This is becoming my favorite channel. Justin puts a lot of effort into these videos. The guy probably got a lot more than he expected.

Another free Master Class with Justin...man are we the lucky ones! Such a pro on so many levels. A pro player makes your song sound like a record...21:21 when the Pro starts playing.

This was a refreshing break from gear videos. Lol. Impressed by your generosity of knowledge. Keep up the great work!

Thanks! You’re a good guy You make the music industry feel safe God bless you, sir

I got the impression of that turn around, that songwriter lives in the mood of the song, he is imagining the story of the song, but the listener is not quite there yet so it feels "forever" like you said. Just a thought that came to mind.

Wow! Not only are you a world class guitarist, but a world class person! Thank you for the wonderful music and your dedication to your fellow musicians. You really are an inspiration! Love the channel and keep up the brilliant work!

From the first 3 notes you played on the play through the song got 100 percent more ineresting musically. Just beautiful work sir.

Holy smokes !! cool tune in the first place you run through really brought it to life. i agree about a bridge to really bring it to life great job to the song writer as well . i would really love to hear the finished product

Hello from North Carolina! Just found you today via Jonathan Robinson or Jonny Rob as Baxter calls him. Very cool video with some great advice for not only the "contactee" but for all of us writers who have been silently writing for years or even decades, polishing our craft but without pro inputs and connections. Thank you for this rather generous gift Justin.

This was a great video. I really liked his vocal and the song vibe, and obviously Justin took it to another level with what he added. I felt like the vocal needed to go into a higher gear during the chorus and build a sense of tension to be released by the next verse. With the urgency peaking on the outro.

The first go I thought the song was too slow and I agree with all of your advice. In my songwriting I find I often get stuck looking for an interesting bridge to keep interest going. The second go through with your guitar on top really opened up the song for me and I found myself liking it. Props to the songwriter. Your show is great. Thank you for your service to this community

It's amazing to watch you breathe life into a song idea Justin!! Thanks for giving us this learning opportunity and thanks to the song submitter!!

Mate.. I want to be Justin Ostrander when I grow up. This track was nice. Obviously great bones. But when you did the pass as if you were in the studio I can't believe the level lift.. You're harmony knowledge, the use of light and shade, the repeating phrases with slight variation, your tone and touch, and being able to bring so much emotion to a track without taking anything away. I'm honestly blown away and had to listen a few times. And the fact it was a throw away 'let's see what happens'.. I don't think I've ever heard such a incredible and dynamic first pass like this. Like I said, I want to be Justin Ostrander when I grow up. Thank you so much for the inspiration, mate. James Southwell (Canberra, Australia)

As a drummer for 35 years, I’m truly just now finding the pocket which you, sir definitely have full command definitely my favorite channel

I completely agree with your analysis of his song. It has all the elements of a very good song....however, some production would definitely take this song to another level. Man, after you added your guitar parts...it totally breathed new life into his song. Just goes to show you what a talented studio musician can do to elevate a song. You and Tim Pierce are my two favorite session guys. Great job!!!

Many things to comment on: Justin - you have a great wisdom about you that obviously comes from your years of experience. You are an excellent teacher. I think these reaction type videos not only have an entertainment value (dare I say that) but more importantly, have tremendous educational value to those of us who aspire either as a player, songwriter or to work in the music industry. Your expert insights are spot on. The fact you performed the "session" version at the end (kind to do) - that made the song go for me - hence, your advice - get it fully recorded! To the artist: - nice job! When I first listened, I felt the emotional connection songs need. Admittedly the corduroy road reference threw me off - when Justin explained the concept of a corduroy road (which I did not know) - that helped me go deeper into the song. I heard Chris Isaacs in your vocals and the song feel. I actually watched the first half video - came back to it, and the song stood on more solid ground upon the second listen. To me, an artist that can perform a song solo acoustically (guitar or piano), and have it move me is the sign of a good - possibly great - song. I see the potential here. I certainly am not one to criticize word choice - I think Justin saying he wanted to hear more lyrically and paint with a few more colors - without taking away from the core aspects - rung true for me. I could hear slide, harmonies on the bridge, chorus (stretch it out a bit), but... I do like the sparseness of this song and feeling of melancholy. Recut it - and keep at it!!! (Justin- yes, please do the video on TX vs. Nashville session player! and perhaps also the explanation on the music publishing biz).

