PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Rodeo Cowboy...a try at country

https://soundcloud.com/planobillydfw/rodeo-cowboy-v-3

Bass and Drum tracks were put in time and in tune with Melodyne. Fiddle track unaltered. Small adjustments to the guitar track. I played the lead intro and outro. Vocals get harder by the year…lol This is a bit out of my comfort zone. I have never done much country. Also, this is a bit popish and perhaps a bit more modern. Not sure just what to think about this song yet…

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Rodeo Cowboy 120 BPM Key of C
File:Rodeo Cowboy 120 BPM Key of C.SGU
Key=C , Tempo 120, Length (m:s)=3:08
No intro. 92 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 92. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Style is _SJSAXHF.STY (SmJazzBalladSax w/PopInst(120RS))

RealTracks in style: ~519:Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 1756:Pedal Steel, Rhythm Pop8ths Ev 110
RealTracks in style: ~543:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Dreamy Ev 120
RealTracks in style: ~405:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 1877:Fiddle, Soloist CountryRob Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 2494:Piano, Acoustic, HeldChords 120
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven8^6-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat Open

Rodeo Cowboy

He won some money at the rodeo
Trailers loaded and he’s ready to go
North Dakota is a long way from home

Headed south for the Texas plane
Driving through the cold and rain
Trying to get home again

It’s a cowboy’s life
When the rodeo is over

Driving in his pickup truck
Thinking about his good luck
Money ain’t that easy to come by

But now it’s time to get back home
Calls his wife on the telephone
How’s the kids, hope their doing fine

It’s a cowboy’s life
When the rodeo is over



Getting tired and it’s getting late
Too much traffic on the interstate
Wishing he had someone to talk too

One more stop to fuel the truck
Home by daybreak with any luck
It’s a long old road

It’s just a cowboy’s life
When the rodeo is over
It’s just a cowboy’s
When the rodeo is over

Cheers,

Billy

I think you are painting a good tale here. The vocals are too buried, though. Turn that fiddle down while the singing is going on. Good start, bring up the vox and you will be fine.

Thanks Kevin,

You are right about the vox. I was trying something new for me in having a solo fiddle play through the whole song. I have a volume track on the fiddle but don't have it set correctly yet. Needs work..lol

BB has been an adventure!!

Billy

Excellent. Great traveling song.
Wouldnt mind doing a version of this.
Thanks for listening. Rob

Hi Billy,

I enjoyed this. I think Kevin has given some good advice. That being said, though, you had my attention all the way

All the best,
Noel

Hi Billy, I enjoyed listening to your Rodeo Cowboy song
and with the other comments having said that the volume on vocals need to come up and fiddle down I would say you have got it licked. I have a friend that made a living on the rodeo circuit and did quite well but he is retired now. He is also a song writer and singer.
Great job!
Sonny

Nice country sound in this song

Good guitar riffs.
Great voice for country as usual.


Hello

That's a pleasant listen, Billy.

The tracks work well. Pull that vocal up and you're good to go...

floyd

Billy... cool tune. I really like this. Cowboy songs are among my favorite topics... and you're off to a good start in this genre. I think you will do writing country.

I agree, with the previous comments that the vocals are way to low for country. They need to be upfront and not have a lot of reverb and absolutely no other effects. You want he audience to hear the singer in the same room with them.

Ditto on the fiddle..... use automation and envelopes to let it do some tasty fills. Letting it play through out makes the song too busy where it should be basic rhythm and a singer. Letting it play is way too distracting.

Lets dig a bit deeper.... you used the same exact rhyming words... TRUCK & LUCK in two different verses. This is where you need to dig deeper to find new and original lines. I've heard it said that you never want to use the same rhyming word twice in a song....It shows a lack of creative thinking..... excepting in the chorus obviously..... which brings be to another point....

Where's the chorus? You have several verses, and a line that sounds more like a pre-chorus....but there's no chorus anywhere to be found.

"It’s a cowboy’s life...When the rodeo is over" is a great pre-chorus line...but it's not a chorus.

You should place a chorus right after that line.... the word "Over" ends on the root... walk up to the 4th... BANG!!!! you have the start to the chorus. Heck... I would make that line the first line of the chorus.... it's a great line. Just write 3 more lines to follow it and tell the story.... Yeah this needs a big chorus so go and write one. Use it to tie the verses together and fill in the story you're telling. You don't need the PC.

Since you'll be adding a chorus.... that will put the song well over 4 minutes in length... drop a verse so you can insert the chorus... remember it will likely play 3 times. Once after each verse/pc... and a tagged chorus too ..possibly. You can also incorporate the PC you have now into a full chorus and save a few seconds in that manner too. It's totally up to you.

Start by condensing the 3 verses into 2 really good ones.... v2 is more filler than substance.... take the lines from them all and make 2 good ones. You need to eliminate the word fumbling as I call it... make the phrasing and word usage flow like water.....there's a few places that can use some smoothing out.

Shorten the intro to 10 to 12 seconds...

Verse 1 .. PC .. Chorus... V 2 .. PC .. CH...solo...CH tag...would be a good basic country structure.

OK.. I think that's enough for you to ponder.

I want you to know that I never give advice like this, that I have not been given, AND USED, myself. 2 songs come to mind.... The Best Christmas and COME & GO.... listen to them on my music page.... both started out with 3 or 4 verses, a chorus, pre-chorus and bridges. Both were near or over 5 minutes long. The advice I was given was almost exactly what I just advised for you to do. I took the songs and essentially rewrote them condensing things, deleting bridges and verses and the result was well worth the effort. What was a wandering boring song became a focused, halfway well written country song. It's a lot of work, but it's worth the effort when you finally get it done the right way.

