Month: April 2020

Broadjam Artist: Delta Burnett Reed
Song: Deep River

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: Here’s a beautiful cover of the Negro Spiritual Deep River. The instrumentation is beautiful and suits the song well. The vocalist nails the performance with depth of feeling and emotion. Definitely would like to hear more from this artist.

Constructive Comments: Okay Delta, you’re busted! I know who you are. The only word I had trouble understanding at first was campground. That was not the word I would have expected. I looked at the lyrics and figured it out. Also it was easy to understand at the ending. Keep up the good work, my friend. Wear a mask and stay safe. We’ll be moving to IN in June!Love yaMrs Kate

Broadjam Artist: Theopolous
Song: Your Love for Me

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: I love to hear a song that beautifully expresses the believer’s love for Jesus and God’s love for us. That’s what this song does. It brims over with the love of God. Nice male/female vocal with harmonies and another guy kicks in on “Your love for me”…almost has a bluesy feel to it. Percussion reminds me of a heartbeat. Lead male vocal is crystal clear and right on target.

Constructive Comments: Bring up the female vocal in the mix. In the beginning, the instrumentation seems inadequate, then seems to improve. Work on a little more interest/variety in your melody writing. There are a few timing issues in this song. I think that the song can be shortened and still be as effective.

Broadjam Artist: John Walradt
Song: Sunny Sunday

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: Here’s a sweet, loving, childlike song that makes the listener smile and feel a good feeling. I really like the chord progression. It’s rather unique and adds an interesting element to the song. Background keys add a nice touch to this song and the guitar harmonics at the end are sure to please. Instrumental with “da da da” is cute and pleasant to listen to. Lyrics are sweet, simple and easy to understand. This appears to be a home recording, but it’s adequate for communicating the carefree atmosphere the songwriter strives to create.

Constructive Comments: I believe this song (and artist) have potential. Here’s what I would work on: The vocal is pitchy and needs to sound a bit more confident. The background work on the keys moves in and out. Once it’s in, keep it in…When you take it out, it’s like taking the sugar out of the cookie. The song might benefit from a consistent chorus and more finesse in the guitar playing. It might also shine more with the touch of a professional producer.

Broadjam Artist: Greg Lambert
Song: Give Me Back My Mojo

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Excellent ZZ Top-like feel, and the gravel voice added to the tone. It was a very cool and enjoyable listen.

Constructive Comments: Just after the 1:00 and 2:00 marks, the drums kind of fell out and the song lost a ton of energy. It was almost like somebody forgot a part but this is a mega-driving song and those let-ups really hurt the overall rating.

Broadjam Artist: Ladee V
Song: Rocky Blues Instrumental

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Great energy, and I could hear this as a backdrop for a TV/film scene with a little touch-up. Organ sound is outstanding, rhythm section tight and balanced, and rhythm guitar is also effective.

Constructive Comments: It sounded like the band got lost around the 3:54 mark and whatever energy was there instantly died. At the beginning, the lead guitar tone (Leslie speaker sound) was cool, but it went on too long with that effect. I almost clicked off because that sound has to be done in VERY small doses to be tasteful, but when it kicked over to organ and then a more natural tone you got me back.

Broadjam Artist: Margie & Art Corey
Song: Kitschy Kitschy Kool Coreys

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Very interesting and well-balanced. The lyrics may not be for everyone but they fit the song. Well recorded with great saxaphone and electric piano accents. Sets a nice backdrop and ambiance.

Constructive Comments: Good tune – my only REAL constructive comment would be this isn’t blues. I’d have this in some Jazz category in a heartbeat, where it would get the proper ears listening in.

Broadjam Artist: Toni Fournier
Song: Don’t Throw Me Away

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: Interesting chord progression and the guitar and bass sounds are solid. Very traditional sounding.

Constructive Comments: Any recording that’s out-of-tempo will never find a place commmercially, and the drums and guitar just aren’t together in synchronization. I’m guessing it’s a home recording with “drum sounds”, but you’d be better using a metronome and no drum sound as an acoustic piece in my opinion. Has to be in tempo above almost all else.

Broadjam Artist: Nick Berry
Song: Few More Miles

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: What a song. Just NICE and rock-solid. I believe I recognize the artist from other reviews, and this sounds exactly like Bob Seger to me. The Country side of Seger, like his last couple of albums. This is some EXCELLENT songwriting with vocal and tasteful instrumentation to match. I have nothing but praise for the mix, melody and performance. Really exceptional.

Constructive Comments: I’ve got nothing!

Broadjam Artist: David James
Song: Drift

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: The song as a fantastic feel and the instruments are totally together. Really sets a nice tone and there are enough dynamics to keep it interesting. The vocal is on pitch as well. Excellent song – keep cranking out this kind of well-written material!

Constructive Comments: Rats. The last 5 seconds sounds like the perfect instrumentation just fell apart. I wish it had been either a smooth fade or a clean ending but that outright shocked me, as it was so super-tight up to that point! For my taste, this song needs a BIG voice, with power behind it and changing registers a little more. The vocal is fine. It’s good. But it doesn’t breathe life into the lyrics. There’s singing a lyric and then there’s SELLING a lyric and I would have loved to be sold the way the instruments did.

Broadjam Artist: Mark Tha Shark
Song: RAW TURBULANCE

Reviewer: Bob Birthisel

Positive Comments: The opening had a lot of promise even though the 2 panned guitars were at totally different volumes. It still had a nice energy to it.

Constructive Comments: For me, the song lost credibility around the 0:11 second mark when the drums came in off-tempo. Big turn off, as well as the muddy sound of the mix.