PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Playing Mountain Music

Most of my family would often congregate at my Grandma Williams' house on Easter Sundays. She died several years ago, and now many of my family members have since moved to Tennessee. It was a combo of those two thoughts that brought this song together.

I posted my first attempt at a Bluegrass recording about 4 months ago and have tried to incorporate the suggestions I got to this one. I've struggled quite a while with It now and I'm still not satisfied. I haven't invested in a new vocal recorder yet, but I think there's still something else off in the sound. If you give this one a listen I'd be interested, as always, in your ideas and comments.

In case I don't post anything before Christmas, I hope all of you have a wonderful one.
Playing Mountain Music

Sitting on the front porch with a guitar in my hand.
And cousin Jimmy’s got his banjo, playing like no one can.
Uncle Phil’s got his fiddle, and that makes our band complete.
Playing Mountain Music in the hills of Tennessee.

We’re playing mountain music, we’ll play it loud and long.
Playing mountain music music, singing good ol’ mountain songs.
Ain’t nothing quite as fun as playing ‘Fox on the Run’,
and playing mountain music right up ‘til the dawn.

The yougins’ are all runnin’ playing hide and seek.
Little sister’s got a boyfriend and he kissed her on the cheek.
Ah, the poor boy, he don’t know it, but she’s leading him on.
Me and Jimmy grab a guitar and we play another song.

We’re playing mountain music, we’ll play it loud and long.
Playing mountain music music, singing good ol’ mountain songs.
Ain’t nothing quite as fun as playing ‘Fox on the Run’,
and playing mountain music right up ‘til the dawn.

Grandma’s in the kitchen making lemonade,
and Grandpa’s in the front yard, just lazin’ in the shade.
And now Mama’s got Daddy dancing out in the yard,
doing do-si-do, and one more go, and swinging on his arm.

We’re playing mountain music, we’ll play it loud and long.
Playing mountain music music, singing good ol’ mountain songs.
Ain’t nothing quite as fun as playing ‘Fox on the Run’,
and playing mountain music right up ‘til the dawn.

When the sun goes down we’ll gather round and play some gospel songs.
Get the family all together, and we’ll all sing along.
And then Daddy reads the bible just before we go to bed
with that mountain music still, just ringing in our heads.

We’re playing mountain music, we’ll play it loud and long.
Playing mountain music, singing good ol’ mountain songs.
Ain’t nothing quite as fun as playing ‘Fox on the Run’,
and playing mountain music right up ‘til the dawn.
No there ain’t nothing quite as fun as playing ‘Fox on the Run”
and playing mountain music right up ‘till the dawn.
Playing mountain music right up ‘till the dawn.

The Band:

Drums: Dow Tomlin, _DOCBG_F.STY
Rthym guitar: Unk. PG Artist, _BG_BNJR.STY
Rythm mandolin: Unk. PG Artist, _BG_BNJR.STY
Rythm fiddle: Andy Leftwich, _DOCBG_F.STY
Lead guitar: Unk. PG Artist, _GMB_GSO.STY
Lead mandolin: Andy Leftwich, _MAN_165A.STY
Lead fiddle: Rob Hajacos, _FDCWR90.STY
Banjo: Scott Vestal, _BG_BNJR.STY

That's really good! Kept me in it all the way. Great job on the editing. i liked that staggered harmony referencing the original Fox OTR. Maybe a little more bass. Well sung and a terrific write. We need more BG! Tom

You've got a real gift for making lots of words flow comfortably. I'm a big fan of bluegrass, my roommate in college played in a working bluegrass band and I learned all the staples like Fox on the Run. I think this is a terrific song and it brought back some happy memories for me. Volume was a little low for my old ears, but I just turned the knob up, sat back, and enjoyed it. Really fine work here!

"Little sister’s got a boyfriend and he kissed her on the cheek" Great song great lyrics great performance.
My type of music.Rob4580

Hi Brad
Cool song
Your vocals fit perfectly again
And also the background track sounds great
Really a great job
Wish you also merry christmas and a healthy new year
Andi ;-)

Hi Brad,

Excellent write, man, you have some serious skills in that department.

I don't know much about bluegrass, but this sounds pretty good to me.

All the best to you and yours for Christmas.

Love that red tele in your profile pic BTW!

Wonderful music and great vocals.
We really enjoyed this one!
Kept us tapping our feet.
Makes one feel like dancing

Rob and Anne-Marie

Both the melody and lyrics are really catchy!

Hi Brad.
I think the song, lyric and melody is good.
There seems to be a lack of bass and warmth in the mix though.

