Permanently (CD - 2000)

Personnel: Mark Wills (vocals); John D. Willis (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Gary Prim (keyboards); Glenn Worf (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Liana Manis (background vocals).

Principally recorded at Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee and The Castle, Franklin, Tennessee.

Personnel: John D. Willis (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Gary Prim (keyboards); Eddie Bayers (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Liana Manis (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: John Kelton.

Liner Note Author: Mark Wills.

Recording information: Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN; The Castle, Franklin, TN; Wedgewood Studios, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Matthew Barnes.

Like many of his 21st-century Nashville brethren, Mark Wills stands at the crossroads of country, rock, pop, and even R&B (the closing song "Back to One" was written by R&B star Brian McKnight). Whatever the style, Wills' forte is clearly the ballad format. There's no Alan Jackson/Travis Tritt honky-tonking going on here. Beyond the country twang in Wills' voice and the requisite steel guitar, it sounds like PERMANENTLY's roots lie more in James Taylor than Hank Williams. The outlook on these songs is overwhelmingly positive, with Wills painting himself as the regular guy who just wants the simple pleasures in life and is perilously close to getting them. The distance between Wills and connubial bliss never sounds less imposing than on the aforementioned "Back to One," a romantic tune that will probably make its way into more than one wedding reception. minimize