Jim Riley Plays Sessions On Prototype Ludwig Jim Riley Snare! Yours too?

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Ludwig’s Jim Riley signature snare  is in production, available and Jim Riley  himself brought in the prototype today. He played it on a client song demo power ballad titled “Who Knew” and wow, it sounded great!

Of course Jim, a long time member of Rascal Flatts, could likely play on a toy drum kit and sound better than most session drummers.

 


Writing Hick Hop? Maybe It’s Time…

Country artists are putting rap and hip hop music in their songs. Jason Aldean and Florida-Georgia Line are two of many acts that have released songs that are “bro country” part country, part rap.

  • Professionally made demos  and masters of unpublished songs may be submitted (with permission) to Listen Again Music (BMI) or PlayItAgainMusicPublishing (ASCAP).
  • E-mail your request for permission to submit to: LAMusicPublishing.1@gmail.com
  • MP3 only, songs must be unpublished. Lyrics submitted in body of e-mail, no attachments except the MP3. Songwriter and/or co-writers must control copyright 100%.

If your song is accepted you will be asked to sign a single song publishing agreement. There is no charge to the songwriter, the publisher will acquire the publisher’s share of the song and the songwriter retains 100% of the writer’s share.

And check out the Sarah Ross video of Shotgun:

.

Your father’s country music it’s not.

So… she’s signed with a major label and preparing to cut songs for a new album. The label is requesting “high energy summer songs” specifically noting that hick-hop is desired.

Hurry! Obviously the request suggests this project is intended for release this coming spring/early summer.

submit to:

LAMusicPublishing.1@gmail.com att: Bill Watson. Put “Sarah Ross Project” in the subject area.


David Northrup In The House TODAY!

Meet Nashville session drummer David Northrup (Travis Tritt, Oak Ridge Boys).  He was in playing on songs for Nashville Trax and Play It Again Demos clients.

Check out his 6.5x 14 BC Drumworks Ambrosia Maple Solid Stave Snare built by Sean Benz.

Besides playing on demos, masters and performance tracks, David is also one of our Drum Tracks Online drummers.

David3-17-16crop


Dan Thompson’s “Miles And Miles” Makes The Country Radio Most Added Prime Mover Chart!

Congratulations to Canadian singer/songwriter Dan Thompson, who’s first single, “Miles and Miles” has been gaining traction on radio, first charting on the SOCAN Internet Radio Stations Top 40 Up and Coming list and now has migrated to the Traditional  Country Top 40 Up and Coming chart.

If Miles & Miles climbs to the top of the up and coming Country charts (It’s currently sitting at number 28) the next progression is Bill Board top 40..

Update from Dan, 12-24-15.
“Hi Bill.  I just received the updated charts tonight.  Miles & Miles is number 38 on the top 40 AC/Hot AC main Charts with over 2000 spins this past week.  We also made it on the Country Internet Main charts sitting at position 46.  And currently position 3 on the up and coming Country charts. Its amazing we got this far starting out as an indie artist with no label.”
Dan

Miles and Miles was written and sung by Dan Thompson, produced by Bill Watson and recorded here at Nashville Trax.

Read more about the session here.

Country most added prime mover


Nashville Trax Bass Guitar Tracks Online Client Steve Whitaker Releases Album

Steve Whitaker has released his album, Edge Of Oblivion Steve Whitaker

The bass guitar tracks on all eleven songs were provided by Nashville Trax Bass Guitar Tracks Online.

Steve was thrilled with his bass guitar tracks. Here is a previously published blog post about Steve Whitaker’s album Edge Of Oblivion that includes several strong testimonials about our Bass Tracks Online service.


Southern Shine Tracking Finished

Here’s a preview of the Dan Thompson’s song Southern Shine, no vocals, unmixed raw tracks:

It may be his next single to be released to Canadian radio this coming spring, his current single, also produced here, “Miles and Miles” is enjoying over 2,000 spins per week.

Dan will be returning to the Nashville area in late February to add his vocals.

Drums: William Ellis (Montgomery Gentry)

Bass Guitar: Bill Watson (Nashville Trax producer)

Acoustic and Electric Guitars: Tom Wild (Nashville session guitarist)

Fiddle: Jenee Fleenor (Blake Shelton)

Banjo: Aaron McDaris (Rhonda Vincent)

Produced, arranged and engineered by Bill Watson

Call your local radio station in March and ask for Southern Shine by the Dan Thompson Band!

© 2016 Dan Thompson. Posted for demonstration only. Any other use is a violation of U.S. and International copyright law.

 

Country most added prime mover

 

 

 


Blue Encore 300 Microphone Review: Designed for live work, excels in the studio too!

JeneeBlueEncore300

Jenee playing fiddle into the Encore 300

If you check out customer comments on the Blue Encore 300 at the online music sites like Musician’s Friend, Sam ash and similar you’ll see over and over that “it’s a great live microphone!” A couple folks sheepishly admit they’ve “tried it on electric guitar in a recording situation with good results” or some similar lukewarm comment.

