# And the warm-up was for this - original piece



## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

So Shelley and I were putting some finishing touches on this song when we recorded the cut of "Angel From Montgomery" last week. This is an original song I've been working at for a while now. It's been a slog trying to get words and music to mesh on this one, and it has taken me a couple years to get it the way I want it. Finishing it up came on the heels of a a family member and good friend being tragically drowned at Christmas while in the country setting up the cabin for his daughter who was returning from out west with her own family. When you've grown up in an isolated village of 300 people, even your worst enemies have a connection to you, so losing someone close has a massive impact. I've had older family members pass away with much less toll - being away for so long the impact is not as immediate. With young children of my own, and with Russell having been such a prominent character in my childhood and teenage years, this really hit hard...and kicked my undisciplined ass into finishing this song.

Sorry for the long lead-in. My friends Shelley and Mike Downing added much needed music with their skills on fiddle and drums, and my 10 year old daughter added some harmony as well. The song is meant to span generations. I also wanted to write a song with an anthemic chorus to it that followed the Hank Williams prescription of easy to remember the words, and anyone could whistle the tune after hearing it once. Maybe I've accomplished it...maybe I haven't. Worst case scenario, there are sone damned nice picture I've poached from friends' FB pages ;-)


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Absolutely beautiful.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Very nice. I seldom listen to the songs posted all the way through to the end but had to on this one and tell your daughter I loved her harmonies.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Thanks, guys ;-)


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I detect a Stan Rogers influence. Very nice.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

I'm definitely a Stan Rogers fan, Kerry. I've played a lot of his music, and love the way he wrote (not to mention the cannon of a voice he had). I actually tried to combine some styles of a few of my favorite writers in this effort. I wanted the anthemic feel to the chorus like many of Stan Rogers' songs had, but I also wanted to apply the Hank Williams prescription of a good song - a chorus that anyone could remember and whistle the tune to and remember a few words from after hearing it once. Because many songs in this vein can get a bit verbose, I also wanted to adopt a more John Prine style approach, and keep the lyrics as simple and straightforward as possible (not that all of his songs do that - lol)...which oddly made it more complicated to write ;-)


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## cbg1 (Mar 27, 2012)

nice work, thanks for sharing.


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## dgreen (Sep 3, 2016)

really nice piece, definite Stan Rogers emotion in your voice


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Well done. I like it.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Well sung! Excellent lyrics with melody to match. Loved the photos. Thanks.


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## John Reilly (Apr 7, 2018)

Very nice , thanks for sharing this with us !


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