Artist Bio
Influences: Good music of all genres! FAWM.
I am a song lover of all genres, but especially enjoy wordplay and clever tuneplay in all forms. Despite the 'metalfoot' username, I do not usually write the metal. More... um... folk/kids music. Having 3 kids 12 and under will do that to a person. Having said that, I routinely surprise myself, so any musical genre is possible... I'd guess a disproportionate number of tracks will likely be acoustic guitar + voice or even just multitracked voice.
The whole "metal foot" thing refers to a metal plate permanently inserted in my one foot after a particularly awkward fall which broke a bone in my foot into three pieces. Ouch. But that was nearly 20 years ago now...
FAWM 2016 - 36 songs (Winter Sports -18 songs)
FAWM 2017 - 78 songs (Alphabet of Adjectives - 26 songs)
FAWM 2018 - 76 songs (Exploding Teacups - 9 songs)
FAWM 2019 - 69 songs ("metalfoot sings the periodic table" -14 songs)
For FAWM 2020 I'm continuing the "Metalfoot Sings The Periodic Table" project. I am part of a local theatre company and we have a series of performances Feb 7-8 and 14-16 so there will likely be some lulls in my songwriting.
It sounds like the @metalfootlings (my kids, whose account I'll be curating and running) are wanting to give this another go this year. So that will be fun for them and me both. And new for 2020: @kellyk -- aka 'MrsFoot' -- has now joined in the musical mayhem!
Instruments likely to be misused in FAWM 2020:
- Seagull M4 "Merlin"
- Lonestar Venice Mandolin
- Simon and Patrick Mahogany Pro acoustic guitar
- cheap Silvertone electric guitar with Zoom G1xON effects pedal
- Rogue ukulele and/or Uke-and-Play ukulele (though that one technically belongs to the footlings)
- Casio Celviano digital piano
- Bach Bb tenor trombone
- pBone Eb alto trombone
- tin whistle in D
- various percussiony things I find around the house
I like to collaborate--it's about my favourite part of FAWM-- so feel free to ask! I believe in communication before, during and after the collaborative process. My basic assumption is that I'm making music just for the fun of it-- my real life job will not permit the time necessary to make music even a side-career-- so I'm not looking for any commercial or professional results. As such, my FAWM output is a musical sketch-pad of sorts. I'm not usually posting polished works.
When FAWM isn't on, @andygetch and I co-moderate a FB group started by @brownium called Song Skirmish, where you get to write a song, skirmish style, each and every week to keep the songwriting muscles sharp. Come join us! https://www.facebook.com/groups/songs...
Songs (82)
The Bottom of the SkySoundboard
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@oceanjasper 1 week
@metalfoot Thank you for the compliments on my sound design on "Listening to the news". I really appreciate it.
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@tabitha 2 weeks
Thank you for your comment on School Reunion!
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@rainchaser 3 weeks
Thank you for commenting on, "I Hope They Don't Call Me To Work Today"!
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@dianaviney 3 weeks
Hi Alex,
thanks for your comments on my three songs. I appreciate your input and so happy for the support of this awesome community. I teach dance to kiddos and since we are all off school for the next 2 weeks here in Seattle - I have lots more time to listen to Fawm thru March. Looking forward to making more music and listening. Bye for now -
@dzd 3 weeks
Hey thanks and that actually helps a lot I hadbt even tried to really listen to that detached like I didn't just record that of a backpack in the woods did I? yet hahah
I'm putting strings back in the morning so that version may be gone from here I think i know what I wanna do with the middle hahahah I had just popped in to hear finish editing that long ramble and have now typed a damn e book on phone, again thanks -
@rosieposy8 3 weeks
Thank you for your lovely comment on my song xx
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@srhlmusic 3 weeks
My new friend! I totally appreciate all of your feedback! I plan to spend some dedicated time with your tunes soon too.
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@heliosonorous 3 weeks
Thanks for the listens!
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@srhlmusic 3 weeks
Hi! I’m still posting video demos... You asked for me to ping you when I got the music for my song The End of Something / No. Posted the video demo tonight. Thanks for your support. Hope to be back before too long to connect more.
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@bethyrose 3 weeks
I had a great, FAWM, thanks! So appreciated your encouragement and feedback throughout the month (and beyond). I'm hoping to recruit some more friends and family to join in with me next year... we'll see! 😀
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@ozcompr 3 weeks
Hey thanks for the feedback! I just switched most of my FAWM tracks to private as I'm working to get them ready for commercial release. I'll try to repost them here. Didn't realize people still check out others tracks throughout the year. FAWM noobie lol. Thought what happened in February stayed in February lol. Anyway thanks for listening. I'll be trying to listen to many more artists now that I see people are continuing to leave feedback. FAWM lives on! lol Have a great year!!!
