Hi Frankie...yea, it's all about preferences. There are so many ways to mix a song. For me as a singer/songwriter, because the "story" is so important in my view, I tend to mix these kinds of songs with the vocal out front, like a songwriter's demo. Actually the drums in this song are pretty sparse anyway, so pumping them up wouldn't help much. Also, if you read my initial post we were trying for a sound like Shania's "Home Ain't Where His Heart Is Anymore" which has a lot of reverb and quiter drums. It was more about the "feel" of the song than perhaps a "standard" mixing process. I'm rather a fan of Robert "Mutt" Lange so I wanted to play around with trying to cop his production style. Did it get it? Haha...probably not. But it was fun trying.

Thanks for your comments. I really try to write meaningful, well-thought-out lyrics and avoid the trite and tired expressions you always hear. Not easy. But there are tons of great publications out there to help. The latest I'm reading now is "Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting" by Robin Frederick.

As for the American country vocal style...you just have to learn to slur your words and sing thru your nose.

Here are links to the lyrics for two songs I've already posted. From now on I'll make lyrics available as a link in the post for anyone who's interested.

Bob

Lyrics Link: Someone Else's Angel

Lyrics Link: Summertown