Mike Rimmer joined London gospel team RAYMOND & CO back stage before their Birmingham concert with pop icon Will Young.

ON TOUR: Raymond & Co

It's been quite a ride for London-based R&B gospel group Raymond & Co in recent years. From their debut independent release to winning the GMTV Gospel Challenge was a big enough step but then their album for Integrity Gospel 'Playing Games' went on to win the group a coveted MOBO Award.

These days the group find that one thing leads to another! Pop idol Will Young decided that he wanted a gospel group to open his UK tour dates and having seen Raymond & Co at the MOBOs decided to check out the album. Liking what he heard, the group were invited to perform! That's why on a cold winter afternoon I am sitting with the group in a hotel reception in Broad Street, Birmingham ahead of their performance at the NEC.

For the group's leader Isaiah-Raymond it's been an even longer ride since this journey began in a prison cell! From prison to opening up for Will Young, it must seem extraordinary! Isaiah-Raymond is down to earth in his response, "In a nutshell, just to bring the perspective, I grew up in the church, left the church, got into the criminal lifestyle, got sentenced to two years. My two years actually became eight months and whilst in prison I actually realised that God's hand was on my life; I was raised in a Christian background but leaving the church, it was like I left my safe haven."

In his cell, he prayed to God. He remembers, "I said, 'God I know that your hand is on my life. I know I've got a call to preach the Gospel.' I knew this! I've always known this growing up. I was like, 'Lord if you still want me, show me a sign.' I opened the Bible and it dropped on I Peter chapter 2 verse 9, 'You are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, a holy nation; called out of darkness into the marvellous light to show forth the praise of him who called you.' Then immediately I felt the presence of the Lord come into that cell. The whole atmosphere changed. It engulfed me and I just began to tell God, 'Lord I'm sorry.' And at that moment I promised God that I would serve him and preach the Gospel. It started from there."

Tonight, it's going to mean stepping out onto the huge stage at the NEC in front of a pop audience and letting people know that they are listening to gospel music. The lights go down and I'm waiting to see how the group acquit themselves. There's a big up introduction that tells people these are MOBO Award winners and then they are on! The R&B gospel sounds of their album pump out across the venue and the powerful vocals of the five piece show they mean business.

The group have carefully prepared for the tour. Gillian Nembhard shares, "You have to give it to the audience in a palatable way, so it's something that they can relate to. When we go on stage we don't dilute the message as such. But obviously we've got a 35-minute set on stage, so you have to squash everything together, be as professional as you can and make sure the message is still in there."

Both Will Young and Raymond & Co shot to prominence because they won TV talent competitions. Chris Gordon only has happy memories of the GMTV competition. He says, "It was a wonderful opportunity to share the message of Christ. I think it's something in the region of eight million viewers every morning. The great thing about the GMTV competition is that when we won it, we also, as part of the prize, were filmed repeatedly and went back to the studio repeatedly over the space of two years. So we won the GMTV competition, but GMTV had us back for a further two years - or within a two-year period."

In that period of time, it did seem to take the group quite a while to complete the 'Playing Games' album. Isaiah-Raymond recalls, "We were gigging aggressively! We were out singing every weekend and were still travelling and doing stuff. One of the things that I realised was that this was going to be the album that turned around people's opinions of UK gospel, so I was in no rush to put it out! I felt it was better to take longer and get it right."

You would have thought that they would have taken the opportunity to quaff some posh wine and enjoy a night out at the MOBO Awards but the truth is that the group had another engagement. When asked to elaborate, they are cagey! I suspect it was probably a birthday party for Isaiah-Raymond but the group stay quiet! However Chris Gordon did attend and gave an acceptance speech. It feels as though the band weren't surprised to win! Chris explains, "The Lord had already spoken to us about what he was going to do for us, and he told us that he was going to give us exposure within the mainstream industry. So I sat down there with a few record label executives and we were waiting and just watching to see how everything worked out. Usually the camera went on the person who'd won, but then sometimes it didn't. So you were never too sure about that. Then basically, the camera started coming towards my table when the nominations were being read out. The guy next to me said, 'I think it's you! I think it's you!' and then it was announced."

Less than three months later, the group are touring with Will Young and it isn't as if there wasn't some stiff competition! Isaiah-Raymond explains, "From what I hear, there were other groups - secular as well - trying to get the slot but Will turned them down. They pursued us, they called us up and I went away, spoke to my pastor, spoke to a few minister friends of mine and said, 'What do you think about this?' They all came back and approved the tour and we all felt it was right. It's only right to check with them! So we believe it was a God-ordained thing but the MOBO did help because Will was after the group that won the MOBOs."

On stage at the NEC, things have slowed down a little and Chris Gordon takes centre stage to sing "Crazy Faith". This is sweet soul gospel music and the audience seem to be warming to the group. By the end of their 35 minute set, Isaiah-Raymond will have them on their feet and clapping along. Not a bad achievement for a support artist! Isaiah-Raymond explains the group's approach, "Our vision really is to take the message of Jesus Christ out to the masses in an urban music format. We know that the word 'urban' means 'that relating to those in the city', so obviously our style of music relates to people - youngish, middle-ageish - out in the cities. My thing is that people won't always come to church but if they can hear music with the message, they'll definitely listen for a few minutes. If your vocal ability is really good and the production is really good, they'll listen for the entire song. And then they may be tempted to come to a concert. And then when they come to the concert, they are then in an atmosphere where the anointing can affect them."

He continues, "My thing is sometimes, you look at Jesus and Jesus spoke on the mount but there was a time when Jesus wanted to get personal and he went to the well. Our vision is to reach to people, reach them through the music, let them know that Christ can change their lives, let them know that he still heals, saves and delivers. And let them know that he does that through ordinary people and that's why I have to keep that part of my testimony; 'Yeah, I was a drug-smoking prisoner, and Christ took my life and turned me around and he can do the same for you!' God is not a respecter of persons but the Bible says that he shows himself strong to those whose hearts are turned towards him. So the message is, turn your heart towards God and let him show you who you are and make you into the best that you can be."

On stage, the group may not be doing an altar call for the massed audience of Will Young fans but they are clearly singing about Jesus, unashamedly and powerfully. Now they've got the higher profile, does Isaiah-Raymond have lots of people button holing him and asking him what Will Young is like? "Oh people ask that everyday! Everyday!" he laughs, "It's expected and I tell people that Will comes across as a really humble, down-to-earth, real guy. As you watched the show you would have seen that he involves all his dancers, he involves his musicians; he calls them out name by name. He's a very inclusive type of person. At dinner time, he sits at the table with everybody else. He'll hang around, he'll talk, he laughs, he giggles; he's a normal guy. He makes himself very normal. He doesn't try to make himself into this big thing. So, Will's cool!"

So what will happen next for the group? Isaiah-Raymond is confident that God is working through them. "We knew that we would go out into the mainstream so we're expecting greater doors and we want to get on Top Of The Pops one day! We want to take the music to the heights, you know? We sing a song saying that there's no limits; well the sky isn't the limit, with God there's no limit. We just know that God's able to do above our expectations, so we're thinking high now. Singing before royalty, travelling the world, taking the message through the prisons, singing through universities, the Olympics.you name it, we want to do it! I believe that by God's grace, we will do it."