It's Not Impossible (Finished Demo)

[cameron]

Les, thanks kindly for the very detailed feedback. I owe you one. The demo was made at Nashville Demo Studio (aka Studio 515) and the drums are real. The studio is a partnership with ex-Taxi forum administrator Jimi Heath, Tim Grogan and Rod Lewis. Tim played drums for Desert Rose Band (one of my favorites), Aaron Tippin and Boy Howdy, and Rod has played bass for Gary Allen among others. They're one of the best rhythm sections in Nashville for my money and their demos are very price competitive. They've done seven or eight demos for me and none of them has sounded like the players were just "going through the motions" as you hear in some Nashville demos. The singer is Benjamin Olson. I like your mix suggestions and just may run that by Tim and see what he thinks.JD, I know exactly what you mean about the breaking up the two melodic fragments in the chorus, but you're the first one to notice. On my work tape I think I had actually sung the second line slightly different for the reason you mentioned, but the demo singer sung them both about the same. I think a little variation might make it sound a bit more interesting.Thanks to both of you. I thought this thread had died but Patrick has given it some new life!Cam

[jdhogg]

LesIn this day and age, more and more music lovers are enjoying the music in headphones. iPods, etc. Mix with that in mind. Make the song an moving picture rather than a painting. Pan, pan, pan, especially during lead sections on the guitars. Bring the mix to life.That is a great point.Just for the hell of it I am getting out the auto panner on my next track. I love the wild panning on some of hendrix' stuff.

[mcanty]

This is a great singer / songwriter pitch disguised as a country song, cleverly done.............I could see this is a movie intro.............although I think you write for artist pitches, right?

[jwebbinspired]

Les, I think you have to fully understand the country music scene to understand country music demos. There is a certain uniformity (that the cookie cutter feel) that is completely nessecary in order to reach various types of country artists. It's basically the Nashville language. Country stays "home" a lot and the hit songs are the ones that are true to homebase but touch the outside "rims" of the genre. Since you had said that you weren't familiar with the genre, I thought I'd try to explain the current country music gig as I see it.Andy

[lestonal]

May 14, 2009, 12:45pm, jwebbinspired wrote:Les, I think you have to fully understand the country music scene to understand country music demos. There is a certain uniformity (that the cookie cutter feel) that is completely nessecary in order to reach various types of country artists. It's basically the Nashville language. Country stays "home" a lot and the hit songs are the ones that are true to homebase but touch the outside "rims" of the genre. Since you had said that you weren't familiar with the genre, I thought I'd try to explain the current country music gig as I see it.AndyThank you for the insight, although I don't believe I ever stated I wasn't familiar with the genre. I thought I stated I did not prefer that genre. Slight difference, and if I did say I wasn't familiar, well, that be one of them there typos.I understand your point of view completely. I won't bother arguing it, there really isn't any point in that. Although I do strongly disagree. But something fresh will always sell. Proven time and time again. Sticking to your guns will only get you so far, especially when the old die off.Innovators will always rise while imitators will eventually fall. My comments here are not to be taken towards this song at all. I like it and I would not have spent a half hour reviewing it if I did not hear much potential in the piece. If you're happy with the mold, who is to tell you otherwise right? But it IS the people who stand out that prevail every time. I do understand that much being written here is for specific requests from Taxi. So I can't really argue that if you are writing to apply for the job. To my understanding they look for the cookie cutter, been there done that, it works don't change it styles. Certainly nothing wrong with that. If it's not broke, why fix it right?I'm trying to get it out of my head as I read and read here that music is being written for a specific job for Taxi. But I come from years of writing to be fresh. I'm not comparing the two, it is apples and oranges basically and both methods of songwriting have their place.

[gavink]

Good quality demo. Definitely country. well arranged.pitchable to country and even tv/film I would say.good work.

[jwebbinspired]

May 14, 2009, 1:20pm, lestonal wrote:May 14, 2009, 12:45pm, jwebbinspired wrote:Les, I think you have to fully understand the country music scene to understand country music demos. There is a certain uniformity (that the cookie cutter feel) that is completely nessecary in order to reach various types of country artists. It's basically the Nashville language. Country stays "home" a lot and the hit songs are the ones that are true to homebase but touch the outside "rims" of the genre. Since you had said that you weren't familiar with the genre, I thought I'd try to explain the current country music gig as I see it.AndyThank you for the insight, although I don't believe I ever stated I wasn't familiar with the genre. I thought I stated I did not prefer that genre. Slight difference, and if I did say I wasn't familiar, well, that be one of them there typos.I understand your point of view completely. I won't bother arguing it, there really isn't any point in that. Although I do strongly disagree. But something fresh will always sell. Proven time and time again. Sticking to your guns will only get you so far, especially when the old die off.Innovators will always rise while imitators will eventually fall. My comments here are not to be taken towards this song at all. I like it and I would not have spent a half hour reviewing it if I did not hear much potential in the piece. If you're happy with the mold, who is to tell you otherwise right? But it IS the people who stand out that prevail every time. I do understand that much being written here is for specific requests from Taxi. So I can't really argue that if you are writing to apply for the job. To my understanding they look for the cookie cutter, been there done that, it works don't change it styles. Certainly nothing wrong with that. If it's not broke, why fix it right?I'm trying to get it out of my head as I read and read here that music is being written for a specific job for Taxi. But I come from years of writing to be fresh. I'm not comparing the two, it is apples and oranges basically and both methods of songwriting have their place. Cam, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. And again I think you've got a great song here Les, you are very right about sounding different being the road to success. I'm not arguing that. What I tried to express was in Country music particularly the industry is looking for and driven by the combination of familiar and different. Too much of one is either uninteresting or unrelatable. That's what I meant by "Country stays "home" a lot and the hit songs are the ones that are true to homebase but touch the outside "rims" of the genre." I'm also sorry if I came across as rude. I was just trying to explain Nashville demos and why they can sound "cookie cutter." I'm listening to this again Cam. I still say Sister Hazel. Andy

[jwebbinspired]

Hey Cam, listen to Sister Hazel "All For You" or "Happy" your song sounds so in line to me.Andy

[cameron]

May 14, 2009, 12:04pm, mcanty wrote:This is a great singer / songwriter pitch disguised as a country song, cleverly done.............I could see this is a movie intro.............although I think you write for artist pitches, right?I dunno. I just write what I write. My work tape sounded like an Elton John/James Taylor collab sung by Willie Nelson, but the studio worked their magic and made it current. I love those guys (and Jimi too, of course).You're right Andy. I took a listen to Sister Hazel. Funny that some people say it's country but the country people seem to think it's pop or a/c. The good news is that nobody seems to really dislike it (getting good reviews on another site) so maybe it'll find a home someday. Oh yes, I forgot WARREN HEIN didn't care for it , but that was when Willie Nasal was singing on his work tape. I think maybe even he came around!Les is right about that 2nd line of the chorus. Kinda late now though unless I want to pay extra. Cam