A Little Dose of Heaven
A Little Dose of Heaven is a fresh new collection of original Country songs created to foster hope and inspiration during these dark and desperate times. Kai, as Country artist Billy Ray Norris, is the songwriter, primary artist, and producer of all 11 tracks. He was joined by an all-star lineup including Rebecca Jade who just finished a project with Jason Mraz, and Mark Shapiro recently featured as solo guitarist at a concert with Josh Groban and the San Diego Symphony. So the album features Rebecca Jade on vocals, Sarah Bethany on vocals, Eve Selis on vocals, Mark Shapiro on lead and specialty guitars, Allan Phillips on percussion and keys, Gdog Walker on pedal steel, an ensemble from the San Diego Symphony on strings, Matt Spencer on bass, and Michael Surprenant on drums; with Kai on lead vocals and acoustic guitar.
Kai wrote most of these songs during the covid isolation, to help create the beauty, sweetness, and inspiration temporarily lost to a world in fight-or-flight. Here’s a snippet of the story behind each song …
01. Slow Dance: Slow Dance is a sweet Country waltz gently lifting love back into the spotlight. It is perfect as an engagement, wedding, or star-crossed lover song! Its lilting lyrics and moving music encourage us to take a chance for love, believing all the while that our dreams will come true. Don’t stop believin’!
02. Her Daddy Had A Shotgun: Her Daddy Had a Shotgun hits the ground runnin’ away from a crazed, overly-protective dad of an adult daughter who always finds a way to out-smart her Daddy and share the sweet love with her boyfriend that she’s cravin’! It’s a playful, sexy, fun Country rocker that comes and goes with a 12-gauge Country bang!!!
03. A Little Dose of Heaven ft Rebecca Jade: A Little Dose of Heaven tells a story of love and friendship generating hope and inspiration during these broken, lonely times. It was inspired by an evening of celebration with friends at a seaside restaurant, Ponds, at sunset on the Big Island of Hawaii.
04. JUST HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, Forever (Meagan’s Song): JUST HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, Forever is a sweet Country Waltz inspired by a deep, real love — the kind you never want to let go of. It grew out of kisses, writing love songs together, treasuring nature, walking hand-in-hand, and more kisses …
05. Waitin’ for You ft Rebecca Jade: Waitin’ for You is a love power ballad telling a divinely inspired story of two people who believed the other was out there somewhere, had been waitin’ for a long, long time; and then the girl felt prompted to give up everything, follow her heart, and travel to a distant land to find her man. When they met, they instantly knew, and fell right in.
06. It’s Complicated ft Rebecca Jade: It’s complicated is a touching and unconventional love song about a Country couple who fell crazy in love, danced to wedding bells in a bridal gown, and for fifteen years had a sweet and real marriage. Then, to everyone’s shock and surprise, our beautiful bride fell in love with another woman, but still wanted her husband and marriage too. So then he was challenged with figuring out if his love could stretch enough to accommodate this sudden twist in their relationship. You’ll have to check it out to see what happens next! 😉
07. I Couldn’t Tell You ft Sarah Bethany: I Couldn’t Tell You shares the story of a woman who is a victim of her alcoholic husband’s infidelity and domestic abuse. She shares what it was like struggling through it, and then how empowering it was to let it go.
08. I Love You Anyway: I Love You Anyway is a gentle red-dirt ballad painting acoustic watercolors of contrasting values among people. It tells the story of how someone living their life based on love and spirituality chooses to deal with someone close to them whose values mostly reflect materialism and objectification. You just keep on lovin’ ‘em anyway!
09. My Cowgirl’s in Quarantine REMIX: My Cowgirl’s In Quarantine is a Country rock ballad telling the story of how the cowgirl model being considered for the cover art of Take My Hand got stuck in Japan in quarantine with the outbreak of covid. Kai was sharing the details with a friend one afternoon, and he said “that sounds like a Country song” — so it became one.
10. Mama, You Were There: Mama You Were There honors Kai’s mother, Georgia Marie Norris, sharing snippets of her influences from his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; and his undying love for his Mom. Norris, her maiden name, is where his Country artist name derived from.
11. Take My Hand REMIX: Take My Hand is a Country wedding song, sketching Southern silhouettes of a sweet and timeless love. If you’re thinkin’ “The Notebook,” then you’re in the right ballpark.
Billy Ray Norris – A Little Dose of Heaven (The Album) is available at:
“Your joy is my inspiration!” – Billy Ray Norris