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As some of you know, I finished a 3 song demo CD this past weekend and it's the first time I've ever done any real recording (it was a very cool experience). This is my band, Farewell to Fairbanks, and we've only had a full band for a good month and a half.

The setup for my guitar tone was my Fender Tele-Sonic through my Crate V32 Palomino (I used the Epi Les Paul w/ a Dimarzio Classic PAF in the bridge for quot;Everythingquot; - it's my beater guitar that I always use for alternate tunings). The only pedal I used was the clean side of the Pro Analog Dual Drive for solos (it was also used in some rhythm material to beef up the chords a bit to cut right on tape). For a rushed demo, I think it came out pretty good; I could always use some advice

Without further ado, here are the 3 songs we recorded : from : localhost/www.myspace.com/farewelltofairbanks

Not bad!!!! I definitely see potential. Only technical point I will make is the vocal level of the third song seems to drop out at about 2 min. Like the general feel of the music, like the vocals. Good job after such a short time together.

Thanks for listening Al! The demo will actually be remixed/remastered a bit from the same guy that did the recording because he felt some things should be brought a bit more in front in the mix (one being the vocals on quot;Everythingquot;... they really aren't as loud as they should be).

Hey Chris, I'm at work amp; started listening, but too much going on to crank it a bit....I'll give a listen when I get home tonight.

First impression of the 1st song....sounds like Gin Blossoms!!!

Any opinions guys? Good, bad, the ugly? I realize I'm in the type of band some will like and many may dislike.

Are you doing the rhythm/vocals or leads? Not bad over all and the lead playing has some real great cuts. Nice tone on the solos though mmmm.


Originally Posted by itbepopplesAre you doing the rhythm/vocals or leads? Not bad over all and the lead playing has some real great cuts. Nice tone on the solos though mmmm.

I'm the lead guy (pretty much everything you hear with electric guitar - my singer plays the acoustic)

I can't wait to be able to record with my Fargen when it gets fixed, but I'm trying to show that a Crate can get some pretty good tones

That's a nice lead tone!

That's a nice arrangement and all of you sound like you know what you are doing. Very tight. Cool guitar work.

Thanks Hot_Grits, I like a thick, smooth lead tone and surprisingly a cranked EL-84 amp with single coils and a nice boost pedal does some magic

Stevo, thanks for the kind words! I've always really liked the mix of an acoustic and electric in songs and after jamming with a lot of musicians, I feel I have a rare chemistry with Doug, my singer/acoustic player. I'm trying to write lead riffs that fit the song and (hopefully) make it annoyingly catchy (it's not about technicality to me, it's about getting it stuck in people's heads). Our drummer Paul has only had about 6 rehearsals with the band before heading into the studio, so this showcases some of his natural skill (he does some stuff in our songs that is so unconventional and it blows my mind).

Hey Chris,

Just now getting around to listening to everything at a decent volume......

I liked the songs; definite GooGoos/Gin Blossoms thing going on, atleast to my old a$$ ears

The volumes on each track don't seem to match up, especially drums amp; vocals. I think after a remix, you'll have a very solid demo!

And after a month amp; a 1/2???? You guys are gonna rock in 6 months
BTW....Farewell To Fairbanks??????????


Originally Posted by PUCKBOY99Hey Chris,

Just now getting around to listening to everything at a decent volume......

I liked the songs; definite GooGoos/Gin Blossoms thing going on, atleast to my old a$$ ears

The volumes on each track don't seem to match up, especially drums amp; vocals. I think after a remix, you'll have a very solid demo!

And after a month amp; a 1/2???? You guys are gonna rock in 6 months
BTW....Farewell To Fairbanks??????????Thanks for your opinion Terry! By the way, your custom Firebird kicks We may very well go to the same guy that did our 3 song demo for the full length, but he will be spending a lot more time (like a full week rather than a few hours) mixing and breaking down stuff, so I could always use a few selective ears to look for things that aren't balance right

I'm hoping for a sold out show November 15th and there's a decent chance that it just _might_ happen (that's the beauty of the type of genre we're presenting). I have a lot of fun playing with the band and it'll be a blast to rock out live. I'm hoping to prove to fans that the band can play just as well live as on a recording. There's plenty of other stuff that we already have down well that wasn't recorded and it'll be cool to see the crowd reaction to it.

As for quot;Farewell to Fairbanksquot;, not really sure what it means, my drummer came up with it. Some people have told us that it's really catchy, so even if I don't think it has any meaning, it'll probably be staying... kinda like the quot;Goo Goo Dollsquot;

Sounds real good, and at least it's real songoriented music that people can listen to in a live environment and enjoy......especially females that are nowhere to be found at noiserock shows. It's cool that you're back in the saddle with a new band, and poised to really jell with each other.
You guys have a real early 90's songoriented alternative thing going on ala 'Live', Goo's, Soul Asylum, and Gin Blossoms, like a few said, but that's a good thing, since it's timeless music that doesn't date itself.

