Tamyra Gray

Tamyra Gray

Tamyra Gray, who first rose to fame in 2002 as an “American Idol” finalist, is enjoying another breakout year. In May, she released her long-awaited debut album The Dreamer, (on Simon Fuller’s new 19 Recordings label, distributed by Universal) for which she co-wrote 12 of the 13 songs. In addition, she co-wrote (with Sam Watters & Louis Biancaniello) the smash single for Fantasia Barrino, “ I Believe.” This song, which was performed by Barrino on the “American Idol” season finale, debuted at #1 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 singles chart. “I Believe” has also been recorded by the show’s runner-up this season, Diana DeGarmo.

In this interview, Gray (who is currently on tour with the latest “American Idol” winners) discussed the writing & recording of her new album, and how she had the opportunity to collaborate with such top, writer/producers as Watters & Biancaniello, Babyface, Diane Warren and Scott Storch. Also, she recalled the writing process for “I Believe,” which she co-wrote and recorded the demo in just two days. In addition, she talked about her overall experience with “American Idol,” and how it has been a tremendous boost and blessing for her career.

The recording and release of The Dreamer was a longer process than Gray anticipated, with the release coming a full, two years following her initial appearance on “American Idol.” However, the extra time allowed Gray to further develop her songwriting skills and write many songs, so that The Dreamer truly reflected her own insights and artistic vision.

“I have always loved writing songs, ever since I was a kid,” explained Gray. “I started writing poetry and writing songs at a young age. When I told Simon Fuller (producer of “American Idol” and head of 19 Recordings) of my love for songwriting, he helped make it possible for me to collaborate with some outstanding writer/producers. I got a chance to write with Babyface, who was great. It was a bit intimidating for me at first, since he’s such an incredible writer. But he was very nice, and we sat together and wrote some great songs.”

However, the main writing partners for her album turned out to be Watters & Biancaniello (who have written & produced hits for Jessica Simpson and Anastacia). “Sam & Louis and I ended up writing seven songs for my album,” said Gray. “I really liked their song ‘Anytime,’ which was on Kelly Clarkson’s album. So we got together, and we really hit it off. Working with Sam & Louis was the best union, both creatively and as friends. The first song we wrote together was ‘Raindrops Will Fall,’ which is one of my favorite songs on the album, and which was just released as a single.”

Tamyra Gray

Another one of her favorite songs is ‘Legend,” a song which Gray wrote by herself. “It’s a call and answer song; it’s like a fun, sensual kind of song,” she said. “I actually wrote over 30 songs, to get to the 13 which made the album. I love all 13 songs. I feel great that all the songs reflect what I’m about, musically and as a person. I didn’t want my first album to be one of those projects, where I didn’t even like some of the songs on it. This is the album I always wanted to make.

A few weeks after the album had been completed, Gray received a call from Watters. “Sam called and invited me to write with him & Louis, to come up with a song that the new ‘American Idol’ winner would sing and release as a single,” explained Gray. “We came up with the idea for ‘I Believe’ while we were driving in the car, and wrote part of it on the beach. With this song, I wanted to remind people what it’s like to dream. I wanted to recall what it was like to be a kid, to believe that there is a goal that can be achieved, at the end of the rainbow. It was taking it back to the fairy tale, but dreams can come true.”

“I Believe” was written in one day, then the demo was completed the next day. The song was immediately submitted to “American Idol,” and a week later it had been selected to be the winner’s song and single. Just two weeks after Gray, Watters & Biancaniello had written “I Believe,” the song was performed by Fantasia Barrino in front of a worldwide audience. Then a month after that, it was released as a single and debuted at #1 in Billboard.

“It was kind of a shock, to have a number one record with ‘I Believe’,” she said. “Sam & Louis called me up with the great news. I feel really fortunate, to have the opportunity to write this song with them. Also, I feel blessed that the whole ‘American Idol’ thing happened for me. I do believe that I would have eventually gotten a label deal on my own, but being on ‘American Idol’ definitely quickened the process.”