Hi Lee!
First off, huge respect for pushing through the rocky road of revisions (no pun intended!) to get this track to where it is today. The version you’ve shared feels like a spark of progress—vocals are punchier, the mix has more space to breathe.

Your comment about --"the judges decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered into" -- tells me that song fatigue has set in. Every creator hits that “I’ve heard this loop 37,000 times” wall. But trust me, this one’s a keeper. Time + distance might help you see its potential in a whole new light.


I have to say, after hearing your comments about the vocal clarity shifting depending on the headphones, I’m suddenly really curious what this song would sound like in a totally different context—a stripped-down, “unplugged” vibe perhaps? Just brainstorming here: two acoustic rhythm guitars panned hard L/R, your single-tracked vocals front and center with barely a whisper of reverb, and maybe a slide guitar or a harp solo … I’m not saying it’s the next step (by any means—this version is solid as a rock!), but I could get lost in a hazy, dusty take on it.

Keep riding those red dirt roads, Lee. You’ve got a great instinct for storytelling and a voice that definitely deserves to be front and center. Can’t wait to hear what’s next—rock version, unplugged experiments, or even a detour down a completely unexpected lane.

Rock on,
Izzy