One bad thing about buying a new Honda Element is that you're gonna be the designated gear shlepper. LOL

Just had a listen... quality stuff, man!

Throw in some quot;Banditoquot; amp; that'll get them going

Very good bro... outstanding for being together for such a short time.

The first half of the lead on Redirected was very cool, the second half sounded a little too repetitive and worked out to me. You play that basic lick 4 times. You may want to play it once and end the lick on a passing tone to keep everyone hanging, come up with a couple new parts, then play the lick again to end the solo and end on the root. It works fine for the outro though. The tone was very solid throughout! I could see a nice tasty intro solo!

Hard to Break is a very nice arrangement. The subtle lead playing is nice throughout.

I loved the intro riff to Everything. That guitar sound was killer! The song oriented lead stuff on this one fit absolutely perfectly.


Originally Posted by GearjoneserSounds real good, and at least it's real songoriented music that people can listen to in a live environment and enjoy......especially females that are nowhere to be found at noiserock shows. It's cool that you're back in the saddle with a new band, and poised to really jell with each other.
You guys have a real early 90's songoriented alternative thing going on ala 'Live', Goo's, Soul Asylum, and Gin Blossoms, like a few said, but that's a good thing, since it's timeless music that doesn't date itself.

One bad thing about buying a new Honda Element is that you're gonna be the designated gear shlepper. LOL

Coming from you Joe, that's the highest compliment I think I could possibly receive. I'm definitely not a technical guitarist, so I'm afraid that talented musicians wouldn't really appreciate it or atleast enjoy it. Some pop music only a few underaged females will enjoy and everyone else will cringe; I'm hoping to change that with my band. The demo isn't perfect and the band is rough in a few spots, but the important thing is that we'll be making sure that live is a different story.

I loved the early 90s stuff and if it shows then that makes me one happy guitarist

A nice thing with the band is that the guys are all pretty serious with the gear they use. They're all willing to invest in quality equipment so that we'll sound good live and they all have their own vans/suvs to carry around stuff... which means those guys won't be clinging onto mine... although my orange Element will be cruising in style

I only posted in one of your song threads Joe, but I've been digging the Silverline project you're doing It reminds me of the best modern rock acts out there and you play some very refreshing parts (nothing sounds like it's been used before). It's kind of funny that it's been a long time running for either one of us to post band clips and we both did it around the same time so it's great to see you're still pushing to do things with your band (I remember you were pissed off with some of your bandmates in the past).


Originally Posted by RGNVery good bro... outstanding for being together for such a short time.

The first half of the lead on Redirected was very cool, the second half sounded a little too repetitive and worked out to me. You play that basic lick 4 times. You may want to play it once and end the lick on a passing tone to keep everyone hanging, come up with a couple new parts, then play the lick again to end the solo and end on the root. It works fine for the outro though. The tone was very solid throughout! I could see a nice tasty intro solo!

Hard to Break is a very nice arrangement. The subtle lead playing is nice throughout.

I loved the intro riff to Everything. That guitar sound was killer! The song oriented lead stuff on this one fit absolutely perfectly.Thanks for some of the criticism RGN, this is stuff I need too... keeps my head from getting too big

I was afraid people would be sick of the lead parts of quot;Hard to Breakquot; considering there isn't much variety to it. The only thing I really liked that I did in it was the little run of notes I put together before it goes into the chorus.

quot;Redirectedquot; may be something I need to take another look at My intention with the clean lead part in the verse was to keep some of the notes the same, but progressively add stuff each time through until the verse ended and it was going to go into the prechorus. In retrospect, I wish the band had given me more time for the solo section so that I could add more to it, but it's effective as a brief alternate part to the song that breaks it up a little bit (plus leads into that little run that ends up coming back to finish the song).

Thanks for the compliment on quot;Everythingquot;. That was my Epiphone Les Paul with a Dimarzio Classic PAF in the bridge through the Crate V32 Palomino with the Pro Analog clean boost side of the Dual Drive (to saturate things a bit further) and I actually used the built in Crate boost to bump the volume for the solo (it added just enough treble and volume to shine through... I was pleased that the entire track went together from beginning to end in one take). The tuning on the song is what gives it such a strange voicing, it's a bastardized open D type thing

The funny thing about quot;Everythingquot; was that the guy who recorded the demo was a metal lead player, I ended up talking with him about the band Trivium... that freaked him out (he had no idea I liked music like that) . He ended up saying that quot;Everythingquot; was one of the best guitar tones he's ever heard and he cringed when I initially told him it was a Crate. He had a Marshall TSL in the studio that we never used

Thanks Rotten Guitar String for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoy it

Terry, I may do a Refreshments song in the future, but I think quot;Fonder and Blonderquot; or quot;Preacher's Daughterquot; would be more fun

That type of music is not my thing, but you guys sound tight...guitar parts are nice (good tone on that Crate..kinda vox/marshall hybrid-like)..singing is quite good!

Just needs more solos!