The last few days I had been on a kick where I listened to nothing but Prince. It got me thinking that it would be a lot of fun to write a cool and funky contemporary R&B song. So there it is, that's what we're doing!
Genre: Contemporary R&B
Optional Subject: Fruits and Vegetables
So what makes the genre "contemporary" rather than traditional? That's simple, contemporary draws influence from funk, hip hop and dance while traditional is more soul and jazz. The most important aspect of either genre is to be suave, be cool. There is a certain refinement to R&B's calm and cool, which is worth trying to capture. Good luck everyone! Here's a funky carrot for inspiration.
First and foremost I want to thank everyone who took the time to listen to the songs for April. The songs all had 50% more "views" than the songs for March and February had. Hopefully that means there will be a continued interest in the song writing game from now on! Also, I would like to thank Danny and Rene for their dedication each month and writing. Without them, this wouldn't be a game at all.
After the voting was all said and done, the winning song was Farmer Brown by Kayce Kelly, Trever Wilkins and I.
I have been writing one song a month for the last 2 1/2 years and I am certain that this one was my favorite that I have worked on. Even my mom and wife liked it! Wowza!
Don't forget about your songs for May. The month is dwindling down!
In December, Kayce and I started writing a song together and never had a chance for it to come to formation. Everything was written but nothing was recorded. A few months later, this song popped into my head and I decided to build the song stipulations for April around this song so it would see the light of day. The genre was bluegrass (at least once a year we do some version of country) and the subject was "the unintended consequences of alcohol." They kinda go hand in hand, right? Right.
Anyways! Have a listen to the songs and vote for your favorite below!
Danny Imig - Whiskey Dick
My comments: As always, Danny has a great lyrical pun in this song. I wouldn't want to drink with Richard either, from the sounds of it. It has a great authentic sound and keeping with the style, goes into solos for banjo, mandolin ("Yeah, I suck a mandolin too!" lol) and guitar for a large chunk of the song. All in all, it is a well done, funny and true to style song. Well done as always!
Kayce Kelly and Brian Salapek - Farmer Brown (ft. Trever Wilkins)
My comments: I wrote above how the whole month was worked around this song in particular. Kayce and I weren't able to get together during the month so we worked things out through e-mail and texting. I recorded all the music, minus the guitar solo which was done by my cousin Trever Wilkins (Thanks Trever!) and Kayce did the vocals and the harmonica. We went for a Johnny Cash sound, which isn't bluegrass at all, but works great with how Kayce sings. I am very happy with the song.
Rene Zansman - Lottery Ticket
My comments: Rene really dives into the "unintended consequences" with this tale of his. First there is a butt tattoo but soon the lottery is won and all is well. But that begs the question, is having a butt tattoo worth winning $100? That is the question of the century. ANYWAYS! Like my (our) song, Rene doesn't really hit the bluegrass style. It's not a bad thing, Rene does his version of pop punk songs well. This one has a mix of folk in there and a plucky keyboard (banjo setting?). I would have liked to have the keyboard playing something a little more intricate. Either way, Rene did a good job.
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