Josie approached me with a song she thought suited me. I felt she was on to something so with her gracious permission I rewrote some of the lyrics to make them more natural sounding. She sent me an SGU which didn’t seem close to the demo she sent me, so I tweaked a few things, came up with a different melody and it started to come together. There are 27 tracks with 54 separate plug-ins. So many that the audio engine kept locking up. I don’t recommend the overuse of plug-ins but I got a little carried away. Josie came up with an arrangement for BG vocals that fell right in there. We hope everyone enjoys this one and as always comments/suggestions are encouraged. Thanks again Josie for bringing me in on this one. Tom


Lead Vocal, Background Vocal, Guitar, Steel Guitar, Tom

Background Vocals, Josie


Style is C_SHUFLN.STY
Style MIDI Instruments are : Fender Bass (34), Acoustic Piano (1),
RealTracks in song: ~967:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBoogieGrittyTwang Sw 140
RealTracks in song: ~967:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBoogieGrittyTwang Sw 140
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 1800:Piano, Rhythm TexasBluesRockShuffle Sw 130
RealTracks in song: 1591:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm TexasBluesRockShuffle Sw 130
RealDrums: RealDrums in Song: NashvilleShuffle^14-a,b:Snare, HiHat



http://tommyadamsmusic.com/music



http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13090836



Drinking In Self Defense


Her eyes were shooting daggers just a stabbing at my heart

Angry words that we said are tearing me apart

I still see her dragging that red suitcase out the door

So I try to turn the picture off

of that nonstop video

My thoughts have gotten tied up with these low down devil blues

So I’m gonna have to help myself to try and cut this heartache loose



Tonight I’m drinking in self defense

I just can’t think so straight when it hurts like this

My heart is really aching and it just don’t make no sense

Tonight I’m drinking in self defense



Her painted fingernails are just a poking at my mind

Things I should have said and done and words I could not find

I still smell her Bronco burning rubber down the road

too late to talk she waved me off

And told me where to go

Guitar Slim is playin some down home Texas blues

So I’m gonna have to help myself to try and cut this heartache loose


Tonight I’m drinking in self defense

I just can’t think so straight when it hurts like this

My heart is aching and it just don’t make no sense

Tonight I’m drinking in self defense



I called to say I’m sorry but she hung up before I could start

I’m gonna have to hang on tight so I don’t lose my place at the bar





Tonight I’m drinking in self defense

I just can’t think so straight when it hurts like this

My heart is aching and it just don’t make no sense

Tonight I’m drinking in self defense

Tonight I’m drinking in self defense


©2015 Josie Beck / Thomas Adams

Now there is a good fun drinking song!
Everything to like here. Classic!
Bass really works well. Cheers.

Enjoyed everything about this one. Good collaboration.

Charlie

Tom / Josie,

Now that was a lot of fun. Excellent job guys - loved the tune and vocals.

Bob

Hi tommyad really enjoyed this very well done thanks for sharing eric

Hi there Josie and Tom.

Terrific rocking blues.

Great vox and BVs.

Great choice of RTs and a mix which works well loud.

This needs to be played in the car on the freeway.

ROG.

A fun song top to bottom! Tom your vocals are hitting on all cylinders here with great character.

A smooth write all around!

That was fun. A good collab on this one.

27 tracks and 54 plugs.... wow.... but it worked out fine.

Lots of times when I have large track counts it's because quite a few of the tracks are clips as opposed to full tracks. When it comes to plugs, I generally use them in busses when I have like 5 guitar tracks and need verb on them all.... same deal on the vox. One of my tunes had 6 guitars and 10 vox tracks alone.... then there was bass, drums, mandolin, dobro, fiddle, and some of those were multiple.... Those kinds of projects are fun.

Everything sounded well done here on this machine. I'll throw on some cans and check it out later this afternoon on the other machine.

Great song, and a great job by all.

Nice write with all the imagery for a
good rockin' Texas Blues. Like Gruve
said Tom's vocal and instruments bring
the right character to this style.

Simply a fine well produced and
mixed tune in a genre that we love.

Nice collab you two!

J&B

Tom/Josie,

Great opening. Clever title. A good write. (the "red suitcase" is a nice touch)

Excellent mix. The walkup in the chorus is particularly nice. Nice steel work (it is just too cool that you can do that!)

Fun.

(must be "fun country" week )

Enjoyed, indeed...

floyd

Hi Josie and Tom,

good old rocking blues!
Great vocals and background vocals.
Guitar and steel are the icing.
The second fun toe tapper this week.
Thanks for this nice collab.

