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Maria Blue Video: All images from the actual aftermath of Maria in Puerto Rico Months after Hurricane Maria 675,000 Puerto Ricans are still without power. Kudos to the first responders, military men and women and charitable organizations for their service in Puerto Rico that often required them putting themselves in harm’s way. However, for many still suffering long after the storm it’s easy to understand their frustration and this song attempts to address their continuing plight. So…we’re late to the party but J&B finally gets into the “beats thing. ” But, hey, we did provide them ourselves with Janice on cajon and the two of us throwing in some handclaps. Special thanks to floyd for joining in for the write and for the fine harmony (singing above that girl he is!) Janice: lead vocal, melody, arrangement and percussion (cajon) floyd: harmony, lyrics, arrangement and mix counsel bud: lead vocal recording, arrangement, lyrics, mix, mastering and video stuff RT 2482:Bass, Acoustic, Bowed Held Ev 085 RT 2213:Bouzouki, Rhythm SlowPop Ev16 065 RT 2213:Bouzouki, Rhythm SlowPop Ev16 065 - held chords RT 1037:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm NorthernRockBallad Ev 065 RT 1037:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm NorthernRockBallad Ev 065 - held chords RT 679:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm RockBritDriving Ev 085 (B:heavy) RT 679:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm RockBritDriving Ev 085 (B:heavy) - held chords RT 2687: Guitar, Electric, Soloist BluesSlowEvenBrentSimple Ev 085 Cajon: three tracks - mic on sound hole and another ambient mic / “kick” sound isolated for separate processing handclaps: four tracks Track effects: Waves Bass Rider / Nectar 2 / Neutron 2 / Logic Pro Guitar Amp Sim / Ozone 8 modules / delay and reverb from Nectar 2 modules Mastering: Ozone 8 Adv Thanks, Peter for those three notes  Maria Blue © 2018 j. merritt / f. jane / b. merritt Intro singing: mama used to sing maria about a girl so lovely but now mama’s gone and maria has turned ugly V1 the wind howled all through the night morning came i knew my life was gone water was rising and trees were falling better off had i never seen that dawn Ch oh Mother Nature won’t you tell me why did you send that storm was it only to make me wish wish that i’d never been born? V2 we wade through streets... turned to rivers hungry babies, ever crying medicine gone, a thirst none should know old man prays "Lord, I'm dyin'" Ch V3 we live in tents and cardboard huts children drink from dirty puddles seems the big folks forgot about us all wrapped up in their own troubles Ch Outro
Last edited by Andrew - PG Music; 08/24/20 10:38 AM.
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Yeah! I knew I was going to like this before I even pressed play Something a little different from you two! Nice groove on this one, the Cajon and handclaps work well IMHO. Janice sounds wonderful, and I dig the harmonies from Floyd. Off to watch the video now!
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Janice / Bud / Floyd,
This is an absolutely astounding piece of work... It completely captures the despair and overall feeling of helplessness - it never loses that reality throughout the song. Amazing focus.
I can't say enough about Janice and her vocal gifts - she always reminds me of a more cosmopolitan version of Gillian Welch. A tremendous performance.
Killer production and write as well - I'm not sure it could get any better.
Bob
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Yeah! I knew I was going to like this before I even pressed play Something a little different from you two! Nice groove on this one, the Cajon and handclaps work well IMHO. Janice sounds wonderful, and I dig the harmonies from Floyd. Off to watch the video now! Thank you Dave. At times venturing out from the music home base is a bit like stepping of a cliff... We are glad it worked for you! Really love your latest. J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Nice collab guys! Sounds like you guys are getting better at working together. Loved this on all sides.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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Janice / Bud / Floyd,
This is an absolutely astounding piece of work... It completely captures the despair and overall feeling of helplessness - it never loses that reality throughout the song. Amazing focus.
I can't say enough about Janice and her vocal gifts - she always reminds me of a more cosmopolitan version of Gillian Welch. A tremendous performance.
