|
|
|
|
#480035 - 06/30/18 03:52 AM
[User Showcase]
Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
|
|
Registered: 12/05/11
Posts: 11778
Loc: GA USA
Veteran
Registered: 12/05/11
Posts: 11778
Loc: GA USA
|
Many years before our current Americana days the two of us were members of several bluegrass bands. But when our friend Randy Howard would visit from Nashville we had loads of fun as a trio with me (Bud) on upright bass, Janice on guitar and Randy on anything that had strings  Randy was a prodigious talent who was grammy nominated and a 12 time national fiddle champion (he also won flat picking guitar contests, was a world class mandolin player and played a mean banjo). He played on many major projects including Garth Brooks “Seven.” Alison Krauss once told us that as a kid she and her mother chased Randy all over the country so she could learn from him (she dedicated an album to him). Sadly he passed away too young at 39. The first bluegrass band I (Bud) played in was with him and his dad in the 70’s. A little info on Randy can be read HERE on our website. We recorded a lot with Randy and released a trio album after his passing. I’ve often wanted to post one of our songs (with an RT added of course) but nearly everything we recorded was a bluegrass cover - common with traditional style BG bands! Janice and I did write one little ditty that we recorded live with him 25 years ago on a 4-track Tascam cassette recorder. This was a living room recording with us afterwards bouncing a few tracks to add some harmony, Randy’s mandolin and leaving a spot for a friend to play banjo. By the time you bounce a few tracks on a cassette recorder there’s not a whole lot of quality left…but, what the heck, we added a RT for the showcase and here it is — poor recording quality and all but a brief two minute glimpse into his talent. BTW, Randy was the first to encourage Janice to sing! So here’s her in the “high lonesome” bluegrass days. Hope you enjoy it and RIP Randy. Headin' West Randy: mandolin and fiddle Janice: guitar and vocals Bud: bass fiddle Bandmate friend: banjo RT 938: A guitar “chop” on the upbeat I added that pretty much doubles Randy’s mandolin rhythm chop.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480037 - 06/30/18 04:07 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording with Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 11/30/07
Posts: 4344
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Veteran
Registered: 11/30/07
Posts: 4344
Loc: Ontario, Canada
|
Yeah!!!!!
I don't know much about bluegrass and haven't listened to much of it, but I love this!
Janice sounds great, and man, Randy could play! And you sound pretty fine too, Bud! Not to late to get back into playing IMHO.
Quality of the song and the performance vastly overcomes any limitations with the quality of the recording, which actually doesn't sound too bad considering the source.
Thanks for posting, enjoyed the listen!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480039 - 06/30/18 04:37 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording with Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 12/29/12
Posts: 5897
Loc: Originally Missouri ... Now Al...
Veteran
Registered: 12/29/12
Posts: 5897
Loc: Originally Missouri ... Now Al...
|
Sounds terrific to these old ears! Based on what you said in your intro narrative, I was expecting a rather dull sound. But the tone is quite good. And the playing is excellent! This is Bluegrass as it was meant to be played. Excellent in all regards. Thanks for the couple minutes of listening pleasure! And yeah, Ransdy was quite the musician!
ALan
_________________________
BIAB 2022 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win10*8GB DDR4*I5-6th Gen*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120 Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480043 - 06/30/18 05:06 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording with Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 12/12/11
Posts: 3289
Loc: York, England
Veteran
Registered: 12/12/11
Posts: 3289
Loc: York, England
|
Hi there J&B.
Fabulous! Nothing wrong with that recording at all. It's amazing the quality we used
to get from cassette back in the day.
Loved the song and the superb performances that shine through from all that time ago.
Thanks for digging this one out!
Cheers, ROG.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480069 - 06/30/18 09:23 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording with Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 06/09/16
Posts: 3179
Veteran
Registered: 06/09/16
Posts: 3179
|
J&B,
Wonderful, joyful sounds that are pretty clear for the cassette/living room method.
