Traveler--March 2024: Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)--Phil Collins, I Told You So--Randy Travis, Just Breathe--Pearl Jam

Hello all!

Though this is certainly on the soft rock side, I’m taking the month of March to mostly focus on Rock songs, and to consolidate. I feel like I have been on a rampage of learning new songs and I need a bit to pause, refine and reflect.

For whatever reason(s), I really struggled to learn this song. I think that it is extremely difficult to mimic Phil Collins, so like usual, I kinda did my own thing with it. On account of it being a difficult song for me to learn, I’m pretty proud of it! It needs more practice, and I jacked up the end a bit, but such is life.

I hope that you all enjoy my initial recording of this amazing song. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Against All Odds–Phil Collins (YouTube)

Against All Odds–Phil Collins (SoundCloud studio version)

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Happy Saturday night all!!

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Well done on this one, Travis. :clap:

This is 100 % true. Not only to mimic what Phil Collins is doing (that’s near to impossible, I guess), but in general, this tune is hard to sing. Also, hard to play on the guitar with it being mainly driven by piano.

So you’re doing good on adapting and making your own thing with it. I think you can push that even more. :slight_smile:

On feedback side only a small observation on the guitar tone this time: It tends to sound a bit trebly, so maybe you put either the highs down a little or turn up bass and mids a tad bit to make your guitar sound more balanced.

You did a good job on that song, Travis. I enjoyed the listen. :slight_smile:

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This is a lovely version Travis, your vocals really give it some oomph of emotion, sounds terrific!
:clap:

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Thank you @Lisa_S !! Phil Collins is just so distinctive I. Everything that he does!

Thank you for your feedback. I love your point! Honestly I don’t feel very confident with a lot of the guitar settings that I use through my audio interface or within reaper. I probably need to do some research to find a good quality guitar rig plug in that is more on the user friendly side.

I have a Marshall plug in that came with the scarlet audio interface, and I use it for some things, but it doesn’t align with the majority of the songs that I play because it’s too crunchy.

Thank you again! Your comment is prompting me to look more into this tonight :+1:

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Thank you very much @Notter !! This is a tune that I envision improving over a long period of time. Thanks for listening!

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Welp, so much for just working on rock. Here is a classic country song that I feel like I almost nailed.

In my very humble opinion, Randy Travis is towards the top of the list for most distinctive voices ever. He was my favorite first artist when I was 6 and very few can hit lower timbres than him, with complete conviction.

I feel so comfortable with a guitar in my hands on songs like this. So why not right?

I Told You So—Randy Travis (YouTube)

I Told Told You So—Randy Travis (SoundCloud)

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Brave man taking on Phil Collins, but you’ve made it your own, well done👍

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Excellent performance Travis - with your deep resonant voice, it sounds like a new song, and not just a copy of Phil Collins. Really great stuff! Guitar accompaniment was spot on.

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Hey Travis, I listened to Against All Odds. I think you did pretty well! It seemed harder for you at the start, but by the middle you really got going and it sounded like singing it was easier? Well done mate, an enjoyable performance.

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Thank you @mikemycroft !! This is certainly one of the most difficult songs that I have learned lately! Pretty tricky to transcribe and match up from a piano song, but I like the foundation of it!

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Thank you very much @twistor59 !! With Phil, we are almost resorted to just making everything he did a new song.

I was VERY happy with my guitar work in this song, much more so than my vocals. There are a few tricky chords and chord changes, on top of a pretty unique, sort of melodic rhythm. Thanks for listening!

Thanks @jkahn !! 100% on getting more comfortable from the beginning. I have been practicing “coming in” essentially—the first chords/notes played with the accompaniment of vocals. I think that’s an underrated area of playing and singing at the same time that I overlooked a bit in the beginning of my journey, but I really hear it when I look at the roots of my recording days.

Thanks for listening, and awesome job to you on your guitar progress!

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I got some studio time in yesterday. I recorded a few but I liked this one the best, because I played it all fingerstyle. I screwed up some parts and some transitions, but overall it came out ok!

Happy Saint Patrick’s day to all of you!

[Just Breathe—Pearl Jam (YouTube)](Just Breathe–Pearl Jam (Cover) https://youtu.be/Y7RPfwoUfPM)

Just Breathe—Pearl Jam (SoundCloud)

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Travis

Good performances of such a range of songs of diverse styles. Your Pearl Jan cover was my favourite - the pick was very similar to Plain White Ts Hey There Delilah.

Brian

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Fantastic @beejay56 !! Thank you for listening! I have been on a path of learning a song a week for almost 2 years. It was a goal I set and I got the goddamned thing. That’s what this is about guys.

I don’t know how much I’ll be able to contribute in the future, but please follow me. It’s getting weird.

Tune for gig purposes that EVERYBODY should learn :+1:

Free Bird—Lynyrd Skynyrd

Free Bird—Lynyrd Skynyrd (Stuido)

Nice one doing Pearl Jam Travis. Have you tried the Travis picking for just breathe? Takes a bit to get under the fingers but once you do it’s great fun to play.

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Great suggestion @jkahn !! I have dabbled with Travis picking a bit but I haven’t studied it/dedicated practice to it. Thank you!!

You have been busy Travis! I think you did a great job making Against All Odds your own. His voice is so much different than yours would leave you with little choice. I really liked the guitar work on Pearl Jam. I agree with JK on the Travis picking, it would work well. I think Free Bird was my favorite. Of course, it is such a classic. You did a nice job adjusting the vocals to your voice.