• Releases debut gospel album inspired by personal challenges and a message that no one struggles alone

SINGER and songwriter Summer Gentle’s first step into music came while she was still a teenager in Trinidad, singing at weddings, funerals and school competitions, working through her emotions the only way she knew how. That instinct shaped her debut gospel album, an 11-track project built largely from songs she wrote during a difficult period in her life, including its emotional title track. Now looking forward to creating yet another album and collaborating with other Guyanese musicians, Gentle hopes Guyanese audiences will hear more than a collection of songs; she wants them to feel less alone. Her closing message is simple: God is never as distant as our struggles make Him feel. It’s a fitting note for an artiste who turned her lowest moments into something others could lean on.

Born and raised in Guyana, Gentle migrated with her family to Trinidad and Tobago, where she spent most of her childhood. She shared that it was in Trinidad, during her teenage years, that she discovered both her love for music and her talent for singing. As she stated, “I started in music over there, not professionally, but I would sing at school competitions, I would sing in church, weddings, funerals and stuff like that. I really had my start there.”

Gentle’s talent at a young age made it possible for her to become a professional while still young, collaborating with musicians to perform at events, as she added, “I came to the point where I could have started doing it professionally. We recorded an entire song, but I had a little group. I was the only singer, and my friend was the pianist, so we were kind of like a duo, and we had a little producer.”

However, it was not until Gentle returned to Guyana in 2021 that her talent went viral. As she shared, following her performance at Advent Praise, one of Guyana’s largest gospel showcases, Gentle gained popularity.

“When I came back here, which was in 2020, 2021, I started singing at Advent Christ, and from there I kind of gained popularity, if you want to say so. I was invited to sing, I think in 2024, at the Cultural Centre for a programme, and a friend of mine taped it and put it on Facebook, and it kind of went viral,” she said.

This performance opened new doors for Gentle, and while she did not have the funding needed to create a professional album at the time, she was supported by friends and supporters who believed in her.

As Gentle shared, “After Advent Praise, a friend of mine asked if I would like to go professional, and I said I would love to, but I don’t have the finances to source it. And she said, ‘It seems like I’ll do it for you.’ And from there, that’s where it all started for me,” she added.

Released in May of this year, Gentle’s debut album, titled Jesus Saves, is a compilation of 11 songs, ten of which are originals and one cover, making for an impressive 46 minutes of listening time.

Speaking on creating the album, Gentle noted that the title was inspired by a song she wrote when she was much younger, during a very challenging time in her life.

As she shared, “The title of the album is actually a song that I wrote when I was a little younger, basically about that kind of time in my life where I was going through a serious bout of depression, so I always wrote about how I felt.”

For Gentle, music had always been a form of expression, as she added, “A lot of persons, they have their own issues. Some may drink, some may smoke, some may do drugs or whatever, but my addiction has always been music. Whatever I was going through, I always did music.”

Since the release of the album just over two months ago, Gentle notes that the feedback has been incredibly positive, with many listeners saying they feel connected to and can relate to her music. This, Gentle added, is one of the key aims of the album: creating something people can relate to.

“A lot of persons seem to like ‘What If,’ which is the very first song on the album. A lot of persons have given me feedback on that particular song, that they can truly, truly relate to it,” she added.

This is why Gentle would like to see greater support for Guyanese musicians. She explained that, based on the feedback she’s received, more support exists for international and even regional musicians than for local talent.

As she shared, “We don’t support our own enough. Enough support is not given to ours. We always try to support those outside; you’re excited, you’re super, super excited about others, and you would promote them and stuff like that. But I find that the same energy is not facilitated towards ours,” she said.

Moving forward, Gentle aims to continue building on the success of Jesus Saves by creating more music and releasing a new album. She noted that while she and her team are currently still in the process of recouping from the first album, work is already underway on the second.

As Gentle noted, the Guyanese public is still getting familiar with her music, but she aims to keep that momentum, adding, “I have a bunch of material to work on. But right now we’re in the recouping process, trying to get the album out there, to bring it to different persons, to get familiar with me, to get familiar with my music. But album two, don’t worry about it. We have a lot of material for album two.”

While Gentle is open to collaboration, she notes that the message at the core of her album and work remains the same, saying, “God is not distant that he can’t hear your cry. Even though it may seem that whatever you’re going through, it feels as if you’re going through it by yourself, He is right there with you. All you have to do is give Him a chance.”