Yep... this is a good song. Old style, "real" country music.

Love the singer's voice. That's a great match up for this song.

I like to listen before I read what others have said and I have to agree with Sammy Davis ... I thought this before I read his comment.

The steel competes with the vocal. My general rule of thumb is that if there's a vocal happening, I want a very solid rhythm behind them but nothing that distracts. Use a volume envelope to pull the steel totally out when the singer is on, and let the steel do some fills in the space in between. I also recommend switching out the steel with something like a piano for fills in the second verse. Keep the song-scape interesting. Think of the fill instruments as candy. A little bit is good... too much and... well you know the story.

A really good song. Work some more on the production. This song is about 85% done... fix the production and take it all the way.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add 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.