This romantic love song is written from Elizabeth's imagination dealing with the challenge of separation of true love during wartime. The haunting instrumentals of cello and violin play underneath enchanting vocals. You'll need a kleenex with this song."
Producer/Co-writer/Guitar/Background Vocals
Billy Smiley has produced all of Elizabeth South’s albums in Nashville/Franklin, TN. He has also co-written with her a majority of the songs on her albums as well as play guitar and other instruments.
As a founding member and producer of White Heart, Billy Smiley has also helped A&R, discover, develop, produce, and write for such artists as The Newsboys, Steven Curtis Chapman, Susan Ashton, The Normals, Aaron Shust, Margaret Becker, Clay Aikens, Johnny Cash, Petra, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Geoff Moore & the Distance, Rachel Rachel, The Gaither Vocal Band, 4 Him, and Michael English.
As a songwriter for Curb, EMI, BMG, Warner/Word, Brentwood/Benson he has co-written 25 no. 1 songs, and over 50 top 10 songs.
He has produced more than 100 albums, and 30 No. 1 songs. He received 5 Grammy Nominations, one producing the Grammy nominated song “Silent Night”, recorded by BeBe & CeCe Winans, and co-produced with Dann Huff the Grammy nominated album, “WhiteHeart”. His production credits also include the Grammy nominated album “Tales of Wonder”. White Heart went on to tour worldwide through 1998, selling over 2.5 million records, with 17 no. 1 singles, and 23 Dove nominations.
His formal training includes a bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition from Azusa Pacific University in Southern California.
Bio Source at: http://billysmiley.com/about
Vince Gill sang a duet with Elizabeth South on the song she co-wrote with producer Billy Smiley called, “I Love You (feat. Vince Gill).” The song is from her “I Love You” and “Dream With Me” albums. Elizabeth filmed the Music Video with Vince Gill for “I Love You” in Nashville, Tennessee. You can watch the Music Video on YouTube.
The video appeared in rotation on Zuus Country Network and was listed among one of the top featured artist interview segments for 2013 on “Inside Music Row” that also appeared on Zuus.
Check out the story behind the song and Elizabeth’s experience recording with Vince Gill.
Vince Gill has recorded over 20 studio albums, charted over 40 singles on the U.S. Billboard charts as Hot Country Songs, and has sold more than 26 million albums. He has been honored by the Country Music Association with 18 CMA Awards, including two Entertainer of the Year awards and five Male Vocalist Awards. Gill has also earned 20 Grammy Awards, more than any other male country music artist. In 2007, Gill was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. [Wikipedia source]
Read more about Vince Gill on his Website – CLICK HERE
Jim created the beautiful and amazing Orchestral programming track for Elizabeth’s “14 Disney Medley” from her album called “The Disney Album.” He has Elizabeth’s medley featured on his website. Jim is a an award-winning composer, producer, and arranger. He produces Original Music for Film, TV, Web, & Motion Picture Advertising. He creates String & Orchestral Arrangements & Programming. He also has toured with Michael W Smith as his keyboardist for several years. Read more about Jim on his website: click here.
Dann played electric guitar on Elizabeth’s songs, “Dream With Me” and “Holding On To Love” from her “Dream With Me” album.
Dann Huff is a musician, studio guitar musician, singer-songwriter and producer. He has won several awards for his career as a producer in the Country music genre. Some of his awards include Musician of the Year in 2001 and 2004 at the Country Music Association Awards. He was also Producer of the Year award in 2006 and 2009 at the Academy of Country Music.
Dann began his career as part of the original Christian rock band White Heart along with Elizabeth’s producer Billy Smiley. He was also later in the Hard Rock band called Giant. He then became active as a session guitarist and producer in both rock music and country music. In the 1980s Dann played guitar on many albums for artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitesnake, Steven Curtis Chapman, Doro Pesch, George Benson, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers and many more.
Dann has been working as a producer for various bands and artists since the 1990’s with artists such as Faith Hill, Megadeth, Rebecca St. James, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and The Band Perry. Dann recently played on Taylor Swift’s, Red and helped produce the hit song, Better Dig Two by The Band Perry.