The fiddle chops of your friend shine and its cool to hear where you guys came from musically.Those old videos of your band are fun too - is Randy in them?
Nice work recovering this jem.
Robert
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480077 - 06/30/18 11:41 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 08/09/10
Posts: 5152
Loc: New York
Veteran
Registered: 08/09/10
Posts: 5152
Loc: New York
|
Janice & Bud,
Now that was a treat! Very cool the way you went back and resurrected this one.
Loved every minute of it...
Bob
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480084 - 06/30/18 12:40 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 09/27/10
Posts: 5119
Loc: Sacramento, California
Veteran
Registered: 09/27/10
Posts: 5119
Loc: Sacramento, California
|
Sounded awesome over my speakers! Whatever the deficiencies you heard in the recording, they never reached my ears. Ironically, one of the features is a sampled guitar library that was released recently is an option to use the version that was recorded through a Tascam tape recorder for a "vintage" vibe. So pulling it off an old recording probably actually adds to the quality. Also, I don't think there's a requirement that BiaB be used in every song you post. At the top of this forum it says: If Band-in-a-Box or RealBand have been used...Given that you frequently posts songs done in BiaB, I don't think occasionally posting something that doesn't have BiaB on it breaks any rules. Just let us know you didn't use BiaB, or we'll be thinking you ran across some cool RTs we hadn't heard yet! 
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480090 - 06/30/18 01:34 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 05/02/14
Posts: 3622
Loc: The Netherlands
Veteran
Registered: 05/02/14
Posts: 3622
Loc: The Netherlands
|
Wow, we are impressed! Such smooth banjo picking, mandolin and fiddle. We were particularly struck by Janice's youthful vocals  with super tight backing. Thanks for posting this one!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480138 - 06/30/18 06:25 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 12/06/03
Posts: 4812
Loc: Sydney Australia
Veteran
Registered: 12/06/03
Posts: 4812
Loc: Sydney Australia
|
Bud & Janice,
The recording sounded great on my speakers (couldn't tell the RT was added the other day) - the performances by all absolutely stellar!
World class stuff there, a real treat for members of the forum!
We should get to hear more of that bass playing.
Peter
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480147 - 06/30/18 08:59 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 04/07/13
Posts: 7140
Loc: South Carolina
Veteran
Registered: 04/07/13
Posts: 7140
Loc: South Carolina
|
Authentic Bluegrass from top to bottom. Enjoyed my listen. Very nice job getting the cassette to play so nicely. I have a lot of fun playing with older recordings and it becomes so much more of a treat when you're able to work on a recording to preserve musicians no longer with us.
_________________________
BIAB Ultra Pak+ 2022:RB 2022, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480159 - 07/01/18 04:46 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: BlueAttitude]
|
|
Registered: 12/05/11
Posts: 11778
Loc: GA USA
Veteran
Registered: 12/05/11
Posts: 11778
Loc: GA USA
|
Yeah!!!!!
I don't know much about bluegrass and haven't listened to much of it, but I love this!
Janice sounds great, and man, Randy could play! And you sound pretty fine too, Bud! Not to late to get back into playing IMHO.
Quality of the song and the performance vastly overcomes any limitations with the quality of the recording, which actually doesn't sound too bad considering the source.
Thanks for posting, enjoyed the listen!
Thanks Dave! I really wish I could post some of the songs where he really cuts loose. They were on our trio CD and we have licenses for them but I do respect the showcase policy on covers. Randy had a killer album called Survival of the Fiddlist.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480175 - 07/01/18 12:10 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 06/19/17
Posts: 2901
Loc: Victoria, BC
PG Music Staff
Registered: 06/19/17
Posts: 2901
Loc: Victoria, BC
|
Wow, you weren't kidding when you said Randy could play. This song is lovely, and honestly, on the speakers I have at the office to listen to music, I can't hear an issue with the sound quality at all! I think it's a great tune.
