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Front Range Sunrise

Huh. Guess I never posted this one. At least I can't find any sign of it on the forum. It was one of my first BIAB-assisted productions. Guess I just shared it with Bob Buford via messenger. And here I was all excited to show you how I've improved and stuff.

At any rate, when I was first playing with BIAB, this was my first original of mine I'd played with. And BIAB produced this great lick in a solo track that I loved with the song, but I decided I needed to speed the song up a bit. Which I ended up doing by 5 BPM.

This was before I realized that BIAB re-generates tracks. So I lost it, sort of, and I was never happy with the resulting song. It's also before Bob beat into my head to make something interesting happening in all parts of a song if at all possible.

Well I kept trying different ways to get BIAB to produce any sort of similar "solo" (I think it's Jason Roller on some fingerstyle acoustic guitar), and the resulting song lacked some of the sparkle I wanted. Could not come up with anything even close, so I abandoned it. That's about when the song "Alive" came out of nowhere and I turned my attention to that one. Probably why this never got posted.

It turned out I had an old version of the song in reaper with the track I wanted at 120 bpm, and I now know how, in Reaper, to change the tempo without changing the pitch. So I rescued the "solo" I liked!!! Now I'm happy.

This is basically the same production with vocals re-done and the rescued solo added.

And I guess you've never heard it before. Here it is.
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Front Range Sunrise
Phil Leith/Walking Bird Music

Front Range Sunrise
Open up my eyes
To another summer Rocky Mountain morning
Tall pine trees are callin' me
To come and join the day
Lace up my boots
I'm up and on my way
Steep trail up a mountainside
Break through trees to open sky
I feel a part of everything I see

Cool breeze in my face
This is not a race
The journey is my only destination
Waterfall is beckoning
Spilling from a hanging lake
Splashing stream leads me every step I take
Glacier valley open wide
Walk the edge of the tall divide
I feel a part of everything I see

[break]

Cracklin' fire fairies fly
And dance with the stars in the open sky
I feel a part of everything I see

Front Range Sunrise
Open up my eyes
To another summer Rocky Mountain morinin'

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Front Range Sunrise Good To Go
File:Front Range Sunrise BB Tracks.SGU
Key=C , Tempo 125, Length (m:s)=3:06
No intro. 95 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 95. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Style is _CMPFBLF.STY (Campfire, Fingerpicked)

RealTracks in song: ** N/A ** ~2479:Bass, Acoustic, HeldSimple Ev 110
Loop in Song: Drums\BrushesPop8ths
RealTracks in song: ** N/A ** ~405:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 120
RealTracks in song: ** N/A ** 2511:Violin, Background PopEvenHigh Ev 120 (1TrackStringQuartet)
RealDrums [in Song:ShakerEven8ths: a: Shaker b: ShakerEven8ths

*******************

Backstory

I love the mountains. John Denver lives on in my soul. I remember camping in the Sierra Nevadas as a very little boy, and the mountains have been in my blood ever since.

After growing up in Missouri with nary a real mountain in sight, I went to the Rockies when my wife had a conference in Denver. I took the week off work and went with her and drove in the mountains every day that week and it was like going "home". It was truly a religious experience, and I vowed I'd be back to the mountains at least once a year.

I haven't completely kept that promise but I've done a fairly decent job, considering. I've climbed a few 13'ers and 14'ers, and done my share of camping in the Front Range Rockies, which are my favorite.

This song is a portrait of my early experiences camping out there, waking up early every morning and zipping my tent open to that glorious sight ... mountains all around me and a full day to spend in them.

One line in the song is snagged from a line in a John Denver song "Seasons Suite" ... "I feel a part of everything I see" ....

I had to borrow it. There's just no better way to put that feeling.

Oh, I want to explain the "Fire Fairies" line ... my best bud and I were around a fire one night with the kids, and he's a storyteller. As sparks flew up into the dark sky, he worked those in, calling them fire fairies. I liked the description. Couple summers later we were out in the Rockies camping with the kids and we brought it up again. On the crystal clear nights you get in the dry summer air at 8,000 feet, away from any big cities, the stars are brilliant. And the imagery of the sparks flying up above the fire, and from our perspective, up into the stars, this line was added to evoke the standard evening campfire that goes with a camping trip in the mountains.

Plus it brings the song to the end of the day, after having started with the sunrise, and then to bed, in anticipation of another summer rocky mountain morning.

Very finely crafted song...
I can feel the John Denver influence which permeates your "Rocky Mountain morning" lyrical images...
Your song also reminds me of my own experiences in those mountains...
Breathtaking does not quite describe it...
But your song makes a far better description...
Thanks, I enjoyed listening to your song!

Really nice work, especially for a first creation! I agree with Jim above - I'm feeling the John Denver inspiration here, which is never a bad thing in my books. Your voice is strong and memorable, and the chords progressions are top notch. Nicely catchy without being overbearing.

You should be proud of this one - thanks for sharing

Nicely done, Phil.

It does have a JD vibe to it.

Good vocal and well mixed.

fj

Thanks, Floyd. Hey, I wanted to let you know I just bought your album last week through Amazon and I have been enjoying it thoroughly. Your lyrics and stories are so cleverly done. It's in the vein of Jerry Jeff Walker and a little Jimmy Buffett, for starters, but definitely all "Floyd Jane". A lot of fun to listen to!

Thanks for the memories. We used to mountain bike on the front range...and deeper into the mountains.

You well captured the JD feel but it is tempered with very nice touches of your personal approach.

It's well written, performed and mixed! And enjoyable.

J&B

Hi Phil, thanks for sharing this! The different elements really glue well together and the vibe is very appealing. The lyrics are quite fun. Thanks for sharing!

very nice

strong descriptive writing, I feel the presence of John Denver

nice arrangement, well chosen instruments

good straightforward vocals

a pleasure to listen to,

Kenny

Lovely tune and vocal. One of the benefits of living in Alberta is the Rockies are only a stones throw from here. I can totally relate to the lyrics. Well done..

Some of the imagery of this song give it an almost fantasy-esque element to the song that I really appreciate. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you muchly, everyone, I am starting to feel pretty good about this project.

Another nice tune!! Kind of a John Denver vibe. Pretty melody, and the band is just right. Nice!! Take care. Greg