James Attlee met up with a bevy of British grassroots gospel acts. Alex Ramsay took the pictures.

Dorothy is fortunate in having one of the most professional backing bands on the scene. The night I saw her perform at a concert in Oldham they never put a foot wrong, with the superbly tight guitar playing of Roy Johnson being especially of note, while her four backing singers provided the perfect foil for her powerful voice. Dorothy herself is a poised performer. It's not that she lacks emotion - it's just that even at her most impassioned there is a control in her delivery which is reflected in her stage presentation. The new wave of British gospel performers seem to be eschewing some of the more blatant theatrics of their predecessors, and concentrating on communicating by the excellence and sincerity of their performance alone.

Dorothy's career was launched by winning the National Youth Talent competition for the New Testament Church Of God, but her voice made an impression much earlier than that.

"I always sang, especially at home. I sing a lot in the house all the time, drive everybody barmy, but the first time I sang in church was something out of the hymnbook when I was about 16 or a bit earlier.

"I didn't think of my singing as a ministry at the time, it was just something I did. Then we moved from Leeds to Bolton and I started singing a lot more, and I got more bold and more strong.

"At that time I began to realise singing was a real ministry for me. It wasn't until the auditions for People Get Ready that things really happened, when I got the band together and went to London to do various gigs."

Dorothy and her group have been together for three years now, and the experience that comes from regular appearances and support slots backing the likes of the Hawkins Family, Commissioned and Derek Brinckley shows through. I asked her if she felt ready to record.

"I'd love to record, and I'd love to make my ministry in singing full time - at the moment I'm working as a student nurse, but I'm in my final year now. We don't want to just stay in church, we want to minister wherever we're called, if we can."

Sooner or later a record company will wake up to the gospel talent coming out of Britain's black churches. When they do, I'm sure Dorothy Allen will be one of the first voices they'll want to capture on tape.