DEADLINES...

One advantage independent writer-musicians have over the Industry is we're able–in theory–to meet tight deadlines, and that's a potential break-in route into the music business. I can put out a song in a day–just showed that was possible. Now, if I could get a song recorded in a week's time, say, using local musicians and a local studio, we'd have something the Industry couldn't match. The Big Boys can't move that fast–but we can. Two important prerequisites are (1) we have to be able to deliver on time and (2) the product has to be of equal quality as the Big Boys'. I think both are possible, though they're going to have to be worked on.

The Friday Night Group folks are a joy to work with–an incredible mix of styles and backgrounds, that can be really surprising when put together in one place. Most are far from professional musicians (there are two retired professionals, however, and one of the fiddlers plays violin in a local symphony orchestra), and they're competent without being stars. The key, though (my opinion) is being familiar with the material, and with each other, and these guys and gals are getting that down. They're becoming familiar with each other's foibles and limitations–as well as strengths–and the result is extremely professional. They are, as the Big Boys like to put it, "radio-ready."

UPDATES

"TURN YOUR RADIO ON": Well, we have the band–Dale on electric bass, Jeannette on fiddle, and Dale, Jeannette, and Ruth (from the audience) doing backup vocals. Kenny, who was going to play lead, had to have a knee operation, so I coerced Wayne, another of the Friday Night Group musicians, into substituting; Wayne is your traditional barroom electric guitarist, but he did know the song–everybody does–and his barroom lead is just perfect for it. NOW the trick is getting everybody into the studio over the next couple of days. Thankfully, since we're "layering" this thing, everybody theoretically doesn't have to be there at once. But we sure did sound good when we played it live.

"WHEN I JUMP OFF THE CLIFF I'LL THINK OF YOU": I found on the computer a reference track for this song–drums, bass, keyboard, and keyboard imitating a fiddle and banjo–that Steve Grayson (aka "The Lone Arranger") had sent me over a year ago, that I'd forgotten in the process of losing my job and moving. I recorded a vocal and lead guitar plinks to it and sent it back to him. If he likes it, I want to post it. What it does show is that my songs sound equally well done with a "standard" country-music band with electric instruments as they do with an all-acoustic bluegrass band. And that's potentially important.

"INVITATION TO ST. PATRICK" is the latest song, a response to one of those on-line songwriters' board challenges. These are good to participate in, because they stimulate creativity within deadlines. In this case, I was able to do it–all of a day to write the song, sing it enough times so I had it memorized, and record rhythm guitar, vocal, and lead plinks in the Garage Studio and mix it. Had it posted most of a week before St. Patrick's Day. It's not album material by any means–it's definitely a St. Patrick's Day song, and probably only performable this time of year–but I did get to test it out on a live audience with the Friday Night Group, and both the band and the audience liked it a lot.

I'm getting some relatively good output out of the Garage Studio, and getting it relatively fast, too–I think because I'm getting the levels down pat on the Tascam, so I don't have to experiment. The result is turning into a fairly consistent "style" that I guess I'm comfortable with. I don't want to have my songs end up all sounding alike–that's a danger in country music–and the "style" thing is giving me a more constricted "box" in which to work. The question is whether I can get enough variety out of the "box."

MORE STUFF: One of the things I do to make sure I'm not bored is always have a backlog of things to do. I've still got "Tugga Paw" (the Swedish country-music song) to finish and record, "Oil in the Cornfield" (presently waiting on The Collaborators), "Prehistoric Roadkill" and two other songs to finish writing. Now that the weather is warming up (finally), the Garage Studio isn't so hard to heat, and I can spend more time there in the evening.