"Won't Be Home Again"

The first song "Nothin" is an old school Rock-n-Roll hip shaker. The second song "Horrible End" is a grungy chiller. It only makes sense that the third song "Won't Be Home Again" is a bad boy Country song .... right ? Well, that's how I like to roll !!! The more variety the better. I've already got the song written, so I have a good idea of how the arrangement will go. It will probably take me a few days, or so, to work out the drums. I am excited to see what kind of acoustic sound I can come up with. The song will feature a heavy dose of straight forward guitar strumming, so the tone is very important. My hollow body Ovation is definitely going to earn it's keep. There is a very good chance that this song might just be guitar and vocals only, which would be another new approach for me. 3 songs in one month would be an excellent start. Well ya'll, I best be scootin' on. I've got me a few ladies to entertain.

1-26-10 I decided that it is just going to be an acoustic/vocal song. I'm a little nervous but I think I can do it. The trick will be to get the best guitar tone possible

1-28-10 Well, I think it is complete. Just the vocals, editing and final mixdown are left. I went to Fort DeSoto Park and found a nice cool shelter with an outlet, and recorded the acoustic. It was a cool experience being outside in the crisp Florida air, while looking at the Gulf Of Mexico. Kind of an odd place to lay down a guitar track for a bad boy country song, but that's me ! The song also has keys and bass synth tracks, and that's it .... no drums, bass or lead guitar. The keys actually add an eeriness to the tune. Before all the ladies get mad at me, the actual moral of the song is honesty ... it is the best policy.

2-3-10, Dang ! Unfortunately this song was a casualty of my BR 1600 backup problems. When I backed up the data to my PC, I had this song in mastering mode. Once it was restored I couldn't get it out of that mode. It was also the only song that wasn't protected. Lesson learned ... always protect songs ! The good news is that this was mostly an acoustic/vocal song, and it shouldn't be very hard at all to redo it. As far as the keys and other pads go ... I wrote down all the data and settings.

2-14-10, I have decided to put this song on the back burner for a bit, while I work on "Sweet Adelaide".

3-12-10, Hmmmm ... I am not sure yet, but I think there is a good chance that I didn't actually lose the original version of this tune. I am still learning the BR-1600, so many of the features are new to me. I thought the song was forever locked in mastering mode, but that may not be the case. I did backup all the data to CD-RW, so the song is saved. I don't want to focus on this yet because I am currently working on "Under The Weather". When I finish that tune I will pull out the CD-RW's and try to reload the song.

3-23-10, I was right ! I was able to recover this song in its entirety. I listened back to and I decided I am going to keep it as is. At some point I will get around to doing vocals again. if anything needs to be added, or changed, I will do it after they are finished. This will end up being the first song I have ever done without drums.

5-7-10, I attempted a scratch vocal today (see "Miscellaneous") to get a feel for the arrangement. All in all, I'd have to say everything is good to go and I am ecstatic that I won't need to redo anything. It's a very short song. I don't think the tune will qualify as being country, and that's alright. It's still a cool song. The final vocals shouldn't be that hard to do. I just have to capture the right mood.

5-18-10, I just finished the vocals for "Same Old Troubles". Only this song and "Where's The Sun" are left to work on. I still need to work out the lyrics for the latter, so this song will be the next one I work on. The trickiest part about this tune will be getting comfortable with the timing, since there are no drums in the recording. Once I get the feel for that, I don't think the rest will be very complicated (the song only has one verse, one bridge and 3 choruses). Since the tune is mostly all acoustic, I will need to find a good vocal effect. I will also need to capture the right mood. The song centers around a person confessing to his wife about his infidelities, so an upbeat approach won't cut it. The moral of the song is "honesty is the best policy". If someone isn't capable of honoring a commitment, then at least have enough class to let that person go. All in all it is a pretty deep topic for such a short tune.

