TAXI.com

Hi Gang,I threw my work tape of this song up on P2P a week or two ago. Just got this finished demo back. I think Jimi's crew did a wonderful job of bringing my 70s-sounding work tape up to date. Seems to me the way they did it I could pitch it for either R&B/country artists a la James Otto or adult contemporary a la Jack Johnson. Whaddya think? Camhttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=230199&stream=true

Wow Cam, this is your most current-sounding demo yet. Yeah, James Otto, Billy Currington, Jake Owen...and even some adult contemporary stuff. It actually sounds like a Hootie and the Blowfish or Sister Hazel song to me Andy

Hi CamI remember this from your worktape. Very nicely done- cool vibe. I still think I hear a bit of Jimmy Buffet in there, that's not a bad thing at all BTW. Great track! The studio did it well! What's your target market for it? I think it's a killer film/TV pitch but I know getting master rights from the studio is expensive. Personally (easy for ME to say) I think it would be worth it here-- upbeat tracks like this with 'vibe' do well and it's obviously high broadcast quality. My gut tells me it would get easily signed.As you know, the odds of an artist placement are thousands of times less than that for a film/TV pitch.Best of luck with it! Casey

I think this turned out great. No nits from me. Good luck with it.Wig

Turned out good Cam.Very well written song.I LIKED YOUR VOICE BETTER ON THIS!!You had a delivery that was on the money for the tune. I hope you get a copy without vocals so you can sing it.I think you should pitch it both to artists and Film/tv.Sure, like Casey said, the chances for film/tv are a thousand times better but the money from an artist cut would be a thousand times more. And a song of this caliber deserves more than sitting in a library hoping to get placed. If you sign it to a library make sure you can still pitch it elsewhere. But theres always the artist "hold" which could stall it somewhere.REVERSION CLAUSE!!! Your getting really good at this bro!Matt

May 12, 2009, 2:20pm, djb wrote:Les, I like your review style. Very Refreshing. Nice job.Yeah dawg,really cool vision.

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

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