Thanks to Floyd and RayC for their honesty in letting me know that the sibilance on
the vocals was too present. I've used a new set of plugins for lead vocals on a couple of
tracks and even tho it has a de-esser, Ray commented before that the vocal needed to be
tamed. I've gone back to my Nectar 2 vocal preset, please weigh in if you think the vocal
track has sibilance problems or other bad things happening. My great frustration is that
I'm losing the ability to hear this, thanks for listening and commenting.
[Link no longer valid]



Border Town Blues
© 2019 Kenny Leverett

Anyone can see that you’re beautiful
The way you move the way you smile at me
But there’s no chance I could ever win your hand
You belong to a man rich and powerful
And he’s got lots of friends
Here in this border town

I try to shake the dust out of my clothes
I bought trouble that no one knows
All I’m reading these days is bad news
Past the point of being broke
And I just ran out of smokes
Alone in San Antone
With the border town blues

Easy come and easy go
Making the same mistakes
That I made long ago

I try to shake the dust out of my clothes
I bought trouble that no one knows
All I’m reading these days is bad news
Maybe I saw it from the start
That you would only break my heart
Alone in San Antone
With the border town blues

I try to shake the dust out of my clothes
I bought trouble that no one knows
All I’m reading these days is bad news
Past the point of being broke
And I just ran out of smokes
Alone in San Antone
With the border town blues

All alone in San Antone
With the border town blues

Bass 684 PopHalfNotes
Drums Nashville Even 8
Guitar 2719 Nylon Fingerpicking
Guitar 405 Acoustic Strumming
Accordian 1292 TexMex
Bouzouki 2211 RockEV
Mandolin 2025 Soloist

Hey Kenny, what a marvelous song I might say! This is beautiful and the instruments are layered nicely. That guitar tone is very warm! The vocals harmonize well with the other instruments. Keep it up!

Another good one Kenny...
I can hear this one playing on KNON.

ALWAYS love your stuff Kenny!!! And no exception here! A great feel to the tune and some really cool images. Love many lines but these caught my attention in particular:

Easy come and easy go
Making the same mistakes
That I made long ago

Really catchy melody....still goes on playing in my head. Great stuff AGAIN!!

Take care. Greg

Kenny,
good blues with folk flavor!
I like your usage of folk instrument tracks (mandolin and accordion). Sounds unusual and fresh.
I believe accordion if way undervalued instrument in today's world and rarely is heard on rock blues. I think it is a perfect substitute for harmonica in Blues tunes

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

Kenny,

Another very cool song. Good write (like everything you have been doing...). The lyrics are interesting throughout and your melodies are super!

A VERY cool band. The nylon guitar is unexpected and works so well. The accordion is a perfect addition. Bass and drums sound great. Good mix.

Another killer vocal. Great energy. (This one, though, could use a little "taming" of the siblance).

I look forward to your posts. I might have to buy a Kenny Leverett record...

fj

I get an Eagles feel out of this, but grittier, of course. The first verse sounds like a prequel to Lyin' Eyes. Another great one for you, great singing, great song.

Ace song and arrangement Kenny.
Reminds me of Ry Cooder's Chicken Skin Music.
Hooks big enough to hang overcoats on too.
The vocal treatment - drive? - is accentuating the natural sibilant elements and is peaking a fair bit.

Kenny, I like this little mellow rock phase your going through right now! You are really bringing a great sound with these tunes! Great lyrics to go with a great as usual vocal! I liked the accordian following you around through the tune! Very fine work! Thanks, Torrey

What a great, imminently listenable piece. Not a strained syllable in the lyric, delivered with a sort-of weary casualness. The instrumental choices were spot on. That accordion is full of border flavor. I really like this.

Really love what you did with this song. Everyone has pretty much said what I had to say as well. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

Very cool tune. Loved the backtrack and chord progressions. Suits your vocal so well. Harmonies and vocal were excellent. Gave me a Jimmy Buffet feel. Mandolin solo was a nice touch..

Kenny,

Terrific tune—well written and put together really nicely. Love your choice of instrumentation, rolling that accordion into the chorus—nice! And some sweet harmonies to finish it off. My one suggestion—and it’s just a personal preference—might be to use the second chorus twice rather than the first chorus. I think “only break my heart” line resonates a bit more than the “just ran out of smokes” line. Again, all subective, and sharing only for what little it may be worth.

Great stuff, Kenny! Keep them coming!

My best to you,

Deej

Kenny,

This is great...

Awesome song and vocal. I especially love the combination of the mandolin and accordian - what a great touch.

Killer chorus and production. Always look forward to hearing your music.

Bob

Great writing! Lots of hooks.

And awesome vocal of course.

Nice choice of instruments, everything works, and nice mix too.

Enjoyed! Going to give it another spin

Thanks Joe, Jim, Greg Johnson, Misha, floyd, TuneMonger, Rayc, Torrey, Tangmo, Ember, Scott C, Deej,

rsdean, and BlueAttitude.

I appreciate your listen and kind words.

I'm pulling the song from the post to see if I can hear and fix the substandard vocal tracks.

Do share when you've posted again - I never got to listen but from the comments I'm really intrigued

Hey Deej,

Thanks for your listen and kind words, it's a perfectly valid suggestion to repeat the chorus
about the girl, I just chose to repeat the part about the state the singer is in (down and out and broke and blue) esp. after the last verse where it's learned he's making the same mistakes (other Spanish princess adventures?)
A creative choice, if you record it, you can repeat the "only break my heart"
chorus.