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@vomvorton 4 weeks
That is odd! I guess not every FAWM can be a corpse-FAWM. Hopefully there will be a few going during 50/90!
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@musicsongwriter 4 weeks
Thank you Alex, awesome.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Nadia -
@guatecoop 4 weeks
I always appreciate how you are very present here and always have things to say that are positive, encouraging, and worth listening to. It is important to have people like you around here, which is why fawm continues to be a great place and experience. So, thank you for what you do.
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@sbs2018 4 weeks
Thanks for your comments on my songs. And congrats on writing so many songs - wow!
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@guatecoop 4 weeks
Oh yessir we need to! A collab this next year!
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@oddaustin 4 weeks
Thanks for the very considerate forum recommendation. I shall now endeavor to check out more than just the one song of yours. 1/82 is clearly an F- grade.
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@sheslin 4 weeks
Hey Alex - thanks for your comments on It Feels A Little Dark In Here! I really appreciate the listen and the feedback! I just figured out the connection between you FAWM name and your fb name when I saw the skirmish. You had an amazing FAWM - wow - and I am very behind in listening. Thanks again!
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@mishykatz 4 weeks
Man you didn't make it to a hundred!? Eighty songs, holy mountain of music!! Hope to have a listen to some of it soon my life got crazy here!! Thanks so much for the feedback on my lyrics, appreciate it and happy March!!
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@gwyn1234 4 weeks
Cheers for listening and leaving such encouraging responses Alex...you managed 80! You were really in form in FAWM...well done!
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@mychellemusic 4 weeks
Thank you for your comments! Congratulations to you on your creatively productive FAWM 2020!
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@jamkar 4 weeks
Thanks Alex. It felt good playing guitar again, and singing about a lizard!
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@timfatchen 4 weeks
Alex please pleasePLEASE don't apologise for not listening yet. I'm already in meltdown of chagrin and shamefacedness because I haven't been able to listen very much at all and comment even less. Still stuck renovating in the wilds of Pt Augusta...and I've GOTTA repair my laptop when I get home...
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@andygetch 4 weeks
Happy to share the cello G.A.S.
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@siebass 4 weeks
Thank you for all the comments, Alex. I plan to reciprocate, now that I have time in March. Let me know if there are particulars you want more feedback on, I should have time for more listening tomorrow, otherwise I will pick the titles that call to me 😀
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@sph 4 weeks
Thanks for doing and organising the LFC. This year I had nearly no time. There's no need to apologize.
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@dzd 4 weeks
Haha! Perplexinly so.
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@vivalarayna 4 weeks
Thanks for reading through "Fevers Like These"! I'm glad it gave you a chuckle. I've posted what passes for a demo in my world. Slowly working through the rest of them and hope to post more tomorrow. Seemed appropriate given the current news cycle.
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@gslade 5 weeks
Had a lazy month I see
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@musicsongwriter 5 weeks
That's a cool trick how to hear the songs via the player. Thank you Alex 😀
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@cleanshoes 5 weeks
Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and support during the month. I'm so glad I was able to use those lyrics, even if it was a year and a half late! I'll be around for at least the next week or so catching up on listening--I need to get to the rest of your periodic table songs!
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@musicsongwriter 5 weeks
Thank you Alex for listening to A Baby Otter song and your suggestion. I actually tried to imitate not birds but otters which sound a little similar to birds. I found it more interesting to find the sounds rather than to sample them although I appreciate real birds and real otters sound better 😀
At the moment the player for me wouldn't work and some players work so I don't understand why this is but yours is not the only one which doesn't. It's a real mystery. I would like to avoid downloading on my computer even for just listening as my computer is very full up. Will check tomorrow, hopefully the player will work for me.
Nadia -
@sapient 5 weeks
I'd love to! Let's pencil it in for next year already! 😁
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@andygetch 5 weeks
My pleasure. Twas fun and interesting to listen to the periodic table album 😀
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@ajna1960 5 weeks
You were interested to know once Smudgie had completed the demo for 'Who Gets The Bill', so here it is 😀 https://fawm.org/songs/108080/ Many thanks for your interest
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@musicsongwriter 5 weeks
Alex, thank you for your kind comment on Swan. Yes of course. I might also add music at some point but it will be wonderful if you add your music and your vocals if you are happy to sing our song. Thank you.
Nadia -
@jaegerin 5 weeks
Please go ahead and set Five to music. Would love that!
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@jaegerin 5 weeks
Thanks for your encouraging comments!
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
Thanks.
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@timfatchen 5 weeks
71. Holy cow. I hope you will mark those you'd most like heard, if I ever escape the current durance vile and get back to useable computers!
