I wrote about sending in my latest entries for the songwriting contest at the Walnut Valley New song contest. I had a request for the lyrics and the song called, Picker's Paradise. This is the song that I got to play on stage at Walnut Valley Bluegrass festival. . If you have a song that you want to hear and it isn't on the website, let me know and maybe I can get it on here. Here are the lyrics and music to the song Picker's Paradise.

Picker's Paradise

Were a Winfield campfire band strumming new guitar strings

an older gray haired lady who yodels when she sings.

Her voice is sweet as  honey as she glides from note to note

felt a tear run down my face as she sang this song she wrote.

Chorus-  It's a simple melody played in 4/4 time

Her verses told a story of her rocky times.

We all sang the chorus and we sang it twice.

all our feet were tapping, it's a picker's paradise.

The chords were very simple, just a D and an A

A boy on a banjo, could that boy play.

His Dad plucked the bass, Mom's on mandolin

I picked my guitar and it blended in.

It's a simple melody played in 4/4 time

her verses told a story of her rocky times

We all sang the chorus and we sang it twice

All our feet were tapping, it's a picker's paradise.

There's a guy in a dress shirt, thimbles on his thumbs

He taps a tin necktie and beats it like a drum.

A pretty fiddle player, hot as 4th of July

A farmer in a lawn chair, his harmonica cries

It's a simple melody played in 4/4 time

Her verses told a story of her rocky times

We all sang the chorus and we sang it twice

All our feet were tapping, it's a picker's paradise. 

     Many contests say, "The production doesn't matter. We are judging songs on the songs themselves and not on the singing or the production." I didn't believe that was true. Deep down, I still believe that you need a great production and singer to get your music heard.  I have sent in songs for the contest that were professionally produced that I thought sounded great but this is the song that won. (Go figure!) If you notice some of the lyrics don't match up. The reason is that songs change over time. This is the original copy of the MP3 of the song I sent in to the contest. . I was totally shocked that the song that I sang won. Laugh out loud. 

      Maybe you are a songwriter and you have never had a professional do a demo for you. You might be wondering  if it is worth it? How much does it cost? Would it be better if I bought recording equipment and recorded it myself?  I will give my opinion on the cheapest way to go.

       If you are a great singer, and can play a mean piano and/or guitar, I would buy a quality computer program like Ableton live or Pro Tools. This would allow you to make your own high quality demos. You could also do this if you know someone who is a great singer who would be willing to sing your demos for you.

        If you are lacking in the singing department, I would suggest making a rough demo and having a professional studio produce one for you. Most professional studios have samples of their work on their website. I have used a couple different studios in the past. Green Jeans Studio, (Kansas), Pitch Perfect, (Nashville), and Mason Douglas (Nashville). They do excellent work without breaking the bank.

      To make your rough demos, I would suggest using a program called Audacity. It is a simple to use  set up and it is free. I understand if you want to spend more and try to make better music all by yourself. I've learned a lot and spent a lot of money during the process.

       Today, I am sharing my song that I recorded and sang in the home studio. You will be able to compare and see the difference. A professional guitar/vocal demo costs about $150. This could add up if you were writing and recording a song or two a week. Sometimes I have to decide which songs are worth spending money for the demo. The song is called Long Live the King. 

     Today I am sharing the song, Long Live the King. I got the demo back on Friday and decided I would share it today. Tomorrow I am planning on sharing my rough demo of the song. This is like before and after diet pictures but I am doing it in the reverse order. I am always amazed at the difference between me singing my best and the talent of somebody who can really sing. 

      I wish that I could sing great. God didn't give me the talent to be a great singer. He gave that talent to somebody else. All I need to do is pay the talented singer to use his talent to sing my song.

      The demo is more than just a great singer.  I have a nice recording studio setup. I have quality condenser mics, a Martin D-28 guitar, a Roland 2480 recorder and CD maker, and acoustic wall treatments hanging to keep the room from echoing. There is definitely a knack to bringing a song to life. Better guitar playing, percussion that is not out of sync, and  backup vocals. Getting the demo back is one of the best parts of writing songs. A completed project. 

