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Well, after years of lurking, I'm finally going to post something that isn't a collaboration. As a song writer I don't hold a candle to anyone here. But as a presenter of weird ideas, I may have found my own niche. This particular "art form" (if I may use the term loosely) requires "reasonable proficiency" in a number of directions, but mastery of none. I should have taken more time with this but it's a spoof on Merlefest, and I wanted to post it to their web site in a timely manner. It may become an annual spoof of bands that are playing at Merlefest, so I'm referring to it as "episode #1" suggesting there may be more (but not this year) link to the video: https://youtu.be/OolNxLDHEJA====================================================== regarding the lyrics, I asked myself "what would a bluegrass playin' squirrel be passionate enough to write songs about?" There are things he loves and things that scare him, but he's determined to frolic in spite of the danger. This is what I came up with: lyrics: Well I'm a rodent if you please the kind that climbs up trees I love it when it rains and I get wet I got a fuzzy little @$$ that just loooves to play blue grass I play it each and every chance I get My GPS tries to reroute me and hunters sometimes try an' shoot me none of that can steal my joy away as long as festivals recruit me & bands I'm with don't ever boot me I'll keep on bein' happy every day ---------------------- My front two teeth are gappy as squirrels go I'm quite happy performing here for all y'all's the best I'm joyful as can be My spirit's been set free appearin' on this stage at SkwerleFest Though friends of mine sometimes upset me and carnivores may try an' get me none of that can steal my joy away If nature doesn't second-guess me and folks like you show up and let me I'll keep on playin' music every day ------------------------ Well I'm a happy little squirrel Not a worry in the world! except for... maybe cats and hawks and things but what I fear the most is when my music turns to toast cause I played it way too hard and broke a string! When mixed emotions swell within me or taxidermists want to skin me none of that can steal my joy away If fans are showin' up to hear me & Folks I love are well and near me I'll keep on feelin' thankful every day (and so should you!) ======================================================================= real tracks are basically the whole _BG_BDMS style, except I omitted the fiddle because Sam Bush plays both fiddle and mandolin, and in this song I had him on mandolin. Bass=RT427, Mandolin=RT432 and RT436, Banjo = RT426, Guitar = RT 431, drums = Rock Southern EV^1
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Awesome are you going to M fest?
Last edited by dga; 04/08/16 05:18 PM.
"When you help somebody else you are really helping yourself"
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Awesome are you going to M fest? Yep! I'm a volunteer stage hand .. this year I'll be assigned to the Americana stage. Are you going?
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Yes, how do you volunteer is it too late?
"When you help somebody else you are really helping yourself"
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Yes, how do you volunteer is it too late? There is contact info for the volunteer coordinator on this page: http://merlefest.org/volunteer#tab-1Not sure when the cutoff is, but it's getting close. I think there's still time though if you act immediately
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"When you help somebody else you are really helping yourself"
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FLIPPIN' FANTASTIC!!!! Wonderful from start to finish Pat. Always knew you could write a song or two if you tried and I am glad I have been one of the first to see one of the first! I enjoyed it from start to finish and hope that there will be many more
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Wow, absolutely sensational entertainment Pat.
This is really, really, really good.
Great tune, fantastic animation, lots of hard work no doubt.
The Mandolin fills - perfect
You nailed it. Fun!
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Dear Pat !
You have outdone yourself here !
this is outright absolutely
fantastic ! :))
Take care
Cheers
Dani
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*carnivores may try an' get me*
Excellent Pat. All I can say is encore.
Rob
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Pat,
This is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining posts ever on here. Absolutely top notch. The mix is spot on and the bands performance is exactly right for the circumstances.
From announcer to soloists to audience member, you've nailed everything! I take it that the voices are yours.... fantastic!!!
You're talent is extraordinary! I loved everything about this.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Fantastic Pat! That was most entertaining.
Great lyrics. Riveting video. Congratulations.
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Excellent video and song Pat. It will be a big hit for Merlefest.
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Awesome, Pat.
Everything about this is good. A very clever write. Great video.
Your attention to detail is evident in the addition of feedback and the "mic claps" of the MC...
