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Created: Wednesday, 19 August 2015 20:08

Written by Shauna

March Release - "Good Old Country Song"

The title of this tune is no lie. This IS a “Good Old Country Song” and although there were at least three singing calls based on it already, they were all 40 to 50 years old and out of print, so we decided it was WAY past due for a modern update.

In order to do it right, we started with Jimmy for rough tracks and then made it a true family affair as we reached out to my very talented brother-in-law and nephew. My brother-in-law (AKA Farley the Fiddler) provided the Fiddle and Jews Harp tracks.

After listening to the original song, recorded by Lynn Anderson in 1975, we knew we had to have some killer flat picking and steel guitar as well. Enter nephew, Matt Workman. Having spent a few years working and touring in Nashville, Matt and my niece have returned to Southern California and are sharing their musical talents performing/gigging at local places. Thankfully, Matt loves the studio and spent a day with us and Jimmy.

Listen up and you’ll hear Matt’s amazing flat-picking on the acoustic guitar, more amazing picking on the mandolin, and he rounds out the trifecta with his lap steel. Of course, all of this TWICE. You know, male and female ranges.

And speaking of Jimmy…he took all of those instrumental tracks, added his own electric guitar, banjo, and honky-tonk piano (again, twice). So much good stuff and we spent hours putting it all together in all the right places for a killer “Good Old Country Song.”

There was zero question who would sing the male vocal. My first time hearing this song was at a dance that Mike Seastrom and Vic called together about 20 years ago. It was that performance that made me fall in love with the song in the first place. Before I could even ask Vic if he’d be willing, he had already reached out to Mike and invited him to do it together.

For the female range, I had a bit of a learning curve since my only experience with the song was singing the harmony when Vic and I sang it together. I had to learn the melody! I was thrilled that Mike and Vic agreed to add their killer harmonies.

This release feels like a bit of a throw-back to an older style of singing call, but with the added beauty of modern technology for recording, mixing, and including background vocals. The melody of the tune is embedded in the lead instrumentation, rather than just a melody track so this release does not have a no melody version included. It would have stripped the song at the core of its musicality. We do still include versions with and without the background vocals (all of which were recorded by Mike and Vic)

I am SO grateful for talented family and friends, and this was one of our most fun releases to date. It’s very different than anything we’ve done before. Hope you love it, too.

CHIC 1084 in the male vocal range features the vocal by Mike Seastrom (Courtesy of Rhythm Records) and Staff Caller, Vic Kaaria.

CHIC 2084 in the female vocal range features Producer, Shauna Kaaria.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!