The Cyrus family has their own particular blend of magic. That’s never been more evident than on Billy Ray Cyrus’ new song, “On Our Way Along,” which was written by his son, Braison Cyrus, and is sung alongside his daughter, Noah Cyrus.
In a conversation with American Songwriter ahead of the song’s release, Billy Ray revealed that the track is based on his poem, “Standing By the Fire.” He penned the poem, which is about his Tennessee property, in 1997 for his greatest hits album, The Best of Billy Ray Cyrus: Cover to Cover.
“It was of this vision and this man that I saw here on the property as I was horseback riding at sunset one day. It was just quite a spiritual thing,” Billy Ray recalled. “Braison wrote the song about what I wrote in that poem over 20 years ago, when he was just a little boy.”
“It’s all about this hill, and realizing that my whole life unfolded on this hill, and the magic of this place here,” he added. “It’s all come full circle.”
The best part of the process, Billy Ray said, is that fact that working with his kids came about organically.
“[Braison’s] like, ‘Dad, I really want to produce an album on you, like, now.’ I said, ‘Well, you know what? Now’s a really good time for me, because I really need to make some music,’” he said. “Music is my therapy. That’s my art. I just love making music.”
Billy Ray Cyrus Praises Daughter Noah Cyrus’ Vocals
Then, Noah came on board to sing.
“Noah came on it and just sang her heart out,” the proud dad boasted. “One of the things I’m most excited about is people hearing Noah Cyrus sing like they’ve never heard her sing before. I mean, it is a really, really great performance. She really took it to another level.”
On the song, Noah’s emotional, heartfelt vocals mesh beautifully with Billy Ray’s more toned down style.
“I try to just be steady, and do less is more, and let the really talented singers… do all the stuff. Noah brought the heat vocally,” he said. “I sound like an old stone in the record, which is kind of appropriate. It’s like, here’s this fossilized stone, and then here’s Noah with this aura of energy and that pure power vocal of hers just shining all around me. It’s really a unique combination.”
The old merging with the new became a theme of the project. After Braison penned the track, the Cyruses headed to Castle Recording Studios, the Nashville recording studio where Billy Ray recorded “Storm in the Heartland” more than three decades ago.
“Thirty years later, I’m in there with my son recording this track with his band,” Billy Ray marveled. “… It was just a really unique, cool blend.”
Billy Ray Cyrus Discusses the Music Video for “On Our Way Along”
Everything came together with the track’s music video, which was shot on the storied hill at the Cyrus family’s Tennessee property.
“That’s the exact spot where I saw a man standing by the fire,” Billy Ray said of the vision that inspired his poem. “… [My kids] grew up on that hill. We sit and watch so many sunsets from that hill.”
Today, Billy Ray is more about the sunrises than the sunsets. Fans can see exactly why that’s the case in the music video, which was shot just as the sun was climbing up the sky.
“What you get in that video, that’s a full on sunrise starting at 5:30 a.m. on a very cold day,” he said. “It happened to capture the essence of that very sacred hill.”
This opportunity—the song, his forthcoming album, working with his kids—is one Billy Ray is grateful for, largely because he wasn’t sure he’d ever get a chance like it again.
“This is this is all pretty serious to me, to be honest, because I didn’t know if I’d ever get to really play the game again,” he said. “… 2019, I was the top of the world, the top of the mountain, with ‘Old Town Road.’ And then 2020 comes, and they give me a couple Grammys and close the door.”
As the pandemic caused concerts to stop and music festivals to get canceled, Billy Ray thought his days of making and performing music might have been behind him.
“But somehow, by just the pure love of making music… it just happened so organically,” he said. “I thank God for this moment. It’s a really special time.”
Photos by Derrek Kupish
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source americansongwriter.com ’
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