Month: April 2020

Broadjam Artist: The Noted
Song: $USD (UpSideDown)

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: This hit me as a cross between The Cars and Tom Petty. The band was tight and the hook is quite apparent. The instruments did a nice job of creating dynamics as well. I really enjoyed listening to it.

Constructive Comments: The vocals switching to Lo-Fi around 1:20 and again around 1:59 didn’t work for me at all – it sort of dragged down the score on recording quality and arrangement. Sometimes effect are cool, but effects for effects sake become……effects. If you ever re-mix this I’d go full-out vocals throughout.

Broadjam Artist: Signal 30
Song: My Oh My

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: The guitars and bass sound pretty nice.

Constructive Comments: This sounds very much like an old Dr. Hook song, but the lack of melody in the vocal for me kills any commercial potential. Also having the drums out-of-time with the other instruments is a distraction.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: Come On My Side r1 / Rock & Roll

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Interesting chord progression with a good amount of energy. The piano sound was also nice.

Constructive Comments: Very muddy recording that’s clearly home-made. The over-jangly guitars could be used as an effect very sparingly, but when it continues the entire song it just gets lost.

Broadjam Artist: Greg Lambert
Song: Bring It On

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Outstanding Elvis-style Country Blues Rock, in the style of The King himself. Well-played, tightly recorded and the vocal matches the song as well. The mix was super-professional on the instruments, so all in all great job!

Constructive Comments: If anything, I’d like slightly less echo on the vocal but it’s still really good as-is.

Broadjam Artist: Toni Fournier
Song: I’m Missin’ You

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Nice feel and the song has an insistent bounce that draws you in. Instruments are tight and the recording is well-balanced. The fade out was also well-timed and effective.

Constructive Comments: I couldn’t quite tell what the title is, either Missing You or Miles Away so the hook isn’t perfect, but it was very solid.

Broadjam Artist: Nick Berry
Song: Just The Way They Are

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Very nice sound, more Traditional Country than Contemporary in my opinion But it has a nice message and excellent instrumentation. Vocals are outstanding.

Constructive Comments: This almost lost me in the 1st 10 seconds. There seems to be some distortion or “flange” effect on the sound around 0:07-0:12, almost like it’s a dirty recording or transferred over from tape to digital with a dropout. It happened again at the very end, from around the 2:14 mark out and it has to do with the cymbal sound. Like the crashes were on a mic that was too hot. I was a pro drummer for 20+ years so I’m very sensitive to that distortion. The song is very good and I hated that I marked it down for that.

Broadjam Artist: amy abernathy
Song: Dancing on a memory

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Very well-written and well-performed track. I really enjoyed the dynamic breaks and the blend on the instruments. Lead vocal is solid.

Constructive Comments: This song is SCREAMING OUT for harmonies! While the lead vocal was fine it left me a bit wanting for backing vocals to round it out. Being a story song, any time you bring the word “cancer” into the lyric it’s going to limit commercial appeal. Even if that’s what happened, you can hint or hedge without going quite there. I still enjoyed the song though, and with just a couple of tweaks it could have commercial potential because the sound is so clean and melodic.

Broadjam Artist: Margie & Art Corey
Song: Bees in A Jar…Re-mix K. Kallen Vocals

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Very interesting feel and message. I thought the unusual instrumentation fit the song perfectly. Good groove, and the eclectic nature of the song kept my attention. It’s also categorized as “Hard Rock” but maybe look at other possibly categories so that the right set of ears will find this.

Constructive Comments: The nature of being eclectic is people tend to love or hate that particular thing. While I’m kind of neutral and enjoyed the songwriting, I think commercial viability is extremely limited if for no other reason than being so unusual.

Broadjam Artist: StarburstRecords
Song: Gone Missing

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: The song has a ton of energy and the guitar playing is very strong. Vocals are on pitch as are the harmonies. Very melodic. I really enjoyed the overall feel of the song, if not necessarily how the pieces fit.

Constructive Comments: Preface: I’m a 20+ year drummer, so I’m super-critical of rhythm sections. The drummer here plays well (though in my opinion over-plays much of the time), and the 2nd half to any rhythm section is bass guitar which is almost invisible. Particularly during the semi-a cappella vocal portion you hear instruments surrounding the very nice harmonies, but absolutely no end which is the glue that holds a song together. A remix would do wonders for this.

Broadjam Artist: Patrick E. Muth/Catnip Pat
Song: TRAIN ON THE TRACK

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: The song has more of a Country, Folk or Blues edge than Alternative Rock, so re-classifying it will get more correct ears on it. I liked the harmonica which was tasteful but not too far in the lead.

Constructive Comments: The drums are so out-of-tempo with the playing it’s hard to really listen to the song. I wish I could be more constructive, but when something is either out of time or out of tune, it kills any promise the song has in my opinion.