Posted by: Jenny Stokes

lol

Is that a challenge?  ? 

Uh oh...it's 7am in New Zealand and Jen is awake and just now discovering that we've been talking about her.. ? 

lol

Posted by: Mabbo

Funny you mention "Copperhead Road." Steve Earle is a legend in Nashville and that is one of his best. One of my best friends and my mentor, Jimbeau Hinson, wrote HILLBILLY HIGHWAY, with Steve and was actually partially responsible for getting Steve his initial record deal with MCA. That was one of his first breakout hits. Many people approach Jimbeau thanking him because that song got them into country music. 

That swampy, bluesy sound is very prevalent now in modern country music, and people like Chris Stapleton, Zac Brown, and Little Big Town have some of those elements in their music. Copperhead road is a big influence on them, so you might think of breaking that down and finding some ways to work that into your own music. Find something you like and emulate it. Can spread your writing abilities and yield some pretty interesting results. Try that one on Jenny Dee Babe. 

I love that song 'Copperhead Road'. It has a lot going on in it and the build up to when it finally kicks in is just awesome. I have to check out Steve's other stuff.

I'm curious MAB. What are your thoughts on 'The White Buffalo'? I can't get enough of his stuff. To me his lyrics are always unique and his stripped down delivery is so cool. His newer stuff is good too but it's more polished. He did a duet not too long ago with Audra Mae called 'I Got You' that's really good.

Well I don't know so much that it's a challenge as an idea to spur on some other creative energy. A lot of times we can look at our influences, and get some new direction on music. I have channeled a lot of people, by asking a certain question on every song I write:

"If you could write a song for anyone, living or dead, who would it be?"

When I do that with my teaching clients, I find out who they were influenced by and how that manifested in their music. In my own career and others I have channeled Ray Charles,Sam and Dave, Little Feat, The Beatles, the Eagles, Temptations, and many, many more than have manifested itself into songs I've written. It can be a very useful tool, not just to COPY their grooves or melodies, but to get you in the FEEL of that style of music and give you a starting place on songs. 
So that would be my purpose. You had mentioned about early jazz in some of your songs, and John had spoken about "Copperhead road" by Steve Earle. I'd say use that and find some new directions for your music. And in what I was speaking to you earlier about finding your own direction, being able to combine certain influences, and put them into your own style,  is what music is all about. Music is about ADAPTATION, not as much CHANGE. You take what you have learned from others, then move it the next steps down the road through your own contribution. 

If you want to take that as a challenge so be it.

John, I'm sorry I am not familiar with White Buffalo, but will check it out if you'd like. There are so many bands, so many genres, so many artists and songs out there now, there is no way to keep up on everything. I don't listen to radio as much unless I am working with an artist who likes certain artists or music. And many times some of the artists they talk about, I might actually have heard before they got signed and am more familiar with them than I realize. 

A lot of times in this town we have writers nights showcases, industry networking events, and we are around music all the time. So it;s not unusual for someone to mention an artist, direct me to their web site or YOU TUBE video and I recognize them from some event I saw them on (or in many times actually played WITH them, like on the endless benefits we do here) so I probably know who they are already.

I'll try to check them out and will let you know what I think.

Yeah I'd check out the following songs by him...

Ballad of a Dead Man

Black & Blue

The Woods (This song has bizarre lyrics. I'm not really sure what its about but I like it)

I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on his songwriting. It seems unique to me and I haven't found many other artists that write the same way (but admittedly I am new to his genre). If you do check him out make sure you google THE White Buffalo, not White Buffalo (that's a different band).

Okay, I've listened to a few different pieces, Ballad of a Dead Man, One Love, a couple others. I'll have to be honest with you, this is not my cup of tea. The reason is it's very draggy. We get a lot of this type of music here in Nashville, I call them the "Bearded wonders" and they all kind of have the same beards, wear the same clothes and their music is very very similar. A thing I miss on all his stuff aside from any form of drive or groove, is something that PICKS UP and takes the song somewhere. His don't seem to for me. You mentioned Steve Earle, and Copperhead road and I would draw your attention to that. There is drive, it picks up, and has a refrain, with the Copperhead road, that brings it all into focus. I don't hear that with this guy.

It is sort of a folk era holdover, that was done back in the 60's and early 70's and a lot of that has gravitated into the Texas market. There are many that love it and who am I to be judgemental on what other people do. And if you find yourself compelled to follow in this, there are a lot of people that do this type of music, so getting some selections of it should be no problem. For myself, if I were looking to something like this with  a little more punch, I would suggest looking at Chris Stapleton, or Jaimey Johnson, who I feel do a similar thing, but a bit more in my particular wheelhouse.

