Willie Norwood, Sr.

Music was so good to me because I could make more money playing music than I could if I went to the cotton fields in the Delta, picking or chopping cotton. Music has always been with me. Then I formed my own music school in McCaul, Mississippi. After I did that, I was teaching music and heavily involved in music ministry first. While I was in the valley, I became a Christian.

I immediately went into music ministry teaching choir, working with the churches, working with church choirs, travelling all over the world teaching music fundamentals and teaching people how to sing. I was blessed to be called from Mississippi to Los Angeles, California, to one of the mega churches to serve as a music minister for 10 years.

Following that, Brandy and my son, Ray J, wanted a music career. So, I started working with them, trying to hone their talents and shape their ambitions. They would always come to choir practices because I was working with choirs and teaching people music. I've worked with some people who are pretty famous today. I've been involved with music one way or another all of my life.

My album – ‘Bout It (Atlantic) - came to me because I always wanted to do an album that a person could go in a record store, buy and enjoy. I’ve done personal albums and sold them out of my car when I would go to conventions and workshops. But this album is kind of different; it allowed me to produce some quality songs, get quality producers, and get a project everybody could really get into and listen.

CH: Now you had some interesting selections in there, including remakes like Stevie Wonder’s Have A Talk With God and Rev. Al Green’s Put A Little Love In Your Heart. How did you select your songs?

NW: I got signed with Atlantic Christian Music, who's going through a lot of changes right now. But when I first got involved with Demetrius Stewart and Barry Landers, they got together with me and talked about songs I could do well. We talked about where my heart was and what God was opening up for me to do. We decided we were going to work with Cedric Caldwell. We have similar background; Cedric Caldwell, Victor Caldwell and I worked together to record the whole album in Nashville. Of course, Brandy came along and sang a song on the album. Ray J came, my daddy came and did the hymn with me, then we had the incredible Williams Brothers join in on a song. Then we took all the songs we were going to do and we let Billy Preston put his touch on them and there you have it. That’s how the record was done - all done in Nashville in one studio. The sound is consistent; you don’t have different sounds from across the country. We were very proud of what we did, took our time and made it really mean something to us. And so you’ll find when you listen to this collection of songs that these songs come from a very honest place. I believe that what comes from the heart reaches the heart.