South Carolina-born R&B gospel man KAIZE ADAMS spoke about his life and music to Tony Cummings

Those who caught Kaize Adams' performance at London's Restoration 2006 event at the end of April will know that here is a singer with seriously soulful chops. With Awake Records giving a push to Kaize's debut album 'Testimony' the singer from South Carolina seems destined to find an audience in the increasingly crowded urban gospel scene. Plans are already underway for Kaize to make a return visit to the UK while new kid on the block L 'Dubzy' is currently working garage remixes of the "So Pure" single which preceded 'Testimony'.

I began by asking the singer whether he thought that growing up in the southern states of America brought a special flavour to his music? "I would have to say yes. Gospel music is pretty much rooted and grounded in the south and it's all I've grown up around. The south (South Carolina, where I'm from and North Carolina, where I currently live) is part of what most people call in the States the Bible Belt and Christianity and gospel music is very prevalent. Therefore, my vocal style has been influenced mostly by people in my family, church and community. Musically, my sound is more contemporary than most. It's pretty diverse because it takes from the traditional gospel sounds of the south but also incorporates influences from all over the US by incorporating genres of music like R&B, soul, some hip-hop and pop."

I asked Kaize (which incidentally is pronounced Kazzy) whether he had ever been tempted to move from gospel music to the far more lucrative vistas of mainstream R&B? "Although I've sung gospel music all my life, I have always enjoyed mainstream R&B. Actually, my first recording studio experiences were in R&B music. I did have aspirations to become an R&B singer while in high school. I don't regret wanting to sing R&B because that's how I learned the music business in general and I learned my way around the recording studio by writing, arranging, producing and creating my own sound through that process. After a while God showed me that R&B wasn't me. It didn't reflect what I was all about, and the lifestyle and content of some lyrics didn't line up to my beliefs, my character. Gospel music, on the other hand, did. The lyrics, the purpose and substance of gospel music are my first love, and I'm thankful to God for the blessings and the journey that he has allowed me to embark on by making music for him. It has been totally fulfilling and truly awesome. I'm a gospel artist first and foremost and I do like other forms of music and have been influenced by them but no matter what the music may sound like, the meaning behind the music that comes out of me will always praise, worship, thank and honour God first and foremost. I'm in gospel music to stay."

I asked the singer to tell me a bit about the production of the 'Testimony' album. "I worked with four awesome producers. Darron 'Tripp' Thomas resides in Greensboro, North Carolina, and I have known him for about five years now. He produced four of my more contemporary tracks, 'Grab The Love', 'Captain Of My Soul', 'I Need You' and 'Shoulda Left Me'. He's an up-and-coming producer who actually produces gospel and R&B music. When I fist heard his tracks, they just jumped out at me! I really like his music and he's very creative. Minister Redman Caldwell, who is originally from Philadelphia and currently resides in Greensboro, is another producer that I used. He wrote a song called 'Holy Is The Lord' which I sang at my church where he served as the minister of music. The song is a powerful praise and worship song and I had to have it on the project. He is truly anointed.

"Rodney Edge, who currently lives in Denver, Colorado (in association with the engineer, mixer and co-executive producer of my project, Ray Winters) produced the bulk of the project and my lead single "So Pure (edge mix)". It's funny, I had all the songs written in my head and I just went in the studio and sang them acapella and Rodney and Ray asked me what sound I was going for musically and I told them what I wanted for each song and they crafted a beautiful soundscape for my lyrics and melodies. What you have, with all of these wonderful producers' works combined, is my debut project 'Testimony'."

With one UK visit already under his belt, this young, impressively creative singer is already looking forward to his second. "My music is for the unsaved and saved, and if it plants a seed in someone's life to become saved or draw closer to Christ, I'm satisfied. Although we're separated by the Atlantic Ocean, the good news of Jesus Christ is the same everywhere, and we are all family and joyfully working for the Kingdom."