John's first cousin, Vic Stanley, showed John at an early age that a world of incredible music existed outside his local radio dial. Listening to Vic's extensive collection of LP's, 45's, 8-tracks and cassettes helped a younger John form his diverse musical tastes. Vic now owns the famous Hummingbird Stage and Taprooom in Macon, Georgia and is single-handedly reviving the legendary Macon music scene. www.hummingbirdstageandtaproom.com
Sounds Like
"This album reminds me a lot of Rodney Crowell's "Houston Kid", in that it is hard to pick where the truth starts and the fiction ends. It is a wonderful album." – Steve Reid, Yesterday and Today Records - Sydney, Australia
"...there's a definite Texas country-folk flavour in the classic Nashville mix. Melodic drinking, cheating and rambling songs. What's not to like?" – Amanda Rose, HickoryWind.org
Nashville, Tennessee…the very resonance of these words is enough to inspire the finest of all country songs. So many have come and plied their trade, bestowed their time and toil, their very souls to create what some have called Music Mecca, THE place to be for songwriters with whiskey, love and cheating on their minds. Lyrics from their pens have formed the landscape in which Americans rise to labor each morning, offering their energies to earn their way, feed their children and keep the current turned on to their ramshackle abodes. Country people love listening to country music, and country people produce it better than anyone else, simply because they’ve lived it. Wide open spaces and small farm towns. Peanuts, tobacco, cattle and hogs. Moonlight, moonshine and honkytonks that shine into the rural night. Pickup trucks and old Ford cars with muddy floorboards. Families that plow their way through hardship, uncertain of their next meal but having faith in God and a work ethic they know will carry them through. Stair-step siblings who fight each other like gladiators but stand together when trouble comes from outsiders. Squirrels in a sack, awaiting their transformation from friendly forest dweller to suppertime staple. Watermelons and okra in the Georgia sun and white-tailed deer on the tailgate. Cornfields filled with the midnight aura of teenage love. Cuffed jeans and brogan shoes, coonhounds, shotgun shells and chores, always chores to do. These and many other simplicities are the hallmarks of country life. And they all gather in the mind of a country songwriter, swirling around while he sleeps, exhausted and fitful, and pour out when he least expects it to produce an edgy, jagged emotion, set to music for the world to sing along with.
Before he arrives at the city limits of Nashville, this holy backdrop for his sacred art, he bounces around the countryside, anywhere but here, for coming here at all begins a lifelong commitment, a painful and potentially fruitless endeavor he may not yet be ready for. But when the time is right he shows up like a backdoor hobo at suppertime, lean and hungry and looking for work. And it’s work he finds, in cabinet shops and restaurants and studios and bars, performing whichever trifling task provides enough money to support his habit until his habit can finally support him. And if he prays and struggles and writes down every thought he ever has, and pays attention, recognizing the difference between opportunity and errant association, between everyday life and the moment he’s been waiting for, then maybe, when that moment comes, he’s ready. And maybe that moment never comes. Who knows if it will? Who can say it won’t? But the mere possibility of being heard, discovered by someone who can take his raw art and convert it to a radio-ready instant smash (along with its instant cash) is plenty to keep the fire going inside him. Of course he’d stay and fight and write even if that possibility didn’t exist, because now he finds himself among others like him, others who’re always lonely and sad in their souls, who’ve never found peace and who likely never will, even with dozens of hits under their belts and big Cadillac cars and $100 bills to tip the waitstaff they used to work alongside. They’ll always be looking for something unknown and indefinable, the hunger and yearning feeding their drive to do what they’ve come here to do. And he’s adopted a home among them, a home away from his roots and those he calls family, a setting for his scenes and a populace who understands why he writes them. Deep amidst the tangled web of concrete and neon, high-rise hotels and low-rent dive bars, hard-nosed executives and homeless wanderers, these common country folk gather as kindred souls to write about where they’re from, and where they’ve landed. And they wonder aloud and to themselves: is this heaven…or is it hell? Are they blessed or damned to live this torturous, exhilarating story to its end? They’re both, of course, and as they make their way through this simple history they remind themselves of these timeless lyrics: “They walked away from everything just to see a dream come true, so God bless the boys who make the noise on 16th Avenue.” God bless ‘em. God bless ‘em, indeed.
just wanna say hi & hope ur ok............ thank u 4 the add!!!! have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hugsssssssssss kisssssssssssssses all my love 2 ya!!!!!!!!!!!! love fantasy
JUST WANNA SAY HI & HOPE UR OK........... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!! HAVE A GREAT ROCKIN WEEK!!!!!!!!!! HUGSSSSSSSSSSSS KISSSSSSSSSSSSES ALL MY LOVE 2 YA!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE FANTASY
Hi...Welcome, and thanks for dropping by our site for a visit. Thank you too for the add, and for the friendship.
If you'd like to find out a little more about Slick Nickel go to www.slicknickelyumaaz.com , and if you get a chance check out our new CD, "MAGIC" at www.cdbaby.com/cd/slicknickel Get your copy today while they're on sale!
I really appreciate your friendship and ALL your awesome support! Check out my blog for a FREE Memorial Day Weekend Download! Hope ya tell your friends to join us here on MySpace!!!!
Mastering can be the difference between your songs standing out and sounding as good as they can. It can easily be done over the internet via email and uploads.
Use a website like www.megaupload.com to upload a .wav/aiff file of your song (preferably 44.1khz 24-bit)...Then message us the link to the download, we then master it, then send it back the same way, or in whatever format you need.
Hi John, I am not partically fund of country music, (I like various styles) but I have to admit that your own specific style is very special, an excellent exception. kind regards, Rein http://www. plato. nl NETHERLANDS
Thanks very much for your friendship John, enjoyed listening to your songs.
Check our Blogs for examples of student projects, poems and essays inspired by songs.
Please leave us a comment when you can...a favorite quote, or some general advice for young learners.
All the best! John
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
I uploaded a brand new song and lyric sheet today. Perhaps my best work to date. Musically dynamic, a powerful story, with a catchy hook. “Take good care of my girl” features Cody Gibson on lead vocal. Everything else is just lil’ ol’ me in my home studio. You might be impressed. Stop by and give it a quick listen and please, let me know what you think! Thanks in advance for listening!
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