Jonathan San German

Okay. You see, John. There are still LOADS of active singer songwriters that get support and notice from local communities, I think Alan said something about it in one of his posts not too long ago. It all depends on what the current trend in the local music scene is. I'm not quite sure what kind of music is played mostly in your area, but trust me, singer song writers can still bring the hype. I tend to find that it depends on which performing acts your stuck between. I find that softer singer songwriter stuff tends to be heard more when you're between two louder acts. But that's just how it goes with my experiences. Another thing is that when bands play loud it gets people excited! Okay! With that being said, my contribution to this thread: How does one make something accessible as possible? My band is currently thinking on incorporating aspects of the genre of math rock (songs that are just in weird timings like 6/8 for instance) into our sound. However, as much as I love this genre, some of the music isn't very accessible to a wide audience. Any advice on how to take something strange and make it work? 

Oooookay! Let's back it up here! I do enjoy the songs that I wrote, HOWEVER, I'm scared to death because for some impending reason I feel like people will just be indifferent to my bands music. I'm not going to brag at all. No, sir. Tbh that's probably how people flop. Y'know? Anyway, thanks for the tips, fam. 

I am completely interrupting this train of though about music theory. Sorry. ....Jk. No I'm not. Anyway, I've got a question for discussion: live shows and local music scenes.How active are some of you in yours? How often do you play shows around the area? Question for the big M: How does one go about dealing with debuting in their local scene? My band has our first show ever coming up this week and as excited as I am for it, I am also terrified by this. Being the young, spry musician that I am, I'm involved with a local punk/post-rock/hardcore scene. It's really tight nit and just about everyone who is heavily involved go to shows and knows each other. I am one of those people. Now, my band mates aren't super immersed in the scene as much as I am. I've played shows before and have shared my soundcloud with others and for the most part people have responded well with my solo work. Most of the songs my band has have been written by me lyrically and instrumentally my drummer and I have worked shopped some stuff together. So far our songs are killer and I feel like the crowd will love us(if not then, too bad. I've already booked more shows.). HOWEVER, I'm not sure if I should spread the word about my band or not. I don't want to be too cocky and build up hype and set us up to flop, but at the same time, I'M REALLY FREAKING HYPED AND WANT TO TELL EVERYONE THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE RAD. In the end I know that I'll probs just keep quiet about the band and just wait and see what happens, but I was just wonder how one should go about debuting.

Good stuff, man. I really dig this. I like the message you're putting down. However, I'm not really sure how relevant talking about pagers and using the term "cellular phone" are. lol! Nonetheless, good song!

K. So continuing my rant, I like the song so far. I like the concept. Really sad. I hope something like this hasn't actually happened to you. If it has, oh my goodness that's terrible and you deserve better. ANYWAY! Instrumentally, it's a lot happier than I thought it would be. Like damn, son. If I were more into country I'd probably want to rage to this track. I envisioned this sounding more like just a simple guitar, harmonica, and maybe some soft drums when you mentioned blues earlier in the thread. But hey, it's your song. You do you, man. You've got a great voice for the genre that you sing. It fits the tone like a glove. I'm sure you probably already knew that though. Now, as far as some of the little effects go. Personally, I don't really care for the chorus/flanger effect that you put on your voice. It doesn't really match the tone of the song and also(in my opinion) when put on vocals it always sounds super forced. Also the little synth you have in the beginning and in between the verses also sounds a little bit unnatural and forced in there too. It just doesn't sound like it fits in a country blues song. Now as for the lyrics, I think they're great! Maybe put a few filler words in there to have the song flow a little bit better. Y'know? The only real thing I have to say about them is maybe not have the "you know it's his; it can't be mine" sung twice. Maybe try coming up with another line that adds to the effect of the song? Anyway, I think this is a really great song you have here. 

Okay, Dan. I like what you're doing here and what you've got so far, but I have some ideas for you and this song. However, before I get to that I just want to comment on a few things that have been said so far in this thread.>"I really didn't have a target audience in mind. I just had the hook come to mind and started toying with the idea. I don't believe anyone can come out of left field and get recorded on a major label these days. All the major players have dozens of staff writers competing for the latest hit." - Don Lemons, 2015That's totally okay, man. There is a HUGE audience for people who make concept tracks/albums(i.e. The Mountain Goats, The Wonder Years, La Dispute, etc.). So not really having an audience for a song with a theme like this is okay. It tells a story of heartbreak, there are LOADS of people who unfortunately can relate to a track like this! Secondly: sure, it's very rare for people to get swept off their feet to a major label. Yes. But a bunch of amazing artists have worked from small town communities and music scenes that have gone on to be come well known bands. They initially didn't have people to write songs for them to start off. People had to sign them for SOME reason.>"Also someone has already wrote a song about that. I'm trying to write a song about something that has not been said. My goal is originality lyrically and musically."-Dane Leoniads, 2015Originality is super important and very valuable to have. I find sometimes it's really hard to be completely original, which is why you should write things that mean something to YOU. I find that the more meaning we put into our own work, the more original the lyrics turn out to be. Just a simple thought. This post has gone on way too long. NOW, ONTO THE SONG CRITIQUE!