If you would like to read more about songs he has played guitar on or produced, visit the Bio Source on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dann_Huff
Bill is a mixing engineer and producer. He has mixed most of Elizabeth’s songs with the exceptions of Richie Biggs on the “Dream With Me” album for Painted Life, Down, and Just Begun and Jonathan Crone for “Shooting Star” and “Not Letting Go” (future song releases). Joel Wild mixed the song, Don’t Give Up.
Learn more about Billy Whittington: CLICK HERE
Bair is a session keyboard player in Nashville, TN. He has played on a wide number of artists’ albums over the years. He played keyboard on a majority of Elizabeth’s songs, with the exception of Sal Oliveri on a few of her songs.
Read more about Blair Masters – CLICK HERE
Rick is most known for being the lead singer of Contemporary Christian Music rock band Whiteheart. Rick Florian will be recording another album and doing a reunion tour later this year with White Heart.
Rick graciously offered his incredible voice on a few of Elizabeth’s songs. The songs he sang on are Do It Afraid, Someday, I Will Follow, Fly Eagle Fly, Desert Rose, and Perfect Love. He also filmed a Music Video with Elizabeth for the song Do It Afraid. You can watch it now.
Read more about Rick and his history with White Heart – CLICK HERE
Matt Slocum is a guitarist, cellist, pianist and composer, known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist of Sixpence None the Richer. He played cello on Elizabeth’s single, “Eternity.”
Read more about Matt – Click Here
Steve is the drummer for Elizabeth’s two albums, “I Love You” and “Dream With Me.”
He has played on numerous artists albums such as Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, etc. Read more about Steve Brewster – CLICK HERE
Jonathan is a session guitar player who has played on various artists’ songs. He played on Elizabeth’s upcoming “Dream With Me” country album. He played on the songs Run Away With Me, Honky Tonk Jive, Down, and Painted Life.
To learn more about Jonathan Crone – CLICK HERE
Matthew Jordan sang a duet with Elizabeth on the “Dream With Me” title track song she co-wrote with Billy Smiley called, “Dream With Me (feat. Matthew Jordan).”
Learn more about Matthew Jordan – CLICK HERE for his Website and CLICK HERE for his Youtube channel.
Brennan is a session guitar player, the son of Billy Smiley, and the lead singer/songwriter for the band called The Technicolors.
Brennan has played electric guitar on a number of Elizabeth’s songs including: Never Too Late, Someday, I Will Trust You, Do It Afraid, Surrender, and the country album songs called Down and Honk Tonk Jive.
Read more about Brennan Smiley – CLICK HERE
Andy plays fiddle, banjo, and mandolin on Elizabeth’s “Dream With Me” album. He also helped to co-write the song called, “Honky Tonk Jive” with Billy Smiley and Elizabeth South. Most recenlty Andy played violin on Elizabeth’s Original Single, “Eternity.”
Andy currently tours with Ricky Skaggs. Read more about Andy Leftwich – Click Here.
Richie is a mixing engineer for various artists such as The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow. Richie for the first time mixed three of Elizabeth’s songs on her country album called “Dream With Me.” He mixed the songs Down and Just Begun.
Read more about Richie’s work on The Civil Wars – CLICK HERE
Matt is a session bass player for numerous artists in Nashville, TN. He has played bass on just about every song of Elizabeth’s except for the “Dream With Me” album (Mark Hill) and the song Desert Rose, in which she got former White Heart bass player Anthony Sallee.
Greg is a session electric guitar player who has also toured with Little Big Town and LeAnn Rimes.
He has played electric guitar for many of Elizabeth’s songs including Forgive, If Tomorrow Never Comes, Arms of the Savior, Do It Afraid, Undone, Change, and Let Love Shine. He also played on the upcoming “Shooting Star” single.
Read more about Greg Hagan – CLICK HERE
Mark is a session bass player for various artists over the years. He played on Elizabeth’s country album, “Dream With Me.”
To learn more about Mark Hill – CLICK HERE
Christine was the lead singer with her husband Scott Denté in the Christian group Out of the Grey. Out of the Grey has always been one of Elizabeth’s favorite Christian groups. Scott is a guitar player and Christine Dente was the lead vocalist. They wrote their songs together. Is it any wonder that Elizabeth would be excited when she found out that she could have both of them be a part of her music? Christine sang with Elizabeth on the songs Falling in Love Alone, Your Voice, I Still Believe, and Waiting.
