I always knew that I was a genre bending producer, but I never anticipated that Country of all styles would be one of my most natural!
When I heard that my cousin Alexis and her new husband Kyle were getting married, I immediately thought about making a country song for them, because I knew they loved country music.
This song is a homage to them, their positivity, kindness, and love! I hope you enjoy! Click below to listen on Spotify or on your streaming platform of choice!
The Production Process
At first, I had no idea how to get started on this song, but I knew I wanted to make it. As I let myself sit with the anticipation, I ended up coming up with some melodic and lyrical ideas in the shower one day - which is the place where most of my best ideas come from.
I immediately rushed to the piano and recorded a sample demo of the song, which included the chord progression, the first verse and a bit of the chorus. They lyrics just naturally flowed out after I recorded the chord progression from the piano.
These days, my production process involves getting as much down as I possibly can in the first session. I’ve learned that if walk away from an early idea, it may be lost forever. I’ll revisit songs later on, but the more I get down at first, the better. I strive to get an A and B section down no matter what, and come away with as complete of a song as possible.
For awhile, this V1 (version 1) demo is all I had. It has a flatter version of the drums, a fake guitar, demo vocals with no female duet, and completely un-mixed. I listened to it over an over again to find ways to improve it.
Good Country Love V1 (demo)
But I knew this could be better than it was. That is why I decided that there are two things that would really make this track shine: 1) Female vocals on the high parts that my voice cannot naturally hit, and 2) a real guitar. I mean, common! A country song absolutely needs a real guitar.
Adding Guitar
Recently, I’ve been making it a point to reach out to other musicians and collaborate with them. I brought in two of my friends. First, Jordan Cromwell who recorded the guitar. He is also a co-founder of the band we formed together, Bhaktisphere (more music to coming soon)! His talent on the guitar is incredible, and he has an ability to just listen and jam on a song immediately.
Him and I sat down and recorded his guitar for both the background rhythm guitar and lead guitar, while I played the piano. Since we have been jamming together for over a year in our band, it came out extremely naturally and we were able to riff off of each other. We just jam for about 7-10 minutes on each of the sections of the song, and I took the best parts in the final production. His guitar is truly beautiful on this track.
Adding Vocals
Next, I was talking with my friend Katie Rayne about collaborating on some music, and this seemed like an amazing first track for us to test the waters with. First off- she has an incredible voice and has been singing for years. And second- she is amazing at accents (which neither Katie nor I have a southern accent, but it certainly was fun to sing in that way).
One thing that was challenging about recording vocals in this song was the syncopation of the vocals. The whole song has groovy timing, and the vocals are timed incredibly precisely. Katie and I spent a good amount of effort just working on getting the timing right, and synced up. Hat’s off to her for this being her first song recorded with me, she absolutely nailed it!
Katie absolutely leveled this song up and the final product sounds amazing with her! The way our voices complement each other was such a surprise! My voice sounds so much better in my lower register, and her voice filled in perfectly. And since this is a love song, having the balance of male and female vocals really adds to the overall vibe and production. I cannot wait to collaborate with Katie again on future songs!
Arrangement and Mixing
Lastly, I spent a good amount of time getting the mix just right. I added a room mic to the drums and made sure that had some reverb present, which gave depth to the mix. I exchanged one bass sound for a warmed, deeper sound, and added saturation to give it more depth. I also ensured the vocal levels were just right, with lots of presence, mid-highs and subtle reverb. The mastering of the song is also an important step, balancing the low, mid and high frequencies of the overall song and making sure the song is compressed subtly to increase the overall volume, preserving transients and keeping the punch.
With Katie’s help, we ended up shortening the final song from over 6 minutes to under 5 minutes, by pulling out unnecessary jamming sections. Ultimately, the final song flows beautifully and never feels too long.
One of my favorites
Ultimately, this song is definitely one of my all-time favorite songs I’ve ever made. Everything from the inspiration of my cousins, to the collaborative creative process, I feel deeply connected to what this song represents. To me, it is a testament that true love is possible in this world, and that creative humans are absolutely still needed in the music making process! Zero A.I. was used in the process of creating this song!
To Alexis and Kyle - I wish you both the most fruitful marriage, with many years of happiness to come! Thank you for sharing your love with the world, and allowing me to bear witness to it through music!
What’s Next?
Musically, I’m so excited for what’s coming next. This last year, I’ve been heads down finishing 6 albums (yes, you read that correctly!), and establishing my band Bhaktisphere. This year, it is my goal to build my portfolio and establish myself as a music producer. I want to help budding artist make their songs and bring their musical ideas a life, and I believe I have the ear and the musical talent to do that! Plus I have so much fun in the process!
Here’s a little preview of releases I have planned the rest of this year, and into next year:
Friday Oct 23 - “Dreamers” Single (Single from upcoming Sade Sati Album)
Friday Nov 9 - “Silverthorne Improv Sessions” Bhaktisphere Album Release (full length improvised album by my band Bhaktisphere)
Friday Nov 13 - “Sade Sati” Album Release (20+ Song Electronic Dance Compilation Album with songs from 2022)
Friday Nov 27 - “The Divine Feminine” Single (Single from upcoming Metamorphosis Album)
Friday Dec 11 - “Lightning Strike” Single (Single from upcoming Metamorphosis Album)
Wednesday Dec 23 - “Metamorphosis” Album Release (Piano and Heart-Centric Album about how life changes, and growing through those changes)
Friday Dec 31 - “Rising Up” Single (Single from upcoming Honey In the Heart Album)
… and many more full length albums to be released in 2027, including “Honey In the Heart”, “Worthy of the Wind”, “Ambient Light EP”, “In The Blur”, and “CODENCE”
Thank you!
As always, thank you so much for embarking on this musical journey with me! I can’t wait to share more songs with you as I am finishing many of them, and constantly creating new ones! Your support is received with so much gratitude!
With lots of love,
David (aka Blossomoon)