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
What program do you recorded your demos on? The player that shows up on the fawm site ?
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@dzd 5 weeks
uhhhhh only 71? what's wrong hahaha
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
Thank you. I got it.
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@mariekevinkmusic 5 weeks
Thanks for that explanation. Still made no sense to me but I will just take it as "It is a maths thing that makes a pretty graph" 😀
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
I don't see an email address on your FAWM page. Where is it?
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
I don't see an email address on your FAWM page. Where is it?
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@sbs2018 5 weeks
Thanks for the feedback on "Black Boots" - I agree about the reverb on the vocal. Once I opened up the GB file in LP, it became more complicated to remove it so I left it in - lol!
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
Suggestion for verse one build up. Try humming verse one with your melody. Put that in a loop. Then sing verse one over the Humming loop. Oh yes how do I download a copy? Thanks so much.
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@redlady8029 5 weeks
WOW. You singing the chorus of this song made it very believable. Verse one need just as much emotion as you gave the chorus. Thank you for breathing life into what I think is a beautiful song.
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@amelea 5 weeks
Thank you for the comment on Clone In A Box! BOOM is a great description. And for vocal delivery-- for the last 2 lines of the song, I was actually trying to sound normal but by that point in the song I was losing my voice, and it was coming out in sestra-voice style and I was like wait what NOW it's not even intentional! ! ! And my hair has been looking like Helena's hair lately so I was like okay I'll just be her from now on, voice included hahaha
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@elesimo 5 weeks
Oh, I'm a nerd! I knew that! 😉
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@scottlake 5 weeks
It will probably be snarling punk rock. Seems appropriate. There probably a punk rock band called the kidney stones.
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@scubed 5 weeks
Thank you for your lovely comment on “The Hummingbirds Return”!
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@kc5 5 weeks
Yes. It was a tagging error! I was in a hurry. Thanks for pointing that out to me!
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@cindyrella 5 weeks
Thanks for letting me know to download it and thanks for you comments on my Easter song.
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@natalieedelson 5 weeks
Thanks for your kudos on sadheartomine and sunday dress - congratulations on getting so much done!!! 🌟looking forward to listening to your impressive output after deadline
🙌🏾 -
@scottlake 5 weeks
Please do so. I have a song framework in 7/4 started in my DAW as well as pad synth chords
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@scottlake 5 weeks
Update: my wife and I were able to get an intensive 4 day workshop scheduled in for this month, my last weekend ended up consumed with activities surrounding a new pastor candidating at our church and I have outpatient kidney stone surgery tomorrow. I have not been able to work on it nor much of my own solo songs for most of the month. I’m afraid the demo won’t be posted until mid March. I’m out of country March 1-10 visiting my younger son in Norway.
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@jaegerin 5 weeks
Aww, that's lovely - thanks! Have just sent you something on a whim.
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@jaegerin 5 weeks
Just wanted to say thanks for your lovely comments on "Travelling Light" and "Scroll Along with You"! Have been a bit rubbish this Feb, with my mind on other things, but am having a little dabble in these last few days.
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@theresaj 5 weeks
I absolutely love it! Thank you! I added liner notes on my part. It’s really lovely!
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@theresaj 5 weeks
Great! I can’t wait to hear what you do with the song. I know it will be wonderful!
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@beautyspot 5 weeks
Alex, thanks for the positive comments. Fifty three songs and counting...what herculean effort, I'm impressed!!
It took me a while playing around with mic placement, and then I asked a local sound guy and he told me to place the microphones inside the upright piano as close to where the hammers strike the strings as I can. I use a pair of inexpensive Apex 185 condenser microphones. I attempt to position them in an X-Y pattern, as best as I can, and offset just to the left of the middle of the piano where I mostly play. When I mix, I pan each channel hard to the left and right, it's not truly stereo due to the omnidirectional capsules I use on the mics, but it certainly add a nice depth and spaciousness. I then took oddbod's advice and added some reverb. I also use wee a bit of compression and eq each channel separately, I must admit, until I got the advice, I was having trouble getting a nice sound, but this technique works great and there is not much eqing required. Hopes th -
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@aeye 5 weeks
Who is the King of Fawm? It's Metalfoot! ALL HAIL THE FAWM KING
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@balk 5 weeks
Thank you for your kind words on "Lethargy"! To be totally clear, I did make the beat in the hour, but the guitar sample was very cleanly produced by someone else into a nice melody loop--I just chopped it up to suit my needs, and built the rest of the beat around that 😀
also WOW! 51 songs so far for this FAWM?? I thought I was going hard with my goal of 28. Hats off to you sir, mad respect 🙏🙏 -
@theresaj 5 weeks
Absolutely, my friend. Go for it and go ahead and post it when you’re done. Can’t wait to hear it!
