JD Wise picked up a guitar and starting writing music in the eighth grade. Fast forward years later and he bought a portastudio to record a four-song demo entitled The Strawberry Moon.
He plays loose rock and folk music. The songs are familiar sounding and hark back to a number of influences. Take for instances the folky opener and title track “Strawberry Moon” which has a sing-a-long type quality similar to a song like “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. I had trouble appreciating the vocals. I couldn't understand most of them which was somewhat due in part to the recording quality. There wasn't much clarity. The element that sounded best in the mix was the banjo and harmonica. Up next is “Take It From Me” which has a bit of Neil Young-esque quality to it. The issues with the muddy vocals resurfaced but the guitar work was very enjoyable. Especially the lead slide guitar. His best vocal performance was on “That's All She Wrote” which is a sort of ballad. He sounded good here and the vocals were EQ’d the right way too. That being said the drums were too prominent and sometimes off time. I think he should lose whatever the descending sine wave is as well which didn't work in the mix. He closes with “The Last Time We Had It Good.” The vocals are buried even though there isn't much going on. His tone also sounds different than on “That's All She Wrote.” JD Wise is going to be releasing a full album and hopefully he can get to a professional studio. The production on this is suited to show your friends but is far from a commercial sounding product whether it's more mainstream or indie. The good part is that he has some talent in the songwriting department and I think with some tweaking he can really come into his own on his full length.
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