The Man In The Distance Mix Finished!

Play It Again Demos Music Producer, Bill Watson

Jenee finally returned from Los Angeles where she’s been “working” on The Voice (getting pampered/living it up on the production company’s dime, LOL) long enough to get some real work done: utilizing her amazing talents to get a few fiddle, mandolin and vocal tracks locked down. One was the final track needed to mix this awesome little ballad, Man In The Distance, written by songwriter Kevin Wood:

Here’s a clip of the client “Before” Version starting in verse two:

Our “after” Version, same spot:

Kevin did a great job laying out his vision. A lot of changes were made though, there was some superfluous stuff. And the song clocked in at about 5 minutes, way too long in a world where “radio friendly” is about 2 to 3 minutes.

“The “howling wolves” vocal sounds Kevin had were interesting but were deleted in the charting phase. Several bars of music that served no purpose were axed. Also, Kevin put a tag on every chorus which wasn’t appropriate (a “tag” is when you repeat the last line of a section, usually verbatim. in this case with different words but it still made the whole chorus feel too lengthy) I kept only the final tag.

A little tightening, and there you have it, a song I think has a great chance of garnering a publishing contract!

Which version would you take to the pitching table?

After hearing the mix, Kevin said, “Wow — Nice!! You guys did a great job, and you are very skilled at what you do, brother!”

Man In The Distance is © 2014 Kevin Wood, posted by permission.

If you’re interested in recording this song, using it in a commercial application or singing it in a performing situation please let us know and we’ll forward your request to the songwriter and/or the music publisher.