Originally Posted By: Charlie Fogle


" I hear room for some tweaks to blur the lines between outlaw singer doing Florida Georgia Line material. "

Being the single 'this ain't modern country' voice I first want to repeat that I think this is an excellent attempt. The vocals, music and lyrics are as Floyd notes, "Just the right touch of all the elements needed to create "the sound". The BEAT, the repetitive synth, the background synth strings - and the all important "traditional" (dobro) adding the right flavor." It has the elements but also the exception it doesn't create 'The Sound'..

Here's why I believe that. It's close and maybe could find acceptance as a demo but if a major artist were to record this song, I believe it would sound radically different in many small ways. I think a distinctive intro would be added and there would be a dramatic shift to accentuate when the chorus comes even though the chord progression remains the same. I think the song would be shortened and a bridge added.

None of that makes this a bad song but they are the type of things that keeps it from being a commercial country hit.

Reviewing the posts for members stating they hear various artist styles, I've seen James Blunt, Mellencamp and Cold Chisel.... Not a single country artist mentioned...

This is presented as modern pop country. Samuel is a top tier country singer....

My thought is if you want to write a country hit, then your song should sound like the songs and artists that have top country hits. The top ten chart should be your hunting field.

I went to the website "A Taste of Country" and looked at their September 2017 Top 40 songs. Their song chart positions are based on Billboard. Here is the top Ten:


10. Lanco, “Greatest Love Story” - BIGGEST JUMP, UP 24 SPOTS!
9. Dustin Lynch, “Small Town Boy”
8. Brothers Osborne, “It Ain’t My Fault”
7. Old Dominion, “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart”
6. Luke Combs, “When It Rains It Pours”
5. Thomas Rhett, “Unforgettable”
4. Jon Pardi, “Heartache on the Dance Floor”
3. Lady Antebellum, “You Look Good”
2. Kane Brown (Feat. Lauren Alaina), “What Ifs”
1. Midland, “Drinkin’ Problem”


I did laugh at number 1 being a song that could have been a number 1 hit for Alabama twenty five years ago. While "A Taste of Country's" Number 1 takes a bite out of this whole conversation trying to define 'modern', the other nine are what current radio sounds like.

Listening to these songs you hear intros that differ from the verse and the songs usually ramp up big for the choruses. There is a lot of staggered instruments coming in and out and the music, even the sparse verses have a dramatic shift into a chorus.

These are nothing but tweaks added to a strong foundation, good lyrics and killer vocals.

( I have to admit to downloading Samuel's 1:37 early rendition of this music from the other thread and using it, in its entirety, as a loop for my own experimental song. I ran it through the ACW for the chord chart and using rests and adding additional instruments to create a true intro,short verse, chorus and outro. I added an additional bassline, several percussion instruments including a shaker panned right where this version features the strumming acoustic. I added an electric rhythm guitar, two lead guitars alternating with each other, a mandolin/ acoustic guitar lead combo for the intro. Added a fiddle and finally outro with a banjo from three different banjo soloist RealTracks... in about ten minutes, all within BIAB solely as an experiment. The stereo loop of Samuel's original track was the foundation track to achieving a recognizable intro, verse, two choruses and short outro with that original track. )



Charlie, I hear what you are saying. The current country charts are very heavily pop influenced right now. Some of it so much that it's sickening. However as you pointed out with " Drinkin Problem" and I would add in "When It Rains It Pours" there is also a push back happening to more traditional sounding country going on. Just look at the music of Chis Stapleton, one of this year's top artists. There is certainly nothing pop about his music and yet he rose to the top it seem like overnight.

I giess my point is that there is room for many variations of country music in todays market. What may sound like pop may not be that to another.

On another note I would love to hear the arangement you did with the original loop. Feel free to share it here or message me.

Thanks.

Samuel Davis Jr
BIAB 2018 + Cubase + Ignite
BMI

www.sammycountry.com