This is the first song of 2 that I wrote with Pat Bishop for this writing challenge. She and I had discussed writing.... and I believe that we had looked at working with this very idea about a year ago.... nothing came of it. We had another look at the idea this year and this song is the result.
The song is personal with Pat from her own life.
Christmas Without You We hope you will enjoy listening.
EDIT: Oooops, I forgot, the tracks are all real tracks except for the Acoustic guitars, which are my Taylor, and the mandolin which is also my Fender mando.....
here's the new mix:
https://app.box.com/s/7qbvmxgrq82yxs8ld853I lowered the mando, removing it entirely at the beginning....and enveloping the steel in the intro as well. Nothing major....
Great work Herb. Very heartfelt lyrics. It is always the hardest at the holidays, especially Christmas, when an loved one is not with us.
Beautiful work, all aspects! Thanks for sharing!
My Music
Good job Herb.
Was the mandolin an RT? I found it distracting. But everything else works nicely.
floyd
Very enjoyable.Very polished. The voice is so clear and clean. The instrumental was great.
Hi Herb,
Great job on everything. I enjoyed the musical journey you drove me along.
All the best,
Noel
Absolutely beautiful Herb.
On the arrangement, I might have brought the mandolin in later and used it less in some spots but I really like the flavor it adds. Purely subjective opinion.
Love your vocal. Such a pretty melody with those lyrics - it really pulls the heartstrings.
Good work Herb, I especially like the chorus. Your vocal is very good on this one. Mix sounds good except the mandolin on the intro is a little overpowering. It works well later on as a signature lick. As usual the production is up to your high standard. Tom
Joanne: Thank you for listening..... that was Pat's story about the loss of her husband.
PG: thanks for listening
Floyd: The acoustics are my Taylor, and the mando is my Fender.
RichMac, Noel, Sundance: thanks for listening. This was a fun song to write even though it was a bit on the sad side of the holiday....
We often forget the folks among us who are really missing that someone in their lives at this time of year.... either through death or simply being away from home such as our military guys and gals.....
The next song, also written for this challenge, will continue on this sort of theme..... that one will be out hopefully next week....so stay tuned.
Hi Herb,
pretty sad song.
Good production.
Like your harmonies.
Guenter
It is a sad song, but some of the most memorable Christmas songs are the sad ones. Lyrics, vocal, mix all taken together it was really very beautiful. I would agree with some of the others that you might bring in the mandolin later and littler lower in the mix. Gret job!
My dear Herb !
I know what it means to
be without my dearest one !
I drag myself through every day
but there is always something there
to remind me !
We (me and my grown up kids) have not
been able to spend a Christmas at
home since Beni died two (2) years
ago ! This Christmas we´ll be
somewhere else again !:))
As you understand your song touched
me very deeply, but it is good
to cry some tears for one´s loved one
every now and then !
Thank you Herb !
Cheers
Dani
Thank you..
Guenter.... thank you for listening ...
Ken ..... yes, there is sadness in the holidays as well as Joy
Dani .... I'm glad the song touched you in this way. We all have someone we miss at Christmas whether they passed close to that time of the year or not.... because they were such a large part of our lives and celebrating the Christmas holiday is really about being with our family and friends....and they are not there....we do miss them and shedding a few tears in remembrance is a good thing. It should help us all to remember how precious and fleeting our moments with the ones we love are and that should remind us to enjoy and share that time while we still can....... thank you for listening.
hi herb everything sounds great on my system mix very clear and balance vocal well done eric
FMM: Thanks for listening to this tune.
Hi Guitarhacker,
This is a very emotional song to me as I have been alone at Christmas.
Very well written and performed.
Well done
George
That sounds a lot better. Now if feels like "the song is what's important".
Might help some people if the RTs were listed. The piano is especially nice.
drums: nashville even 8
Bass 366 electric country
B3 688 background pop
Piano 1006 solo pop cali accompaniment
fiddle 624 george even soloist
steel 1667 soloist paul country
these are the main RT's used and the acoustics and mando are live tracks.
Herb,
A very touching lyric. Well done. Thanks.
SD
George: thanks for listening.
Floyd: Thanks for the feed back. I knew that but since I played the mando, kinda like a guitar player.... "Hey turn the guitar up in the mix"..... anyway, it's about the song not a given instrument. Thanks
Space dog: Thank you sir for listening.
As of today, this song has been at #1 in category for 3 days running.... it hit #2 in the main country category.... thanks to all who have listened to it on Sound click. To bad that doesn't equate to royalties..... I could buy that island I've had my eye on.... (wink wink)