Poor Man

Poor Man
Written 2011
Version 1- Recorded 2011
Version 2-  Whiskey Doubles, Recorded 2014

No matter where my musical future takes me, this will be a song that I can always come back to and be proud of. It's a fairly simple and straight-forward song, but has enough intricacies to keep the listener engaged. I always tell folks, "This was the first song I wrote on banjo," and I think you can hear a little of that excitement and exploration in the original recording. After Of the North decided on the folk direction, this song was written and became our most accessible tune. It has stuck with me throughout the tenure of OTN, and now into Whiskey Doubles.

• The first version was recorded with no microphones, just the wonderful on-board mic of the MacBook. Before I bought my Zoom recorder, I would record all of my ideas straight into Garageband and build on them right away. The more I think on it, that's probably a contributing factor as to why I started adding instruments right away and didn't focus on the song itself. It was right there and I liked how the song sounded, so I just went ahead. Nowadays, when I record on to my Zoom, I record multiple versions of the same guitar accompaniment until it is right. Then I typically try to sing with the recording and craft some lyrics. Adding instruments has almost been removed from the equation. 
• Version 1 is almost more of a sketch than anything else, but I'm pretty sure I gave this to the band as a completed song. From there were worked out some structural things. Though the banjo part has nearly stayed the same the entire time.
• In Version 2, aside from more instruments and better quality, you'll also hear more dynamics and an alteration to the verse's chords. Rather than stay on C, the second phrase shifts to an Am. After 3 years of playing this song, I began to feel it needed something more. So I started exploring the chord progression, adding more chords and things like that. But in the end that little tweak is enough to keep it alive.
• When I started this blog, I didn't want to use any recordings from Whiskey Doubles CDs, but I cannot find any other versions other than these two. I'm kind of glad, though, because this really demonstrates the beginning and end of the song's evolution (so far)
• The banjo/vocal melody line on the verse is where everything stems from. At the time, I had no idea that I was writing in mixed meter, and admittedly have never taken the time to figure it out. It's a funny thing, because I don't think audience members hear it either.