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Creating the first 11 demos
1) Kick It (vocals: Jon Davis)
This song has an energized and catchy hook. It's also a great dance tune. The premise of the song is based on an interesting play on words. I realized that the term "kick it" has different meanings in country (dancing) and pop/urban (hanging out) culture. The lyrics of this song actually uses both meanings. Texan Jon Christopher Davis did a great job of delivering a raw honkytonk feel in the vocals. Recently, Jon and his talented guitarist Chris Raspante helped me remix Kick It with more guitars, real drums, and a faster tempo...and now it rocks. Turn it up!
2) Pain of Love (vocals: Perry Danos)
Writer Michael dukes wrote and recorded the music for this song. Michael, a fellow Nashville advertising guy, and I met several years ago through a work-related project and discovered we shared a mutual interest in advertising and songwriting. The first time Michael played me this track an idea popped right into my head. I think I wrote it in about a week. It's a country love song about breaking up and then realizing you are in love...and that can be painful. Vocalist Perry Danos did a terrific job of adding energy and emotion (and grunts!) to the vocals.
3) Count on Me (vocals: Brandi Taylor)
Michael Dukes also wrote the music for this song. Since the music was recorded several years ago I had to write a song that worked for the short length (just over 2 minutes) and key. Vocalist Brandi Taylor did a great job of delivering some powerful vocals – look out Martina McBride! The song is about commitment – it basically says that "I'll always be here for you" no matter what happens. Although this song could use two more sections (another verse and a bridge) to make it commercially viable, I think it could work extremely well as a jingle for a bank or services company.
4) Don't Leave Me Now (vocals: Jody Nardone)
This song was inspired by my dad. I began writing it the month he found out he had brain cancer and just a few weeks to live. The original idea was "don't leave me now 'cause daddy I love you" but after he died I found it difficult to finish the song. So I changed it to a country ballad about a broken relationship. The first time most people hear the chorus they seem to connect with the song. Although this song has the same theme as "Pain of Love", it's both slower and more serious.
5) Meant to be Mine (vocals: Tim Waters)
This song is pure country heartbreak. Once again, Michael Dukes wrote the music and I crafted the concept and lyrics. I met singer/songwriter Tim Waters this fall in Franklin. He was performing on a small stage in the parking lot of local Food Lion grocery store. The first time I heard his voice, kinda soft with a real unique North Carolina sound, I knew it was perfect for this song. I pitched the song to Tim and he liked it...and the results are here for your enjoyment.
6) Just You (vocals: Jon Davis)
This song is a musical fairytale about finding your perfect soulmate. Finding that one special person who makes you feel special no matter what. You are always their hero.
According to Michael Dukes, he wrote and recorded this music track while he was living in California. For the past several years it has been sitting on a shelf waiting for a concept. Honestly, I think I came up with the "hook" for this song the very first time Michael played this music for me. I was excited when Jon Davis agreed to do the vocals. As usual he did a great job - Thanks again Jon.
7) Drive On (vocals: Jody Nardone)
Another break up song delivered with true emotion and soul by Jody Nardone. Michael Dukes gave me this music the same day he gave me the tracks for "Just You" and "Meant to be Mine". Again, I wrote most of this song in about 2 days. This song is about a great relationship gone bad right before the wedding day.
8) Kick It - Remix (vocals: Jon Davis)
After the original version of "Kick It" was completed in the Spring of 2003, I kept thinking that it still lacked something special...more guitars or a faster tempo. Well Jon Davis and guitarist Chris Raspante agreed and helped me develop this "remix" version with live drums. I think it's tighter, faster, and better, than the original.
9) Little Red Barn (vocals: Chris Raspante)
This song was inspired by a red barn that sits in a field very near my home. I figured if stories about "Red Dirt Roads" and "Red Ragtops" can inspire great music, why not a cool old barn. The song is about love at first site, or in this case, love on first night. Boy and girl meet on a hayride, fall in love, and slip away to the barn...over and over...for the rest of their lives. One day they get to buy the barn (actually they buy the farm, so to speak) and one day a developer calls and makes them very rich...and they retire. I had fun with Chris Raspante, who helped bring all of the music to life and provided an inspired vocal track as well.
10) Ripley (vocals: Brittan Cameron)
This song is about an imaginary woman named Ripley and the myth of love at first sight. It also uses a twist on the "Believe It or Not!" theme used by the "world famous" Ripley's wax museum. I added a dash of mystery with the "witchy woman" spiced guitar riffs. The idea for the song came to me a few years ago when I was hired to write a 2 year marketing plan for the Bank of Ripley, in Ripley, TN. Late one night, after a long day of meetings with the bank's management team, I was leaving Ripley and driving back to Nashville. That night it occured to me that "what if" Ripley wasn't a place, but a girl. I guess she's every man's kinda girl...she's the one you want to rescue from a mundane and passionless life and love forever unconditionally. And all it took was that first look in her eyes for you to know she was the one for you. I had fun writing this....
11) Love's More (vocals: Brittan Cameron)
Face it, every relationship has its ups and downs. Every loving couple has their good and bad days. But with the right mix of open and heart-felt communication, dashed with a sprinkling of love, hope, faith, all relationships can endure the hard times. The bond of love is what holds couples together. We all know that it's not the symbols of love - vows, rings, homes - that provide the ultimate definition of how we can demonstrate love. It's more than that - it's the power of the love within us that gets us past the bumps in the road. |
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