If I Was London
Would He Love Me Then
...
Sitting down with Youngstown Ohio native and Nashville-based artist Taylor Borton was a great time. Her bubbly and outgoing personality made the interview go by almost too fast. Right out of high school, she knew she had to find some reason to make it to Nashville, and Blackbird Studios was her opportunity. The Blackbird Academy is an intense, six-month program, that trains students to handle audio engineering in professional studios. Class time is half mentorship and hands-on, the other half is class time and learning the basics. Through Blackbird, Taylor made great connections with professors and students while building her credibility and reliability in the music industry.
Since she went through over 700 hours of training and mentorship through Blackbird Academy, she had the tools and knowledge to self-produce her latest song, "If I Was London." What is so interesting about her release is that she recorded the song on her computer with Pro Tools and was able to send over the WAV files to her session musicians and co-producer to add to the production. While talking about the session work, Taylor mentioned that musicians alone cost around $200. As mentioned in my previous article, if you can produce your single or EP with the equipment you have at home, that saves you around $500 for the process alone. As an artist and a songwriter, mixing and mastering your song is one of the greatest accomplishments you can do.
"If I Was London," started as a title in Taylor's head, ultimately to be transformed into the finished product. There were no co-writers on this piece but she did have help musically and production-wise. One of her good friends from Blackbird Academy was another set of ears on the production and helped with whatever Taylor needed. Along with the song, Taylor also released a music video for “If I Was London,” at the end of May. The video shoot went as smooth as possible and she had an incredible team behind her the entire time.
If I Was London Song Review:
The fact that If I Was London is a five-minute song piqued my interest. While a five-minute song isn’t necessarily considered for radio, it was a well-produced single.
If I Was London artist Taylor Borton's voice sounds like a deeper version of Miranda Lambert's vocal styles.
There is a lot of what I would call "Country Yodeling" throughout this song, which, without practice and education, is hard to accomplish. Taylor Borton seems to have mastered this vocal technique.
Production and vocal-wise, If I Was London shows MAJOR growth from her previous single, "Give A Damn." The vocals are more present and very forward. The instrumentation in If I Was London shows a step up from basic rhythms and guitar patterns in Give A Damn.
If this song was shorter, maybe a three-minute piece, it would be on the radio right now. It has all of the required elements of a country song: great hook, arrangement, and subject matter.
The arrangement, in the beginning, follows a typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus pattern and then takes another transition. You have to listen for the bridge. However, that's why Taylor Borton's songwriting is so unique. She is pushing the boundaries of country music and making her way.
LINKS:
https://youtu.be/D3cbZMpUvXQ (IF I WAS LONDON MUSIC VIDEO)
https://youtu.be/TS86iMLXlZ8 (LIVE PERFORMANCE IN THE STUDIO)
