It's pure BIAB with the vocal done in BIAB. The punch in on the chorus didn't quite work, but it's too noisy here to do more than a sketch. I'd love some comments as writing original songs is a new departure for me. It might need a pre chorus bit etc. My biggest concern is that I might have nicked the melody magpie style? Whilst transcribing the vocals from the song, I realised there's another verse worth that got left behind. It's interesting how it morphed as it moved from quite dense poem to song. Anyway, I'm hoping to churn out a bunch of songs of which this is the first - that I'll admit to.

BIAB Details
Style is _FLKSWAG.STY (Folk Swing Acoustic Guitar w/ Ba)
RealTracks in style: ~1136:Bass, Acoustic-Guitar, FolkSwing Sw 110
RealTracks in song: ~372:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Hank Sw 120
RealTracks in song: 2440:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking FolkySwing Sw 110
RealTracks in song: 1997:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm SmoothJazzCool Sw16 100
RealDrums in style: JazzBrushes#1: a: JazzBrushes#1b: JazzBrushes#1
Vocals pretty much live once I'd got a melody for the chorus. One poorly executed punch in on the 2nd chorus.


The Coffee Bar Cowboy

Lyrics - The Coffee Bar Cowboy

Verse 1

The Cowboy King of this old town will never sing again.
No more his sad old eyes display his sacrifice and pain.
He’s hung his boots up one last time for now he sees the end.
The ancient sound of wood on steel his fingers no more bend
He’ll never wear those tattered jeans and play again they say?
No lover’s words, no soothing tones could help this dreamer stay.
We love him still and miss him sure, the man who plays no more.
His heart is torn, a faded dream, his guitar by the door.

Chorus

My final song, my footsteps gone, Peaceful in my earthly bed
Remember me my fickle friend, my joyful memories I now send.
As laughing people danced and played, we loved and sang our way
Farewell my friend, farewell once more, forever loved you were for sure.

Verse 2

His old worn records line the wall, it’s time to play them all.
Farewell my friend, farewell once more, his memories fill the hall.
Searching but never finding fame, he walks toward the door
The loss and pain, his life a song thrown sadly to the floor
The Cowboy King of this old town, will never sing again.
He’s hung his boots up one last time. He knows it’s not the same.
His heart it torn a faded dream, his name now lost in time.
No more my sad old eyes display the sacrifice was mine.

Chorus

My final song, my footsteps gone, Peaceful in my earthly bed
Remember me my fickle friend, my joyful memories I now send.
As laughing people danced and played, we loved and sang our way
Farewell my friend, farewell once more, forever loved you were for sure.
Farewell my friend, farewell once more, forever loved you were for sure.
Farewell my friend, farewell once more, forever loved you were for sure.

Copyright 2017

Nothing at all wrong with this - it's a great traditional country song and made me think of Jim reeves.

Clever story line and a nicely put together backing track.

The vocal might benefit from a bit of compression plus a gentle reverb and you might consider moving projects out of BiaB into Realband to add vocals. It's much easier there to perform overdubs and add effects.

For a first original song on the forum it's great. Keep at it.

Cheers, ROG.

Impressive write, mix and production. I liked Rog's suggestions to getting your vocal to sit into the mix better but also agree with him this is a fine effort on your part.

Charlie

Thanks for sharing, lambada! This is definitely an enjoyable take on the classic country song, and the lyrics are really quite stimulating here. I look forward to hearing more from you in the future - keep up the great work!

lambada,

A nice job of putting this together. Impressive if, as you imply, it is an "early effort" at writing. The lyric flows well. Story fleshed out well (a sad one, though). I've never tried adding a vocal to a BIAB files - you did well there, too... I would think recording into RealBand (or another DAW) would have benefits over recording direct to BIAB...

Keep 'em coming.

fj

Thanks guys. Onward and upward.

Enjoyed it!

Nice arrangement, write and performance.

Think about, as mentioned, using a DAW and have fun!!

Look forward to more...

J&B

Very nice listen. Super lyric and vocal

Thanks again for the encouragement. A bit more processing next time.

Very nice song - I also like the fade out... Great job.

Bob

I enjoyed the song.

I think floyd jane gave the most important advice: Keep 'em coming.

Thanks Bob, David, Scott, Janice and Bud, Floyd, Deryk. Charlie and ROG and anyone I missed. Just got to make some time.....

