Meet Rick Norris | Drummer for Bettin’ On The Mule

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rick Norris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rick, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Being blessed by God to be able to make music and perform. There is a lot of hard work by everyone involved and we just love what we do. If one person enjoys our music or comes to see us at a live show and has fun then it makes us feel good that we have spread some joy into someone’s life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Bettin’ On The Mule’s sound is best called “Hometown Rock”. With our original songs we try to appeal to many people with a Classic Rock/Southern Rock vibe. Playing together for about 5 years the band has been a three piece for a couple of years now consisting of: Jacob Wilson – Lead Vocals and Bass, Brandon Wilson – Lead guitar and backing vocals and Rick Norris – Drums and backing vocals. Recently we have welcomed a new member Shannon Wilson on Bass and backing vocals. This enables Jake to focus on just singing lead. We released our debut CD, “ALL IN” in February 2020. We had a big CD release party and was starting our promotion tour when COVID hit and the world shut down. So it was difficult to get out and play to promote the CD. During the shutdown, we worked on writing more music with our friend and songwriter Ian Denney. Some of those songs are what became our latest EP “Tag Applied For”.
Our first single, “Every Day and Every Night” debuted at #2 on the Georgia Songbirds Podcast broadcasted on internet radio stations all over the world. At this year’s International Singer Songwriters Association (ISSA), our second single “I Think of You” is nominated for “Song of the Year”. We are also blessed with two other ISSA nominations this year, Band of the Year and Album of the Year “Tag Applied For”. We have been playing tons of shows promoting the EP and we were blessed to be named the winner of the Smiley’s Unique Entertainment Georgia Music Showcase in Cartersville, GA in June 2022
We are also excited about the release of our signature beer named “Mule Kicker”! Right now it is only available at Hixtown Brewing Company in Villa Rica, GA but we have plans to expand it soon. Bettin’ On The Mule has been blessed and we are going to keep working hard for our fans to make fun and interesting music and build our brand. The band is scheduled to head back to do some recording again at Jesse James Dupree’s, Cock of the Walk Studios with Producer/Engineer Jeff Tomei in September 2022.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had a friend visiting, I would have to tell them you can’t visit Atlanta without going to The Varsity for a chili dog, onion rings and a frosted orange! Then visit the Georgia Aquarium. Afterwards head over to watch the World Champion Atlanta Braves in person. Before they left town, I would tell them to make sure to catch a concert at The Historic Fox Theatre.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many who deserve a shoutout for their support of Bettin’ On The Mule. Our families, friends and fans have always been there to back us 100%. We appreciate them all very much and couldn’t do this without them. Shoutout to friend and songwriter Ian Denney for his many contributions. A special shoutout to Producer/Engineer Jeff Tomei for the awesome work on our newest EP “Tag Applied For”. Also to Cock of the Walk Studios and Jesse James Dupree for the opportunity to record at such a cool place.

Website: www.bettinonthemule.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bettinonthemule

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC03INPZf5PiB5MkXdJnXoEA

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0KYUY6AsIyV8UappW2Logg?si=mEDjZ67JQjawdiobZ_pU0w

Image Credits
Todd Dean Images, Sonya Norris