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Hometown Refugee

Here’s our first J&B post in nearly two months. We’ve long felt this tune had video possibilities so after a recent remix we decided to attempt it. Photographs (other than Peter’s) and video clips were shot with my iPhone 12 in three local small towns.

Bud would like to thank Janice for tolerating lip syncing for two vids* in short order, Peter for his guitar and photo and PG Music for making all this possible. And a shoutout to floyd for feedback and encouragement and to Marty for lip syncing counsel.

Your time to watch and comment are both welcomed and appreciated.

*Later we will post a video of Emerald (our recent collaboration with Scott and Ray). We mention it because our video work on it gave us encouragement to attempt another.

Video tech stuff: edited via Filmora, iMovie and Snapseed.
Audio tech stuff:
Janice: vocal > Rode NT1 mic > Scarlett 212 interface > Logic Pro X > Izotope Nectar
Peter: Guitar solo, turnaround, fills and rhythm

Bass: RT 2877 Americana / Waves Bass Rider / Izotope Neutron
Drums: RD Americana roots (toms - no kick) Waves CLA Drums / EMT 140 reverb
Guitar: RT 2878 electric rhythm
Pedal Steel: RT 2866 rhythm

Mixed in Logic Pro X
Mastering: (Izotope Ozone9 adv modules) EQ > Multiband Compressor > Imager > Maximizer > Tonal Balance > Logic Loudness Meter

© 2021 B. Merritt, J. Merritt & P. Fulham

Janice, Bud & Peter,

Hometown Refugee is an absolute GEM!

I can truly appreciate all of the effort that went into this song and video.

You should all be very proud of this special creation.

Bob

Very Nice!

Beautiful song & excellent instrumentation.

Guitar is tasteful and compelling.

Janice's vocals shine as usual.

The mix is perfect and the video work is outstanding!

I guess you could say..............I LIKE IT!

Well done everyone.

moto

Very cool song and video. Janice did an awesome job with the vocal and the video. Super production. I see this one is in Vimeo. Is it better than having it on youtube

This vocal just shines in this mix, with great singing, and mixed perfectly.

Love the guitar playing, love the video.

Now, I'm going to watch it again.

Team,
Deep. Sad. Emotional. Beautiful! Amazing tune in all respects. Very vivid musical and visual reflection of our rural towns and time we live through. Excellent job of putting this together. One of your best songs this year. Bud, you got an eye for shooting and editing video. You definitely should do more. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Wow ya'll this is really cool all around!

Nice video!!

Hey, is that your house???

I think I am finally beginning to understand why you guys are always singing the blues.

Great audio and video, a real treat for eyes and ears! Very professional looking. Super job!

Thank you Bob. And thanks for mentioning the effort. It was both fun AND quite tedious with the syncing.

We most appreciate your thoughts!

J&B

Thanks man. Those are very nice and supportive comments and are appreciated!

J&B

AMAZING.
The song lyrics, arrangement, elaboration by Peter and those occasional and emotive blue notes perfectly placed by Janice.
The Mix? ACE!
Video...this makes me glad.
It's a sad story and song but the video is a triumph.
Almost out of nowhere comes a glimpse at another facet of the team that is Bud & Janice - something that gladdens me.
peter you did a superb job of matching and enhancing the mood.

Hi Guys,

Very good song and great chorus and lyrics.

Well done to all of you.

Best Regards
Nigel

OMG There I go wafting on as usual. Thank goodness for the edit button.

I enjoyed the music and the video . All around bona fide talent to the max.
cheers
Gary.

J&B and Peter;

Wonderful production—all the elements are stellar: vocal, percussions, bass . . . everything . Terrific work on the video—I have no idea how that type of thing is done. Congrats on branching out so impressively.

My best to you all,

Deej

Lovely song from you all with a good mix.
Maybe too busy on the drums but maybe that's just for me.
Vic

Can we just agree that the song, production and performance are all stellar? Cool! I always comment on those aspects because y'all dominate in those areas.

That being said, did the video meet those same standards? In my opinion, it was @%&^'$ awesome! Hmmm...I got censored. Let me try this another way. That video @%&^'$ blew me away! Ok. Moving on I guess.

Seriously, that brought it to the next level on every level. Janice is a natural at everything; that's obvious. I don't think you can teach someone how to sing like OR connect with a camera like that. Sure you can mimic it, like butter and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" (I can believe it's not) but there's always something missing that makes it "real," authentic, and genuine. Most people would categorize those as synonyms, but I do feel they have very subtle differences to me. She is every subtle variation.

Video-I loved the choice of going to the "black and white" and all the shades that come with that side of things. At times, I feel the use of color may dictate an emotion as much as anything else; without realizing it, possibly into an emotion you're not intending. Your choice added TO the emotion and emphasized the feel without dictating it. I believe you know that many time I prefer to listen to a song without seeing the video at the same time. I made an exception here knowing your goal. Amazing! To me, this added to the song in every way. It was subtle, but never boring. The angles, the use of motion, composition, all masterfully done. I don't know how much you had to pay the wind, but you even had that workin' for ya! Now, I'm not going claim to be even remotely educated in these areas; but I do have to frame drone shots often enough. All I can say is, I felt major connection to the song BECAUSE of the video!

"Nothing lasts forever" in the cemetery, then even more so by what was a VERY large tree that is no longer there strikes every aspect of that moment. Speechless! SO, powerful. I don't believe that is an image I will ever forget. I sincerely believe made into a print, that image would strike a chord with so many people. Truly amazing!

How crazy is it that we can do this with a little device we carry around with us...and this isn't even it's primary use? These are the parts of technology I love. Especially in the hands of people who strive to use it to connect people.

Well, I'll end it there for now. My daughter was just telling me if I put a period between each letter I can type pretty much anything and the bots won't censor it. So here we go with my earlier comments using this technique...
In my opinion, it was R.E.A.L.L.Y awesome!
That video R.E.A.L.L.Y blew me away!
What do you know...it worked!

Wow! What a major production. What a great mix on the song. I loved the slight reverb of it all. Well written tune. Vocals were outstanding. The video was so well done. The shot of Janice sitting on a cut tree at the cemetery while singing "nothing lasts" was very poignant and pure art. Peter's guitar work is always thrilling.

Bravo!

Great collaboration.

Oh, you already know I LOVE THIS, and the video is a great touch. What a great song. As always the mix is masterfully done, the playing is outstanding, and the vocals cannot be better. Great choices on the supporting cast as well. You guys are my favorite band.

Thanks Scott!

I'll send you an email explaining our move from YT to Vimeo.

J&B

Hi Janice, Bud and Peter.

This is incredible. The sound of the production is stunning and the video raises the bar somewhere out past Jupiter.

Janice's vocals are absolutely extraordinary and Peter's guitar solo is so smooth and so easy on the ears.

I compliment Bud's iphone and video editing skills, too. The final presentation is a one-hundred-percent engaging production.

Super super superb entertainment.

All the best,
Noel