Thanks for sharing!
_________________________
Cheers,
Ember
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480198 - 07/01/18 04:35 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 05/29/00
Posts: 14875
PG Music Staff
Registered: 05/29/00
Posts: 14875
|
Janice and Bud,
That was just beautiful! You all sounded great, and Randy's playing is spectacular.
Thanks for creating this.
_________________________
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480206 - 07/01/18 06:43 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 12/27/03
Posts: 17383
Loc: Hamlin NY
Veteran
Registered: 12/27/03
Posts: 17383
Loc: Hamlin NY
|
Bluegrass at its absolute finest!
Randy was a hell of a player but you two ain't no slouches either.
That old recording sounded great on my near field monitors. Did you have to remove tape hiss or do anything to the tape to make it sound this good?
_________________________
You know you're in trouble when you leave a memory improvement class and can't remember where you parked your car!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB and RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software and some hardware
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480309 - 07/02/18 04:10 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 08/10/12
Posts: 10206
Loc: Florida
Veteran
Registered: 08/10/12
Posts: 10206
Loc: Florida
|
WOW!
I had that 4-track Tascam cassette recorder (still do). I can guarantee you...MY recordings NEVER sounded like THAT!
This is truly wonderful. Authentic. Would not be surprised if someone said this was a National Recording Registry recording. Or something from NPR when they are searching for "the real thing".
No question that Randy was a very talented man. But so is Bud Merritt. And as for talented women, few approach Janice Merritt.
A stunningly good recording.
Y'all are the Real Deal.
fj
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480316 - 07/02/18 05:25 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 17766
Loc: Australia
Veteran
Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 17766
Loc: Australia
|
Janice and Bud,
This was a really wonderful listen.
I was sitting here at my computer switching back and forth between reading an article on gravitational waves and scrolling through Users Showcase. I always find it best to have some distraction when I'm reading physics as I often find myself dozing off (not because it's boring but because physics does that to me -- I've never worked out why).
Anyway... When I started this song up, you added a whole new level of energy to my morning. Thank you for that. It was just what I needed.
Janice, your singing is super!!!! You have a serious knack for engaging the listener and pulling him/her into the song's journey.
Bud, your bass playing is excellent. I'm always pretty critical of bass because its melodic movement is something that I monitor in BIAB tracks because BIAB does not always make the best note-by-note choices. At the end of this recording, I just smiled.... not a milligram of critical thinking remained in my brain.
Randy (RIP), you were an incredibly talented man (and then some)!
Best regards to all,
Noel
_________________________
LINKS TO MY BIAB/RB SONGS
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480403 - 07/03/18 12:36 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Al-David]
|
|
Registered: 12/05/11
Posts: 11778
Loc: GA USA
Veteran
Registered: 12/05/11
Posts: 11778
Loc: GA USA
|
Sounds terrific to these old ears! Based on what you said in your intro narrative, I was expecting a rather dull sound. But the tone is quite good. And the playing is excellent! This is Bluegrass as it was meant to be played. Excellent in all regards. Thanks for the couple minutes of listening pleasure! And yeah, Ransdy was quite the musician!
ALan Thanks Al. We were privileged to play with someone of his caliber. You would be amazed at the list of albums he played on. He left our little town, went to N'ville, and his dream was realized within a few months. A rare story. J&B
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480449 - 07/03/18 11:42 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 05/11/15
Posts: 2396
Loc: Aichi, Japan
Veteran
Registered: 05/11/15
Posts: 2396
Loc: Aichi, Japan
|
Hello, Janice & Bud
It is a truly historical recording!
I agree with ROG.
Fabulous! Nothing wrong with that recording at all. It's amazing the quality we used
to get from cassette back in the day.
Randy's playing is spectacular. And so are the others' playing.
I was using Teac's 4 track multi-channel tape recorder (The model number was A-3340S) when I was young, but I had never recorded such a wonderful performance.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.