Well done!! There are some good things here. The lyrics are on the poetic side for a country song (usually more conversational) but they are well written. I think you need more of a difference in the word/music pattern between verse/chorus. The vocal sounds well sung but poorly recorded. Enjoyed the tune! Take care. Greg

Even before I listen I like the title

I read it as a play on words on the old phase Drug Store Cowboy

or a poser, now to listen.

well, you can't judge this book by it's cover

Ode to a troubadour, The Cowboy King

this sounds like a fine poem set to music

the melody is very nice, well done

I enjoyed my listen

for some reason I kept thinking about the EJ song Roy Rogers

keep em coming!

Kenny

Nice sound and relaxing listening.
Sergio

Thanks Sergio and Kenny. I'm a big Elton John fan from the early days and saw him live about 5 years back. Greg, thanks for the comments. I never really thought about the nature of country lyrics. I agree about the chorus and verse. I may embellish the chorus melody later and put in eg a pre-chorus. I just wanted to get it out, get some feedback and move on. So far I haven't moved.... lol.

Hi!

This is a really nice take on the old traditional country sound. We think everyone else has already said everything else we had in mind to say. great start on this project. Loved the chord pattern/arrangement.

Nicely done! Best to you.

Alan & Di

Thanks so much Alan and Di.

Very impressive write. The story line is very clear and well written. If this is your first, I really look forward to hearing much more!

Steve

Thanks Steve, you're very kind.

I first listened to this some time ago and planned to come back and comment. It seems that my plans went awry! You've got a great country voice! You need to visit the forum more often. I enjoyed listening to you.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks Noel. Your kind comments caught me by surprise. I was listening in to various songs and suddenly noticed Coffee bar Cowboy was live again. I've got a couple of songs underway, but I need to spend time recording the vocals properly and using my new toys - the iZotope elements bundle. The learning curve for this and realband/reaper is not insignificant! Also, I'm also finally studying the Gary Ewer collection of books on songwriting as I really want to progress. I'm having to move away from poetic form to songwriting form and also develop a proper understanding of song structural form, both macro, harmonic and melodic. Add to that streetjelly and a bit of live playing and progress is slow....

Hey I really enjoyed this.

I am not sure what you mean about "maybe knicking the lyrics magpie style" though. Can you help me understand what that means?

I also agree that as long as you have Real Band you might as well use it and master it. It opens up some many other worlds and it's a great little DAW. I use it all the time myself.

Keep 'em coming!!

Thanks David. All I meant was that I hoped I hadn't subconsciously stolen the melody from somewhere; like a magpie bird that steals bright coloured objects and puts them in its nest.

I'm still unwrapping RealBand and Reaper. I'm loving Reaper so far, but I can see that RealBand has some great linkage with BIAB and multirifts, partial regeneration of RealTracks etc are great tools.

I'm pretty sure it's gonna go BIAB - RealBand - Reaper (where I'm now playing with iZotope Elements (budget package of Neutron, Ozone and RX6).

I agree, the lyrics are quite poetic compared to what I am used to from a country song, but that is not at all a bad thing. It's actually quite enjoyable! I'm really excited to see how you will continue to grow as you showcase more of your creations! <3

Lots to like here!! Some really nicely crafted lyrics, and a very catchy, singable melody. Arrangement works very well. The vocals seem a little dry to me, but well performed. Enjoyed this! Take care. Greg

I feel if you did this in another key it may help bring out your vocals.
Great tune, I certainly got my coffee fix with this one.
Good effort.
Rob

Thanks Ember, Greg and Rob. Now that I have iZotope Elements and am getting more familiar with Realband and Reaper, I might redo it with a bridge added. I do tend to stay in low keys as I'm a Baritone and I worry about not hitting the notes. I'm a bit too complacent and tend to stay in C for ballads. Time to stretch to D or Eb. I'm gradually pushing myself up as I think it adds excitement to lyrics. I'm using a capo for the 1st time in 30 years to push E to F# and A to B etc. when I play live. I now have about 3 or 4 unfinished songs floating around.... The more you realise you don't know, the harder it gets (sigh).

Love the bass when it comes in, it really lifts the song well.

It is kind of cool - the bass on the chorus? I can't take any credit for it. It's all BIAB.