Familiar Stranger is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Mark Wills. Originally recorded for Equity Music Group, it was released on November 4, 2008 by Tenacity Records. While signed to Equity, Wills released three singles: "Hank", "Take It All Out on Me" and "Days of Thunder", all of which reached the lower regions of the Billboard country charts. ("Hank" was never included on an album.) After "Days of Thunder", Wills exited the label. He then signed to Tenacity, who released "The Things We Forget" as its third single, then released the album itself in late 2008. "Entertaining Angels" was then issued as the fourth single in early 2009. The fifth single, "Crazy White Boy," was released in late 2009. The latter three failed to enter the country charts.
Contents
Track listing
"Days of Thunder" (Brett James, Aimee Mayo) - 3:06
"The Things We Forget" (Connie Harrington, Wendell Mobley) - 3:33
"Entertaining Angels" (Keith Brown, Willie Mack, Steve Mandile) - 3:56
"Closer" (Bart Allmand, Jeffrey Steele) - 3:38
"Panama City" (Mayo, Rivers Rutherford, Troy Verges) - 3:33
"Take It All Out on Me" (Jim Collins, Mobley) - 3:26
"Rednecks Anonymous" (Ashley Gorley, Bryant Simpson) - 3:12
"The Likes of You" (Don Rollins, John Scott Sherrill, D. Vincent Williams) - 3:07
"Crazy White Boy" (Blair Daly, James) - 3:59
"What Are You Doing" (Bart Butler, Billy Decker, Mack) - 3:46
"Her Kiss" (Monty Criswell) - 3:51
"All the Crap I Do" (John Bettis, James) - 3:56
Bonus Track Edition
"Days of Thunder" - 3:04
"The Things We Forget" - 3:30
"Entertaining Angels" - 3:54
"Closer" - 3:36
"Panama City" - 3:30
"Take It All Out on Me" - 3:26
"Rednecks Anonymous" - 3:10
"The Likes of You" - 3:05
"Crazy White Boy" - 3:57
"Her Kiss" - 3:49
"All the Crap I Do" - 4:05
"Hank" (James, Bill Luther) - 3:58
"How Beautiful" (Mack, Rick Giles, Giles Godard) - 2:46
"Second 16" (Craig Monday, Chris Wallen) - 3:56
Personnel
Mark Wills – vocals
Tim Akers – keyboards, acoustic piano
Gary Smith – acoustic piano, Hammond B3 organ
Mike Rojas – keyboards (10), acoustic piano (10)
Larry Beaird – acoustic guitars
Kenny Greenberg – guitars
Troy Lancaster – guitars
Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitars, mandolin
Bob Britt – guitars (2, 4)
Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
Russ Pahl – steel guitar
Mike Brignardello – bass
Tommy Harden – drums
Chris McHugh – drums
Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle, mandolin
Brett James – backing vocals
Production
Brett James – producer, vocal recording
Tony Castle – recording
Ricky Cobble – recording
Steve Marcantonio – recording
Bryan Graban – recording assistant
John Netty – recording assistant
Leslie Richter – recording assistant (10)
Steve Beers – additional engineer
John Caldwell – additional engineer
Billy Decker – mixing at Sound Stage Studios (Nashville, Tennessee)
Andrew Mendelson – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee)
Kim Russell – art direction
Kristin Barlowe – photography
Scott Welch Management – management