      Try to check out my website tomorrow to hear the before version. Thanks for listening. 

     I want to talk about feelings. Yes, I must be sick. Guys don't talk about feeling and yes, guy's do have them. Not very many and not to often. I want to talk about bad feelings. That feeling you get when you know something is wrong. Here is an example that I thought would fit this situation.

     I used to work in Customer service at Dillon's grocery store. Dillon's is part of the Kroger company. My job at the store was to help customers at the customer service counter. Back in the day we didn't have and open counter like they do now.  Dillons wanted it to feel safer so we had an enclosed area. It was a counter top with metal netting and glass. I don't know if it was there to protect us from the customers or to protect the customers from us. It reminded me of a chicken coop with thicker wire and fluorescent lighting.  We called our work area , The Gage.

     My job was to count tills, cash paychecks, deal with customer complaints, and to perform refunds. Did you know that people pass stolen checks? I remember the first time that I knew I took a bad check. My supervisor showed me a payroll check that I had taken. It was a handwritten check and it looked terrible. You couldn't read the signature, the company name was not a company that anyone had heard of, and I should have been fired. I looked at the check and I remembered it. I cashed it but I had my doubts. My inner voice was going, "It's bad. Don't cash it. Something wrong.", but I wasn't listening. 

     I hear that same voice when I write songs. I will write down a lyric and say to myself, I like that. I try hard to convince myself that I truly like it. Sometimes I'm successful and other times I give in to the inner voice. Other times I need to hear it from somebody else. I might hear it from a song evaluator at Nashville Songwriter Association . They might say," This line could be stronger." That is the nice way of saying, "This line is terrible."

      I want to share a lyric that I fixed today. I think it is better but I could be wrong. Sometimes you have to live with a lyric a few days to see if it really is better. Today I am still in the honeymoon stage with my new lyric. 

      Here is the original lyric- 

      I fell in love with Marcia on the Brady Bunch

      Wanna drive the General Lee when I grow up.

      Commercials told me how to find happiness

       I believed the lies they told me on my color TV set. 

       You might notice that the new lines are longer. The reason I had to change the length of these lines is so that they would match the first verse. Publishers are picky that way. Also, this makes the song easier to sing. Nursery rhymes are great at matching the words and melody up perfectly. 

        I fell in love my first time with Marcia from the Brady Bunch

        Wanna drive the General Lee, real fast, when I grow up

        Didn't know what I wanted until I saw those TV ads.

        I was buying what they sold on our color TV set. 

        I like the new lines but remember it could all change tomorrow. Today is the honeymoon stage and I am in love. I hope this marriage lasts. 

     This is a story about my Mom and Dad. They were married for over seventy years. Wow! My Dad was a kid during the depression and he was not big on showing affection. He believed in showing love by acts of kindness. I don't know if I ever heard him say I love you but I never ever doubted that he loved me. My dad wasn't a big talker. If you wanted to know him you had to dig deeper than words. He told me and showed me that love is more than words. Here are the words to my song, Something you can see. 

He worked hard from sun up to sunset 

Dad repainted our old farmhouse white 

Nailed up shutters and new shingles 

Fixed it up for Mom,  real nice. 

Chorus- I never saw him raise his voice in anger 

Never saw him say an unkind word to her. 

She’s his everything 

I love you wasn’t something that he said, 

 Love was something you could see. 

She picked wild flower by the creek bank 

 Mom  arranged them in a coffee can. 

At night, she lit scented candles 

Glad to sit and hold Daddies hands. 

Chorus - I never saw her raise her voice in anger 

Never saw her say and unkind word to him 

He’s her everything, 

 I love you wasn’t something she just said 

Love  was something you could see.

Girl, you’re like a flower, you need water and sunshine 

I can be the  rain that falls in the springtime. 

Chorus- I hope I never raise my voice in anger 

Hope I never say and unkind word to you. 

You’re my everything. 

I love you isn’t something I just say 

Love is something you can see.  

 
Here is the demo of this song. I hope you like it. Love is something you can see.