Bermudian gospel singer Tricray Astwood believes that he has been called by God to sing.

Mr. Astwood, 23, has just released his first album 'Let Judah Reign' through a Florida-based company.

He also opened at the Bebe and Cece Winans reunion concert held at the Heritage Worship Centre in Hamilton earlier this month.

"Ever since I was a little boy I knew I loved music," he said. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to sing. The passion for wanting to pursue a career in music came about in my late teens. I grew up in the church so it was always going to be gospel music."

He first sang at the age of six at Radnor Road Christian Fellowship.

"My first song was 'My Tribute' by Andrae Crouch," he said. "I was really young. I got a lot of good response from the congregation. Then my singing was really bad. As I grew, I got better and better. I won a vocal scholarship with Dr. Gary Burgess, and then I studied with him another year. That really helped. That was studying classical."

He now attends New Creation Worship Centre.

"From there I decided I believed God called me to do this," he said. "I decided that gospel music was where I would head."

He obtained a Bachelor's degree in music business from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, and an associate degree in recording arts. While he was in college he attended a church called Faith World.

"The pastor there was Clint Brown, a world renowned gospel artist," said Mr. Astwood. "His worship leader at that time was LaRue Howard, a Dove award winner. From there I was able to meet different people. It was through my friend, Shayla Woods, who co-wrote the title track 'Let Judah Reign', that I met my producer, Khristian Dentley and also Jamaal Andrews of JRA Music.

"At a music conference that was at the church out there I asked them if they would produce an album for me, and they agreed. About six months later I went to Orlando for about three months and recorded the album. It was actually recorded at the William McDowell studio. William McDowell is a gospel artist who is rising. It has been a dream come true since then."

'Let Judah Reign' was released on August 6. His songs 'Moving On' and 'All I Need' are now getting a lot of airplay on local radio.

"The album was actually going to be called 'My Psalm' first, but I kept praying about it, and 'Let Judah Reign' became the title," said Mr. Astwood. "It actually means let praise flow throughout the world."

Right now, his focus is getting his name known, locally and abroad. Opening for the Bebe and Cece Winans concert was a boost in this direction.

"Opening for them was an amazing experience," he said. "I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I believe I was received fairly well. It rekindled my passion to want to do this even more.

"Right now my focus is just to get out there anyone who wants me to sing at their church just let me know. I have a website and I am on Facebook. I just want to do my thing for God. I love music and I love to sing."

He is currently working for a Government afterschool programme, but he wants to eventually transition to singing full-time.

"During the day I will be working on my music and getting it out there," he said. "My goal is to do the teen summits that we used to have. I hope to set up something like that. Hopefully, it all comes to pass."

He took a break from writing songs after the album came out, but said he is now back to songwriting.

"It felt good to be writing again," he said. "I get inspiration everywhere and anywhere. I don't have any particular format that I use to write songs. Sometimes lyrics will come. Sometimes it is just a word that starts me writing. Sometimes the music comes first.

"Last night I started writing. The music came first and then I wrote on top of it. I prefer to just let it flow."

He said his family have always encouraged him, but he has also been helped by his friend Ms Woods, a Bermudian musician.

"She has been a key influence on me getting through this," said Mr. Astwood. "When I got out there and did my first song in the studio, I thought about giving up."

It took him six hours just to record one song.

"I thought 'I can't do this'," he said. "I consider myself to be more of a live singer. To try to duplicate what you do on stage in a little booth is hard."

But he said he persevered and soon got used to performing in a studio.

"By the time I did the last track I was good," he said. "I got it down to about two hours for a song. Some people are reverse, they are studio singers and when they get on stage they get stage fright. In the studio you are trying to duplicate that same energy from the stage. In the studio you record a phrase and your producer stops you. You have to sing the same chorus about 30 times so you get it right. Then you are stacking vocals. It is very technical and there are long hours."

He hopes to hold a 'Let Judah Reign' concert in January, that he promises "will be huge".

"I recommend people to come out for us," he said. "It will be a full-length concert. I hope to take the concert to a really professional level. I am excited about this venture, I really am."

The album can be purchased on his website at www.tricray.com. For those who buy the album from his website, he can deliver it to customers and personally sign each copy. 'Let Judah Reign' is also available at the Music Box on Reid Street and online.