Love these constructive breakdowns- so much workable info and great to see how a pro goes about it. Gonna work on chart writing too. If you cant write a chart cleanly and clearly, how can you know what you are or not playing over🤷🏻great stuff.

That was awesome. I’m a songwriter too and there was a lot of great info. One thing that really struck me is that you are a really kind person and very generous with your skill and time. God bless.

I like the song, it is bare and sung pretty well. All tunes start somewhere and this sounds like a first go at recording it to me. Just one guy and a guitar. Your advice is always great and your guitar playing was beautiful and really added to the atmosphere. If it was my song I would find it hard to listen to it again without your guitar on it so I would now have to book you to do it. Respect......

So much talent out there writers ,composers , musicians,in general ..some dont have the production to really be able to show the great songs that they create ..with help/advice like what Justin gives and actually demonstrates is out of this world just leaves us (musician /writer) speechless 👍👏❤️

geeeze man... goosebumps right off the bat!! is it just me or does this guy sound like he's spent a tonne of time listening to Rodney Crowell? WOW!! thnx again fer all the awesome insight and tunes and ways of thinking... ATB, From Vancouver island BC .ca ;0) M

Justin, another great video. As a home recording guitarist and songwriter (yet with lyrics) these videos are great.

I enjoyed the song and your playing over it takes it to a whole different place. Good stuff. 👍

I believe you've started something great here with the advice and constructive criticisms... this is such valuable information! So very helpful... and not just to the artist whose recording you're discussing, but great info for so many to take whatever advice may apply to them. Keep up the great work, Justin! Cheers from Canada -Glenn

I love the direction your channel is going, these reaction videos are golden. It’s helping everyone that watches.

I'm loving this series of song/demo evaluation. It's so informative to just hear you think out loud. The layer of lead and fills you added here took this song a long way (and your tone on that jazzmaster is off the charts; I'm stealing that).

This song gives me strong Street of Philadelphia vibes. Nice work.

These "Ask Justin" episodes are freakin gold. As for the Austin songwriter, you have the foundation of a fine song to build apon. Cheers Justin 👍

I would enjoy sitting in a dark coffee house listening to him. What you played over it was amazing, Justin. Damn!

This video is everything I’ve wanted to see about how a demo goes to the next step. Loving this channel!

Your on uncle Larry's heels.Follow your heart Justin

Reminds me of Springsteen. Cool song.

Song has solid bones to this listener and is giving me super Lucinda Williams vibes. Would love to hear the next cut of this after getting Justin's input.

I love this song. With the adjustments suggested and recorded with a full band, I feel this could be a hit. Great, great vocals too.

Wow, that was great! So cool that you offer such invaluable advice like this and bring attention to unknown songwriters!

Hey Justin, Those are some great song writing tips. In order to build some excitement going into the chorus, try this. The chorus starts on the relative minor. So you could build a pre-chorus that ends on the 5 chord. Eg 1 bar of first inversion 4 chord, 1 bar of the 5 dominant sus 4 chord, with a rest on beat 4. It will build some tension that gets resolved by the 6 minor. Justin mentioned how hard it is to break into that circle of song writers. Which is a gentle way of saying you're going to hear 'no' a lot, or nothing at all. You need a thick skin. Keep trying, yes, but also keep evaluating your material against successful material. Production not withstanding, what do you like about the successful song, and does your song have those qualities? Good luck, and all the best.

