Album: A Better Word For Love
Label: Black River
Release date: April 30, 2021
That Nashville Sound teased this new project a week or so ago, but new information has come out on the the new project from Ronnie Milsap that was of value passing along. A true country/pop/soul icon, Ronnie Milsap believes it’s the music that makes you young. With A Better Word for Love dropping April 30, the 4-time Country Music Association Album of the Year winner is ready to tease his fans with a little “Wild Honey” that you can listen to at the bottom of this article.
“It’s up-tempo,” explains the Country Music Hall of Famer, “and it feels good. That electric guitar part, the way the rhythms move, you get caught up. Then you start to listen, and you recognize the sweet and spicy part of what I’m singing... and you just get caught up!”
Written by Jim Weatherly, known for Gladys Knight & the Pips’ GRAMMY Hall of Fame “Midnight Train To Georgia,” as well as “(You’re The) Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me,” the song lands on the sweet spot between Milsap’s strong soul roots and the kind of country he made famous with “Daydreams About Night Things,” “No Getting Over Me,” “Why Don’t You Stay The Night” and “She Keeps the Home Fires Burning.”
“Jim Weatherly is one of the greats,” the 6-time GRAMMY-winner enthuses. “Those Mississippi cats know how to make the music steamy, to find a pocket and just go. When we started playing ‘Wild Honey,’ we really didn’t wanna stop because it felt so good. This one felt like everything I loved from the first take, so it’s a good way to show people what this record’s all about.”
Teaming with longtime co-producer Rob Galbraith, the pair deep dived into the genre-blurring country that – along with his incendiary live shows – made Milsap, alongside Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, the biggest artist in country music throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Working with some of Nashville’s most revered session musicians on Better Word, guitarists Brent Mason, Steve Gibson, Mark Casstevens, and Chris Leuzinger, bass player Michael Rhodes, drummer Lonnie Wilson, double steel players Mike Johnson and Paul Franklin, and Milsap’s longtime musical director Jamie Brantley brought Milsap’s signature sound to life.
Drawing on songs from Mike Reid, David Ball, NRBQ vet Al Anderson, Gary Nicholson and Carl Perkins, A Better Word for Love is a feast for Milsap fans. The 10 songs, recorded at the studio Milsap designed and now named Ronnie’s Place, are a freewheeling affair, designed to capture love, regret and a whole lot of fun.
After his all-star Duets, featuring Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Billy Gibbons, Luke Bryan and George Strait, A Better Word for Love is in many ways like coming home for the North Carolina-born, Georgia-launched superstar who played on Chips Moman-recording sessions for Elvis on his way to being discovered at LA’s Whiskey A Go-Go by Charley Pride. Beyond the live track “Civil War” with his long-time road band, this collection has all the feels, all the grooves and all the smooth vocal drive that’s made him a 3-time CMA and 5-time GRAMMY Male Vocalist.
“I sing about love,” the piano-playing legend, who’s scored 40 #1 country hits explains, “and I sing about life. When you get down to it, those are the things that are truest. It’s what people need to hear about, what they like to hear about, but I’ve been blessed by some of the greatest songwriters in the world with these songs, too! When you get to have these kinds of songs to sing, well, good things happen.”
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