A little over a month ago, I received an excited phone call from my friend and collaborative partner Julie Sparks. She had written a song called “Out of the Blue” and had this awesome vision to record it and sell it on iTunes, with proceeds going to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. This organization serves more than 10 counties in the Chicago Land area. The next day, she was on a plane to Nashville, and we set to work recording a rough demo.
Throughout the next month, we lined up some players, a studio, and Grammy winning producer Glenn Rosenstein. On Friday March 13th, we laid down the real tracks. By Sunday night, we had mixes and were ready to move into the next phase. But during the weekend, our vision began to increase. We wanted to maximize our leverage and be able to sell more than just 2 edits of the same song. What if we included a bunch of remixes and called it a maxi single? I located 4 remixer/artists that I knew could do top quality work. They agreed to get on board. But we needed more. Here’s where you come in. We’ve decided that we want 3 more remixes, for a total of about 10 tracks on the maxi single. We’re opening this thing up to the general public to give 3 folks a chance to be on a national release that is currently garnering interest from companies and organizations such as Northern Illinois Food Bank Harley Davidson, Jewel-Osco grocery stores, and Farm Aid, just to name a few. We are currently accepting submissions until midnight Sunday Apr 12 2009. The top 3 remixes will be featured on the Maxi single available on CD, iTunes, and possibly other digital distribution sites. Your name and link to your site will be featured in the digital booklet and any other materials relating to the single. All other remixes will be featured on the project’s official website. If you want to lend a hand for charity, while promoting your artistry, we invite you to download the remix files here.
In these trying economic times, Julie wanted to write a song that might be an anthem for those in need, and a battle cry for those willing to help. We hope that you would be willing to help, and we look forward to hearing your remixes.
Sincerely,
Tags: Charity, Competition, Food Bank, Glenn Rosenstein, Julie Sparks, Kevin Reeves, Lyric Canvas, Remix
The masses have cried out and asked for a reference track so they can hear the chord progressions. Here’s the original demo. This should give you an idea of the chords and how they fit with the vocal. We’ve made some changes in the real version, but it won’t hinder your ability to at least see 90 percent of the vision. Hope this helps you in your creativity. Can’t wait to hear your mixes. http://www.kevinreeves.net/OutOfTheBlue.mp3.
Hi kevin.
That helps a lot, thanks.
I was having trouble figuring out what I now know is the isntrumental break, whatever I played just wouldn’t fit.
Cheers
Darren
Hello There!!!
Congratulations for the competition…
C.V.
Hey… I’m an electronic artist and I can do a really nice calm version of this song. I love the vocals. Its beautiful. Just wanted to ask what the BPM were?
the tempo is 88.5
good luck
Roy.
Hi kevin.
Any update on this contest?
I’m still working on several remixes so am late for the contest itself, but I’m using it as training wheels for other projects.
Would love to hear what other have done with the song.
Cheers
Darren
So enjoyed you last night in our ‘almost’ front row seats at Phil’s:) Now back home but will follow you on Twitter! Good luck in all that you do.
gotta say i heard your song redemption on the podcast shadowfalls: badlands, and it’s amazing, i’m going to look for everything you’ve done…
you’re insanely talented, and thank you for all that you’ve done.
Personally I don’t think that Mr. Handsome has received enough accolades for his humanitarian efforts. In my opinion a lot of celebrity do-gooders are totally phony and engage in so called good deeds merely for positive publicity. I have to say that I don’t think that George is one of the phonies out there in the world of celbrity do-gooders. I admire what he is doing for the Haitian people. I wish more celebrities were as real as he is when it comes to helping out those less fortunate in the world. So kudos to George and his desire to make this world a better place.
A very impressive article. Well prepared. Very motivating!! Set off on to way