Loved this one. Loved your additions to it. Made song more complete. Nice songwriting btw

Jesus Christ your guitar sounds good. Yowza. Keep up the excellent work, Justin! 👊

Thanks for your time Justin ….🎸from Nashville 👌from 🇬🇧

As others have said, this channel is great in many ways. I've been around since before the earth cooled yet I learn something from you in each video. It is not just in your playing, but in your thinking and your ideas. I really like the way you ingest a song's emotion then season it so tastefully on your instrument. I hesitate to say anything regarding the song other than I agree with what you heard and felt and this is what the songwriter asked for. I know there is a ton of difference between a demo and a finished product and I hope I get the opportunity of hearing this song when it becomes a final mix. Justin, thank you for being here and really glad Uncle Larry pointed me in your direction.

Very very cool! I gotta admit I didn’t watch the previous one bc I thought it was going to be a traditional reaction video. Don’t know anything about how KZfaq and clicks work but maybe naming it something like ‘let’s workshop a song’ or something would be more appropriate? What you did here is gold and far more informative than a reaction video. Good stuff!

Ok love the episode that’s first thing. Second, I always knew that in a song having certain solo sections or certain instruments such as a slide or fiddle could really accentuate a lyric. But today I really realize just how much adding something like your take and playing on a song can change the dynamic. When you came in with that Drop d sound man!…. Just that sound made this song bloom into something I could honestly hear in a movie or on the radio. For me I don’t need anything else added just hit record and send me the single.😄 Superb performance with excellent advice I mean where else could one find that. Think I’ll hit repeat for one more run through of that section it was that good 💯. As for the writer, take this episode and run with it. Not everyday you get to hear the true potential of something you’ve wrote interpreted by others on such a high level of professionalism such as Justin. That alone would be super gratifying to me 💯. Keep doing your thing that break will come.🤙🏼

I really dig this song. I find myself wondering about the Lyrics and I start analyzing them . So that makes it memorable. It sticks with you. It has a very wistful, longing sound.

This is such a wonderful series. Thank you!

This channel is gold!

As soon as you mentioned having an episode where you interview a Texas session player, I subscribed. Do it!

Reminds me of The River by Bruce Springsteen, Justin is amazing, I love the way he explains it all so clearly.

Amazing channel...... thankyou Justin...inspirational for all of us who feel isolated at times...

Love this format especially when you play over at the end it gives us great ideas on what to play as a second guitar 🙂🎶👍 thank you

Love the idea of a bridge giving more lyrical info. I would also consider taking the chorus melody somewhere higher because it's sitting in the exact same 3 note melody space as the verses. Great song! And i totally agree with all the comments comparing to Springsteen and Rodney Crowell. 💗

@JustinOstrander serving the song 🙌 Tasty

I liked it. It could stand on its own with your suggestions. To me it sounds like a look back to the civil war. For example, the reference to the “corduroy road”, wood or log road, and “63” or 1863 and “mama” pointed me to war, the civil war. Interesting.

This would sound great with lap steel. Reminds me of Jason Isbell. Great stuff and great channel.

Love it!! I really like the vibe of this song. I noticed that the dynamics of the vocal did match the arrangement, but when Justin added some great dynamics, it was clear that the vokal needs more dynamics too. It kind of falled behind. If you record the vocals again after addin some dynamics Im sure it will lift it all. Would be really great to hear it again after you have done some work to it. It can be really great. Thanks for your courage to share 😀😀

Thanks for sharing this with us Justin. Great professional advice.

Justin, thank you for sharing these ideas for parts to add lift to this song. I greatly appreciate your generosity.

Thank you for this Justin. Cool song

Your additions in the first verse and chorus were subtle but added a TON! Just a little texture gave it that movement it really needed. I'm a long time cowboy chorder now learning electric and I think I just hit a stage where I can recognize some of your triad shapes and movement as you are playing and I get what you are doing! At least, conceptually. My fingers can't do it yet. This new camera view is great - keeps the coffee bags, shows the Ol' Sarge, the Pro-tools screen, and your guit.

Just love what your channel is doing here Justin, keep them coming!!!

Justin, I think that your comments were right on. Yes, tighten up the form and give listeners something surprising/ refreshing by adding some new information - bridge, new chords, change in dynamics, etc. (Sometimes I write too much and have to kill some of my darlings.) Yes, this song has a cool concept.