"Let's play some happy stuff..." HA!
Extraordinary rhyming throughout. And non-stop entertainment.
As Noel said, you are a talented man.
floyd
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Hi Pat,
what an entertainment! Must have been a lot
of work.
Great lyrics and video. I enjoyed this so much.
Guenter
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FLIPPIN' FANTASTIC!!!! Wonderful from start to finish Pat. Josie, THANK YOU so much for your four-exclamation point review! (in a text-based environment, exclamation points fill in the blanks for all the other subtle communication that falls thru the cracks) Always knew you could write a song or two if you tried I actually write a lot of songs, but by the time I record them they don't sound like the idea anymore, and I hate them. This song scraped thru with MOST of what I imagined intact. I left some stuff out because I couldn't figure out how to animate it... so in a way, the animation adds constraints, limiting what I can do. and I am glad I have been one of the first to see one of the first! I enjoyed it from start to finish and hope that there will be many more I'm glad you were one of the first too, because you made my day with your kind review! And yes, there will be more now that I've found a niche that doesn't force me to compete directly with all the gurus here on this amazing forum full of talented song writers! I also want to add that your recent song "THE THINGS HE LEFT BEHIND" was such a creative theme for developing songs in BIAB... it made a real impression on me, and I resolved to try something different too. Thanks for that!
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Pat, This is sensational!!! LOL!
Love all the little details - feedback, the mic claps, the crickets.... Great story, great song and cool squirrel voice with a wonderful backing track. This is so impressive and well done - I don't have enough good things to say about it. You've totally nailed this and should be very proud.
Excellent! Two paws up!!
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Wow, absolutely sensational entertainment Pat.
This is really, really, really good. Trevor, You couldn't have described my intent more perfectly... I'm trying to use all the tools at my disposal to entertain people! Thank you for suggesting that it may have worked out as planned! I really appreciate your encouragement! Great tune, fantastic animation, lots of hard work no doubt. It really is a lot of work, in spite of having wonderful tools to work with. If I had to use the music and animation tools that Walt Disney worked with, none of this would be possible. The magic is in the software! (Thanks to PGMusic and MUVIZU for creating the greatest software for people who have ideas to actualize!) But, everybody who uses BIAB knows that there's more to it than pushing a button and getting a finished product. Above and beyond the technology that handles all the heavy lifting, there is still project management, character and set design, song writing considerations etc, all of which are still highly influenced by the creative choices of the person managing the project. So, I appreciate your kind words! The Mandolin fills - perfect I'm not sure Sam Bush would have played the same passage verbatim 3 times, but for the sake of establishing a theme, I let the squirrel be a little less creative than the real Sam Bush. ;-) I don't take those words lightly! (Any of them) ... So I'll send them right back at you for your recent song "Baby Don't Make Me Blue". I want you to know that your decision to go out on a limb (squirrel pun intended) and include lyrics in your song was instrumental in encouraging me to risk posting something. Thanks for that!
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Dear Pat !
You have outdone yourself here !
this is outright absolutely
fantastic ! :))
Take care
Cheers
Dani Dani my friend! Such kind words about a song that depends heavily on software to exist at all... while you are over there writing Beach Boys songs with multiple excellent harmonies and your MANY talents are evident throughout the song! I'm humbled by your kind words (but I sure do appreciate them!) Thanks! I look forward to hearing your next Brian Wilson spinoff! Hope it isn't a long wait!
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*carnivores may try an' get me*
Excellent Pat. All I can say is encore.
Rob
LOL, Rob! That's one of my favorite lines too! There was originally a scene in the video that I cut at the last minute that flashed to a hawk and cat in the audience when he sang those words.. I hate that the scene got cut, but it was causing me problems, and I needed to wrap up the video, sooo... Yeah, there will be more. I have about 20 similar projects in various stages of completion. Now regarding the word ENCORE: Any song that starts with the line "I saw you leaving in the reflection of my beer..." is a real attention getter! I really like all of your songs, and if you don't perform live, you are missing out on a lot of fun! Your delivery is perfect for live gigs. I'm sure you'd hear that word at the end of each performance: ENCORE!
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