My bands new film clip

[blargfromouterspace]

We had this shot at a gig a couple of weeks ago. It's a real crowd at a real bar, no stunt crowd ring-ins or otherwise staged audience. The audio is from the album, not the live track, but that's what you do with film clips. What do you guys think?

[youtube]arlO9I0rjNs[/youtube]

That's me with my Spanish Copper bluesboy, and I've never seen it look so good except for in real life - he captured the colour very well. The CAR P-bass also looks really good. I'm sold on professional photographers!

[Aussie]

Jamie, that's a cool song, well played and well recorded. Nice tone from that Bluesboy too ... I assume that's what you used on the studio recording.

The clip really suits the track and very watchable. Production wise its nicely shot, tastefully edited and the videographer has done an excellent job syncing the live footage to the studio audio track - and trust me that's not as easy as you might think. Was it a single or multiple camera shoot.

... and did they produce and "in concert" version for you with the live audio track? That would be cool.

You and the band can be rightly proud of both the track and the clip

cheers, Robbie

[blargfromouterspace]

Thanks for the kind words Robbie. He used multiple cameras. There were two mounted on each side of stage, one in the middle by the drum kit and one he carried around on his shoulder. We didn't get audio recordings of the night save what came off the cameras - it was a one man operation and the video kept him busy enough! The guy who did it is an old friend of the bass player/singer and did it as a freebie ( ) because he's learning this video stuff. He's worked at the ABC for years in audio so he knows what he's doing. Needless to say we're absolutely thrilled with how it's turned out!

[Aussie]

The guy who did it is an old friend of the bass player/singer and did it as a freebie ( ) because he's learning this video stuff.

Wow ... that's one heck of a freebie. With most pro cameras in the range AUS$3k to AUS$10k each a six cam shoot doesn't come cheap. Don't suppose he borrowed them from the ABC .... ummm, don't answer that.
cheers, Robbie

[Kit]

Both the video and the studio recording are really well done!

One thing I'm curious about is this. This song would be considered a country radio song here in the USA, and it is easily comparable to the country hits here, but what is the genesis of this type of music in Australia? It's possible that there is a history of 'country music' in Australia that I'm not aware of, what with Keith Urban being from Australia.

Kit

[blargfromouterspace]

Kit - Australia has a long history of country music going back to the 1930s with people like Tex Morton (he's a New Zealander, but we claim him as our own - he had a fascinating life). Slim Dusty is THE big name in Australian country - you'd be hard pushed to find someone who hasn't heard that name. He was around forever. There is quite a big country music scene here, the biggest scenes being in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. The biggest event is the Tamworth Coutry Music festival which attracts thousands of music fans and musicians every year (unfortunately it's the only time of year when there are people in Tamworth!) and there are also many, many other smaller country music festivals all around the country all year round. We even have a Country Music Channel here - hence the video. People like Keith Urban who are not only able to break into the lucrative American market but to also become an 'A list' star are not so common - that's not an easy thing to do at all!

[sirmyghin]

Dang you guys are good Blarg, your band needs 400% more cowboy hat though.

[blargfromouterspace]

Dang you guys are good Blarg, your band needs 400% more cowboy hat though.

I sure hope your joking . So many people say that to us, and to be honest I expect the Country Music Channel will say exactly the same thing. It's kind of sad - it's like expecting a prog band to wear capes

[darwinohm]

Blarg, that is kick ass country and it doesn't get any better than that. Two hot lead guitars and why would you want a Fender when you get tone like that. This is a masterpiece!! Collect all the panties that come your way! I would like to play 5 string bass with this group. Get that low b cookin' -- Darwin

[sirmyghin]

Dang you guys are good Blarg, your band needs 400% more cowboy hat though.

I sure hope your joking . So many people say that to us, and to be honest I expect the Country Music Channel will say exactly the same thing. It's kind of sad - it's like expecting a prog band to wear capes

I am joking about the band being good, dead serious about the hats...


Just razzing you, definitely the other way around. It is almost refreshing to see country bands without the hats

[bassman]

Great song and great video. You guys are good. I hope you get the success that you deserve.

[sickbutnottired]

Nice, all the way 'round. Interesting Oz Country history, too.

That spanish copper is a great color. Does it look good in bad club light?

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

Kit - Australia has a long history of country music going back to the 1930s with people like Tex Morton (he's a New Zealander, but we claim him as our own - he had a fascinating life). Slim Dusty is THE big name in Australian country - you'd be hard pushed to find someone who hasn't heard that name. He was around forever. There is quite a big country music scene here, the biggest scenes being in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. The biggest event is the Tamworth Coutry Music festival which attracts thousands of music fans and musicians every year (unfortunately it's the only time of year when there are people in Tamworth!) and there are also many, many other smaller country music festivals all around the country all year round. We even have a Country Music Channel here - hence the video. People like Keith Urban who are not only able to break into the lucrative American market but to also become an 'A list' star are not so common - that's not an easy thing to do at all!

.
.
Are the country accents in the vocals artificial or exaggerated?

I remember the topic presented to different English bands during The British Invasion. "Americans" (people in the US) wondered why these bands sounded so American when performing and did not sing with British accents. I think it only comes through on certain words. For instance, the words that end with an "er" are usually sung with an "uh" pronunciation (i.e. fathuh, mutha, luvuh) however when an "American" sings those words they pronounce it with varying degrees of "errr" Country being the strongest. It is really awful when I hear an English musician who has spent too much time in the States sing their "er's" with strong "errs." It is especially bad when done with a famous song that you have heard played on the radio many many times over the years. I've heard Peter Frampton, Paul McCartney and David Gilmour do this live.

So back to Country, Sheryl Crow has suddenly found some twang in her vocals now that she is trying to expand into the Country genre. Then of course you have people deliberately borrowing from popular musicians. Garth Brooks comes to mind. He has a relatively strong twang in both his vocals and speech. He does this exaggerated inflection that I have heard other people do since. Wynonna Judd has been doing it now for a while but it was made popular by Brooks. It seems that way if I am off on my Country music history. I don't exactly follow Country music but I have been exposed to it more and less over the years. I observe and listen to a lot of music, generally speaking.

[blargfromouterspace]

Michael - I don't think that Tony, the singer, is putting on an accent at all. He's merely pronouncing the end of the word more than usual because he's singing, which is something all singing teachers tell you to do, whether you're singing pop, country or opera. Singing in a false American accent is something everyone here is very conscious of. While it would certainly help sell records in the US (I know that several Australian/English TV shows have subtitles or, in many cases, remade with an American cast for US TV because our accents are incomprehensible to some people ) it's something that most Australian singers try to avoid.


Jeremy - Spanish Copper never looks bad!

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

I went back and listened to the video.

The music is distinctly Country and I must have colored the vocals Country in my memory.

I agree, there is not a Country accent in the vocals.

[darwinohm]

Blarg, I listened to this on my recording monitors tonight and it is really kick ass! Do you have a drop D tuner on your Bluesboy or do you tune it down. Who did the acoustic track? The slide player is also good and you do some fine country string bending. I think I'll have one more and listen again!!!! Darwin

[blargfromouterspace]

Thanks Darwin. The acoustic was played by the other guitarist, the one on slide. I think it was a really cheap old Fender which got a lot of help in production! There's no d-tuner on the Bluesboy. Any low D notes are most likely from the slide guitar which is tuned to open G.

[darwinohm]

Blarg, my brain must have disengaged last night. The song is done in E and I don't know how I got hung up on the drop D. Sorry but a great performance indeed.-- Darwin