https://soundcloud.com/user-679049224/little-white-crosses

I've been working on this song for a while now. I was inspired by those little white crosses you see on the roadsides, where people mark the location of tragic accidents. I used a real band style: CROK12S.STY Classic Rock with 12 string Acoustic Guitar. I didn't use the organ track, but I used all the others. I played an acoustic guitar track, and used a couple of vocal tracks. This song was pretty hard to come up with the harmony for... I drove around listening to it for days ( I run a rural mail route, so I can listen all I want) trying to come up with parts. I finally just settled with something simple and let it go at that. I also used pushes in this song, and I didn't like the way it sounded with the drums, so I brought them down in the mix at those points. I also did some pretty high sustained notes singing the bridge and I'm not sure whether I like the way it sounds. I have a loud voice sometimes... I do not have any vocal processors outside of what is in Logic Pro 9. So, here it is... any suggestions would be welcomed.

Very poignant lyrics and nice backing tracks. You've written a very engaging story that pulls the listener in. Excellent vocals and harmonies.

I enjoyed my listen.


Charlie

HI Jamie,

We are all too familiar with this subject of this song. Our middle son was killed in an auto accident in Tennessee (33 years old). There was a cross there for quite a few years.

You've captured the essence of this tragedy so very well in your lyric. And your vocal is so good. The harmony is great. You did a terrific jo0b on this, both musically and in the story. Great job in every way.

Wishing you the best.

Alan & Di

Yes the markers on the highway are sad reminders of lives taken to soon. Very nice tribute song

Jamie,

This is beautiful.


Regards,

Bob

Hi Jamie Archer, Wonderful tune you wrote! I was captivated by the lyrics and progression. Well done!

Jamie,

Your song handles a difficult subject well and you sing beautifully ( nice harmonies too).I enjoyed listening.
Its fun to play with things like Nectar to hear your voice differently and no doubt you could have done something on the bridge to smooth out that change in volume- but then you might lose some of the power in your voice. I`m always impressed with how little processing the best singers on this forum apply to their vocals.

Robert

Jamie, I liked the song a lot. Beautifully written and sung. I didn't like the pushes so much. But it's all subjective. Your vocals sound really good. If you're so inclined check out Izotope's Nectar2. A lot of us here use it and it works really well. I very much enjoyed my listen. Tom

Really nicely written! Everything about this works well. At a corner about a mile from my house is a cross and a bike put up over a decade ago for a young lady who was run over by a semi hauling produce. I live in a college town where students ride all over the place. Someone maintains this roadside shrine pretty meticulously. I knew the young lady very casually. Very sad story. I've thought about writing a song about it myself. Really enjoyed your song!! Take care. Greg

Jamie, you have done well here! Your vocal is great and your choice of instrumentation totally works. You are putting some good material up for us to listen to. Thanks, Torrey

Cool song and a sad tale to tell.

There are several of those that are around this area and I pass them on a regular basis.

Regarding the song and production:

Good song and nice production.

I'm not a big fan of the pushes. They don't sound all that natural.

Regarding voice and vocals. Less is better when it comes to using effects. A bit of reverb, some EQ as needed and a touch of compression to smooth things out. Much of the quality in a vocal comes from proper singing and mic technique. I don't often put a lot of credence in to what I hear on my computer monitors and especially knowing I'm likely listening to a 128kbs MP3. That said, the overall vox sounded like it had a very slightly rolled off high end but in the bridge was kind of brittle in a few places, especially on those held high notes. That could have been from mic overloading by singing too close and too loud. That's where mic technique saves you.

Anyway, that's my take on the 2 things that stood out to me.

This has a really nice 60's country folk vibe to it. Good job.

Excellent write and production Jamie.

As other have mentioned, you've chosen a sensitive and engaging subject, and have done great justice to it.

The vocals and harmonies are particularly nice.

A great contribution in more ways than one.