Political correctness can take a hike, this is one great sounding microphone! Not just for the stage, for studio too!

 

I own my own studio located in the Nashville area, have years of studio experience and use full time Nashville session players on my sessions. Just today I used the Blue Encore 200 on a fiddle session with Jenee Fleenor (Blake Shelton’s fiddle player). After the session she said, ” I like the sound of this Blue over other mics we’ve used in the past.”

The Blue Encore 300 excels on fiddle! Or should I say, “The Blue Encore 300 can excel on fiddle, depending on the song.” On some songs you may want a soft violin tone and go for a ribbon microphone, others you may want a very aggressive sawing sound and use a large diaphram mix with a hard peak in the upper frequencies. But in general, the Blue delivers a nice round tone that can work on a lot of tunes.

Yesterday I tried the Blue on a rap vocal. It worked great. Tons of presence, and great tone that cut right through the mix.

Other uses that worked out great, male bgv’s, male pop lead vocals and electric guitar.

One notable misfire:

Banjo: The mic’s transient response is not fast enough to track 5 string banjo well.

If you’re having trouble getting good, clean tracks packed with presence or simply need a good work horse studio microphone and can’t afford to pay over $200, I highly recommend the Blue Encore 300.

“But it’s not designed for recording!”

“I couldn’t care less what category some marketing guy in California decides to go with,” I reply, “I’m into results. Good sound is good sound!”


Need Jaw Dropping Online Violin and Fiddle Tracks? We Have The Best!

A Nashville Trax musician delivering yet another amazing violin part for a Fiddle Trax Online client

A Nashville Trax musician delivering yet another amazing violin part for a Fiddle Trax Online client

Violin and fiddle are the same instrument, the difference is in the approach the player uses. Our players are classically trained as well as fluent in country and bluegrass styles and can play either violin or fiddle at session quality. In fact, the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Musician of the Year is a fiddlist who works here at Nashville Trax.

To add either to your project send an mp3 or .wav file to nashtrax@bellsouth.net and the $150 per song payment to the same e-mail via PayPal.com, be sure to cover any transaction fees. Tracks are normally turned around with 2 to 4 days.

For samples of our work, click on the photo above.


Mike Anderson Releases Single To Radio

new-release

Songwriter and singer, Mike Anderson’s new release .

Bluegrass/Gospel artist Mike Anderson of Madisonville, Tennessee has released a song produced by Bill Watson and mixed at Nashville Trax titled, “He Will Set You Free” to bluegrass radio via Airplay Direct.

Bill Watson wrote the arrangement then tracked the music and background vocals. Mike did his vocal remotely from Madisonville, TN, sending it via Dropbox. Bill assembled the parts, mixed and Mike took over from there.

It’s posted on Bluegrass Today’s website. Give it a listen!

 

 


Songwriter Dan Thompson Visits Nashville To Record Vocal Tracks For His CD Album, 1st single getting radio adds daily, 23 stations yesterday!

Singer Songwriter Dan Thompson of Canada sings his vocal on music tracks produced at Nashville Trax Recording Studios.

Singer Songwriter Dan Thompson of Canada sings his vocal on music tracks produced at Nashville Trax Recording Studios.

Update: 11-4-15:

Hi all! A hit song in the making?

On 10-29-15 Nashville Trax received a request by a program director in the U.K. for a copy of Dan Thompson’s single release, “Miles and Miles” because she noticed it rising rapidly on the European Spin Scan (SOCAN) list. Nothing surprising, we get requests from music publishers, artists and record companies for client’s songs all the time.

But when we forwarded the PD’s request to Dan we discovered that due to Dan’s promotional efforts, the song, produced by Bill Watson of Nashville Trax, is being played on BBC radio, the largest station in the U.K., which has fueled the song’s addition to rotation on multiple stations.

How do you spell r-o-y-a-l-t-i-e-s?

This just in from Dan today:

“Yesterday (Nov. 3rd) Twenty-three traditional SOCAN reporting over-the-air and SOCAN reporting Internet radio stations in the U.S., Canada and Europe downloaded Miles and Miles for airplay use. Good reviews are coming in daily. A screen shot of the report is attached.”

Update from Dan: 12-3-15 “Miles & Miles is #2 on the top 10 Downloads on the STS tracking system.  So going great, just need to finish the album!”

New Music Weekly, the #1 magazine serving the radio industry and music business, also did this press release on their site:

“Recording Artist, Danny Thompson is tearing up the air-waves once again with the title track release off his new album entitled: “Miles & Miles”. The current single, Miles & Miles, is receiving airplay all across Canada, England, North Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and parts of the USA.
The new single has already positioned at 38 on the top 40 up and coming Country Internet Charts by STS USA, and is expected to move to the top 10 in the next couple of weeks.” N.M.W.

