Not often I pop up on here as most of my stuff is Covers.

This one started life as _Resolve Style but once I'd substituted the RealDrums for a more hard hitting one, it took on a life of its own.

Guitar is my "budget" Strat - a Harley-Benton ST-62, £79 NEW ($110?) which I use for practise and to keep the pressure off my HandBuilt one. In the end I used it for recording as I quite liked the twangy tone I got.

Style is _RESOLVE.STY (Resolve Steady Driving Country)
RealTracks in style: ~684:Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesSync Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 2535:Guitar, Electric, HeldChords Gritty
RealTracks in style: ~405:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 1850:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopShiningGrittyMuted Ev 120
RealDrums in Song: RockHardLA^1-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Loose HiHat

BLUE SKY THINKING - https://app.box.com/s/1dsjd29oe6bxk8xihruoigzqsr0dnxlg

Cheers
Ian

Ian, it ain't the cost of the instrument that makes it sound great it's the musician and you made this $110 Strat sound like a million bucks! Excellent chops!

I really like everything about this one, the backing tracks, the groove, the mix and of course your playing.

Two thumbs up and keep these coming.

+1 on what Mario said. Well done. Guitar sounds great. Some very cool licks there. Well done

Very nice guitar work and well produced. Great stuff!

Ian,

Absolutely fantastic.

You've delivered a sensational song here. Masterfully crafted and the sound you got from the axe is extraordinary.

This is exceptional. Nothing less. Thoroughly enjoyed the listen.

Beautiful melody well played and powerful arrangement & mix. Feels like The Shadows of the 21st century

Janne

Thank you for taking the time to listen and the very kind feedback.
The Harley-Benton is one of those happy accidents where the whole is so much better than the sum of its parts.
Jannesan - 21st Century Shadows is a great accolade because I do a lot of Hank Marvin tribute stuff when out "live".
Cheers
Ian

This is a great tune with lots of shade and light.
This really shows up your talent as a musician.
Most enjoyable and I hope you post more soon. Rob

Excellent sound and guitar playing.
Very nice.

Sergio

Hi Rob and Sergio and thank you for your very kind comments.
Ian

Mario said it perfectly!! This sounds like a MILLION to me!! Beautiful tune, beautiful tone Ian. Don't be a stranger! Take care. Greg

When we first saw the title we were reminded of Dickie Betts' Blue Sky...you are both very melodic players.

It's very well performed, arranged and mixed.

We much enjoyed it.

Nice!

J&B

Hi there, Ian.

Good to see you back on here with one of your own.

Hey that Strat copy sounds way more expensive than it has any right to!
What effects are you using here?

A great feel to this track and some delicate and imaginative phrasing.

Loved the whole thing.

ROG.

That budget strat sure gets the job done. Very well produced and some fine playing. I enjoyed it, Tom

Hi Greg - I'll try NOT to be a Stranger but coming up with melodies (that I can play ) for guitar Instros is not easy - for me anyway.
Hi Janice and Bud - I've just taken a peek at some of Dickey Betts YT vids - he is SOME Player!! Thank you for the accolade.
Hi Rog - even today the ST62 is still only a mind blowing 111Eu in price! Definitely a case of the whole being better than the sum of its parts. OK, its not a FENDER , but I like the way it plays. See pic. Effects are simply Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer on about 3/4 Sustain (a lot for me!), and in the middle section a Behringer UT100 Tremolo pedal, going into my Alesis Q2 for "Abbey Road" reverb and on into my Joyo ACTone Vox Sim pedal and the PC. No other tricks. I cant use my Vox ADVT60 cos its too darned LOUD!! Getting the infill harmony phrasing was a real PITA as were the occasions in the Lead line where there was a second guitar as well.
Thank you everyone for the continued interest.
Ian

LOVE the tune Ian, super musicianship. 1/2 country 1/2 Shadows stlye ? Brilliant

Really nice glassy tone - a big Hank Marvinesque sound. Some great sounding parts and harmonies!

Great work here, Ian! It’s got an amazing groove, and I thoroughly enjoyed the guitar work here. Not to mention - the mix here is smooth as butter. It sounds extremely professionally arranged. It goes without saying the guitar you laid down here is superb, but the mixing took it to the next level for me.


Thanks so much for sharing!

Hi Graham and Bluesraveler - thank you so much. The Shadows are part of my Era and my "Live" guitar work, both early Shads and modern Hank Marvin. I guess it must come over in the playing somehow.
Hi Deryk - thank you. If you look at my Sig you'll see that most of my gear is ancient. I tend to work up a non-compressed mix in Cakewalk (in XP Pro) that I basically like the sound of, then open up Adobe Audition and "master" it with what they call Soft Knee Compression. That drops the volume quite a lot but fattens it out so I bring it back to a higher level and just in case there are any spikes, I "normalize" at 99%. I have no idea if that is right or wrong - it just seems to work for me, sometimes better than others.
Cheers
ian

Ian,

Love this - several listens and just getting round to saying so.
Your guitar paints a nice flowing picture.

Robert

Hello, Ian

Very nice!
The melody is very good.
The guitar play is also great.
This tune reminds me of Liverpool groups in the 60's very much.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi Ian.
As usual i enjoyed your mellow melodic style.
This one is very cruisy and very shadows also.
A fine original.
Very well done.
Cheers.

Hi Robert, Shigeki and Rich - thank you for listening and you kind thoughts.
I guess my love of The Shadows style music comes through no matter what I try and play. lol!
Chers
ian