Mark Wills‘ Grand Ole Revival album is out. The 12-track project, recorded live at the Grand Ole Opry, features some of Wills’ favorite gospel songs, which he sings with artists like Cody Johnson, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ricky Skaggs, and more.

“I always loved gospel music,” Wills tells Everything Nash. “And this record is not really traditional gospel. It’s more of what I consider country gospel. Probably about the only thing on there that is more gospel gospel would be ‘Lily of the Valley.’ And ‘Lily of the Valley’ was the first song that I can ever remember singing at church as a four-year-old. We used to do a thing on Wednesday nights where all the boys in the church would get up and lead a song. I loved to sing. And I remember our song leader; he had his little pitch pipe. We would get up there, and he would say, ‘Mark, what song do you wanna sing tonight?’ And I remember loving ‘Lily of the Valley.'”

Wills chose all of the songs on Grand Ole Revival, each meaning something significant to him.

“There are other things that completely have a country flare to them, but at the same time are gospel songs,” Wills explains. “I believe ‘I Saw the Light’ is a gospel song just like something in the red hymnal that was on the back of the pew. Those songs have come full circle. And so, when we started putting this project together, there really wasn’t a, ‘This has to be on the record.’ It was more like, ‘Man, what do we think that we could do that hasn’t been done 5,000 times?'”

How Mark Wills Chose The Artists To Be on ‘Grand Ole Revival’

Wills, fortunately, had a wide variety of artists to choose from when putting together Grand Ole Revival.

“The artists that are on there with me are people that I had a relationship with… When I asked Trisha Yearwood to sing on a song, I said, ‘Listen, I’m doing a gospel record, and I would love for you to come in and sing on something.’ And she goes, ‘Okay.’ And that was it. And then she said ‘How Great Thou Art’ was her daddy’s favorite song. I said, ‘Well, then that’s your song.’ So, so several of these songs not only are songs that I loved, but they’re songs that had personal meaning for others.”

Jamey Johnson joins Wills on “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor,” along with Charlie McCoy and the Gaither Vocal Band.

“I didn’t go into this song thinking, ‘This song is gonna be this guy.’ I will say that the first single, ‘The Baptism of Jesse Taylor,’ I thought of Jamey Johnson. Jamey is one of the nicest guys in country music, but you’d never know it because he’s so quiet. And so for him to be the guy that I immediately said, ‘The Baptism of Jesse Taylor’ is his song.”

What Mark Wills Says About ‘Grand Ole Revival’ and Being a Grand Ole Opry Member

Recording Grand Ole Revival live at the Grand Ole Opry was a full-circle moment for Wills, who became a Grand Ole Opry member in 2019.

“I had to record a couple of times on ‘Because He Lives’ because it was emotional,” Wills admits. “It was emotional for me to sing that on the Opry stage and to just sort of take in what that song was saying.”

For Wills, who has already had plenty of career accomplishments, nothing will ever top being a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

“The Grand Ole Opry and that particular building was the building that I always saw on television, and the building that, even before I realized I was gonna be a singer, I thought, ‘Man, that, that would be cool. That would be cool to get to sing in that building.’ … The opportunity to call the Grand Ole Opry and the Grand Ole Opry House home for the rest of my life is tremendous. I don’t know that there’s any way to honestly put into words what being an Opry member means to me. I think it means something different for everybody, because everybody has a different path.

“There’s a different path that gets everybody to the Opry, regardless of what that path is,” he adds. “For me, just having the ability to call the Opry home for the rest of my life is honor enough.”

See a track list below. Find Grand Ole Revival at MarkWills.com.

Mark Wills’ ‘Grand Ole Revival’ Track List

1. The Lily of the Valley (feat. Cody Johnson)
2. I’ll Fly Away (feat. Ricky Skaggs & Rhonda Vincent)
3. How Great Thou Art (feat. Trisha Yearwood)
4. The Baptism of Jesse Taylor (feat. Jamey Johnson, Charlie McCoy & Gaither Vocal Band)
5. Because He Lives (feat. Vince Gill & Rebecca Lynn Howard)
6. Victory in Jesus (feat. The Isaacs)
7. I Have Decided to Follow Jesus (feat. Mae Estes & Ben Isaacs)
8. Will the Circle Be Unbroken (feat. Leona Williams, The Isaacs, Jim Brady & Melissa Brady)
9. I Saw the Light (feat. Travis Tritt & The Oak Ridge Boys)
10. Mansion Just Over the Hilltop (feat. The Sound)
11. Look for Me for I Will Be There Too
12. Grand Ole Revival (feat. The Isaacs)