Jeffery Lahr
Danville, Indiana, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | SELF
Music
Press
Selected Updated On: Feb 14, 2011
Response:
RATING SCALE "1" Indicates the Lowest Score "5" Indicates The Highest Score
Recording Quality/Production: 3.5
Lead Vocals: 3.5
Musicianship: 4
Lyric Writing: 4.5
Music Composing: 4
Melodies: 5
Song Arrangement: 4
Overall Delivery: 4
Dear Jeffery, Thanks for submitting the material for the evaluation. I enjoyed the songs very much.
It was nice to hear material with a positive message. A message this world needs more than ever.
I also liked reading your Bio. It was informative and really gave me insight into your career and early days.
To give you insight to the scoring scale above, the majority of artists score in the 2.5 to 3.5 range in the various categories. Whenever an artist sees a 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 or 3.5 as a score in a certain category (or categories) it means that's an area I feel they need to improve and develop. When an artist sees 4, 4.5 or 5 as their score in a category, it's a validation from a professional, confirming that the songs are of the highest level and show strong potential in the ultra-competitive music industry.
To really raise the bar, every artist should work hard to earn a 4.5 or 5 in every category. It's a very competitive business and people averaging in the 3's (or less) will probably not get too far without a great deal of improvement and development. I don't give out 4's and 5's easily, so any of those you see, you have earned. Well done!
One thing to keep in mind, at least for your songs designated as "Singles" (the songs geared towards winning over radio stations, record company executives and music publishers) - try to keep Intros under 10 seconds and try to reach the Chorus between the 40 and 43 second mark.
This is very important in the following genres: pop, rock, R&B/pop, alternative rock, jazz/pop, punk and singer/songwriter If it's 44 seconds or longer into a song and the Chorus did not kick in yet, you should edit the arrangement accordingly.
In rap music, the chorus can come in at the 59 second mark, since the verses are traditionally longer, compared to the other genres of popular music. Radio, Record Company and Music Publishing executives pay close attention to song arrangement, as they decide if an artist is developed enough for them to show interest. - Foley Entertainment, Inc.
Discography
Spirit Journey by Lifer Studios (Jeffery Lahr) (New Age album)
1. Mind Tempest
2. Soul Traveler
3. Aura
4. New Beginning
5. Into the Clear
6. Days Revisited
7. The Melancholy Mind
8. Calm After the Storm
9. Journey's End
10. Renewal
11. Thought
12. Autumn Storm
13. Twilight
14. H2Odyssey
15. Breaking Free
Random Thoughts (Rock)
1. Brainstorm
2. Prayin' For Payday (explicit)
3. Get Out! (Political)
4. When I'm With You
5. My Time
6. There is an Angel
One Nation (Spiritual/Patriotic Rock)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Home For Christmas
Stormy Lullabye
All albums and songs listed above are currently available through all major download sites (Amazon, myspace, iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, Zune, and available for streaming at my facebook page).
Photos
Bio
My musical talents started since I was 12 years old. I learned how to play drums on the porch of my mother, Bonnie's Lakewood, Ohio home.
With an old radio, an old chair, and a pair of his mother's knitting needles, I learned all about rhythm and time-keeping and how to keep a beat to any song that came on the radio playing the latest top 40 hits.
After a few years, my family and I moved to Minocqua, Wisconsin where I attended Lakeland Union High School from 1986-1990. While in high school I was a member of the concert, jazz, and pep bands and acapella and madrigal choirs as well as played drums for our Swing choir... getting involved in everything I could relating to music.
Finally, in my freshman year of high school, working at a local supper club, I earned enough money to buy my first drum kit.
It was also in high school where I met my best friend, Tony, who introduced me to heavy metal, including Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Guns and Roses, then eventually Pantera, Down, Sepultura, and many more! Tony also was an incredible lead guitar player so I also found a love for guitar.
"Spirit Journey", released on April 3, 2008 under the name Lifer Studios, is my first album because he found that instrumentals were much easier to create and I had not yet accumulated enough lyrical material to compile into an album... plus I also didn't have the equipment or knowledge of production software to be able to put down any multi-track recordings.
All tracks on "Spirit Journey" are so authentic and from the heart that accompanied with my inability to sight-read music, I may never be able to reproduce it again. Each song was recorded as it flowed through the built-in sequencer of my Yamaha DGX-200 Portable Grand Piano, which was able to record and store 5 user songs with up to 5 tracks each plus one accompaniment track.
I would simply start the recording, play whatever flowed off the top of my head, and store it... if I didn't like any part of it, I simply erased the track and started again... oftentimes with completely different results.
The last track on "Spirit Journey" entitled: "Breaking Free", is my first rock-oriented tune and features not only the drums and bass recorded on his keyboard, but the first song in which I recorded both the rhythm and lead guitar parts actually on guitar rather than on the keyboard. Hence the title "Breaking Free" because I finally began breaking free of the simpler new age sound.
My second album, "Random Thoughts" was released on June 23, 2010 and is my first primarily-rock and vocal oriented album with the exception of the tie-in track, "Brainstorm" which goes back to my roots from my first album, "Spirit Journey".
I even experiment with a bit of harmonizing with my song "There is an Angel" and I played around with a rather funky feel with my song "Prayin' for Payday", which is a fun song in which I describe the triumph of getting my first apartment, while realizing the tribulation of having absolutely nothing in it and being a week away from payday... a problem that I'm sure many people can relate to.
My next single, "One Nation", released on August 22, 2010, is, by far, my most powerful, and perhaps most influential song that I've ever written.
It speaks of the need for our great country to turn back to God and the moment we do so, we will begin to see immediate, positive change return to our nation.
Since 2010, I have released other singles including two Christmas releases: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Home for Christmas" as well as a new, nature instrumental called "Stormy Lullaby" which is a soothing, gentle tune perfect for washing to daily stresses away.
I am currently drummer in a classic rock band, "Last Call" (lastcall-bloomington on Facebook) based out of Bloomington, IN with five other guys. We play a wide variety of classic rock/country/blues/R&B and others.
Though I'm getting a bit old to start thinking about becoming a rock star, I would love to keep writing songs and instrumentals for potential use in movies, TV, or maybe even be a one-hit wonder.. I'm not proud!
Band Members
Links
