Reveling in the Gray with Sam Phillips

(RNS) Back in 1985, Leslie Phillips' career in contemporary Christian music was ascending like a meteor. Her record label, Myrrh, touted her as the "Christian Cyndi Lauper," but it was a persona the then-23-year-old singer found profoundly false.

And it was a label that Phillips would not wear.

Refusing to be penned in by the expectations and limits of the Christian music industry, Phillips walked away from her Myrrh contract and reemerged soon after on Virgin Records as Sam Phillips, singing about her need for "God" and "not the political church."

Under her given name, Leslie Phillips sang about being "black and white in a grey world," where she didn't fit. "I don't mind being different," she sang, "because I'm different for the truth."

At the time, it seemed like a clear statement of faith in the face of a world filled with moral and spiritual relativism. But looking back, perhaps the lady hath protested too much.

For her entire career as Sam Phillips, she appears most comfortable dwelling in the gray areas of life -- the in-betweens, margins and conundrums of life and faith.

Continued on page 2: Sam's pursuit of truth... »