Critique Notes /March 2007

 

With the change for daylight savings time and the beautiful day outside, the crowd was smaller than normal but most of the usual suspects showed up.  These things did not impact the quality of the songs.  We had 11 songs submitted.  It was a good meeting.  Enjoyed by all. 

 

Andrew Richardson/The Taste of you… A really good mood is expressed in music and lyrics that fit together very nicely.  The song contains some great imagery.  “Your velvet curves, the candle glow, just you and me, we can’t let go”.  The repeats of “a taste of you” work well.  One suggestion from the group was to change the third repeat to something different.  Another good song from Andrew.

 

Ron Tintner/I Love her DNA… What a neat song!  “The sequence hidden in her double helix, holds the secret that make her so unique”.  It is a very clever concept.  The production of the song was well done.  Ron had discussed making some changes but the group suggested keeping the song simple.  Very unique.

 

Bill Aspinwall & Gail Randall/Just Enough… Bill played the song live for the group.  This is a good song with a good theme.  “But it’s going to be just enough to make a life for two”.  The song has some really good visuals.  One suggestion from the group was to trim some words to make the song easier to sing. 

 

Patti Guyer/How the Weather?… Patti played the song live for the group.  This is a good song with a good melody.  “How’s the weather in Houston?  I hear you’re down there these days”.  One suggestion from the group was to remove the pauses between third and fourth lines of the verse. 

 

Tony Rose/For the Sake of Sanity… Tony did a rewrite on the song based on the comments from last month’s meeting (see last month’s critiques notes).  Tony played the song live.  Hey, rewrites pay off.  The song was selected by the group as one of the “picks of the month”.  

 

Larry Sepulvado/Losing Susan… As usual Larry brought in a good song with an interesting concept.  It’s got a great title!  The song has good internal rhyming.  “Yes, I keep losing Susan cause Susan keeps choosin’…”  One suggestion from the group was to look at the tense used throughout the song. 

 

Pat Bishop/Taste of You… Pat brought in the lyrics and is looking for a musical collaborator.  This is a well-done song with some very nice internal rhyming.  “Your recipe for ecstasy will satisfy my appetite, Oh, I love the taste of you”.  One suggestion was to draw the chorus out. 

 

A Side Note: The songs submitted by Andrew and Pat were products of a workshop the HFBSA held.  The attendees were asked to write songs associated with “A Taste of You”.  As you can see the Andrew and Pat took up the challenge.  It is interesting to see the different approaches to the same theme.  Good Job!

 

Mike Darnell/Where Did Our Love Go… Once again Mike brought in a good song.  The song is well produced, with good visuals, and has unique rhyming scheme.  “We hear the voice but not the song it sings, the notes fall silent but the bell still rings”.  The group suggested looking at the fourth verse to consider resolving the story. 

 

Bob Pine/Only One… Bob announced to the group he is getting married.  He needed a wedding song so he wrote one.  His bride-to-be was with him and she had not heard the song.  Talk about pressure!  Lets go through our lives together and love completely free, let the sands of time remember our love, just you and me”.  What a great song!  It is a good wedding song (the bride-to-be was thrilled).  The group chose it as one of the “picks of the month”

 

Bobby Mitchell/Little Darlin’…Bobby brought in a good song that could easily be a bluegrass-country crossover.  He played the song live for the group.  “I’ll hold you every day as long as you say, you’ll always be my little darling, darling”.  Repeating the hook really helps stick the title in the listener’s mind.  One suggestion from the group was to use the word “center” instead of “axis” in one of the verse lines.

 

Pat Juneau/Grounded… Pat brought in a good song that has a good feel to it.  The song has some reflective thoughts and effective visuals.  “I wish that I was strong like black coffee or straight gin, then maybe I’d stop running from the voices deep within”.  It was well produced. 

 

 

That’s it for this month gang.  It’s always great to see everyone and the good batch of songs made for some very nice listening.  Hope to see you there next month. 

Keep Writing!