Guenter

It's songs like this that make me wish I had the time and the means to make a small record company out of this forum. What a song!! Jerry Macguire once said "You had me at hello". The title on this one got me. Then I "hit play" and WOW----Great everything--written to a level that serves the great title, Killer guitar work (that solo was perfect), great vocal (as good as the guitar solo) and production that couldn't be better. One of my favorite listens anywhere for a long time!! Great job guys. Take care. Greg

Great country rock.
Great story line.
Love the vocal and harmonies.
Number one for me.
Rob.

Hi Tom and Josie,

A cool collaboration resulting in a professional sounding, steady rock song, nuff said.

Rob & Anne-Marie

Thank you all so much for listening and your comments.

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to some of my old songs when it dawned on me that Tom's voice would be perfect for this one if he liked it. Did I ever hit pay dirt!

I love love LOVE that vocal and how he made the song his own with his changes - fit like a glove - a co-write was born and what a result. Also love how all the finessful touches in his production come together to create such a great infectuous vibe.

This collab with Tom was a real treat and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Thank you Tom!

Josie

Drink up Richard! It is surprising how well some of those midi bass parts work. EQ & Compression make it sound more realistic. Thanks, Tom Thanks Charlie. I am always glad when you check in. Tom

Bob, if anyone knows how easy it is to collaborate with Josie it would be you. Thanks , Tom



Eric, Thanks for the nice words. Tom

Great collaboration. Gotta love a drinking song.

"If you want me, I'll be in the bar."

Joni


Regards,

Bob

Tom and Josie,

Wow was that 3.37, seemed to be over so quick so I pressed replay, once or twice!
Josie, your backing vocals, 'specially after the first line of the chorus, are inspired.
Tom your vocals and guitar are perfect!

Made me wanna start drinking again Scooping a soft drink wouldn't work with this song But driving fast with this on the stereo would!!

Good stuff, both

Alyn

A rocking fun tune!

ROG, This was a fun one to put together. Thanks for the kind words. We appreciate it. Tom

Thanks Lawrence, Anytime I get a compliment on my vocals I will gladly take it! Tom

Herb, I have to admit I haven't used busses much in the past, but I did on this one and it worked well. I always enjoy reading your comments and we appreciate the nice words. tom

Thanks guys we appreciate it. Tom Thanks floyd. The red suitcase is all Josie. She really tied some lines together nicely in this one. The walk up is the guitar and steel doubling the bass line. Tom

Thanks for your very generous comments. Tom

What a fabulous review! We couldn't be happier with your comments. Coincidentally, my wife and I were talking about that movie on the day you posted this. Thanks again, Tom

Thanks from both of us to both of you. Tom Finessful? You're kiilin me girl. LOL!

Josie and Tom
Great collaboration guys. Love the BV. The title of the song is very interesting and the song lives up to it.
Good job

Thanks Bob. We'll see you there. Tom

Alyn, We're glad you liked this one. It was fun. Tom Carolyne, Thanks. As I said this one one was a lot of fun. Tom

Hi Josie and Tom,



This is incredibly good from absolutely every which way I look at it. The lyrics cleverly pack a powerhouse of imagery and it was so very easy for me to see the whole scene of him and her unfolding in my mind. That doesn't often happen with songs and, when it does, I know that I'm listening to something very professional, very special.

"Drinking In Self-Defense" is a vivid aural testimony to just how extremely capable the two of you are at songwriting, performing, arranging and mixing. Nothing is lacking. Like floyd, the "red suitcase" grabbed my attention too.

Wow! That was such a terrific listen.

All the best,
Noel

• latest song: Just A Little After Midnight

Joanne, Thanks and yes Josie's title and idea for the song was a good one. Tom[quote=Noel96]Hi Josie and Tom,



This is incredibly good from absolutely every which way I look at it. The lyrics cleverly pack a powerhouse of imagery and it was so very easy for me to see the whole scene of him and her unfolding in my mind. That doesn't often happen with songs and, when it does, I know that I'm listening to something very professional, very special.

"Drinking In Self-Defense" is a vivid aural testimony to just how extremely capable the two of you are at songwriting, performing, arranging and mixing. Nothing is lacking. Like floyd, the "red suitcase" grabbed my attention too.

Wow! That was such a terrific listen.

All the best,
Noel
Noel, Thank you from the both of us for this wonderful review. We appreciate your words. Tom

SUPER Well produced- you've got some great musical talent - and the writing is very smooth. I have a question on your master - you really had a high volume - I had to cut the volume in my headphones to save my eardrums. So how do produce that much volume w/o getting distortion.

I was looking at your website - we both have a song titled "SMALL TOWN SATURDAY NIGHT" - they are very different though musically and lyrically.

I liked your musical Christmas Card - very funny. I have a cynical sense of humor like you but we aim it in different directions.

Pete, thanks very much for your comments. Hal Ketchum also had a song called Small Town Saturday Night. I use Ozone5 for mastering. There is a maximizer module and I use the analog limiter setting and turn it back just so there is no distortion. This really increases volume w/o distortion. Tom