10 Questions with ... Dave & Jess Ray

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

LABEL:

• Independent

DISCOGRAPHY:

• Music for the Radio (2011)
• The Doorpost Songs: Next Generation (2009)
• Dave & Jess Ray (2008)

1. Introduce yourselves...as in, what did you do before moving to Houston?

We met in college and moved to Nashville when Dave's band, BDA, was signed to Creative Trust. Jess was doing publicity for a media company in town. After we got married we moved to Houston in 2005 to lead worship at Tallowood Baptist Church. We had family down there and they told us about the opening.

2. And since being in Houston? What does life look like there?

We've just been living and working and connecting with the community. We had our first child a year ago. And we took a trip to Southern Sudan, which became the catalyst for the EP.

3. What is the message or theme that you hope is conveyed through the new EP?

The title track is the theme. We've been called to share salvation and freedom and what's been given to us through Christ. Specifically this is about Southern Sudan to hear, understand and be transformed by the gospel.

4. What is the story behind the single "Better"?

There is a quote by C.S. Lewis that says, "Christians are like kids playing in a mud puddle that have never been taken to the beach." (That's a paraphrase.) Meaning, we exchange good gifts for lesser things. Christ never stops calling us. He is constantly calling us into relationship with him, because he knows that the very best thing for our lives is just to know him.

5. Do you have a favorite song on the EP?

The song "Asinita." It's based on a personal encounter we had with a woman named Asinita in Sudan. We were deeply affected by our encounter with her. Her village was raided and wiped out. All she had left were six chickens and she gave us one as a gift of hospitality. She gave us 1/6 of her possessions. What would the cost mean to us if we gave 1/6 of our everthing?

6. When did you make the trip to Sudan?

We went to Southern Sudan in 2008 and it made a big impact on our lives.

7. And how did that trip inspire the new EP?

We committed to something to connect music to the people of Southern Sudan and the Sudan radio project. All the money received from the sale of the "Music for the Radio" EP will go to purchase hand-held radios that will allow the people to hear the gospel in their own tribal languages.

8. Now, to the less serious questions. What song do you wish you had written?

Financially or artistically? Seriously though, we would both say Nichole Nordeman's "Every Season."

9. Fill in the blank: I can't start the day without ______.

Changing a diaper. Or for Dave, eating Quaker Oat Squares.

10. Do you have much time to check out other artists' music? What are you listening to right now?

Jess: Christy Nockels, Natalie Grant, Nichole Nordeman

Dave: Audrey Assad, Brooke Fraser