Month: April 2017

Broadjam Artist: Jeff Ashbaker
Song: Good Music

Reviewer: Jeff Maguire

Positive Comments: Sounds a little like Neil Young in a country mode, nice vocals, some soulful guitar, and long list of the greats.

Constructive Comments: This falls into a genre of songwriting that I’d call a ” list song ” , it’s pretty much just a litany of well known country, blues and folk musicians . This is a pretty common technique of writing but in this case I don’t really get a clear hook … it started off making me think you were doing a ” band in heaven ” kind of thing, then the emphasis on Taj Mahal seemed like it might want to be a recurring theme. I suppose the theme is ” good music saves my soul ” but you get to it a little late to my ear. If it was me, I might try and focus it down to that a little sooner , even if you have to make it a good deal shorter.

Broadjam Artist: FRED GROSS
Song: Rock With You Baby

Reviewer: Bill Beach

Positive Comments: Always love it when someone takes the old R&R genre and nails it.. could almost see Ronnie Wood… loved the guitar and the little bass break.Overall a great little rock and roll tune that would be fun to hear live.

Constructive Comments: Really hard to find something to constructive comment on… I guess if I could wish for something it would be some little trick of the lyric turn… hate for someone to beat you up for everyday lyrics when the song just rocks!

Broadjam Artist: solagre music productions
Song: CREEPIN

Reviewer: King Cezar

Positive Comments: Catchy lyricsVocal was adequateDecent rhythm sections

Constructive Comments: Stronger hook lyricsfuller instrumentationbetter timing in production

Broadjam Artist: Cali G
Song: Caliber

Reviewer: Jessyca Brown

Positive Comments: It reminded me of Yellawolf. Good rhythm, good clear vocals. Good clear timbre of voice.

Constructive Comments: The guitar could be mixed higher. Keyboard was too high in the mix. The genre is not pop easy listening.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: WIth No Goodbye / Country

Reviewer: Carol Ann Jones

Positive Comments: I like the lead into the chorus. The lead vocal is clean and easy to understand, good pitch. The arrangement is pretty good and the instrumentation is good. The song reminds me of the pop group Savage Garden and their song Truly Madly Deeply. That said, what made that a hit..see below

Constructive Comments: The lyrics are a bit repetitive, cry and goodbye are repeated a lot. The harmony vocals are bit too loud in the mix. In the middle section of the first verse there is a beat skipped. Don’t mean to nit-pick but I hope you’ll appreciate a thorough review. I think this song would strongly benefit from some sparcer backing vocals and more dynamics in the volumes between sections. Good luck with this song!

Broadjam Artist: Keith Taylor
Song: Anne

Reviewer: Carol Ann Jones

Positive Comments: A very pretty song from beginning to end. Nice structure and just the right length. Quality musicians throughout. Reminds me of a Billy Ray Cyrus ballad from the early nineties. Good luck with your song! Keep writing more!!

Constructive Comments: The instrumentation is very late ’80s sounding, not the contemporary sound we hear on the radio now for country music. Today’s music is less synthesized and more rootsy, live-acoustic sounding. The vocals are muddled by the clavinova-sounding keyboard and I can’t understand all the words. Was it “…for a girl like you, Ann.” ??

Broadjam Artist: Drew Hale
Song: Great Lakes Summer Night

Reviewer: Carol Ann Jones

Positive Comments: Love the uptempo intro – got me hooked right away! This should be on the radio now, in time for summer fun. Great lyrics allow visualization and a message of hope. Spot on instrumentation, with nice stops and hits to POP your attention. Just what we all need right now. Great structure, nice breakdown in the bridge and bring it back to a tender moment. Super vocalist.

Constructive Comments: Not a new theme, but a great feel-good song. You can never have too many of these. My only suggestion would be to let the vocals soar at the end with a long-sustained note. He seemed to just disappear and the end was anti-climactic. Wish you all the best with this. I hope to hear it on the radio soon!

Broadjam Artist: Lisa Vivienne
Song: Tree of Life

Reviewer: Jeff Roberts

Positive Comments: Very strong all around–composition, lyrics, arrangement and performance. The vocals sound like Allison Krause. There are some great changes/melody moments, and the backing drums & bass accentuate perfectly. Tasty keys and stings/horns are superb.

Constructive Comments: There are spots where the vocal is off pitch despite being overall wonderful, and it’s a bit reedy in places. Some of thise could be corrected by pitch control and EQ but getting another take with the voice a bit more in the chest would be ideal.

Broadjam Artist: Michael Cregan
Song: HUngry and Cold

Reviewer: Jeff Roberts

Positive Comments: Very nice vocal performance, kinda Merle meets Glen vibe. There’s a compelling story here. This is old school and all the better for it. There’s some very nice playing behind it all too!!

Constructive Comments: The overall volume is too low. The tracks need to be boosted and projected more. There’s a lot of production work needed to make this meet the ears like it should.

Broadjam Artist: Randal Dunkle
Song: Shout To Jesus

Reviewer: Jeff Roberts

Positive Comments: There are some cool parts here and really nice guitar tones!!

Constructive Comments: You gotta unify this around the beat–it’s all over the place. And when you do this will rock!!!