Ruins

[Bob1131]

A while back Deb wanted to sing some Melissa Etheridge tunes. Here's our rendition of "Ruins". Although the arrangement follows the original, we did do some different things in it to make it build differently than the original. I hope you enjoy it. All comments are welcome.

[Ranger1964]

GREAT!!! Your wife captures the soul that Melissa brings to her music. This is one of my favorites of hers. There are a few from her first 2 albums that I would love to do. Let me add, that the playing and the production are this one really bring an authentic "rock" feel to it and that is not easy to do.

[ccarnucci]

Great recording! You guys sound outstanding. Very professional!

[mesa]

Bob....I sure hope you and your wife are doing this for living! You folks are just great!

[Jacoustic]

Sounds fantastic, very professional recording!

[rmyAddison]

Very nice!

Deb got the touch of "growl" down perfect. Nice job folks!

Funky!

[plumbgit]

That was awesome! Thx Dan

[Bob1131]

Originally Posted by Ranger1964

GREAT!!! Your wife captures the soul that Melissa brings to her music. This is one of my favorites of hers. There are a few from her first 2 albums that I would love to do. Let me add, that the playing and the production are this one really bring an authentic "rock" feel to it and that is not easy to do.

Thanks, Roy, and Deb says Thanks, too! It's always a gamble messing around with covers, sometimes they come out good, sometimes not so much. I can't help but wonder what Ms. Etheridge would think of the banjo in the 3rd verse!

Originally Posted by ccarnucci

Great recording! You guys sound outstanding. Very professional!

Thank you, very much, Chris!

Originally Posted by mesa

Bob....I sure hope you and your wife are doing this for living! You folks are just great!

Thanks for your very kind comment, Mesa! It was a full time living for about five years, followed by another fifteen years of part time gigging (weekends), but we haven't played a gig now since 1997.

Originally Posted by Jacoustic

Sounds fantastic, very professional recording!

Thank you, Jacoustic! I am very pleased that folks hear a good production because we are very low budget musicians with a small Boss BR864 instead of a computer, and EV ND 767a dynamic mics instead of condenser mics.

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

Very nice!

Deb got the touch of "growl" down perfect. Nice job folks!

Funky!

Thanks, Rich! All she has to do is pretend she's talking to me and the growl comes out naturally!

[Bob1131]

Originally Posted by plumbgit

That was awesome! Thx Dan

Thank you for listening and commenting, Dan!

[Neal]

Bob. Good sh** goin' on there. Asterics mine.

[Sage97]

Wow Bob! Melissa Etheridge would be proud! that was awesome.

[rhancox]

I'm not much of a Melissa Etheridge listener..... this was an awesome cover. I love Deb's vocals. And of course, the whole production was superb.

[Mr. Dave]

Big props to Deb on that one. You really made that one your own. Great job. Nice to have you in the spotlight.

Bob, to the instrumental arrangement - Your arrangements tend to be very dense in general and sometimes don't leave much breathing room. Overall I love the growling, burning, driven, angst-ridden, "I will not go quietly and I'm gonna take some of you S.O.B.'s with me (while the Devil plunks happily away on his banjo)", irresistible force vibe. Quite apropos. The only problem I have with it in this piece is that there are times when Deb's vocals are nearly washed out by this wall of burning guitars.

Perhaps play with the mix of some of the elements that are close to the frequency range of Deb's voice (when it is getting swamped) and bring those elements down, or maybe bring most of the backup down at those moments so they suggest the embers of burning ruins. Let the fire breathe.

[Bob1131]

Originally Posted by Neal

Bob. Good sh** goin' on there. Asterics mine.

Thanks, Neal! I appreciate you listening and commenting!

Originally Posted by Sage97

Wow Bob! Melissa Etheridge would be proud! that was awesome.

Thanks, Ernie! You are extremely kind!

Originally Posted by rhancox

I'm not much of a Melissa Etheridge listener..... this was an awesome cover. I love Deb's vocals. And of course, the whole production was superb.

Thank you, very much, Rob, and Deb thanks you, too!

Originally Posted by Mr. Dave

Big props to Deb on that one. You really made that one your own. Great job. Nice to have you in the spotlight.

Bob, to the instrumental arrangement - Your arrangements tend to be very dense in general and sometimes don't leave much breathing room. Overall I love the growling, burning, driven, angst-ridden, "I will not go quietly and I'm gonna take some of you S.O.B.'s with me (while the Devil plunks happily away on his banjo)", irresistible force vibe. Quite apropos. The only problem I have with it in this piece is that there are times when Deb's vocals are nearly washed out by this wall of burning guitars.

Perhaps play with the mix of some of the elements that are close to the frequency range of Deb's voice (when it is getting swamped) and bring those elements down, or maybe bring most of the backup down at those moments so they suggest the embers of burning ruins. Let the fire breathe.

Dave, thanks! I know, I have a tendency to over produce and my more recent efforts have much less. This one is a little older and is already gone from the recorder, so remixing is not an option. If I re-record it, I will definitely focus on bringing the vocals out more!

[shawlie]

Very nice, Bob and Deb! I do not know a lot of her stuff, but this one I've heard before and love your version. Pretty cool how you bring in different stuff each time - keeps it all very exciting! Love the strumming near the beginning, sounded fabulous (both playing and the sound/mix).

Your stuff is always a joy to listen to - you can hear how much you love doing it!