Longing for the day ...

12 Good Bars and True - NSAI Feedback

Having put all of my "Alive and Alone" songs up for evaluation I had one more free evaluation left. In a rush-of-blood moment I decided to put 12 Good Bars and True into the system to see where it sits - mainly because I have never played it live (even though I love it) because I've never felt that I could do Matt's guitar work justice as a solo performer.

Here's the version I submitted, as uploaded to YouTube by CDBaby:

Because there is no "Blues" category, I entered it in the "Americana/Folk" category and asked for feedback on the basis that I wanted another artist to record it. Here's the evaluator's feedback:

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Song Title - 12 Good Bars and True

Evaluator Number - XXXXX

I am recognizing this writer as "One to Watch".

Evaluators Comments -
EVALUATORS OPENING: Welcome to the evaluation service at NSAI. Thanks for
your submission. I am evaluator XXXXX. Please keep in mind that my evaluation
is my professional opinion. My intention is to help you to be the best
songwriter you can be. Hopefully my comments will help you towards that goal.

FORM/STRUCTURE: It's an ok blues structure.

TITLE/HOOK: It's a clever blues hook. You use it in a memorable way.

LYRIC: This is a cool blues lyric. I think it works however; I found the 1st
verse is a little confusing with some of the lines being vague. I suggest you
clarify where you are where there's no soul. " Well I bled to earn" is
cool, but I think that part of the story can be more simple and clearer.

OVERALL THEME/IDEA: Good theme. This can work for the blue market.

MELODY/METER (IF APPLICABLE): You have a standard cool blues melody and feel.

CLOSING COMMENTS: This is a good blues song. It can fit into Americana folk,
but I hear it as just plain blues. Keep up the good work.

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HOLY SHIT!! Did NOT see that coming! Apparently I have been neglecting the best song I've written so far.

So, with a couple of tweaks, this one might go to the next level. Cool! I will prioritise re-writing and re-mixing this one and get it back into the system. Perhaps if it's declared "ready to pitch" I will try to find a pubisher for it.

I must confess that I have, as usual, agonised over those words and wondered about the best way to express those concepts. Again, it's great to have guidance and a suggestion of what's missing them so that I can fix them. Actually, I already have a suggested fix for these lyrics, so perhaps it won't take long to get back to.

In summary: Very cool news. I will make this one the first one I will re-work and try to take it to the next level. THANK YOU NSAI!

What do you think? How would you feel about this feedback and what would you do about it?