On Thursday, country music artist Collin Raye will host the Inspirational Country Music Awards. The event marks a new path for the accomplished mainstream artist, as he begins a much anticipated move into the Christian music market.
I had a chance to talk to Raye for a cover story I did for the October issue of the Christian Voice Magazine. In the story, he talks about is family, faith, and career. Here’s a little bit of Raye’s story, about his move from Country to Christian music.
Collin Raye’s been singing overtly spiritual songs in his 20-plus year career. But as he explained to me last month, there’s a big difference between Country and Country Christian.
Namely, you can sing about Jesus.

While he got away with singing some clearly spiritual music since he started in the business in the 80s, by the mid-90s, when Raye wanted to do an album of contemporary Christian music, he met resistance. His label initially gave the go ahead, but at the last minute balked, citing concerns over radio’s unwillingness to play blatantly Christian songs.
An example? His song, “What if Jesus comes back like that”, about hypocrisy as opposed to the way Jesus lived, received complaints from radio because had it the word “Jesus” in it.
“We were like, Are you kidding me?” he says.
In recent years the industry has opened up for more overtly spiritual lyrics – he cites Carrie Underwood’s Grammy-winning “Jesus Take The Wheel” as one of the songs that opened the door – but for the most part, Raye says, “Country music in my opinion has regressed to where it’s predominantly about selling beer.”
Recently, Raye has been feeling that it’s time to make a move from Country music to Christian music, and hosting the Inspirational Country Music Awards is something he’s thrilled to do.
The Inspirational Country Music Awards will air this Thursday on Comcast On Demand; CMT Loaded; Sky Angel’s Angel Two; The Worship Network; National Religious Broadcaster (NRB); CTS Canada; Faith TV; and TCT Networks. Check your local listings for times and channels.
For more information about Collin Raye, visit his website.
You can also read a more in depth profile of Raye in my cover story in the October issue of the Christian Voice Magazine, where he talks more about faith, his family, and his career.