My best attempts at a hit...

[johnhampt]

These two songs are the best I got at a hit. Please, any feedback is appreciated.http://www.taximusic.com/hosting/home.p ... ampton"You Had Your Chance""Catch and Release"

[Casey H]

Quote:These two songs are the best I got at a hit and. Please, any feedback is appreciated.http://www.taximusic.com/hosting/home.p ... ampton"You Had Your Chance""Catch and Release"HiThis link didn't work for me. Either the taxi music site is hiccuping tonight or it's a bad link. I'll come back and listen later when it's fixed... Casey

[johnhampt]

Try www.taxi.com/jwhamptonThanks, my brother. And thanks for coming to my defense earlier. I felt bad if that guy thought I was offensive or out of line. People have and will tell me things that I don't necessarily want to hear.

[deantaylor]

John,I liked CATCH AND RELEASE. Has a good energy. Chorus had some 'hook' to it (pun intended). Maybe it could be a country hit, but .... who really knows? One thing: I couldn't understand a few words/lines in the chorus. Something about 'fears' maybe in the ?second line and then 'I found my inner something' near the end???? Maybe on repeated listens I'd understand the words, but .....Dean

[deantaylor]

For YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE. Good song. I like it allright, especially the verses. The chorus didn't really hook me though. Don't think this is a hit, but ... who really knows. Maybe it could be a film/tv song.DeanPS On my mp3 player it says ERIC CLAPTON composed this. You have good co-writers. lol

[johnhampt]

Thanks, Dean. I appreciate it. "Envy of my peers""Found my inner peace" Kind of making fun of the PC, new age thing. Once you find your inner peace, blah, blah, blah...There is a story behind You Had Your Chance. Recorded it several months ago with a friend and we no longer are recording together. He had the recording and I wanted to redo the lead vocals because they were done rushed, mostly first take. They were off. Anyway, he is so good at recording and I did not want to redo it so I got him to at least finish the song and send it to me. Hence, the vocal pitch fix. I really am not that bad of a singer. Honest I could totally redo the song but I am busy working on other stuff. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

[deantaylor]

John,Hard to say for sure without having written lyrics, but from memory, it seems like the 'peers' line fits well and is a good 'commercial' line for this song. But .... the 'inner peace' line seems like you are reaching for something much too subtle for a commercial radio country song. How about something more like: 'there are more fish in the sea(s)' ...PM me your written lyric if you want a more 'informed' opinion.Dean

[rnrmachine]

Hi John,I listened to both songs and I thought they both sounded really good, great recordings and production. I think you are really close to hit songs here but there seems to be something missing to put em over the top as definate hits. Maybe it is a tiny bit behind current country hits. I use to frequent this "Country Club" with some friends and these songs would have been loved there played live, I have absolutely no doubt about that. Maybe what is missing is the Ambience of a live performance. Then again maybe not. Hard to say but at least you are extremly close and someone would want to pick these up and tweek em to fit a current country singer. Wouldn't be hard to do at all... be easy really.More Specific "Catch and Release" has a good vibe to it and a neat chorus. It is Catchy.. hehe.. to add another pun. Excellent job all around, I would be proud of that if I recorded it. (I'd be proud of both songs)"You had your chance" is cool jump back in a memory song. The chorus is MUCH better then the verses, just hit me that way. Like the chorus was in hit mode, the verses tended to sound alot like they were from another song when they first came in then hopped out. Must have been the same chord with a same sound. I think it is "Mountain Music" by Alabama. Not sure as I don't have a recording of it. I think what I don't like so much in the verse is the change coming right out of the "Sounds like Mountain Music" part. That said, how many times have I heard songs that have "Ok" verses or just mediocre verses then BAM into a really nice chorus. That is what I think you have here. The verses are "ok" to better then ok, not great but not bad either. Plus, I have been told, you want parts of the song to be "ok" so the chorus/hook shine even more.Like I said before, I think the worst thing keeping these from being definate hits would be a lil bit yesterday sounding. Obviously I found the chorus more interesting then Dean did and he found the verses better. Completely differing opinoins so ya need to take em as such, just opinions. heheGood luck in all ya do,Rob

[Casey H]

Hi JohnSorry for the delay in giving some listens since we spoke. Both songs are very well written, produced, and performed. Were these by professional demo services or did you do these? They are really put together well.I enjoyed "You Had Your Chance"... Catchy... I'm not big on back to grade school stories but you did a great job with this and the ending wraps up the story nicely. You have a good grasp of the songwriting craft, crafting the lyrics and music together. My only nit pick is that the verse music sounded very familiar. But then again, millions of songs have similar melodies."Catch and Release"... Good song! Also, the writing, performance, and production are great. Another very catchy tune. Again, something sounds very familiar about the music. Of the two songs I like this one better.I would guess that your goal is to pitch songs to Nashville. A few things... Have you had some pro-critiques? Nashville is such a hard nut to crack, you should get feedback from the best folks as far as what works for pitching Nashville. Are you interested in also pitching for film/TV? If so, do you own the master rights to these recordings? I learned recently that many Nashville demo studios don't like to give these rights. If you did use a professional demo service, it's good to ask about this. Reality is film/TV provides the best opportunities for all of us and can be a good thing to do in parallel to pitching for artists.You are doing a lot of things right! Keep at it. Use every resource you can and follow the dream.Best Regards, Casey