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@stevenwesleyguiles 5 weeks
Yes! A pack of stickers is en route! 😀
Went out in today's mail (I think).
Or Saturday? -
@davidbreslin101 5 weeks
Thanks for your comments on my minuet! (The clicking was the keys. Through the headphone jack, it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.)
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@emkaydeebee 5 weeks
Ha ha, yes that’s quite a thought re nsfw in the church office! 😂 glad for your friendship 😊
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@emkaydeebee 5 weeks
Thank you! It’s a set up for the next few songs really... so appreciate how much listening you do during fawm as well as your massive output!
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@apertome 5 weeks
That's ambitious! I made no attempt to cover the whole periodic table, wow! But anyway, great minds think alike, haha
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@amusia 6 weeks
Haha, thanks for sharing your Parisian imagery! Glad you enjoyed listening!
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@aesthetic72 6 weeks
The sheer number of songs you have! Incredible output. Such a range of styles, including those lush 4pt harmony songs. I get all tangled up and can't find my way through songs quickly enough to do 14 - tho I'm slowly getting better. 😀
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@redlady8029 6 weeks
Okay for music for feeling,thoughts and beliefs. Thanks.
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@hummingbear 6 weeks
I'd be honored to have you do "Möbius Strip of Time."
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@otterchaos 6 weeks
Thank you for the lovely comment on my latest one. There are indeed pressures in academia, but they are controllable and fully within my own hands, rather than what my other job was throwing at me. 😀
Loving all your tracks, and quite astounded at the number of them!! -
@redlady8029 6 weeks
Thank you for commenting on Mirror. I wrote it from personal experience and I know numerous men and women have gone through the same thing. Thank you so much for comment on all my lyrics. You are so encouraging. I will reciprocate on your lyrics. I work a grave yard shift 8 pm to 8 am and am a Day Sleeper. But I try to do at least 3 critiques a night and on my day off more. Thanks again.
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@redlady8029 6 weeks
Ok sounds good. Just let me know when you want to start. Thanks Again for all your wonderful work help.
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@ceilidh 6 weeks
Thank you for taking the time to comment on Soulwood and Ford Galaxie!
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@emkaydeebee 6 weeks
Hey! Thank you for your comment on ‘They don’t see me’ - and happy birthday!
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@hoppiern 6 weeks
Thanks so much for listening to and recommending my “Potential Spam” song! I really appreciate that!! 😊
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@ceilidh 6 weeks
Music to Soulwood is posted 😀
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@redlady8029 6 weeks
You can pick any song above that catches your interest. I have one christian/folk song--Feeling thoughts and Beliefs. Two challenge songs--Play and Mirror. Hope that helps. Thanks for reaching out.
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@redlady8029 6 weeks
I see your open to collaborations. Would love to collaborate with you.
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@digg35 6 weeks
Thanks for comment.
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@ozcompr 6 weeks
Thanks for the feedback on “The Day I Was Born”! Can’t believe you’ve written so many songs! Congrats!!!
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@loveonamixtape 6 weeks
OH MY DEAR SIR, I HAVE INDEED BEGUN TO. I now can't promise I won't add my own contribution at some point!
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@russiasaturn 6 weeks
Hey! if you'd like to work on the music for Here Now, then that would definitely be great. I wanted to collaborate w/ you this year of course and since I haven't quite found the inspiration for the other song we were working on, maybe this would work out!
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@meriamber 6 weeks
HOLY DANG! You are a machine! So many songs! You're definitely winning at this FAWM thing 😝 *goes to listen*
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@cindyrella 6 weeks
Thanks and you can do the socks one too if you want
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@yewnorker 6 weeks
Thanks for commenting on blow wind blow. I really appreciate the encouragement, and I encourage you to encourage your kids' songwriting talents amap. That's fabulous. Look forward to listening to some of yours later today. Thanks again
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@sarahmonticue 6 weeks
Sure! Would love to hear the music you come up with. Thank you!
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@jessica14 6 weeks
Thanks for your fun facts! Nice to know you are also a lefty:-) It's so nice to be back here at FAWM. You are just a songwriting machine, as always. (Oh, this could be a good songtopic "The songwriting machine"...lol)
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@tamsnumber4 7 weeks
Thank you for your kind comments on my song, "Wash Me Clean"!
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@mikeb 7 weeks
Thanks for the listen and comment on my anti-Valentines song!
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@pokerowan 7 weeks
I love your comments because you always describe the perspective you took away from my lyrics 😀 Thanks so much for the lovely analysis on 'Headspace', Alex!
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@sapient 7 weeks
Thanks for listening!
I thought alt-county might work as a tag, as it's the closest I'm ever likely to get to a country song 😁