Way To Go
We wrote this song with floyd eight years ago and this is a complete remix with new track fx and mastering. Of late we have had some success in getting tunes placed on some significant Spotify curator playlists. We thought this tune might be accepted by one of the acoustic oriented curators so back to the board for the new mix, etc. It was written with floyd during a time when J&B were not as far removed from our acoustic band days. So for the newer forum folks here’s another side of our productions and we hope you like it. As always your time to listen and comment are much appreciated. Thanks to floyd and PG Music!

Janice: lead vocal
floyd: harmony, lyrics & arrangement
Bud: lyrics, photo, mix and mastering

Vocals: Izotope Nectar

Bass: RT 712 Acoustic Bossa > Logic EQ > RX 8 > Waves Bass Rider > Waves Magma Tube >

(The track is the result of 14 splices. Probably should have just dusted off the old upright and played it myself )

Rhythm Guitar: RT 595 PopCountry
Acoustic Fingerpicking > Waves CLA Unplugged

Rhythm Guitar: RT 2200 Nylon Country > Waves CLA Unplugged

Cello: RT 1856 Pop8thsSteady > Waves CLA Unplugged

Fiddle: RT 2028 Soloist CountryAndy > Waves CLA Unplugged

Banjo: RT 1758 Pop16ths > 140 EMT Plate Reverb sim

Logic Pro X: Mix and Mastering
Mastering chain: Ozone EQ > Ozone Multi-band Compressor > Ozone Imager > Ozone Limiter > Izotope Tonal Balance 2 > Logic Loudness Meter

I am certainly one of the newer members of the forum, and I like your "other side".
A lot!
Beautiful song, and great work from all involved.

One thing I noticed, but it could be a personal preference: When both are positioned in the center, Floyd for the main vocals and Janice for the harmonies works better.
I think Janice's voice as main vocals is too strong to have both of you in the center.
I'd double Floyd (more precisely: his take ) and pan him LR.

Janice, Bud & Floyd,

This is an amazing write... Janice delivers the vocal so beautifully. Floyd's vocal is a perfect compliment.

The new mix truly makes it a brand new song. A really superb production.

"Something that once passed for love turn in to passing time
now past the point of no return, no reason, no rhyme
it cracked, it crumbled, it resisted repair
it teetered, it tumbled, for the lack of a little care"

Some outstanding lines... Loved it.

Bob

Howdy, glad you like it! Thanks for listening.

Janice is singing lead (all the way through) and floyd is singing third below accent harmony parts (all the way through). Panning wise Janice's lead is dead center and floyd's harmony is panned slightly to the left away from the cello on the right. I never center or double harmony. FWIW and IMHO doubling a vocal part (or any part) essentially puts it in the center unless you change the processing on one of them. Guess it's my decades long and perhaps stubborn approach to mixing a song to sound as though it could be performed live.

Janice & Bud aka ole skool ole guy

All good!
Just have him sing another take
(BTW, 30 - 40 ms delay on one side does the job, but of course not as good as a second take would)

Man, for better or worse we stuck the proverbial fork in these vocal tracks 8 years ago! On to the new
I do appreciate your thoughts. And yes if you want to double the track delay and even a slight formant change can work for sure.

Bud

I'm listening with decent headphones so can mark the elements in the soundstage well.
Yep, I can hear Floyd to the left and the cello a little bit wider on the other side.
I don't hear an issue as Janice's voice has the top end and sits forward of Floyd while the instruments keep a respectful distance.
Lovely song, lovely presentation.

J&B and Floyd:

Really nice . . . that acoustic guitar falls so softly on the ears and sets up Janice’s sweet vocal. Nice harmonies throughout. Good write. Like that fiddle an awful lot. Excellent production and arrangement. Nice touch with the banjo. Top stuff . . . good luck with it!

All my best you folk,

Deej

Thank you Bob. We love your writes so your comments mean a lot to us.

Janice

I recall that song from a ways back.

I like this acoustic remix a lot. Nice work.

J&B and Floyd...you guys make a great writing, producing and mastering team...first off Floyd's lyrics are always great and his melodies are top-notch...I love the track especially the fiddle solo (reminds me of the track from Ken Burns Civil War documentary)...Janice your vocal is superb and fits the melody so well...for my two cents worth I would have loved to hear a more dynamic chorus with more variance from the verses...I think a harmony above the lead could help with that...BUT this is one man's opinion and two cents is really all it's worth...you guys are a great team and produce such superb music!

Hi Guys,

Good song with a good chorus.

I particularly liked the banjo for a bit of variation in the last verse.

Best Regards
Nigel

First a new song with Floyd, Janice and Bud, then one with Janice & Bud with Floyd. What a greet start to the day.

Such an excellent mix, Bud. You surround those amazing vocals with such interesting accompaniment, and my listening can concentrate on any one of them at any time.

Such a good write. Way to go, Kollab Kids.

Thank you Ray! It was a fun revisit.

