What can I say about Out Of The Grey? Smooth jazz influenced pop rock and with all due respect to Karen Carpenter, Christine Dente is my all-time favorite female vocalist. Throw in the exceptional guitar work of Scott Dente and you’ve got an artist that I never tire of listening to. I have everything from the 1991 self titled release thru the most recent 2015 release of A Little Light Left. Then there’s the solo work of Becoming and Ashton, Becker, Dente and Tumes, Ashton, Dente and Keaggy, King, Dente. Did I mention the lullaby’s with Michael Card? Let’s just say if the name Dente is on it I probably own it.

I had already become a fan of the husband and wife duo after their sophomore release of Shape Of Grace but with the release of Diamond Days I was encaptivated! Now let’s stop and think about this for a moment. I mainly listen to Prog Rock, Ambient Rock, Arena Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, Rock, more Rock and don’t forget Rock. I throw in a little Jazz here and there like Miles, Metheny and Krall or the old Standards like Sinatra from time to time and even Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff but Out Of The Grey is Pop Rock. Pop Rock? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Definately not my style of music especially in the 80’s and 90’s. But there was that little bit of jazz sound in the chord structures that caught my attention and then there was that voice. I played this CD over and over from the day I bought it.

Stephen was 5 years old at the time Diamond Days was released in 1994. I took him to his first game at Neyland Stadium only months before. I was coaching his baseball team and it was post diapers yet before he started vying for his own independence. He was my shadow. He was at that perfect age where we spent a lot of time together. According to my wife it was a perfect age because she has always claimed I act like a 5 year old.

One Saturday morning the two of us were out and about and he was sitting in the front passenger seat beside me just talking away. If that horrifies some of you I’m sorry, but back then kids did not have to or want to sit in the back – unless it was the back of a truck. Nor did they have to sit in a car seat until they got their learners permit. They didn’t even have to have seatbelts on, but we both did so maybe you can breathe a little easier.

Anyways, I put Diamond Days in as we drove and during the song “All We Need” he asked me, “Who is this?” I told him, “It’s Out Of The Grey and I just LOVE her voice and he’s an AWESOME guitar player.”

After a few moments we pulled up to a stop light and I looked over and Stephen had this big ol’ elephant tear rolling down his cheek. I asked him, “What’s wrong buddy?”

He replied, “I thought you loved mommy?”

I literally felt my heart breaking in my chest. He was sitting there thinking I had betrayed his mom, his sisters as well as himself and I felt just horrible! We use the word “love” so flippantly in our language to describe so many different things. How’s a 5 year old supposed to know the difference? Well never fear, Dad is here to straighten this out.

I said, “Buddy, there are all different kinds of love. There’s the really deep kind of love that I have for your mom and you and your sisters. And then there’s the kind of love that is really just a strong like. You love to play baseball, right?” He sniffed a little and shook his head yes. “But it’s not the same way that you love your mom is it?”

He thought about it for a few seconds and much to my relief he finally said, “No”. It was one of those three syllable nos that goes from the root to the fourth and then suddenly ends on the octave. Here in the south we start adding syllables and singing them out at a very young age.

“You love to play Nintendo, but that’s not the same kind of love you have for your sisters is it?”

He said this time in a much more energetic way and with only two syllables, “No” skipping straight to the octave.

I continued, “When I said that I love her voice that means I really like the way she sings. It’s not the same way that I love mommy. My love for mommy is way beyond a like. You understand?” And he did! No more elephant tears and that infectious smile of his was back in place. I had evidently succeeded as a Dad once again if only for a day.

That night, Kathy had gone back to his room to tuck him in and before I got back there she returned to the living room and had a really strange look on her face. When I asked her about it, she said, “Stephen just told me that he loved me, but not the same way that he loves bugs and frogs.”

Oh the mind of a 5 year old. If only we could all grasp this kind of deep theology. Maybe that is why Jesus said to come as a child.

Yet the story does not end here. Fast forward to the year 2011. Stephen is now 22 years of age and he’s playing lead guitar and singing in a band named The Refuge with the Wauford’s: Erine (lead vocals), Emily (rhythm guitar), Ryan (drums) and Jeff (bass). Over the past few years I had been helping them out with arrangements, rehearsals and gigs and all. I had made up a CD of potential cover songs to help build their repertoire. As Stephen and I were driving to a game at Neyland, I was playing the CD to see if he liked any of the songs and the Out Of The Grey song “Disappear” from the (See Inside) album came on. After listening to a bit of the song Stephen asked me, “Who is this?”

Without missing a beat all I said was, “Well buddy, I just LOVE her voice and he’s an AWESOME guitar player.” This time there were no elephant tears. Just a slight smile along with the rolling of his eyes, but it was well worth the eye roll. I mean, how often do you really get to relive a special moment in time like that?

As I listen to this CD right now, I love her voice today probably more than I did in 1994, but now her voice also reminds me about my little buddy’s traumatic brush with my love for his mommy and it brings a smile on my face every time. You see, I love his mommy much more today then I did in 1994 too, and it’s not the same way that I love bugs and frogs either.

As the Golden Years of our life draw closer and closer, it’s nice to have another chance to listen, look back and relive if only for a moment those Diamond Days.

Rick E. France

And From The (see inside) Album Also Mentioned