Half My Life

Half My Life

Rochester Swing.  

Prayin' For Rain  

You Ride That Lonely Rail   

It's Good To Get Back To Work    

Lost In A Dream   

Halo For A Hatband    

Rollin' Down That Lincoln Highway.    

Livin' and Dyin' Here.    

Love In  LeMars   

Black Dog 

Ride The Texas Wind   

To Order By Mail       

 To Order Online

Shadric lives up in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and he does love that western swing music.   My he does it good.   This particular CD is all originals by Shadric,  and they are all good.  He wrote a song with Dave Moore, another great Iowa writer, singer, and performer.  Shadric I've talked about and reviewed before.  He's very unique, and very good.  Neat song on there called "Prayin' For Rain" maybe riffs and rills supreme,  but the concept and presentation is really good.  "Dust in the city, dust in my dreams" a most interesting way to start a song.   Well executed, and certainly well produced.....I got kind of lost in this song as you can see.   It's very very good.   Lots of great western swing.   "Lost In A Dream" is also another good story.   Some great musicians on this CD,  don't know who they are but the keyboards are fantastic.   Good job Shadric,  I'm never disappointed in what you are doing,  it's all great.   Your songs are all-American, and all-Iowan.   Keep it up.  

Bob Everhart

Tradition Magazine Review

May-June 2003

New e-mail:

Have listened to the CD 3 times since yesterday--the last time really loud.   It is even better than I first thought.  The lap steel is great.  I am going to tell some people that I have known since college,  who are like minded musically....I want some of my musical contemporaries to hear your record.

Bill McIntyre   5 23 03

Fort Dodge, Iowa

" Woke up this morning with Lincoln Highway rolling through my head.   It does the same thing the song Roxie in Chicago does when she says, "Boys..." and the male chorus kicks in with a bassy underpinning.  Lincoln Highway does some nice things, evocative of the American experience in history and in the personal four-wheeled voyages of her current occupants.    My favorite tune on the CD is Livin' and Dyin' Here.   I didn't know if I was having a tall umbrella drink on a lazy beach in the Bahamas or staring over the bean fields from my treated wood deck in Fort Dodge with a can of Miller Lite in my pasty hand and a slab of soybean & field corn-fed cow smokin' up the gas grill.....Livin' and Dyin' Here might sound good with an acoustic bass and maybe a female vocalist ( like Astrud Gilberto) and some sax."   

 Tim Kelleher  4 22 03

This album was recorded in five days.  

Back on November 10, 2002 we had a little session out at Junior's Motel where Dolor Adams, Brian Nelson and I recorded six of these basic tracks on 2 inch tape.   Kirk Kaufman engineered and we  played these tunes one after another as a guitar, bass, and drums trio....It's Good To Get Back To Work, A Halo For A Hatband, Love in LeMars, Prayin' For Rain, Ride The Texas Wind and Rochester Swing.   I used my Gretsch electric guitar through a Peavey Transformer amp.

On Friday February 7, 2003 Denny Osburn drove up from Kansas City, backed his van up to my front door and unloaded an assemblage of musical instruments and his Yamaha AW4416 digital recorder.   Denny is an old pal from my Colorado Days, a musical genius  multi-instrumentalist. We have recorded on several other occasions and I am always amazed by his virtuosity and feel for my original songs.   I got off work at five and on Friday night we recorded and mixed Half My Life and Rollin' Down That Lincoln Highway in my front room ( Big Blue Sound ).  First I played and sang the song with just guitar and then he added the other instruments.   I used my  Yamaha Silent Classical guitar direct into the board for these tracks.

On Saturday, February 8 we followed the same procedure during the afternoon and evening at Big Blue Sound.  Recorded Livin' And Dyin' Here, Lost In A Dream, Black Dog, and You Ride That Lonely Rail.  Saturday.   

On Sunday February 9 Denny loaded up his van and we each drove out to Junior's Motel where he used his Kurzweil keyboard, lap steel, and mandolin to add instrumental parts to the original six songs I had recorded with Brian and Dolor last November.   We were done in about three hours and he headed for KC.    Kirk and I stayed a couple more hours and mixed the six songs he had added his parts to.    

On Wednesday February 12 Kirk Kaufman and I mastered the songs and assembled them in the order they are now.    

Hope you enjoy the sound.    Shadric         

Reviews:

Christian Lamitschka / German dj writes:  On his latest CD Shadric Smith presents country swing of it's most beautiful kind.  Shadric is one of the most gifted songwriters in the US today.   Together with Dave Moore, Kirk Kaufman, and Debbie Smith he arranged these 12 songs.  Some of the songs are not country swing,  but this does not really disturb,   Before buying the CD, the songs can be listened to from the internet.  

Weezee Hamel from British Columbia writes: I love your "Half My Life" Shadric....can't you hear Pap singin' that one....I sure can....him and the guys would have fun with it...hmmm....I know Pap REALLY likes "Livin' And Dyin' Here"...the tune sure is pretty...and too, I see you re-recorded Ride The Texas Wind...which is my favorite of favorites!  "Prayin' For Rain would be a big hit in Australia.   I love the beat in "You Ride That Lonely Rail"...."Rollin' Down That Lincoln Highway is a great western swing tune....loads of airplay coming on that one I'm SURE.   The LeMars song is catchy too..."get your corn....get your ice cream...get your chinese food etc....Gotta love it...

Big Al Watts, a dj from Hampton, North Melbourne, Australia writes:  Het mate it's here.   What a great release, a much more mature outing than your other material.  Cuts 8 11 and 12 are penciled in for my next program.  Cheers and I will keep you informed of any interest.  

The amazing Denny Osburn at play.  Playing piano, organ, drums, synthetic tuba, saxophone, clarinet, bass, acoustic mandolin and electric lap steel.  He also engineered all the Big Blue Sound recordings.

Denny and Lap Steel

Latest Version of the Small Band

Brian Nelson and Dolor Adams at Junior's Motel Recording Studio.  Two of the coolest musicians and longtime Billy Buffalo Band members.

Havin' fun in Dogtown at Big Blue Sound.

Captain Kirk Juniors Motel Recording Studio.  Otho, Iowa.

The Sepia Brothers at Big Blue Sound.  Fort Dodge, Iowa

Ye Olde 

Yamaha

Silent Guitar

If you build it they will come.   Denny  in front of the Junior's tower behind Junior's Motel.   When it is complete people will drive for miles to see it. Include it on all midwest travel tours.  The start of a rock and roll West Bend Grotto.