Kenny,

Great job on the re-do! The siblance is gone - the vocal now has "just the right amount" of sss to those spots now. And there is a "warmth" to the vocal now. Well done. Sounds great.

This is so good:
"I try to shake the dust out of my clothes
I bought trouble that no one knows
All I’m reading these days is bad news
Past the point of being broke
And I just ran out of smokes
Alone in San Antone
With the border town blues"

fj

(I hit your other one, too, in case you did not catch that)

Very nice catchy chorus melody. The accordion is great instrument selection, bringing enjoyable folky feeling. Really strong vocal performance.

The chorus reminded me of an old Finnish song, but I'm pretty sure you haven't heard that one before

Janne

I listened to you song again...
All I can say is it is one heck of a good song...
I do have a question...
Why did you choose the order of words...
"You belong to a man rich and powerful"
Instead of
"You belong to a rich and powerful man"?
Just curious to know your reason or reasons.

"I try to shake the dust out of my clothes
I bought trouble that no one knows
All I’m reading these days is bad news
Past the point of being broke
And I just ran out of smokes
Alone in San Antone
With the border town blues"

I'm a broken record but...I still wanna be able to write like that when I grow up.

That mando in with the TexMex accordion is a nice touch and really works well.

And the rest of the backing instruments are not only well selected but ALL work together. Love those RT genre mashups.

And the vocal...what's left to say? We'll just borrow Tangmo's comment:
"delivered with a sort-of weary casualness."

That is a fine description of the vocals.

You've been a machine of late and a damn good one!

J&B

PS Hey bro, I get it regarding the loss of high f and mixing...Janice bails me out all the time And my audiologist has hugely helped. I know it's frustrating.

Thanks so much, it means a lot that you care enough to let me know when you hear something

that could and should be better.

Sometimes you might think Blues is all the same, but that ain't so.
You did a very nice job with using the harmonica and mandolin in this song.
I listened with much pleasure to this song.

Thanks,
Hans

Thanks Janne, well it just floated in thru the window, maybe it is an old Finnish song.

Thanks Jim,

I don't know if you're putting me on because you are a very good songwriter.

We all approach it a little differently I guess.

My first answer would be, I wrote it that way because I like the sound of it

and it's not like a thousand other writers would say it.

My second answer is accents in melody,

anyone can SEE
way you MOVE
theres no CHANCE
belong to a MAN

plus the bonus of using the old "win your hand" to make

an internal rhyme with man

hopes this is a decent answer to your question

Kenny, I "hear" you about the loss of HF. When someone plays the highest notes on a piano in person, all I can hear is the mechanical action of hammer on strings, but no musical tone whatsoever. IF the acoustics are just right, I may can pick up a tone, but if they dissipate into the ambient air at all, they are lost.

Anyway, I'm glad you were able to rectify for the easier-of-hearing. Though I can't tell any marked difference (they both sound fine to me) I did enjoy listening again.

I wasn't trying to put you on, so I hope you are not offended...
As a good songwriter I knew you had your reasons...
But without asking I would only be guessing...
I think it would be cool if other songwriters I've admired through the years were members here
So I could ask them about their creative choices for both lyrics & chord progressions...
Thanks for you speedy reply!

Kenny,
listening now and I have nothing to compare it with, (I'd LOVE to download and keep songs from this forum), but I'm not recoiling from headphone attack so I think you've addressed the issue pretty well, (OR my tinnitus is masking things again), it's near imposssible to do it completely without leaving a "lispy" vocal.
It's a fabulous song and performance from you.

Kenny,
A very good song and arrangement.The accordion fits and puts a nice twist on the country rock sound.
I missed version 1 - very little sibilance here- it can be very tricky to know when to stop the de esser (the Waves sibilance plugin seems to work better for me than the Nectar de esser ). Anyhow, we want to hear that signature touch of gravel in your voice, so don`t be smoothing too much!


Robert

Thanks J&B

I always appreciate the support and kind words,

Bud, you are a fine writer!

I've read about the process of trying to replace or implant new fibers in the ear to replace

lost ones and thus improve loss of hearing problems, but by the time it becomes practical it will probably be

much too late for me. Anyway, I know we've talked about hearing issues before and so I know

that you share many of the same frustrations and struggles, you are blessed to have Janice's

hearing and great instincts there to help.

Thanks Hans

Kenny

Listening to lots of good tunes (keeping jet lag at bay).
Love this one - superb music, great choice of instruments - and a great performance.
A brilliant piece of song writing and really catchy.

Peter

Thanks for sharing that, thank goodness for BiaB or I would never be able

to get a good even mix on anything. I couldn't tell much difference in the two mixes,

I just went back to my old plugins and settings. I appreciate the help though

before I go and put it up on CD Baby or something.

Thanks Ray

Thanks Robert,

Appreciate your listen and comments

Hi Kenny,

very nice song - enjoyed the listen a lot. Great arrangement, ace vocals - top-notch!

Cheers,

Stefan

Hey Peter,

nice to hear from you, thanks for your kind words.

Thanks Stefan,

Always good to hear from you, appreciate the kind words.