Read more about Christine and Scott Denté – CLICK HERE or HERE
Scott was the guitar player with his wife Christine Denté (lead singer) in the Christian group Out of the Grey. Out of the Grey has always been one of Elizabeth’s favorite Christian groups. Scott is a guitar player and Christine Dente was the lead vocalist. They wrote their songs together. Is it any wonder that Elizabeth would be excited when she found out that she could have both of them be a part of her music? Scott has played acoustic guitar on some of Elizabeth’s songs including: Do It Afraid, Someday, and Your Voice.
Read more about Christine and Scott Denté – CLICK HERE or HERE
Ken is a session drummer in Nashville, TN. He played on Elizabeth’s Do It Afraid and Just a Prayer Away albums.
To learn more about Ken Lewis – CLICK HERE
Gordon played Sitar on Elizabeth’s cover song of White Heart’s “Fly Eagle Fly” that was also originally sung by Gordon Kennedy when he was a member of White Heart. He is a multi Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer, and world-class guitarist in Nashville’s music community.
Kennedy’s name became nationally recognized when he won Song of the Year at the 1997 Grammys for Eric Clapton’s No. 1 hit, “Change the World,” which he co-wrote with Wayne Kirkpatrick and Tommy Sims.
Read more about Gordon Kennedy here: CLICK HERE
John is a session cello player. He played cello on many of Elizbeth’s songs such as Have Faith, Am I Stronger Now, Perfect Love, and Undone.
To read more about John Catchings, CLICK HERE
David is a violin player, arranger, and composer. He played and arranged the violin parts for Elizabeth’s songs, Just a Prayer Away and Undone.
Read more about David Davidson – CLICK HERE
Forest played Mandolin and Fiddle on Elizabeth South’s “I Love You (feat. Vince Gill)” song.
Learn more about Forest Miller here: CLICK HERE
Anthony was the bass player for the Christian rock band White Heart from 1990 to 1993. He also did studio work and toured with Christian artists like Michael W. Smith,Wes King, Michael English, Phil Keaggy, and Amy Grant.
Anthony played bass for Elizabeth South’s cover of White Heart’s hit song, Desert Rose and “Shooting Star.”
Read more about Anthony Sallee – CLICK HERE
Bruce played steel slide and lap steel guitar on Elizabeth’s “Dream With Me” album. He played on every song on the “Dream With Me” album except for “I Love You (feat. Vince Gill).”
Read more about Bruce Bouton – CLICK HERE
Joel is a programming engineer. He created the background programming for Elizabeth’s song, “Don’t Give Up” found on the “Do It Afraid” and “I Love You” albums.
Sal is a session keyboard player and producer. He played on some of Elizabeth’s songs including Do It Afraid, Higher, as well as some of Elizabeth’s Christmas songs such as “Where Are You Christmas.”
Read more about Sal Oliveri – CLICK HERE
Dennis is a session drummer who played on Elizabeth South’s debut album, The Mysteries of Our Minds.
Dennis has recorded with and/or performed with a broad variety of artists including: Phill Keaggy, Rebecca St. James, Twila Paris, Michael W. Smith, Don Moen, and many more…
George is a studio session electric guitar player and songwriter. He played electric guitar on many of Elizabeth’s songs as well as co-wrote the song “Still” and also helped write along with Billy Smiley the single, “Take a Chance.” Some of the songs he has played electric for on Elizabeth’s music are: Don’t Give Up, Still, Your Voice, Superstar, Kiss Hello, Waiting, Fascination, and Surrender.
George has been in the music industry for over 20 years. He has also played on various artists such as Joe English, Michael McDonald, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, DC Talk, Third Day, and many others. He co-wrote the hit songs “Colored People” and “Luv is a Verb” by DCTalk.
Dan is a session steel guitar player. He played steel slide on Elizabeth South’s song, “I Love You (feat. Vince Gill).”
Read more about Dan Dugmore – CLICK HERE
