America's GREG LONG has the kind of glinty-toothed, pin up looks, which make him a Nashville marketing man's dream. But Greg is also a serious singer/songwriter with a growing spiritual awareness as Mike Rimmer reports.

Greg Long

The last time I spoke to Greg Long, he was at London's Premier Radio and he was anxious to go to see a Star Fighter in Leicester Square where Star Wars was opening. This time he's in more relaxed mode and ready to talk at length. So I begin by asking him to reflect on the events of the last year, what stands out? The answer is a little surprising:

"I became an uncle for the first time," Greg reports. "I have a little baby niece that my brother had. Her name is Kate. I get to go see her as often as I can. I am not married yet so all I can have of kids is nieces and nephews so that was great. Been travelling a lot and singing in a lot of different places and it's always great to see wherever I go, even around the world that there are people who have a relationship with Jesus Christ and to feel like part of the same family of believers even though you're just meeting."

Greg Long has spent a lifetime meeting people for the first time because he has spent a lifetime touring. He explains, "My dad is a minister and he's been speaking in revivals and church meetings for over 30 years. I was singing with him when I was two and I started travelling with him when I was born. I was about six or seven months old when they started travelling so travelling around is nothing new..."

At this point we laugh together as I interject that Born On The Road would be a good title for a live album if he ever gets round to recording one. For the moment we have to make do with 'Jesus Saves', his third studio set and easily the best of his career. What's more, when it comes to Nashville style CCM, I can't think of a better example of the genre currently in the record store racks. This time round Greg has employed three different sets of producers and can see many advantages to this. "On the first two records I worked with Dino and John Elefante exclusively and they are such talented guys," says Greg, and then brings me up to speed on the producers of the new album.

"I had Don Koch who produced three songs. Don produced 4Him and wrote the Mike English song 'In Christ Alone' and he has a great feel for music for the Church and kind of leans to the right. Chris Harris produced three songs and he has a bit more of the aggressive eclectic sound a little to the left and then Dino and John did four songs that sat in the middle. Everybody kind of balanced everybody out and so we ended up with a wide record."

I point out that flicking through the track listing with a remote control, it's immediately clear that he has touched a lot of different bases. Greg replies, "When I was putting the songs together, I had been drinking a lot and I was wasted so that's what happened." I was just about to start thinking of 'CCM Star In Alcohol Scandal'-style scoop headlines when he continues with an emphatic "No! That was just some Greg Long humour! I think variety is the spice of life as the saying goes, and I think we should have fun and different moods and different songs and I enjoy it being that way."

One of the outstanding songs on the album is "More Like Jesus". Getting personal, I ask Greg to share some of the ways that God is moulding him to be more like Christ. Like many of us, he struggles to appreciate the progress he's making. He thinks hard and then says, "When you see yourself every day it seems so slow the process to bring you more like Christ. I wrote the song three years ago for 'Days Of Grace' but the producers didn't want to cut it. So I rewrote it and inside the rewrite in the second verse it opens up with the words, 'Easy to say but not so easy to do/Though I fail, his promise is true/Christ will never turn a willing heart away.' It's easy to say I want to be more like Christ but not always easy to pull it off."

So how has the process of becoming more like Christ in recent years altered the focus of Greg's ministry? "One of the things I want to focus in on is to become a person who cares for the sick. Not just the physically sick but those wo are down on their luck. Christ said that he came for those who were sick and not those who are well. When I met Mother Theresa in Calcutta when I was over there, to see her work and all the good that she does, it made me look inside and say, 'What do I do? What do I do for people?' I am trying to be more that way so when I see somebody hurting in any way, I am making an effort to try to reach out to those people."

Greg gives a practical illustration to show how God is using him in this way. "I was on an aeroplane a while ago and a wealthy businessman sitting next to me was asking what I did. I told him I worked in a ministry and he started unloading his heart and how his wife had left him and he'd tried everything to get her back and he asked what he could do. I said, 'Well, perhaps this is the final place you have to be to look for God and not be so self sufficient.' I was able to share with him that God loved him and cared for him. For me, he was the sick person at that moment. He was not well and God can speak to us at those times."

Greg mentioned Mother Theresa so I wonder how his songs had translated when he sang in India. "Playing in Calcutta was interesting with the language barrier," Greg recalls. "You sing your songs and hope people are getting into the spirit of it. You try to communicate the songs with feeling and emotion so that they can feel what is going on in case they don't understand what you're saying."

So where was Greg last year when he heard that Mother Theresa had died? "I was in Texas doing a concert and I guess I wasn't shocked. Even when I saw her she was a little on the feeble side and she'd been in and out of hospital for the last few years. I was saddened not for her because she's with her Lord and Saviour right now. But I was saddened for us as a planet because I really felt that we lost a great example of someone who showed the love of Christ and didn't just talk about it. I don't know who's going to replace her in that way. I hope and pray somebody will in terms of being an international figure of Christian love and proving it to people because of their actions. I am reading her books now and looking at the things she has to say about people. She talks about how we feed and clothe Christ in the disguise of the poor. She was a great example of that.