Thanks to everyone who commented.

Rob, You are always welcome to use all or any part of anything I do.

Noel, thanks for the support and kind words.

SRP, I also have a few friends who work the rodeo circuit and are working cowboys.

Sergio, Thanks man, you are always so kind with me.


Floyd, thanks for taking the time to listen.

Guitarhacker, thank you for taking the time to provide a lot of useful feedback.

I can fix the music without to much of a problem.I don't like the lead intro solo and perhaps could use one from BB or try to play something better. The fiddle issue is self evident...just trying something that did not work, and I have an automation lane under the fiddle so that fix is easy. I was trying to not use pedal steel but could if I went to a minor.

I was also thinking to rewrite this in a major/minor way. Perhaps creating a chorus that goes to the minor. The idea would be to use a minor chord to help define the feeling of a bit of letdown when the "show is over".

Rodeo Cowboys have to deal with a lot of the same issues that musicians on the road deal with. In fact most anyone who works away from home faces these issues.

As there are some good writers here on the site, perhaps you guys could give me some ideas for the lyrics.

The idea I had was to express how it feels when the show is over and how there is no way to know what the outcome of the "show" will be, will I win or not. Then, a bit of reconnecting with home and how hard the trip back home is. Perhaps that is too many ideas in one song....

I think I will go listen to some things Merle Haggard has written and see if I can get some ideas.

My vocal abilities are so limited I am not sure if I could ever sing something like this.

Thanks,

Billy

Be careful when thinking of switching to minor chords... it's generally OK to use minors IN the chorus, such as a 2 or 6 minor chord for interest... but be careful that the chorus still fits with the song. If you go all minor or start minor, that will be very hard to pull off successfully. I think it would be a much better idea to use WORDS and not CHORDS to try to convey the "feeling down" when the show is over.

You could however... do something like this....

(F) it's a cowboy's life when the rodeo is over (C...Am) miles to go (G) just to see her (F) face (G)
(F) Wipe a tear, from the (C) corner of his (Am) eye Never (F) show the pain, (G) it's a cowboys (C) life.

or

(Am) it's a cowboy's life (G) when the rodeo is over (C...Am) (F) miles to go just to see her (C) face (G)
(Am) Wipe a tear, from the (C) corner of his (Am) eye Never (F) show the pain, (G) it's a cowboys (C) life.

The ultimate choice is you're and could be totally different from this.... This is just a quick 2 minutes with a guitar example....

It is amazing just how much you can express when you pick and choose the correct/right words and phrases. Song writing is about boiling things down to their most basic and effective essence. Eliminate all the meaningless filler and the stuff that you might have thought was cool but is worthless to the big picture. That's the genius of songwriting.

It might help to envision that you are writing the script of a 3 minute movie. Complete with intro, setup, meet the characters, plot, and conclusion. Outline the idea.... What happens in each verse and then how does the chorus connect those 2 verses? Use a bridge ONLY if it's necessary AND if it adds something new, interesting, and creative to the song.

Hi Billy.

A good song with a good story.

All the constituent parts are there and a bit of work work on the mix could make it into a great country track.

Lots of good advice from the others here.

ROG.

I agree with Rog. This is a very good start and with a little work it would be super.

Nice song, great arrangement. Someone commented Vocals up, fiddle down, I agree.

Style is _SJSAXHF.STY (SmJazzBalladSax w/PopInst(120RS))
you can't pigeonhole genres anymore -- jazz for a cowboy song?? Love it.

DE

Listened to the song and read the comments. Comments and suggestions are spot on in my opinion.

I wouldn't worry about re-mixing this version and concentrate on Guitarhacker's restructuring in a real chorus - into this existing structure you already have rather than involve changing to a minor chord. The change to the minor is something I associate more with a ballad and will substantially change the vibe of this really good cowboy song. Personally, I'd stick with the really good cowboy song.

Take Rob up on doing the vocals for you and this song will be able to win a beauty pageant.

You've done a good job out the gate and working on this some more is truly worth your time.

Hi Billy. Enjoyed this song.
Reckon the vocals up and the rhythm section too. Make it a bit more of a rocker.
( but I would do this to just about every song. ha ha ) Cheers.

I agree with Mario agreeing with ROG.
Good advice from the others

Alyn

I agree with Charlie. A little more work and you'll be there. Tom

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I have some stuff to do this morning and will get back to this later in the day.

Think I will try first to rewrite the words and keep the general structure. If that works, good, if not I can try the minor idea

Rob...if you would like to do the vocal, that would be really cool, also if you want to help with the rewrite of the words feel free to jump in. Plenty of cowboys down under, so I am sure you understand where I am trying to go with this!!


Cheers,


Billy

EDIT: I got your PM Rob

And we agree also! I would suggest using a rhythm fiddle to carry the vocals and a solo fiddle for fills and turnarounds. It takes a little DAW work as you need to remove the rhythm fiddle during the time the solo fiddle plays. But the tune is worth it and that'll give a sound closer to how a country band would play it. Often it will require several regens to get the segues between the solo and rhythm to sound smooth...but it's all there with good ole BiaB if you have the time.

Enjoyed the listen.

J&B