5-19-10 (2:30 a.m.) Getting hyped ! I was singing this tune in my jeep on the way to workout, and back. I will hit the studio later tonight and grind it out ! But first, I need to get some sleep ... I'm exhausted. I try to hit the gym about 2-3 times per week, usually 2-3 hours per visit. Lately, I have been trying to focus a bit more attention on stomach/ab exercises (my nemesis). I think I only need to lose about 15 lbs, and I will be good to go. This is my secondary goal for the year, next to finishing this Cd. My knee and ankle are starting to feel a lot better, so in a week or so, I will start adding in some cardio work (my other nemesis). (9:45 a.m.) Watching "American Idol", it's elimination day for one of the 3 contestants (Casey, Lee and Crystal). It's hard to feel bad for any of them at this point, because they are all going to be millionaires. This is the first season that I have really gotten into following the show week to week ... I have thoroughly enjoyed it ! Once the show is over I will head to the studio and work on this tune. America might not know it yet, but I am also an American Idol. I just chose to pursue my dream in a different kind of way. After "American Idol" ends, some of the contestants will get their recording contracts and then hit the studio to start working on their own music. Well, I started that on January 1 of this year ... and I have a blog to prove it. Here we go ... who is going to get eliminated ? The answer is Casey. Crystal and Lee are the finalists. Should be an excellent show next week. Season finale of "24" on Monday and "American Idol" on Tuesday. Well, I'm off ... it's studio time.

5-20-10 (4:00 a.m.) Well I think I did it. The tune was a bit challenging, since there was no drum track to work my timing around. After 5 1/2 hours of grinding it out, I think it is good to go. I'll have to listen back later today, before I give my final approval, but I think it is going to be alright. I did a good job of getting on top of the guitar and letting the vocals guide the song. I also did a good job of selling the drama. The vocals project the battle of conscience that the main character is dealing with. He is stepping up and being honest, yet he still feels guilty for his actions. Ultimately, this approach leads to a melancholy effect. In a lot of ways, my songs are kind of like listening to a movie, in that the subject matter doesn't always apply to my life experiences. Sometimes, I like to think of myself as an actor when I record lead vocals. This is what I mean when I say ... selling the drama. (7:00 p.m.) I cleaned the track, saved/protected the song and backed up the data. I am very happy with how the vocals turned out ! My voice was still hoarse from recording previous songs, which ended up adding a cool raspy element to the track. It almost has a little bit of choking up effect. The progression of this song was very interesting. It all started at Ft. DeSoto Park on a chilly January afternoon, then the data backup problems occurred (where I thought I lost the song) and finally it all ends up coming together in a hot sweaty storage unit 4 months later. This tune is going to be a real cool addition to my "Crazy Like A Fox" Cd.

6-27-10 (5:00 a.m.), This recording sucks !! Of all 14 that I have recorded it is the runt of the litter. It is an excellent song, it just needs drums and bass to make it happen in the right way. I only have the storage facility rented for one more week, so I don't know if time is on my side to redo it. I will see what kind of mood I am in tomorrow (today) when I wake up. If I feel the drive I will try my hand at working out a drum track. As a worse case scenario, I will just have to scrap it from this Cd and save it for the next one. I guess I am just not ready to record an acoustic/vocal song yet. Well the good news is that vocals for all the other songs are completed. All I have left, recording wise, is a lead guitar for "Simple Minded". If I can get a drum track worked out, it won't be hard at all to lay down the acoustic. Once that is done, I can do the vocals, and record the bass and keyboards later. We'll see ...

6-28-10, I have decided to scrap this song. 13 tunes for this Cd release is more than enough. The good news is that I already have one song idea for my next Cd. I would have ruined the song if I tried to force it to happen. Oh well ...

7-8-10 (3:30 a.m.) Hmmmmm .... I have an idea, and that's all I'm going to say about that. You'll just have to listen to the Cd all the way through to know what I mean. The Foxman strikes again !!!

UPDATE (2-16-14): All song from my "Crazy Like A Fox" Cd can be heard in their entirety through the tune player below. Please make sure to also check out my home website at: www.foxmanmusic.com

 

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