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Neil offered to do the music for this on Friday, (I think). I had the idea of making it a spoken word piece except the bridge. So yesterday I recorded my vocal to just a rhythm I was hearing in my head... I don't have a real good recording set-up but I went ahead and did it anyway.... I told Neil to just use it as a template and set some backing music behind it. Then I got busy arranging to redo the vocals later this week in "real" studio... So this came in my email this afternoon... Neil smacked it out of the park as far as I'm concerned. But I figure before I go back and re-record my vocals it might be nice to get some reactions from y'all... I already have some ideas for how I will accent things differently and build and fall a little more tightly to the music, but your advice will be helpful as well! (And I know I screwed up and said the wrong word in an important place in verse three). What a fast ride this has been! Woo Hoo!

NEW MIX POSTED 10/14/09
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8218445

Now with Video (10/18) ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvuuBkhE8Hc&feature=player_embedded

Title below still links the original mix
Blood And Dust
© 2009 Greg Swartzentruber/Neil Cotton

She met him in a honky tonk
Way out past the county line
With a full moon hanging orange
One late October night
He tipped his hat to her
Then flashed a toothy grin
She ignored his steely gaze
Still somehow he lured her in
He said, you should walk away
But follow if you must
Just know I leave behind me
A trail of blood and dust

I’ve been out here ridin’ trail
More years than you have known
I’ve turned fresh young faces
Into lost and tortured souls
I’m not quite what I appear
Then he flashed a fangy grin
She’d already lost the fight
She gave her neck to him
Powerless to walk away
He feasted on her trust
Then he left her behind him
On his trail of blood and dust

Somewhere a lone coyote
Howled for her in prayer
But her soul drained of life
Vanished in the autumn air

If you meet her in a honky tonk
Way out past the county line
With the full moon hanging orange
Some late October night
Don’t tip your hat to her
If she flashes you a grin
Because her fresh young face
Is just a way to lure you in
Know that you should walk away
Though you feel the pull of lust
Or you’ll be left behind her
On her trail of blood and dust

Hi Greg This is great.....especially with halloween coming up folks would want to play it at parties etc.. It has that Johnny Cash feel. It could be a winner if pitched to the right people.....Great job...both you and Neil. I like the spoken vocals.... keep them as is adds depth.

I read it first then listened, the music really helps to carry that erie tone. Works great being spoken.

Nice Vampire Cowboy mix. Maybe you'll spur a movie maker to sink his teeth into the concept. (puns intended) I liked the spoken word approach too. My one thought was that maybe you should do more of it in the higher vocal range and just pick the emotional spots to hit the bottom range.

Hi Greg & Neil,

This is really cool. I get a bit of a Tom Waits feel from it. The spoken lyrics really do make it a little more creepy, but in a good way, and the background music is just perfect. Cool listen.

Ricki

hey cool eh Greg, these nice JP FOLKS are liking it.

Thanks to all.
Neil

Mommy can I sleep with the light left on tonite, pretty please?

The story was a good read and the music was pretty cool.

Kevin

Howdy Greg. Gus here. I think this is great. I love Marty Robbins
He would like this

Thanks Jim, this one's been a hoot. When I posted this in Lyrics back in early September, it died with only one comment (Thanks Wyman!) I bumped it on another site late last week and all of a sudden, here we are... I will be in the studio trying to improve a few parts of it but I will try hard not to kill the overall feel which definitely does work! Thanks friend!

Greg

Thanks Barry! Long time no see... Good to see you again!

Thanks Pete! From your lips (well I guess I should say fingers in this case) to Hollywoods ears... Yeah I could see this getting fleshed out into a full blown cinematic treatment... I don't think there's ever been a cowboy vampire tale... At least I'm not aware of it if there has... We appreciate the time to listen and comment!

I agree that Neil found a perfect groove for this, Ricki. I think my voice sounds pretty good like this, I just wish it didn't become like fingernails on a blackboard when I transition to singing from speaking... I'm gonna re-record the vocals this week and I MAY try to sing the bridge, if it works, I may replace Neil's vocal there, but I don't expect it will... Thanks again!

That's due in large part to you, Neil! Great work!

Muhuhahaha! Thanks Lynn!

We appreciate the props, Kevin!

Thanks Gus... I am pleased as heck with how this is turning out... Marty Robbins? Yeah I can live with that!

Greg

Hi neil and Greg,

I like the C.W. McCall meets Anne Rice thing you got goin' on here.

I reads like a charm, but the word "met" in V1 and "meet" in V3 should both be at the same place in the music, right? Cuz it seems like the vocal comes in a couple beats to soon in V3, and this makes it sound like the chord progression for the first 8 bars in from "4/1/4/1/4/1/4/1" in V1 to ""1/4/1/4/1/4/1/4" in V3...and I'm not sure if this is by accident or on purpose, but it sounds awkward to me. You may consider adding a nice instrumental, or making the bridge a repeating chorus, just to flesh this out a little more.

Enjoying this!
Mike

Thanks Mike... Yeah this first version was just me doing the spoken vocals over dead air with no metronome or anything... Neil just placed the backing music behind it and I knew there would be a few timing issues... Tomorrow I will re-record the vocal and tie it more tightly to the music... I really appreciate the listen and advice!