Best regards.
Shigeki Adachi
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480482 - 07/04/18 07:21 AM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 02/15/17
Posts: 3414
PG Music Staff
Registered: 02/15/17
Posts: 3414
|
What a tune! This is absolutely stunning. As other's have mentioned, Randy's playing is superb on this. He was obviously an incredibly talented guy. But truthfully, on this one the combination of what all 3 of you achieved is the impressive thing. There is so much chemistry between you all here, and it really shined through on the song. Not a thing I'd change - you guys absolutely crushed this one. Thanks for sharing
_________________________
Cheers,
Deryk
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#480567 - 07/04/18 04:44 PM
[User Showcase]
Re: Headin' West (25 year old recording feat. Randy Howard)
[Re: Janice & Bud]
|
|
Registered: 12/21/13
Posts: 6571
Loc: Davis, CA
Veteran
Registered: 12/21/13
Posts: 6571
Loc: Davis, CA
|
Gotta tap your foot to this one!! Great story, and a great blast from the past. THanks for posting guys!! Take care. Greg
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Band-in-a-Box® 2022 Add-ons are Here!
We're excited to say that we've just released some amazing new RealStyles with XPro Styles PAKs 2 & 3 and Xtra Styles PAK 13 for Band-in-a-Box® 2022 for Windows or Mac!
XPro Styles PAK 2 includes 100 fresh new RealStyles that will up the utility and fun factor of the Band-in-a-Box® Pro version by adding 25 rock and pop styles, 25 jazz styles, 25 country styles, and 25 folk styles! XPro Styles PAK 3 goes even further - not only is it packed 100 new RealStyles, it includes 35 RealTracks that are not included with a Pro or MegaPAK purchase - adding even more versatility to what these can do! Sink your teeth into 25 rock/pop styles, 25 jazz/funk styles, 25 country/bluegrass styles, and 25 styles featuring a mix of genres ranging from high energy electro swing to ambient grooves and everything in between.
With the new Xtra Styles PAK 13, we're going to make the number thirteen lucky again! There are 200 new RealStyles for Rock/Pop, Jazz, Country, and Singer-Songwriter. Some examples of what's included: Mellow soundtrack rock, Americana country lullaby, western swing big band, coffee house jazz waltz, jazzy jump blues, songwriter gospel ballad, fast indie rock, vintage clav funk, country pop march, and much, much more!
And they're all ON SALE until July 15th! Purchase Xtra Styles PAKs or XPro Styles PAKs for only $29 per PAK (regular price $49 each)!
Purchase XPro Styles PAKs
Purchase Xtra Styles PAKs
Learn more & watch our video demonstrations
Band-in-a-Box® 2022 for Mac is here!
There are 50+ new features, 222 new RealTracks (20 more than we've released in previous versions), new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, Artist Performances, Xtra Styles PAK 13, XPro Styles PAKs 2 & 3, New "playable RealTracks" Hi-Q sounds, 2 sets of "RealDrums Stems," and more!
We're having a SALE on Band-in-a-Box® 2022 Upgrade purchases until July 15, 2022 - save up to 50% when you purchase a Band-in-a-Box® 2022 for Mac Upgrade!
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some amazing Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Mac 2022 packages! For more even more Add-ons (including 60 Unreleased RealTracks!), upgrade it to the 2022 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!
Learn more about all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2022 for Mac.
How to: Opening Multiple Instances of Band-in-a-Box®
How to: Replacing a MIDI Track with an Audio Track (RealBand)
How to: Setup and Record with a MIDI Keyboard in Band-in-a-Box® for Windows
How to: Why Does My Song Keep Looping in Band-in-a-Box®?
How to: Copy Chords and Song Info from Band-in-a-Box® to a Document
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
36184 Members
64 Forums
74799 Topics
656922 Posts
Max Online: 2537 @ 01/19/20 07:09 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous Topic
Index
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean