Music:
Member Since: 01/03/2008
Influences:
I have been influenced musically by many people from a number of different genres. As a child I remember listening to singers like George Beverly Shea, Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Blackwood Brothers, Jimmy Swaggart, Ernie Tubb, Wilf Carter, and the like. In my teenage years I was spellbound by Merle Haggard, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Dean, Tom T. Hall, Roy Drusky, etc. Along with those were The Beatles, Credence Clearwater Revival, B. B. King, Ray Charles, The Guess Who, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Neil Diamond. Later there were Merle Haggard (still!), Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Mickey Gilley, Gene Watson, Mel McDaniel, John Anderson, George Strait, Dan Seals, Vince Gill, Billy Joel, Dire Straits, Asleep At The Wheel, The Eagles, and many more of equal importance who would make this list very, very long.
My tastes have gravitated mostly to country music but I've been influenced by much more. There are many rock songs I've enjoyed, such as I Don't Know What Love Is, Lady In Red, Love By The Dashboard Lights, You May Be Right I May Be Crazy; I'm still drawn to most blues-influenced material; I like some of the lighter jazz, though truly dedicated fans will be dismayed to learn that my idea of good jazz sounds a whole lot like western swing; and I've spent many hours listening to symphony orchestra and concert piano performances.
My own writing carries the sounds of country, blues, gospel, jazz, and rock, maybe even in that order. I try to keep my songs within the basic I, IV, V chord progression, using color chords sparingly. A friend of mine used to joke that a song with more than four chords is a waste of good chords. At the risk of being repetitive, boring, and unpublished (!), I consider those words very carefully any time I'm tempted to place a m7b5 where another bar of the IV chord would do just fine.
Sounds Like:
Who do I sound like? My, my; this looks like the place to cast a sprinkling of fibs, fantasies, and fancy fabrications! And I have an abundance of those!
I'd say my singing voice is a cross between Leonard Cohen with 24 db removed at 300 hz and Boxcar Willie with a belly full of liquidized corn! I keep trying to remember the key of the songs I'm singing... honest I do! But the good folks who valiantly coached me for much longer than they wanted to ultimately lost hope. They kindly told me to consider anything between 85% and 115% of the note as a victory. So, as I stack victory upon victory, I can sense the eager masses anxiously awaiting my first CD release!
As far as my musical style goes, I'm totally convinced that I sound exactly like Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, and Vince Gill all wrapped up into one glorious gift to humankind. It's unfortunate that I posted some of my material on the site here and blew that delusion clear out of the water. Oh well... it felt good while it lasted!
So, in the cold hard light of day, I guess I just sound like me, for whatever it's worth. But I promise to keep whittling on that gap between 85 and 115... !!!
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: Unsigned
