presenting cliff preston
and the band table
read the story
and listen to the song,
“Better Road”
the story
I was sitting on a couch listening to a friend tell me that I should record some songs. I remember saying “I have let that part of me die”. The next statement changed the course of my life. She said, “Cliff, God is really good at resurrecting things”. The next year seemed like a whirlwind.
Some dear friends and I started working on a song. We started singing “Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye”, and over the course of the next few hours we wrote the song now known as “Better Road.” This song has been a gift to me from Jesus. The lyrics are filled with pure joy. This joy comes from a literal weary traveler that found a better way. If I was a wrestler, this song would be my theme music. It shouts of the freedom I’ve found and reminds me that I’m not who I was.
As I looked back on the last twelve years of my life, it seemed like I was trying to atone for sins that Christ had already died for. I thought that I was disqualified. I believed that I had made too many bad decisions to begin again. I had hurt people. While I did need to grow up, learn, make apologies and amends, I also needed to rest in the grace, love, and peace that I had preached, sang, and wrote about for so many years.
In the healing process, I had to lay down the world that I had created around myself, so God could have room to build a person that looks a lot more like Himself. It led me to the realization that the things that are worth fighting for, are the things He orchestrates and ordains. These things include but are not limited to my marriage, my children and my call to pastor and minister to those around me. We have the freedom, today, to take a different path.
I’ll never forget what my dad would say to me, “Son, you have never done something so bad that God won’t take you, or take you back”. Friends, I am not who I was. I have experienced the resurrection of my soul, the resurrection of my family, and I am inviting you to walk on this better road. It’s a little narrow, but it will always be worth it.
Better road lyrics
Verse 1
Was a weary traveler, done my share of trouble
Had a love for danger, livin' undercover
Then He saw straight through me
He said Follow Me, son
Now all the things that I once loved
They were not enough.
Chorus
I said, Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
I’m heading down a better road
He took a wretch like me
And did the impossible
Hello, Hello, Hello, you’re looking at a miracle
And goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
I’m heading down the better road.
Verse 2
That path your takin', left you in the wreckage
Might have been good as dead
But He’s the resurrection
Cause He takes the dry bones
Brings 'em back to life
So come on start running with me
There’s not a better time!
Bridge
Come with me friend, let’s go walking
Let’s make our way home
Come with me friend, let’s go walking
Let’s make our way home
Come with me friend, let’s go walking
Let’s make our way home
Come with me friend, let’s go walking
Walking down that better road.
CREDITS:
Vocals: Cliff preston
Producers: Jordan Merritt, Kaleb Frazier, Zach Saltmarsh
Mastered by Joe Causey at Voyager Mastering
Written by sabin flore, jade lundgren, cliff preston, buck mcknight.
COVER ART: Photographer: William Read
Cover Art: Graphic Designer: William Read
Art Director: Jennie Lee Riddle
CCLI Song #7222931. Copyright © 2023 Tent Peg Music (BMI) /
New Hope Road Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved.
cliff preston Bio
“I try to see people through the lens of what God has brought me through and saved me from. I believe that if God can love and use even me, he can love and use anyone.”
It’s been said that what sets Cliff Preston apart is his raw authenticity and compassion. Preston’s music ministry began in 2002 as he began traveling with bands to bring awareness to the love of Jesus as well as the mental health crisis. With his father being a professional counselor and pastor, he was very aware of the effect that mental health was having on the generation, as well as the ultimate source of wellness - the finished work of the cross. He has spent the following twenty years traveling the country writing songs, leading worship, preaching, and even opening businesses geared towards Christ-centered clinical mental healthcare.
Cliff is proud to call Smackover, Arkansas his hometown. He is even prouder of God’s faithfulness through his marriage with his wife Leslie, and the wisdom God provides as they raise their daughter Kannyn (12), and their two sons Murphy (10) and Campbell (2).
Cliff brings over two decades of ministry experience and business development to his partnership with People & Songs. In that time, he has written songs for artists including Newsong, JJ Weeks, Carrolton and more. He has shared the stage with artists such as MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, and Natalie Grant among others. All while opening and building companies that develop platforms to display Christ to a lost and hurting world.
Cliff is excited for what is to come as he joins forces with this diverse team of artists, worship leaders, and writers for the glory of God.