Justin, you are so inspiring. Thank you for sharing this/your talent and experience. This is probably my favorite of the formats of your many videos. I have watched most of them. The song production was sparse and raw but that is where songs come from. By the time the rest of us hear them they have usually been touched up and produced to a level of energy and structure pleasing to a wider audience…my opinion but I think you understand. Your pass through the song did so much for the energy and mood that it gave it enough polish to shine. Keep sharing and I’ll keep watching and cheering you on.

outstanding playing, excellent episode!

Man I got an encyclopedia of licks and ideas from your play along J.. Bless you and yours brother!

My advice: Write the dumbest most juvenile lyrics you can think of and make it rap/hip hop style and it will be the next big "country" hit.

You were spot on about your review and your opinion . Thank You

Great job Justin, I must say I follow a few recording session guitarists. My first follow was Tim Pierce and he started doing something like this playing over real songs. He later changed his channel to more educational videos and techniques. Although that is nice and all there is a lot of that. What you do is incredible value for someone like me who loves recording with bands and aspire to be more session orientated. You give so many beautiful Melodic insights and finding hooks everywhere. I salute you, you are a real pro sir and you sum up what a session guitarist must be. Know every note on your fretboard and it is noticeable how you float seamlessly between the perfect notes in the Key. Maybe you can give a show on that as most guitarist gets a little stuck in what I call "boxes" of notes and it is quite clear that the pros seem to find the right notes anywhere they are playing. Thank you for this video and making the song beautiful. On the song, I love the vocals it has that real American feel almost country at times ( I am from the other side of the world so its very broadly used term here :) ) I would love you to come back to this song once its been fully produced I think it will be a smashing song.

My hat's off to you Justin. This series is awesome. The guitar part you added really made the song come to life.

Absolutely incredible! Just great how you can pull off an entire guitar track addition like that (just shows what years of working as a pro guitarist session player can do for you!). Very helpful for the songwriter/musician.

Hey man, your videos are so helpful and informative for the creative process. I’m really enjoying them. Thanks!

Damn, you’re good. Great suggestions and very encouraging. 🙏🏻

Awesome info from an insider.Listen is my instinct.Thank you.

These are fun Justin.

Loved the song, the playing at the end is 🔥 🔥 🔥 Awesome channel!

I really enjoyed it. Loved the tone of his voice. Reminded me of Springsteen. I love these videos. I’d like to send you a song for some feedback but I’m not sure I could handle the inevitable roasting 😂

Man, you are a cut above. Listening to the original, my first thought as well was that it really needs some dynamics. But even just one straight playthrough you bring music to life!

As it stands, the song to me, has Springsteen “Nebraska” album vibes. Full band I definitely hear the Springsteen/Melancamp Americana type song. Very cool. I could imagine this with a full band (and a Hammond B3 taking the center stage of the outro, possibly trading licks with the guitar etc

This is really helpful and explained masterfully, thanks!

great advice. thanks justin. great channel.😎

Excelente analysis Meastro. Concur with ALL your findings. I especially like the way you shorten the turnaround to two bars and made the second one a split bar with both changes totally helped it get into the next verse. Many of the “connective” sections that felt too long were completely transformed by your playing. Nice werk. Also, you finally mentioned the word I have been screaming most of the video. BRIDGE. That seemed to me a great opportunity to lighten things up, and possibly provide a little hope to the dirge. As always, solid data and wisdom. Thanks for your time.

Only took the KZfaq algorithm 11 yrs to suggest your channel in my feed... Thanks YT for being so efficient!

I appreciate what your doing here. Good job, Justin

This is invaluable info. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and time. It is greatly appreciated.

Great advice. Gave me some ideas and also what it takes to fill out a song. Thank Justin.