Killer production and write as well - I'm not sure it could get any better.
Bob Thank you Bob. Your description is just what we were working for...so that means a lot to us. And thank you for mentioning both the vocal and production. Janice is very appreciative of your comment about her vocal. We have been Gillian Welch fans since her first album. Janice says it's humbling to be mentioned in the same sentence! J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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What a great effort!!! Wonderful song and production! What a great tragedy that is. So many terrible storms that I can't keep the names straight anymore. And now in California, we have 20 or more dead from flash floods and mud slides. Mother nature can be brutal. Great job by all you guys!! Take care. Greg
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Wow. Powerful lyrics that realy convey images of the storm and aftermath. Great production and beautiful vocals.
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Hi J&B,
Simply stunning.
The lyrics would be good anyway, but Janice's incredible vocal delivery
wrings every ounce of emotion out of them, leaving the listener completely
immersed in the futility of it all.
In addition to that, it's a fabulous backing track with a super mix.
And what about Floyd singing top register, in all senses of the word!
Congrats to all involved.
ROG.
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Nice collab guys! Sounds like you guys are getting better at working together. Loved this on all sides. I hope so...we've been at it for quite a while! Glad you liked it. Hey, waiting on your Paradox! J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Hey, waiting on your Paradox! I know.... Vocals are a mess. Trying to finish.
Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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Janice / Bud / Floyd,
I'm running out of superlatives. Stirring, brilliant, engaging, rousing....
The song sounds wonderful, the performances by all are world class. Great video, excellent percussion.
Superb song writing.
Peter
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A lovely comment on a tragic situation.
All very well done.
Great backing band.
Cheers.
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Nice collab.
Maria sure was a storm that they will never forget in PR. Nice work on the song and the video.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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FJB. That combination seems to work SO well. I'm not kidding when I say I feel like I could almost write the comment THEN listen to the song. There is a standard that I, and I'm sure others have come to expect. Great job! Thank you or including the video. Many times I don't like the distraction of a video that takes you somewhere you wouldn't have gone just listening. In this case, it brought me to where I wouldn't have known to go. So again, thank you for including it. I'm always amazed at every aspect of your songs. You can hear everything. The old "you could hear a pin drop"...if it was in there, you would manage to have it heard. The other side of that coin is, you would do it in a way that wouldn't distract or beat us over the head with. I can't do that! This is one jealous dude typing right now.  Great song, great video, great production, great performance. Ladies and gentlemen...FJB
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
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B,J&F, This is a great write and a brilliant performance. The vocals convey the emotion of the tragedy. The mix is spot on and really comes to light with the cajon and handclaps. Nice call. I would be kicking myself if I didn’t say that I think we completely failed the island in the recovery efforts. I won’t get political and I know this year has decimated the resources available for help due to these devastating storms, but I still think we could have done more. Thanks to all three of you for your socially conscious decision to create this song, Tom
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What a great effort!!! Wonderful song and production! What a great tragedy that is. So many terrible storms that I can't keep the names straight anymore. And now in California, we have 20 or more dead from flash floods and mud slides. Mother nature can be brutal. Great job by all you guys!! Take care. Greg Thanks Greg. Yep Ma Nature can be so rough at times to such innocent and helpless folks. Glad you liked it!
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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J&B,
The first thing that struck me was: a great arrangement - how can there be so much space in there with all the tracks?
Inspired percussion choices.
There`s a heart to the social commentary of your lyrics Bud, which cuts through the politics... and Janice makes us feel that with another fine vocal.
Love the sweet sound of Floyd`s high harmony too.
Robert
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Wow. Powerful lyrics that realy convey images of the storm and aftermath. Great production and beautiful vocals. Thanks for saying that. It’s much appreciated! J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Serious but very good song J&B!! Once again you folks have produced totally pro sounding results! Janice just sounds great song after song! Floyd's parts work so well also! Final production is good enough for anyone considering this for any project! Thanks, Torrey
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 11 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 22 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
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