A NEW PROJECT...

Got the entry forms and specs for the Woody Guthrie Songwriting Competition. I know which song I’m submitting: "Oil in the Cornfield," the closest thing I have to a social-justice song (which is what they want). I was going to enter it in 2004–which was the year they didn’t have the contest. Deadline for submissions is in April. And the first, second and third prizes are (besides the cash) the ability to perform the song on stage at the Festival in July–in Okemah, Oklahoma. Didn’t want to pass that up then, and I don’t now.
I have learned, I think, from previous submissions to song contests that one should not enter a simple vocal-and-guitar tape if the contest is going to be judged by Industry professionals (which this one is). One should have a Real Demo performed with a Real Band. (One just shouldn’t invest a whole lot of money in it.) I have a recording of the song, but it’s just a vocal-and-guitar tape. I’ll need to re-do it.
But how? Where I live now, the closest pro recording studio is in the Big City, at the end of two hours of bad road. I’ve got musicians here who could do the music, but not make a four-hour drive to do it. There are four possible options, I think:
(1) Judy Skye did the original vocal-and-guitar recording in her little garage studio, and she’s got a good ear. I think she can do up to 6 channels now. The space is small, but if virtually everybody is "inputted" through cords and is listening through headphones, there should be minimal bleedover. Doable if Judy is willing (I might have to provide some extra headphones). I’ll do rhythm guitar and vocal; from the Friday Night Group, I think I can extract electric bass, fiddle (or harmonica), and maybe banjo–5 inputs. We’ll do it live, of course (but maybe record the fiddle and banjo separately because of bleedover). If Judy doesnt have 6 channels to work with, it may be possible to use my old Sony mixer, which does.
(2) I can do it with the Tascam if I have to (though it’d be a pain in the butt); the Tascam has only 4 channels, and you can’t record more than 2 simultaneously. In addition, the Tascam has Volume Issues–you virtually have to use 2 tracks for the rhythm guitar, or it’ll distort. Nonetheless, it could be done with plugging the 6-channel mixer into one of the channels on the Tascam. It’d just involve a lot of time setting levels–which would be hard even if I weren’t tone-deaf.
(3) Third option is to re-convene The Collaborators, or create something like them–an Internet band of talents, where we’d collect the various tracks in one place and somebody (ideally not me) would mix them. The Collaborators would be ideal for this, but they haven’t played together in a long time, and may not play again; like the song says (one of mine), "...much too busy now, got their minds on other things." The product would be an *.mp3 file, which is supposedly lesser quality–but the input would be such high quality nobody might notice.
(4) Fourth possibility I heard about today–a local grade school teacher who has some recording equipment. I don’t know if he knows how to use it; there’s only one way to find out–both I and the heavy-metal bassist who told me about the dude will call him. Might be an opportunity to grow our own local-area recording engineer. In this case, as in (1), I’d use folks from the Friday Night Group for the band.
The lesson? (There are always lessons.) There is always more than one way to skin a cat. What you want to do–what I want to do, anyway–is assemble collections of tools that make sure the cat gets skinned, and skinned on time, one way or another.
Why is this project important? It’s potentially a way to tap into a whole additional market. The top 3 prizewinners in this contest get to perform on stage (the first prize winner gets to do a 20-minute set). It’s not that I’ve never performed in Oklahoma (though I haven’t), but more that the festival will draw people, who will leave clutching memories, or CDs, or both, and I’d like them to be of me. Like Pineyfest two years ago, it’s also an opportunity to meet people–and maybe establish an excuse to come back. Having demonstrated a certain reputation as a writer in my home area, I need to push that further, and garner some evidence that what I write is marketable to people in other areas as well.
UPDATES: The "Prehistoric Roadkill" song got a first verse (I think); that puts it ahead of "Always Pet the Dogs When You Meet Them" and "Lord, Let Her Feet Be Real, Real Small," which still have only choruses. Can’t hurry these things, but sometimes wish I knew how to. Recorded "The Abomination Two-Step" (might as well alienate the religious folks thoroughly), but I think I want to re-do it–it was cold out in that garage, even with the heat on for hours, and I think the recording reflects it. I still haven’t got the MySpace site to play the two songs I posted, and it’s been a week; my only option may be to cancel the whole thing and start over. And the City-County Insurance Services band ("The Risk-Takers") are getting together to practice this week, and have invited me to play with them; they want to perform one of my songs ("Duct Tape")–and I like to take advantage of opportunities like that whenever they present themselves.