Her basic encouragement to me was to remember to do things not for your own glory, but for the glory of God and the good of the people you're ministering to. When I think of that for myself, often times I like to receive things myself and I need to defer all that and say thank you and thank God for all he has done. She encouraged me to always give the glory to God."

Not perhaps the easiest thing to do even in Christian music which has a certain amount of its energies geared towards creating Christian artists who are stars. Looking at Greg's album covers, there is no doubt that his gorgeous looks are being marketed and I wonder how he feels about being "Gorgeous Greg". He immediately laughs at the thought. "You sound like my mom talking to me now!" So has being gorgeous helped him? "Good Lord," he laughs. "That whole gorgeous thing, I can't agree with you on that Mike. I've got nowhere to go on that. You've put me in a corner."

Is he just being evasive? I don't think so because he admits, "It's an interesting thing -1 have one of those hair do's that's so easy to take care of. I don't work at anything at all. The pictures - they doctor them all up!" So quelle horreur, he's not really that gorgeous! What about modelling? Has he ever thought of that? Again, he laughs, "My manager, his main company is in California and he deals mainly with models. He didn't want me involved in all of that!" So how does it work, doctoring image? Is it a question of removing the zits on his photos? "They get rid of my zits!" Greg laughs. "On the first record they didn't even leave the scar on my face, they doctored that! I think they left it on this one. On the cover of 'Jesus Saves' I'm not even smiling and I went to them and said I think I should be smiling because 'Jesus Saves' is good news! But they had chosen the picture and away they go! So long as you're being honest about it I think it's okay. Is this the Greg Long that's reality?"

Obviously one of the consequences of his good looks is fan adoration. How does Greg deal with that? Surprisingly, Greg's major response is embarrassment. He confesses, "I feel a little sheepish. We were just in Georgia and this youngish audience all came up to the front, putting their hands out wanting me to touch their hands or shake them, but I told my band I just feel dumb because I'm just singing about Jesus. It makes me a little embarrassed but what do you do? I just keep singing and keep pointing up to the Lord. I understand that people get excited with the music. But believe it or not, it's more embarrassing than fun."

From the strength of the 'Jesus Saves' album, no one could accuse Greg Long of just being a pretty face! But now he's no longer a new artist I wonder whether he feels time rushing past as he pursues his musical destiny. He considers, "I'm 31 now and times does fly by when you're staying busy. We're not here long so it's important that we do stuff that is worthwhile. We don't just get done with our lives and reflect, 'Oh my, what I have done...'. He laughs and lets the question hang with coming timing. "Absolutely nothing! You want to keep that in mind!" So what does Greg see as the main difference between recording a second and third album? "You have a little bit more creative control," Greg is quick to point out. "You work with producers who know who you are and have a little bit more respect for your ideas and opinions and even the producers that you did work with like John and Dino Elefante from the past two records. Even they have come to a point where they are a little more willing and open to letting you have more and more creative control so that the music is more of a reflection of who 1 am and what I like to do.

Hopefully, lyrically you grow so that you're singing and crafting songs in a way that's even better. I think you're able to be even more focussed in on what you're trying to say because for the first couple of albums everybody has got their ideas and they're kind of pushing them on you and now you're able to stand up and say. 'I like the idea but what I'm really trying to say is this!' It's a lot more fun!" I wonder whether it is like he's finding his music and ministry feet simultaneously. "I guess so," he responds. "I had a better clue on it earlier just that nobody trusts you. (He laughs.) They go, 'Look, we're making this record. Just sit down and shut up!'" Again, Greg dissolves into laughter before saying, "It's not that bad. I am joking around!"

Amidst the humour of chatting to Greg Long, it's clear that this is a man who takes his ministry very seriously. The album contains a great number of songs that lift and challenge the listener with the grace, mercy and love of Christ. None more so than the stunning "Mercy Said No".

Finally, I ask Greg to tell me the story behind the song. "I was going to church," he recalls, "and the pastor was talking about how bad sin is. He was saying that people don't talk about sin any more but we are sinners. We were born in sin and we continue to have problems with sin and we have to continue to work at it. I am just thankful to tell you that what we deserved was on its way - we deserved death and hell and eternal punishment -but the good news is that when all those things were on their way to get us then mercy said no to all those things. That kind of hit me that day and I just sat there a moment in church and praised God that mercy did indeed say no to those things in my life. Once it said no and that was on the cross when Christ dies and then every day in our lives mercy says no."