despite the drums (yeah, I know, I'm an a-hole). And I honestly think the
solo could do with a little re-thinking - it's like you only get into it
properly a third of the way through. And I think there's room for a few fills
around the lyrics. Bloody critics (T.S.Eliot says they should be handled
with brass knuckles). Lovely song. Cheers, Shaky

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Yeah I should have spent more time on the solo. It was late last night and I was tired. I should have wokrd on it more before I posted it.I spent a totall of 3 or 4 hours recording , editing and mastering the song. I konw some here work on theirs for three monts. I'm gonna take my time next time. Itsounded better when I first came up with it on acoustic guitar only., but I'll have another go at it before too long. I got some now drum loops today so maybe I can find some that match up. Don't worry about the critiism. I can learn from it. Got a Blues Jr ordered off of ebay should get it in a few days. I'm gonna have ago with recording my leads with it. See Ya

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You have a really nice sound, (and you strat sounds so much like a strat
that even I (no expert) can hear that it is a strat).

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Good job. You've got a natural voice for the blues. Very nice guitar work.
I'm a fan.

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Good job. You've got a natural voice for the blues. Very nice guitar work.
I'm a fan.

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This is one of the best-produced songs I've heard at MJ in my year
here. Everything sounds really great. I'm blown away by the idea that
you did this whole recording and prodution in 3-4 hours. Besides the
solo, which I do think would sound better if you spent a little more
time on it, I think the song sounds completely pro.

Nice, mellow, grooving song. I dig it.


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Thanks Lisa I really appreciate your comments and critisims. I had the song written before I started to record it. I'm not that fast, but I wished I hadn't been so quick to post it. I'll rerecord it at some point with differen't drums and a better solo. Thanks again

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yeah. you have a good blues voice. this song reminds me of bob seger.
really nice, relaxing song with a mellow, suttle pop catchyness. perfect
combonation.

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Thanks This isn't really my natural voice. I just got a new Rode NT1 condensor mic that sounds really warm and neutral that i used on this song, so I trie to get a faux Tom Waits sound to my voice. My normal singing voice is a little nasaly which I can't stand., so I try to change it a bit.

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This song sounds honest to me. It also sounds skilled.

Your voice, guitar, lyrics and general mood all work together seamlessly.

My suggestions would be to lengthen the intro and the outro, and absent
of a drum kit, I would recommend midi drums rather than loops. The
occasional fill in this song would have been effective, I think.

Really well done, Mr. Pollard - really good.

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Thanks man. Yeah the whole drum loop thing is not one of my strengths. I've read a few articles in recording magazines on how to make drum loops more human by adding one hits in different places where it doesn't sound so mechanical. I've played around with the midi drums but so far what I've come up with sounds worse then the prefab ones do, but I hope to get better at this. Thanks for all the suggestions.

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You've received thoughtful feedback on the music, and the only thing I
might suggest is the ending needs attention, as it just kind of dies out
- maybe by simply repeating the 'We all go the same way/On our
journey to The Lost Highway'?

Beyond the performance and production values, what particular strikes
me about this song is the concept. We live in a car culture ... and the
Lost Highway is a perfect life metaphor for musing. Your rumination
has come up with some wonderful lines like "The end is for certain/the
past is behind" and "We all may be different/We all go the same way,"
as well as that idea about ghosts having nothing to say because they've
seen it all before. These conceits fit well with the bluesy format. You've
written a solid piece which, I expect, will get even better on the next
take.

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Thanks a lot Warren for you comments. Yeah I need to rework the ending as well as the solo ( it comes in too late ). I liike your idea of repeating the last line. Your crits are well founded. I'm kind of new to Mac Jams and I've been overly eager to post songs. I'm gonna take more time in the future to get it right. Thanks for listening.

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I like most everything about this song... the concept, the lyrics, your gruff,
bluesy vocals. But I believe it would work FAR more effectively with a
faster, more (please excuse the pun) DRIVING beat.

Given the song's metaphor, it sounds like it's crawling in drive time, when
it should have the pedal to the *mettle*... or spirit of this song. Give it
that extra octane and a little more attention to the musical details and I
think you'll have a minor *anthem* on your hands. ;-)

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Thanks for the crits Joe. They are duly noted. I agree with you. The drums
don't work with this song and the guitar solo sucked. It came in too late and
was weak. I can do much better. Usually the playing is my strong suite and
writing lyrics my weak one. It reversed on this song. The lyrics just came to
me. I hear songwriters say this all the time and I used to think it was such BS,
but it really happened to me with this tune. When I think real hard about
rhymes and words it seems to block the creative flow. I think most really
good things are done on a subconcious level. At first I conceived of this song
as a slow acoustic piece but after listening to the little chord riff I came up
wih, your right, the tempo needs to speed up and it needs to rock out more. I
was thinking along the same lines and you just confirmed it for me. Im fairly
new to MacJams and I've been in too much of a hurry to post songs. I'm
goona take more time in the future and I'm going to totally rework this song
music wise. Anyways I ramble on too much. Thanks for listening

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Hey, dude with a strat!

I've heard some chatter here about you speeding this sucker up when
you rerecord... I wouldn't speed it up too much, there's this hypnotic
thing about driving across Texas that, even though you may be goin'
80, it's like being in a spaceship -- time just passes slowly, you get
into the groove, and it's like meditating. That's what this song conjures
for me. Being from Odessa, you must do a bit of driving, so you know.

My other comment here is that, while I appreciate the clarity of the
vocals, they are pretty "s"-ey, if you know what I mean...

But I like the song alot. Like the guitar & bass arrangement as well.

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Thanks man appreciate the comments & crits. As far as the vocals. I just bought a new Rode Nt1a condensor mic. It's a lot better then the old AKG i got but I'm still getting used to it. I used a pop shield and shock mount, guess I still need to tinker with the vocal eq and levels.

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