J&B

Lovely song. What a beautiful collaboration. Violin was so nice with your voice Janice. Well done

Beautiful. I agree with Bob (rsdean), the lines he highlights are stunning. The whole production is great, though. Janice, her usual high standard. Floyd: ditto, beautiful, unobtrusive harmonies. Slick, professional job, on the production/mastering side - not that I'm an expert in that, but there we are Well done!

Great lyrics, production and performances, use of real tracks. The mixes clean and professional

Hello Janice, Floyd and Bud
Very impressive song
The melody is brought out so beautifully by Janice and the background track
This is really very well done
And that it sounds so good then makes it perfect
Great collaboration
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Hey I really like this!

I love this style of music and you do it so well.

Very earthy and real.

Great lyrics, vocals and production. Nice!

You all are so talented it is scary!
Super write!
"dark clouds moving in while you are moving out" what a great line!
The acoustic backing band fits perfectly with the vocals.
Outstanding mix.
Loved it

Thanks man. Those are very kind words that spoke to our hoped for objectives. Much appreciated!

J&B

Janice Bud & floyd

Beautiful delicate song. Lovely acoustic bed and superb lead and harmony vocals (you two always blend so well).

Nice remix Bud, clear and pretty.

Excellent song.

Peter

J&B and Floyd,

I really picked up on the FJ connection with the fist strains of the intro! IT's a beautiful tune that you really did a nice job updating! Wow what a wonderful job on the vocal Janice ( and Fj also). Bud you produced this in pro style once again!

Thanks, TB

REALLY REALLY Beautiful song!!!!! I could have imagined Bonnie Raitt singing this, although I don't think she could do much better than Janice!!! Very nice work by all!!!! Take care. Greg

Thank you Herb. Glad you liked it. Sometimes remixes work for us and other times, well …

J&B



Glad you liked it. We got lucky with that fiddle solo eight years ago and left it alone

Regarding the vocal arrangement. We appreciate your thoughtful comments. We’ve listened to this version off and on for eight years are are quite used to it by now. Plus it’s on an album release of Merrit/floyd jane tunes so changing it would be outa the picture at this point. The proverbial fork has been stuck.

J&B

Thanks to all who mentioned my small part in this...
(there's no one I'd rather make music with...)

Thanks Nigel. I was always a bit conflicted about the banjo so thanks for mentioning it.

J&B

Thank you Marty! An all acoustic approach would seemingly be easy due to our bluegrass years but it has its own challenges so we are happy you liked it.

J&B

I suspect I heard this before, but I can barely remember my own songs.

Great vocals, excellent arrangement (I like how you held off introducing the banjo), but it's the lyrics that get me on this song.

That's one heck of a write.

Hi Folks ...

I was almost positive I commented on this song yesterday - apparently not. Man, when ya get old, the circles your brain goes in aren't always perfectly round!

That was a real sweet listen. Loved the lyric! Of course, Janice's voice is a big plus. And that Jane guy was pretty dang good when he showed up.

Nice job!

Alan

Thank you Scott!

J&B



Thanks for those generous comments!

J&B

Thank you for listening and commenting!

J&B




Thank you for the great review Andi!

J&B

Earthy and real is what we strive for.
Thank you!

J&B




That is greatly appreciated Mario. That line came while sitting on the porch on a stormy morning. And floyd wrapped it in a lot of goodness

J&B

Thanks Peter! It was a pleasant revisit.

J&B

I love the acoustic sound. Fiddle is a nice touch. Fine performance and production.

"If you're hanging 'round to see if I'm going to fall apart
Way to go, good job, you're off to a damn good start"

Love that couplet.

Good song, guys. This sounds much better than what I have listened to live in North Texas, where a lot of Americana gets played. Sometimes live is better, sometimes not. Classic lyrical theme.

Janice is a better vocalist than most. I imagine this song will get picked up sooner or later.

This is a prime example of what can come out of BIAB.

Cheers,

Billy

Thank you Torrey. We have certainly enjoyed that fj connection over the last decade!

J&B



Thank you very much Greg.

J&B

Thank you! Small part? Nope BIG PART - co-write all the way.

J&B

Thank you. … a bunch. Everything we have learned about songwriting has sprung from our collabs with floyd over the years.

Glad the banjo worked for you.

J&B




Thanks! That jane guy was present from beginning to end.

J&B

Thank you! And more thanks for mentioning the couplet.

J&B



We appreciate that Billy. A world of great music springs from that area and being favorably
compared to it is an honor.

J&B

Excellent collaboration to be sure!

Staring out the window, wondering what it's all about
dark clouds moving in while you are moving out
If you're hanging 'round to see if I'm going to fall apart
Way to go, good job, you're off to a damn good start

Fantastic chorus lyrics! Great lift to vocals on line three. Very conversational and real so these lyrics are very relatable to those who ever lost love.

Thank you very much for the positive and thoughtful comments!