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by Banjobach » Sun Apr 25, 2010 5:58 pm
From what I've heard, it's all mixed and mastered quite well. I still can't shake how similar you sound to Dave Matthews, still. In pretty much every song I heard there was something irreconcilably unoriginal to it. I could hear Dave bleeding into not only your songwriting, but also your playing style. But this isn't anything anyone here hasn't said before.
Believe me, you have good potential if you find your own voice. I have the same problem myself. Not everything about writing music is fun. Sometimes you have to tear yourself a new one and be brutally honest with yourself. YOu have to ask "Is this real, what I'm singing? Sure I can get into it when I sing it, but is it really me that's singing? Or am I echoing my influences to the point of not really challenging myself to write outside my comfort zone?"
See, I think of music like a big dark ocean (corny metaphor alert). The music that has been made already are the illuminated areas. But the music makers are the ones with the lanterns and you have to drift through some strange looking waters to find something new. Sure, its comfortable to float around in the well-lit places, but if you're like me and you want to give something back to the big map of music that has never really been heard before, you have to be honest with yourself and tread waters that might not please everyone because it's unfamiliar. But at the same time, when you find that place at bring light to it, you have done something more than just given people background noise, or a song they can dance to, or even a political song that appeals to their sensibilities. You have found something new, be it melodically or lyrically, and that will have more longevity than a something from the well-lit areas, because you were the first to find it. To quote McKenna "You are an explorer, and you represent our species, and the greatest good you can do, is to bring back a new idea, because our world is in danger by the absence of good ideas." He was talking more philosophical ideas, but I think the same applies to music.
I know it seems wishy-washy, because some songs are new lyrically but old melodically or vice versa. But that's how I think about it in my personal pursuit to find my own voice. Maybe it will make sense to you or maybe people here will think I'm on crack, but you have the talent, now you need the personal honesty to at least admit that these songs on this CD are heavily influenced by Dave. But if you're okay with that then keep on making your music the way you have been.