Greg

Good call Mike
I knew there was a quirk but with what we had as Greg said,it became almost impossible to fix.
Greg will do just fine when he redoes it. He has extraordinary timing...his delivery stayed right on 113 bpm for the first 2 verses. Wow ...with no metronome or click.
Neil

Neil, I appreciate the kind words but I'm not sure it wasn't just dumb blind luck... If I start doing more of these myself, maybe we'll see if I can repeat it I'd sure like to have SOMETHING amazing about myself

G.

This is cooooool.... Blood and dust really hooks me. I like the imagery in the story too :-)

Hi Greg and Neil,

nice bass voice and flawless diction, I'd say. No nits for the lyrics either, and the playback's pretty cool too. So I guess it's ... well done!

I just don't know if spoken word still sells nowadays. But maybe I'm just plain ignorant there.

All the best,
yann

Greg and Neil....very cool...enjoyed this piece....Bob

Thanks Sparrow! I was shooting for a kind of "spooky cool" glad to see I may be on my way to hitting it (Thanks to Neil's help).

Greg

I have no idea if spoken word sells nowadays either, Yann. All I know is it seemed right for this one. And I guess if you make 'em as good as you can then you can worry about marketability later. We appreciate the kind words.

G.

Thanks Bob, We are enjoying this too. Thanks for checking this out!

G.

Hi Greg

Very cool idea and a very good music track - way to go guys. ! jm

Thanks JM! In the studio tomorrow for some fine-tuning... stay tuned!

Greg/ Neil,

This is just well written, and a really creative production. Lovin it! Looking forward to the retake..

Thanks Magne! I've just returned from three hours in the studio. The 'spoken word' verses have stayed, We added another bridge to the end to make it more chorus-like even though it doesn't contain the hook... and (worst of all) I sang the bridges... I noticed he had me do four distinct versions of each of the bridges which will be layered and "effect-ed" enough that you might not even be able to tell how bad I am... He said he should have it mixed down tonight... I'll repost when it's ready!

Howdy, back for another spin....Good stuff...Gus

What a great lyric, Greg! A really tight and interesting/eerie story, and it suits your voice perfectly. Excellent music, Neil.
Well done all round.

Donna

A return visit, huh? that means a lot! Thanks Gus!

The new recording didn't get finished last night... I'm hoping it gets done today... will post!

Thanks Donna... I've now recorded the entire song myself... something I never thought I'd do... I haven't heard the results yet... but assuming they're not TOO bad, I will be posting them as soon as I can. Thanks a bunch!

Greg

Hi Greg,
Vampire Country Music is the next big thing. I see you're on the crest of the wave. (Zombies are next.) Neil did a great job with the music...for a Canadian.
Kurt

Greg, Neil,
really entertaining. I noticed it barely went over 2 minutes. Still seemed complete and unrushed. Well done.

have fun,
John

Kurt

(Zombies are next.)
Have you seen Zombieland??? Funny
A zombie gets killed by a piano falling on him. He's an Ab zombie.
LOL
Oh and thanks for the compliment on the music...I think???

Thanks Kurt! I just posted a new mix if you have the time to check it out I'd appreciate it!

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8218445

Hey John we got a tad more length by adding a 2nd bridge to this new mix. Appreciate your kind words!

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8218445

NEW MIX POSTED... Old one is still up too

New Mix

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8218445

Old Mix

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8206050

The second version is perhaps a little too hot a mix compared to the first. The vocals have too much bottom end and and a tad too much FX as a result are a bit boomy. It is hard to make out some of the words. I prefer the first version but the remix could be fixed very easily.

Thanks Jim... I don't think any of us consider this the final mix. It's the first mix of the new recording... I'm sure there will be fine-tuning before it's finalized. Big shout out to my friend Law Blank for volunteering his time, resources and energy to help Neil and I get this done!

Too many people to thank personally but you know who you are...Thanks for this CMA award it means a lot to Greg and I...oh wrong thank you note.
Thanks everyone for your kind remarks.

Neil

I like your wishful thinking Neil, but I don't look good in a tux... I've had a really good response to this from friends and family... they're always supportive but it seems a little more vibrant than usual... had a bunch of downloads too... thinking about making it a paid download coming up to Halloween... We'll see.

The bottom end vocal really gives this song the balls it needs in the chorus. I'd love to hear the verses sung but, creatively, I think I know what you guys were shooting for here. Excellent! Entertaining to the very end. In fact, it was so good I had to listen to it a second time.

thanks Duncan

Entertaining to the very end...is good, right? LOL
Neil

Hi guys!

Didn't hear the original mix. But this one is pretty darned cool! I think almost anything that is very well done can be in style if it is packaged and marketed properly. This would be a nice package to market. Liked it a bunch!

Alan

Wow thanks Duncan... You can't imagine how much that means to me... I was told in seventh grade that I couldn't sing and now in my forties I'm throwing caution to the wind and saying screw it! Just have fun and do it... I know I'll never be a great vocalist but it's nice to know that I can at least convey the general idea effectively... Thanks!

Greg

Thanks Alan... this little sucker's been growing legs of it's own... we're having a blast with it!

Greg