Editor’s note: Over the past few weeks Miles has risen from position 38, as of December 24th, it’s in position #3 . It’s also entered the top 40 AC/Hot AC main Charts, at #38 with over 2000 spins.

Dan Thompson’s “Miles and Miles” radio adds. 23 in one day!

Exciting times for Dan!

**************************************************

Bill Watson, of Nashville Trax Recording Studios has produced client projects many ways: sometimes turnkey using session singers, never meeting the client; sometimes having the client in for the entire project from initial rhythm tracking to mix. In this case, Dan came to town for only the vocal session.

Dan sent, via e-mail, the mp3 roughs of three songs he penned to Watson, who wrote the arrangement, hired session players and produced the music. He then sent Dan a music mix to practice with. Dan then drove to the Nashville area from Canada (8 hours and only $70 in gas!).

Shawn Conley engineered while Watson coached/produced Dan’s vocal. The teamwork paid off with results so stunning that Dan has decided to move forward with a full CD album!

Here’s a clip of the song Dan penned for his son, a long haul trucker, who was tragically killed in an accident involving his rig just a few months after “Miles and Miles” was written:

Vocals: Dan Thompson
Drums: Jim Riley (Rascal Flatts)
Guitars: Tom Wild (B. J. Thomas, Mindy McCready, Brenda Lee)
Bass Guitar: Bill Watson (Nashville Trax’ producer)
Fiddle: Jenee Fleenor (Blake Shelton)
Tracking, Mix and Mastering Engineering: Bill Watson, Shawn Conley
Produced/Arranged: Bill Watson

******************************************************

And please do give a listen to Dan’s song from the same session, “Only Rednecks Do It Like That”:

As well as his traditional country song, “Our Love”:

*These mp3 samples will be louder in volume than most on this blog site because they went through the additional step of mastering.

** Only Rednecks Do It Like That, Our Love and Miles and Miles © 2015 Dan Thompson and are provided as a demonstration of production values only. Any other use violates U.S. and International copyright law. Requests for copies by program directors for radio rotation and requests by other parties interested in recording or performing these songs or using them in TV, film or other commercial use, e-mailed to nashtrax@bellsouth.net will be forwarded to the songwriter and/or publisher.


Rascal Flatts Drummer, Jim Riley, Plays On A “Record Your Album Over The Internet” Project

If you are considering doing a three song demo, an EP or a full album, need session quality players yet wish to sing, here’s your solution!

Pictured below is drummer Jim Riley of Rascal Flatts, overdubbing percussion yesterday on a power ballad. The song, “Change Your Life” is song number seven of an album done completely over the Internet.

“So far we are absolutely THRILLED with the work Nashville Trax has done on our album!” says the client we came to know as “Wayne from Main” who records and performs under the group name, The Greatest Gift.

The songwriter and singer, Wayne, uses a local piano player to record a rough at a local studio and sends us (Nashville Trax producer, Bill Watson) an mp3. Watson determines the arrangement, writes charts for the musicians, then hires session quality musicians such as Jim Riley, to record the song in Wayne’s key. The finished tracks are uploaded and delivered to the studio Wayne is using in Main. He then goes in and records his vocal.

At that point the mix can be done at the local studio or the vocal file can be sent back for mixing here at Nashville Trax.

Better yet, the cost is only about $600 per song for charting, arranging and recording the raw instrument tracks on the Nashville Trax end so an 4 song EP can be done for under $2,500, excluding vocals and mixing. Payments of about $300 each are due as the project unfolds and completed songs are delivered.

The price, of course, varies according to song complexity and instrumentation required.

Rascal Flatts' drummer, Jim Riley, overdubs a tamborine part for the Wayne from Main project at Nashville Trax Recording Studio

Rascal Flatts’ drummer, Jim Riley, overdubs a tamborine part for the Wayne from Main project at Nashville Trax Recording Studio

Rascal Flatts' drummer, Jim Riley, overdubs cymbal swells at Nashville Trax Recording Studio

Rascal Flatts’ drummer, Jim Riley, overdubs cymbal swells at Nashville Trax Recording Studio

Rascal Flatts' drummer Jim Riley overdubs shaker at Nashville Trax Recording Studio

Rascal Flatts’ drummer Jim Riley overdubs shaker at Nashville Trax Recording Studio


Self-producing a music project and need session quality instrument tracks?

Available this week with no more than 2 day turnaround time: fiddle/violin, viola, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, B3 organ, and piano.

I’d need your rough mix on mp3 or .wav file and payment of $95 per instrument, per song, via PayPal.com. PM for additional details. Other instruments are available but would probably have longer turnaround.

Nashville Trax Fiddle Tracks Online

Drum Tracks Online

Pedal Steel Guitar Tracks Online

Bass Tracks Online

Other instruments are available under the “More” tab on the home page of the site.