Admittedly, I haven't studied his lyrics and broken down his overall gist. I'll try to go back and listen to the other songs you mentioned, but for me, if there is not something that grooves and has a compelling chorus or refrain section, it tends to bore me. I admit from having about an 8 second attention span, just like the majority of our society. So I tend to tune out more than I like to admit. But I will redouble my efforts in a little bit. Today is my daughter's birthday and so I have my plate full with back and forth with her. 
Thanks for the suggestion and I'll view it some more.

Okay, I've really tried, but I can't really get into this. No offense, just not anything I can get into. I gravitate more to singers with a little more fire, and as I said, this type of music  is really prevalent here. I could take you to a half dozen bars here tonight and you would hear much the same type songs. But again, different strokes for different folks and music is a very subjective art form. People will gravitate to their personal likes and dislikes. So if you like it, glad you have found something that hooks you in. I see his videos linked a lot to things like SONS OF ANARCHY and other television shows, so there is probably a tie in with him to those shows. Another thing that happens with some artists, are their association with television or movies, make their music more applicable to certain people. I think of someone like THE BARENAKED LADIES and their tie in with the television show BIG BANG THEORY. I've never been much of a fan of their's either, but I like that show so I would not be as hesitant to listen to them. 

Personally I just need some drive in music and this doesn't have it for me. And that;s fine. I do plenty of things other people are not interested in, so it is all part of it. Thanks for giving a suggestion. To me on this, it's just like some kids who won't eat vegetables. For me, he's a little too much KALE. LOL!

OK so if I'm reading your responses correctly then I need to shave my beard immediately (no worries, it's itchy) and remove Kale from my diet. LOL!

I hear where you are coming from though. Some music connects with certain people and some doesn't. Your point about TV is right on. I discovered this guy from watching Sons of Anarchy and listening to the soundtracks. So you kind of make this connection with the music being associated with something else you like (the TV show). I guess that's why a great music video can actually make people like a song more than they would without the video. My musical tastes vary a lot. One minute I'm listening to Megadeth and Slipknot and the next I'm listening to Joe Bonamassa or The White Buffalo. Weird how tastes change over the years.

Giving Chris Stapleton a whirl. Took a bit to get used to his voice but really like Broken Halos.

Hey John,

Cultural trends are pretty funny to me. It is in television, movies, art, language, clothing, and a lot in music. About 10 years ago the television show "Duck Dynasty" came out and suddenly you had a bunch of 'bearded guy/mountain man" survival themed shows. In country music, Jaimey Johnson came out with a big hit called "In Color" and the next thing you know it looked like we had been hit by the "invasion of the Civil War Re-enactors". Now it is in huge bloom and these kinds of guys are everywhere. All with the same wast length beards, all wearing the flannel, I guess left over from the Seattle Grunge movement of the 90's. And the music all seemed to turn into this slow, drawn out, very dire, serious stuff. I guess it was a reaction to all the "rapid fire, million words a minute" elements of rap and hip hop influences. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I tend to like things a bit more in the middle. I'm a fan of the big soul vocalists, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, etc. They're are not as many of those right now, but just as soon as you count something out, someone comes in and the direction changes. I moved to Nashville in 1988, and there were several of "my kind" out there. T. Graham Brown, Debert McClinton, Lee Roy Parnell, etc. and then Travis Tritt, and a couple more. There were those "blue eyed soul" elements all over, and "traditional country music" was declared dead and buried. Then Garth Brooks came in with more traditional stuff, huge stage shows and rock energy, and suddenly everyone went to big hats, pressed jeans and shirts, and doing more traditional sounding stuff. That goes on for a while and then the "cap acts" replace the "hat acts" with baseball caps (worn front or backwards), flannel, and torn jeans. It all recycles. 

I like Jaimey Johnson and Chris Stapelton because they do a lot of serious stuff but don't always take themselves too seriously. There are elements of humor in them, which appeal to me. But I recognize that people are going to have their favorites, different things for different people, and a lot of options out there. 

But I appreciate your bringing it to my attention and I'll keep my eyes and ears open to see how he goes. I think we are in an era of "nicheing" now, with no one type of music or character dominating music. We all try and find our niche and build that. I was talking to Jenny about that as our dialogue about "finding your target audience." Now there can be more than one target audience because people's musical tastes are so varied. The explosion of being able to get music has allowed the personal playlists to expand. People can listen to Slipnot and Hank Williams next to each other. As an artist, you just have to find how to combine the best of all of that into your own sound and own direction. And you don't have to be limited.

So rock on, my friend. Be as diverse as you want. And lay in your own supply of KALE. LOL!