NEWS

PRESS RELEASE: Nothing Like A Friend

11/7/22 • Irvine, CA • For Immediate Release

 

Songwriter Ron Ovadia is pleased to announce the release of his latest song, "Nothing Like a Friend." It’s a tribute to friendships, which help make all of our lives so much richer and more gratifying. This is a song Ron has wanted to write for a long time to honor the many individuals whose friendships he treasures.  

“Friends are like family to me,” says Ron, “and there are quite a few of them who have seen be through tough times and always remind me I’m not alone.”

Then, a tipping point: Ron had a long-awaited meeting with Grant Maloy Smith, the creative force behind his videos and website. And sure enough, this “new friendship” propelled him to write this song—a song Ron wanted Grant to sing. Grant is also an ‘American roots’ singer-songwriter, with many credits. Grant also produced this song.

One of the challenges in writing this song was to try not to be trite. (A song about friendship can get syrupy very quickly if one isn’t careful.) Another challenge was to steer clear of previous songs about friends and friendship—most notably, Carole King’s “You’ve Got A Friend” and Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend In Me.” Ron’s initial music, in fact, had his wife, Jackie, thinking it sounded much too much like the music to the Randy Newman song. To Ron’s chagrin, she was right. (Aren’t they always?)

But he went back to the keyboard and figured out a way to make it fresh, and in a style better suited to Smith’s style and vocal quality.

2022: It Was a Very Good Year

“Nothing Like A Friend” marks the third song Ron has written in 2022, beginning with “Your Beloved Home,” dedicated to the courageous people of Ukraine who have had to endure the horrific Russian invasion of their homeland, and “Finding My Way Back Home,” a personal song about finding a place where you feel at one, be it a physical home or a place of inner peace.

Both “Your Beloved Home and “Finding My Way back Home” were co-produced with Santa Monica-based producer-musician, Marty Rifkin, who, according to Ron, “is a never-ending source of musical as well as lyrical inspiration.” Although Marty didn’t produce Ron’s most recent effort, “Nothing Like a Friend,” he was instrumental in helping Ron hone the lyric and helped lay the foundation for the song.

The song can be heard on Ron's official website:


The song can be heard on Ron's official website:

https://www.ronovadiamusic.com/nothinglikeafriend

 

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