I’m Not My Yesterday Gives Jonathan Brown Both the Organ and the Piano Behind Howard Gripp
5 min read
I'm Not My Yesterday Gives Jonathan Brown Both the Organ and the Piano Behind Howard Gripp
A Four-Minute Americana Single with Seven Musicians, Produced and Mixed by Billy Smiley
I’m Not My Yesterday sits first on Howard Gripp‘s Spotify page, the top entry among the ten tracks the platform lists as the most popular. The Americana single came out on 11 September 2026 and runs four minutes and 16 seconds. Seven musicians play on it, and the credits show exactly who does what.
Howard Gripp’s new single is in the playlist below, and the Howard Gripp profile gathers every feature written about the music so far. I’m Not My Yesterday reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Hit play for the organ and piano, then keep reading for who plays what.
The Arrangement on I’m Not My Yesterday Splits Guitars Between Howard Gripp, Billy Smiley and Mike Payne
Start with the guitars, because three of the seven players are on them. Howard Gripp sings lead and plays acoustic guitar. Billy Smiley plays electric and acoustic guitar. Mike Payne does the same. That gives the track two electric players and three acoustic guitar credits in total.
The rest of the band fills out an earthy Americana line-up. Chris Brown plays bass guitar. Miles McPherson covers drums and percussion. Jonathan Brown plays both organ and piano. Ron Hemby and Billy Smiley add backing vocals behind Gripp’s lead.
One keyboard player on two instruments is a choice with a long history. In Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, founding member Benmont Tench covered both piano and organ. The Band split the same two parts between Garth Hudson on organ and Richard Manuel on piano, and their records mixed Americana, folk, rock and country long before the word became a radio format. On I’m Not My Yesterday, Jonathan Brown holds both chairs.
Gripp wrote the words and the music with Smiley. The two also share the arranger credit, so the shape of the track belongs to the same pair that wrote it.
Billy Smiley Produced the Single and Shared the Mix and Master With Billy Whittington
Smiley is the busiest name on the record. He appears in all three sections of the credits: writing, production and performance. He produced the single and holds mixing and mastering credits. The credits also list Billy Whittington beside him as mixer and mastering engineer.
That production hand comes with a long history in Christian rock. Smiley was one of the core members of White Heart from its start in 1982 until 1998, as guitarist, singer and one of its main songwriters. After the band, he moved into production and artist development across Christian music.
NRT Music put the single out as a two-track release, with I’m Not My Yesterday as the lead song.
Where Howard Gripp’s I’m Not My Yesterday Sits on Spotify, Apple Music and Our Americana Playlist
The catalogue behind it is busy. Howard Gripp has put out 16 releases on Apple Music since November 2023, a mix of singles and EPs. That works out at roughly one release every ten weeks. The pace matters for a ranking, because a new single has to climb past the songs that came before it.
The run began with When I Pray in November 2023. Since then Gripp has re-cut When I Pray and He Rescued Me as acoustic versions, released a Christmas single, We Three Kings, in December 2024, and shared a credit with Erin Oakley on Everything In His Name in May 2025. The I Can Feel The Change EP followed in October 2025 with six songs.
Length sets I’m Not My Yesterday apart on that Spotify list as well. At four minutes and 16 seconds, it is the second-longest of the ten tracks there, while eight of the other nine run between three and four minutes. For a listener coming to the catalogue now, that makes it the obvious first play, and the organ and piano chair is the detail to listen for.
Why the Single Entered Our Country, Country Pop and Americana Playlist
On BestMusic.News the single now sits in our Country, Country Pop and Americana playlist. It suits listeners who follow newly released independent music, and the credits give them a reason to listen closely.
From the BestMusic.News curator team: “Seven players, one musician on organ and piano, and two names on the mix: I’m Not My Yesterday is a band record carrying a singer-songwriter’s name, and that is why it entered our Americana list.”
Stream I’m Not My Yesterday on Spotify and Apple Music, then follow Howard Gripp across platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube channel, SoundCloud, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Linktree and the official site.
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