, you can have a normal life when normality sets in again."

Coming from a family where your father is a preacher and church your extended family, the girls must have suffered from PK (Preacher's Kid) syndrome! Did people in the church always keep a watchful eye? Erica laughs, "They're always watching you and you have to be perfect. You have to be at every service. They threaten to tell your Dad if you try to fit in with the street kids, and they remind you that your Dad's a preacher every time you try to be bad. It's a good thing but when you're young you don't think it is! You hate it but when you're older you realise that it kept us from a lot of things. God is always covering you because your parents are always praying for you. That's one thing that I saw at a young age, we always read Scripture and prayed together, and I think that's why we've been blessed up until this point, because we've been taught to pray and keep God first. That's not to say that we've been perfect or that we haven't made mistakes. There's not something in our past that people might frown upon but the thing is we're not perfect but we're striving for perfection. We're moving to do what God has planned for our lives."

I suggest to them that having everyone checking up on them is probably good preparation for being a Christian artist. Tina responds, "Sometimes we get an attitude, or wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and you don't want to smile or talk to anybody. Things like that happen but you have to reach past that and understand that you're out in front of people. You might not have chosen to be a role model but we have a responsibility and we understand that. We try to meet that responsibility to the best of our abilities."

The album is amazing, and Mary Mary have a unique opportunity to sing gospel in a mainstream context. The release of their album in the UK through Word could almost be described as a reverse crossover! However, working with Columbia in the mainstream simply places them in a position to reach out to others. Erica shares, "We're trying to reach people that wouldn't normally go to church. The people in our neighbourhoods that we grew up with that were scared from seeing people who they thought were holy people make mistakes. We're just trying to go out there and tell people that it's not about how perfect I am. People want to acknowledge God as soon as turmoil or trauma comes into their lives. We're out there saying, look you guys, we can acknowledge him at all times.' You have R&B singers and they're talking about love. They talk about a man that they've found or somebody that they lost or a love that they desire that's not theirs. The thing is, the love that we have and that we've found just so happens to be enough for me and for you too. It's a love that we can share with everybody. An unconditional love that you never have to question, that is always there no matter where you are or how far you go. We wanna tell everybody about that love. That's the sole purpose, to bring people in and to let them know of his love. Not to go pointing fingers. We're extending our hearts and our arms and our music to you, if you receive it, so be it. Thank God. If you don't, you will remember this message and maybe you'll come back around."