Very Rodney Crowell-ish? I'm having a difficult time matching this to any current artists though. Maybe a female voice would be good? I agree that the tempo is a bit slow. I didn't love the acoustic. I think it would be better played closer to the nut...maybe. There are many directions you could take this song. It's pretty raw. It needs to go somewhere though. It kinda finds a groove and stays there. Vibrato lead parts? When you put the slide on top of the acoustic, it gave it a Hawaiian feel. Interesting idea. Good foundation to build on. 😊😊😊

Thanks for the great video Justin. I didn’t know what a corduroy road was either, now you have explained I was kinda thinking that it could be used as an analogy for a troubled relationship. However, I’m no lyricist so what do I know! To the artist, keep writing and keep going. I wish you well. Just listening to Justin’s additions shows how it can transform the song.

When I listened to you accompanying the song, Justin, it sounded like you had increased the tempo of the original recording…taking it from “nice, but slightly plodding in tempo” to gently nudging it to a more comfortable gait. So I went back to the beginning of the video to verify my supposition. To my surprise, though, I didn’t find any obvious tempo change. It’s interesting to me that the layer of guitar that you introduced to the original song had more of an impact than simply dressing it up.

Thanks!

Fast turnaround on videos this weekend. :) I personally thought this song was pretty sweet . . . great vocals and a perfectly appropriate harmonic structure. It definitely wasn't a fully completed song, heck it didn't have drums/bass/other instruments like fiddle etc . . . plenty of room to grow the song for finished production. It could be a tad quicker, or it could be exactly the same tempo and still rock. I think of all the slow songs Neil Young put out there. Well said, JO. The folks here and I be learnin' from you.

Great great stuff! definitely my new favorite channel 👍🙏🏼

Nice neat chart! Mine is always all up in the margins and runs out of room on the page. I also throw in tabs and it's a mess.

Good song......great advice

Great analysis Justin. I dig your phIlosophy. Keep up your excellent work.

All of your musical suggestions and additions were great, it really brought the song up to a professional sounding version! Now, I really see how good a session musician has to be, he has to raise the quality of the song! I might suggest lyrically that the email suggestion belongs in the first verses, explain that it's 1963 and you build a hiking path out of trees roped together, while stationed overseas in the army? And then I think the chorus needs something more dramatic than just being lonely and bored while you have to walk on the path of the corduroy Road. What's the most dramatic or dangerous thing that happens on a corduroy road? So maybe that could be either lyrics for the bridge or Lyrics for the chorus to be more powerful. I like this song better after I heard the email explanation. Corduroy Road I was thinking corduroy pants from the 70s or 80s, why is he singing about corduroy? But it made more sense that this is a sort of patriotic soldier, slice of life.

What a fantastic video have a good weekend 😊

Nice song, I like the vibe. Now I'm West coast born of a dad from the black belt. That territory was bridged for me by Buck Owens. And dad would light up hearing say the Stones do Delta blues, or whatever little red rooster was. Or walking the dog. It was another time and he said the blacks used to sing that while he was growing up, he at times behind a mule. He had lived that. It was a way of life. He was born on a road. For him, to echo a song, for him, getting off that road was a long time coming. Born as he was in little shack on the Alabama river, amid troubles and change. But I never had heard of a corduroy road, and once explained by Justin, I like the image. It's a long road you can't get off of easily and you have to go. That's my takeaway. And if I mull over that, such was my work career. a corduroy road. Then I think, well, that's like a cordoned down road. And universally, I do feel at times that we are all on a then corduroy or cordoned down road, and I can play with that image in my mind and match it to the tune readily. I know what it means right away. The downtrodden world! So I wonder. Roads are also put there as a means to an end. I can bring that meaning into the song. I'm not sure that meaning belongs explicitly in the song, or that any resolution would fit. But hey. I'm not the poet. That's not my road.

The thing about this song that is really good about this song is the idea we are tired of some stuff going on . The road title is cool !

Great feedback.. 👌

New amp/equipment rack looks good 🙂

Another great video Justin , I agree with picking up tempo just a smidgen, it's a good song , more lyric would be nice in the back end of the song but I liked it . Loved the way you filled in the blanks on the play along dang you're good , thanks for your great info .

The song reminds me of Springsteen's I'm on Fire, maybe speed it up a bit, add some modern percussion and put in a key change somewhere