Vic

Even though the banjo is the second most annoying instrument on this planet in my opinion, I really enjoyed your song.
A lot I must say.
You have THE perfect voice for this kind of music.

Thanks for the comment Tom. I'll bring that bass up and see how it works out.

Glad you liked it TM. My brother is playing bluegrass almost exclusively now. I've never played it much, but I sure appreciate the sound. I haven't figured out the volume stuff well at all yet. Once I get better at mixes I'll start mastering the songs and see if that helps.

Thanks Rob. As I recall, you're one of the ones that gave some suggestions on my last one.

Glad you gave it a listen Andi. My wife and daughter are in your country now visiting some of the Christmas markets. They're sending me some pictures, and it's sure colder there than here in California! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas too.

Hi Dave. Thanks for stopping by. That photo was taken several years ago and some show in Reno. I sure wish I had that guitar now, it was fun to play. I usually either play a hollow body Gretch, a tele style Spirit, or an old box Takamine now.

Thanks for the listen Alexander!

I'll play with that bass some and see if I can get a better sound out of Vic. Thanks for the comment.

I appreciate you stopping in and giving the song a listen B.D., especially since it's so far out of your preferred genre. I've always liked the banjo myself, but was too lazy to learn the cord positions to get one of my own. I was considering buying a 6 string banjo when my wife bought me Biab. Now I no longer need one - fits my laziness just right!

Hi Brad,
Composition very rich in musical instrumentation. It's the style of country that I like. Well done.
And Happy Christmas to you and your family

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Nicely done.
The vocal seems on top of the mix and sonically different. You've what seems to be a high passed band mix and a fuller vocal on top that sounds like you're leaning into the mic.
As it stands it's still really good.

Brad,

You’ve written a terrific bluegrass tune here. It’s catchy, well-written throughout. As an aside, when I see “Fox on the Run” I think of that old rock tune from Sweet—not sure I’ve heard heard the bluegrass tune you are referencing.). I think rayc has given you some good feedback on the vocal—nothing more to add in that regard. Nicely done!

Deej

Hey Brad...this is one of your best...man you really put that band together well...especially the fiddle solo...it fits the song and played with the melody so well...I close my eyes and can see a family sitting on the back porch picking out songs together on those mountain instruments...my family has sung "Fox on the Run" at some of our "Cousin-fests" in Kentucky before...so this resonates with me...as usual you've written a mouthful of great story-telling lyrics is a masterful way...you make it sound conversational and didn't force any syllables or rhymes...just a superb BG song...loved it!

BTW...my car radio stays tuned into Bluegrass Connection on Sirius Radio all the time!

Technical question: When you say "new vocal recorder" what do you mean? Do you record into a DAW on your computer or outside hardware?

Thanks for stopping by JaniJackFlash ... and merry Christmas to you too!

Thanks for the tip Ray. That seems to be a consistent goof of mine. I'll keep experimenting and hopefully get it figured out.

Merry Christmas Deej. Funny, to me Fox on the Run is an old Bluegrass standard and I've never heard of the one by Sweet. Thanks for the loan of your ears.

Thanks for giving it a listen Dan. I've never been much of a vocalist, but in addition to that I consistently struggle with getting a proper sound out of a vocal (production wise). In my previous post I got some suggestions on trying some VST's like Nectar or Ozone 9. Dave Cuny and I chatted a bit and he explained some basics to me - which I'm still learning. Currently I am using an 11 Rack effects processor as an audio box to insert my vocals into my Protools DAW. Currently, I've been unable to figure out how to get the 11 Rack to allow me to send the signal into my DAW completely dry, and then add the effects as needed. I suspect that is the root of my problem, but still trying to figure it all out. - I hope that makes sense to you, it's still not that clear to me!

Brad,
Neat write and vocal performance! Listens very well. Vocals are clear and easy to understand.
I think you are almost there with the mixing part of things. You are lucky that you don't have addiction like me to over process things I would try to experimenting with just a hint of reverb and compressor at the Mix bus, to give more glue to vocals + arrangement. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Hi, Brad.

Fun country!

While it could be more polished, I don't see the current version doing any harm to the song at all.

In fact, a touch of roughness fits the song well.

I really enjoyed the lyrics. Good storytelling. Good driving energy in the accompaniment.

Hi Misha, thanks for listening. I'll try some more reverb - right now it's all experimenting with me, but thanks for the encouragement.

Merry Christmas David. Hope you made it through the recent storm okay. I sure appreciate your listening and comments. I'm still working on your prior suggestions and instruction - thanks.

Hey thanks Scott. I really enjoy bluegrass music, but for some reason it's always been a bit of a stumbling block for me.