Meet This Singer from Redcar Who's Written Songs for James Arthur

People

May 2025

Reading time 3 Minutes

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Redcar singer-songwriter Jamie Grey is on a tour of the UK

We find out more about his music (and what it was like to write songs for James Arthur).

Jamie says he hasn’t always been a natural performer, but he has always had a love for music. ‘I was quite shy about it and my ability to sing and play instruments,’ he says. 'It was something I did in my bedroom for a long time because I was “one of the guys” who’d play football and rugby. I’d always had this idea in my head and that I was stupidly embarrassed about. It took me quite a long time to come out of my shell, but once I reached 17, I just had so many things that I wanted to say that it started to build up inside me. I picked my guitar up and starting writing songs in my bedroom. It’s been a long and interesting journey ever since.

‘When I started taking music seriously, I didn’t have a lot of confidence and I wasn’t really aware of what stage presence was – how to perform to a crowd or how important it is to present yourself as a confident artist. I did gig for a few years but I wasn’t taking it seriously enough until I realised music is my calling and what I’m meant to be doing. I left my full-time job nine years ago to pursue music full time, and every year it’s got incrementally bigger and I’ve got better. I still feel like my song writing is getting better and my voice is continually improving. I’m in a place right now where it feels like I’m really at the boiling point of something big happening. I’ve now built up a fanbase with my music online and I’ve got my tour coming up which I’m really excited about.’

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Jamie’s music is often acoustic guitar- or piano-based, but his style crosses through various genres including pop, folk and soul, woven together by his powerful and raw lyrics. His first independent release in 2019, a piano ballad titled Arms Around You, was added to Spotify’s playlist ‘Sad Songs’ and remained at the top for eight months. His first release has more than 11 million streams on Spotify. Listeners might recognise his viral hit What You’re Running From, which has more than 20 million streams on Spotify.

‘There are certain artists I love, but it’s more about the songs or the feelings that really resonate with me,’ says Jamie when asked if any particular artists inspire him. ‘If I was to say one album, growing up I listened to a self-titled Tracy Chapman album that my sister would play and I remember hearing the acoustic guitar and her voice and feeling like she was telling me directly about her life. There’s no fakery. It’s gritty and real. When I started writing my own songs, I wanted to replicate that style in a sense of being completely honest and vulnerable and open with my lyrics to tell people about my life and what I’ve seen – and not glamourising anything, keeping it very raw. That’s something that’s stayed true and important to me.’

One of Jamie’s career highlights was the opportunity to write for James Arthur, who grew up near to Jamie’s hometown. ‘I wrote a song called Falling Like The Stars for my own project and the song ended up reaching James and he and his team absolutely loved it and asked if they could take it, work on it a little bit, and put it out,’ he explains. ‘That really opened up a lot of doors for me in the song writing world. James asked me back a couple of years ago to write a full album with him [the number one album Bitter Sweet Love] and we ended up writing another 20 songs, and nine made it onto his album. That was an amazing thing to be a part of.’

Jamie finished his first UK mini-tour in 2023, playing three sold-out dates, and his debut album Late Bloomer was released in June last year. He recently released a new single, Right Where I Wanna Be. ‘It feels like the start of something bigger and different to anything I’ve been doing before,’ he says. ‘I’m so excited for the music that I’ve already recorded and that’s ready to release this year. For Right Where I Wanna Be, the sound is a bit more mature for me. It’s like a full band sound and it’s come together in a way that I feel really proud of. I think it really reflects who I am right now and where I am in my life. I’m super excited and I think people are going to see a slightly different side to me other than just a balladeer on a piano. I feel like I have so much more to offer and I do feel like I’m a versatile artist now.’

‘I get goosebumps just thinking about it,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to sound too philosophical or emotional but I am really excited and adamant to put on an experience and not just a show. I want to connect with everybody in a way that I’ve never done before. I want people to leave the show feeling like they can take something away with them from the feeling in the songs. I’ve got ideas on how we can do that in the way we put the performance together.

‘I feel really privileged that I get to create music. The industry has changed in a way that you don’t have to be this super-famous guy to have a successful music career and a loyal fanbase with a tour that’s nearly sold out. I feel really grateful that it’s turned out that way for me, and that Spotify has really backed my music and featured my songs on playlists. I feel so fortunate and I’m excited to keep going.’