Cast of Characters:

Cgmaness – @cgmaness – Chris – acoustic guitar, composition, production, and mix

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken– drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – Warwick four string fretless bass 
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- piano and lead synth
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – VST cello, strings, clarinet, flute, and synth pad
Nyla K-- @user-162163879 -- vocals and lyrics
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–  Gibson Earle Scruggs banjo

This song started as many of our best do, with Chris coming up with it on his acoustic guitar. He shared it with the rest of us shortly after, and we were all very excited to tuck into it. 
  Ken was fist at the trough for this one, adding his jazzy, expressive drums. Josh came in as soon as he had a beat to work with, adding his signature fretless bass to the mix. Not long after that, JJ broke out the hauntingly melodic piano and Shine On You Crazy Diamond timbred synth you hear throughout. 
  Once it had a good structure to it, Mark came in and added the dynamic cello swells that open the song, some subtle strings, the melodic clarinet and flute, and a bit of synth pad near the end to spice up the soup a bit. He also had the great idea to ask Nyla to add some vocals, which she did in her typically dynamic and expressive way using her original lyrics. Last, but definitely not least, we convinced Stephen to add some of his perfectly mood-setting banjo. 
  Once it was all in the can, it actually sat for several months before being revived by Chris, who also did the production and mix, expertly, as always.
   This song is an example of Eclectic Collective coming together to bring another one of Chris' brilliant songs to life. You should check out his new albums on Spotify, which you can find by following this link. https://open.spotify.com/artist/0RmKLMyiXe4eVeXa032MDV?si=L0PZPN1FThy8C7mRVZMu6A
  Also, this is our first time collaborating with Nyla K. We wanted to find a way to include her talents on this one, and her vocals here are magical. You can hear a lot more of them on her page if you follow the link next to here name in the credits, too. We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Original lyrics by Nyla K: 

I once overheard 
a hushed up conversation 
'tween the fishes coming home 
and thank god for a holiday
yea
making the bull frogs sing for joy
as they awake
yea
...and this... is what they had to say

Spanish moss and bullfrogs
cattail cotton in the wind
yea...
and won't U take me to the river
yea...
take me on down to the river
and U better not say...

Better Not Say (Eclectic Collective by CGManess, with Nyla K)

"Magic is what we do. Music is how we do it." -- Jerry Garcia

Welcome to my page, my peers, associates, friends, and musical family. I'm a lifelong, multi-instrumentalist musician who records prolifically and joyfully. You'll hear me play guitar, bass (regular four string, and four and five string fretless), mandolin, banjo, keys (piano, organ, synth), lap slide, sitar, and sing on my recordings here. I've been in a few dozen bands in my life, playing everything from bluegrass, jazz, rock, jam band, reggae, funk, afrobeat, Middle Eastern, traditional Irish, singer/songwriter, pop/covers, to experimental/avant garde. 
  Since I found SoundCloud a couple years ago, I've found many talented, creative people with whom to create music. However, in the summer of '23 I formed a band called The Eclectic Collective with some of my favorite musicians I've met through here. It started as a loose collective of musicians and coalesced into a core group of musicians who find other musicians with whom we'd like to make music, then run their songs through our process, and in effect add a full band. That core of The Eclectic Collective includes Tez (Llanpsych), J.J. Terrel, Ken (K2 and the Three), Stephen (Texmex Shaman), Chris (cgmaness), and Mark (mistermark). A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. More recently, we've been joined by Carl of The Beautiful Dark fame. 
  The magic of music is amplified exponentially by each person adding to it. So, we really try to add our sorcery all kinds of music from all kinds of artists. Sometimes, we keep it within the group, but a lot of what we do is collaboration with other artists. Therefore these days, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other artists on the side.
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song or lyrics and you really want to add bigger instrumentation or a band and good production to it. 
  A small sampling of the artists whom I consider primary influences, and whom you will hear coming through my fingers include Phish, The Flaming Lips, The Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, The Meditations, Michigan and Smiley, Lee Perry, Dillinger, Django Reinhardt, Impossible Recording Machine, The Allman Bros Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Bela Fleck, Les Claypool, Sam Bush, David Grissman, John Prine, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, MMW, Moe., Morphine, Ween, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Victor Wooten,  Cannonball Adderly, Thelonious Monk, Flea, Parliament Funkadelic,  Frank Zappa, Prince Paul, Pete Rock, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Carol Kaye, Tame Impala, Mumford and Sons, Japanese Breakfast, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Sean Lennon, and Billy Strings, but of course there are many more. I also really like and am influenced by traditional Iranian, Palestinian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Mauritian, Somalian, Egyptian, West African, and Syrian music. I welcome anyone who plays non-western music to contact me for a collaboration, too.
 I'm overjoyed to have found my community on SoundCloud. This is a truly unique forum where everyone is sincerely trying to build each other up. The profoundly supportive and positive SoundCloud community has really opened up an exciting new world of collaboration for me. That is the main reason I'm in the Cloud, actually, to connect with other musicians and make music that I enjoy listening to, and hopefully others do, as well. I am ALWAYS looking to collaborate with interesting musicians, mostly though BandLab, which is where I record almost exclusively. It's a solid, free digital audio workstation hub where you can share recording projects, even if it's not where you make your recordings.
  Everything I do is live instrumental, not programmed, and using no computer beyond my phone. That's not to say that I would be opposed to using that kind of tool, it's just not my preferred medium with which to paint. If you like my music, please share it. If you want to collaborate, my BandLab handle is @bingo_pajama. Feel free to contact me at cornbreadband@hotmail.com, as well, even if you aren't on BandLab.
  If your music is primarily AI, please don't come around my page, as I'm not at all interested in complimenting a machine.
  Here's a link to music I've recorded live with a group of musicians here in Pittsburgh called The Northumberland Street Ramblers.
Check out The Northumberland Street Ramblers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/fU4Me

I'm A Songwriter & A Keyboard I Play With One Hand My Dream Is My Music  Keep On Rocking

Eclectically influenced arranging & producing for fun with BlocsWave, LaunchPad & Music Maker JAM!

All tracks AI free!
AI music and vocal production infects and harms inspiration & creativity!

You can find more details about me here:
https://www.loudly.com/community/profiles/andronix9

…and that’s my policy:
I always try to see and appreciate the creativity of others! If it flatters the ears, so much the better!☺️
Don't please anyone and you're special.😉 That's exactly my thing, not to be mainstream and not to conform to any genre. You feel free and can do what you want. A lot of people give me tips: you're too quiet, you have to structure it like this, etc. I don't have to do anything! I make my music and not that of others!😜✊🏻

Feel free to do the same.
Peace be with you!🙏🏼
Andronix

Note sing so Long and so hard that it makes your face and lips go numb😂 ❤️ Next Drop is out now!!!!

New tracks will put on repeat replay if you want to view tracks that have currently been on here head on over to Spotify❤️‍🔥￼ SoundCloud will be slowing down. Meanwhile Spotify is amping up 🥹 Spotify link attached below

  https://open.spotify.com/artist/26PG3bBgahp9wKTn7pcXiQ?si=D9gNhiIpTh6ajZ0xsbLAgQ

https://emsclothing.printify.me / merchandise SHOP

Facts about me: A voice actor over here i only work well with high pitch and low girl pitch I can't do characters like SpongeBob but I can switch my own voice ❤️❤️🌹🌹

"Global Sound🚀Afro Soul 🎶 Singer Songwriter | Rapper Fresh talent | worldwide collaborations🌍✨ Get ready for the ride! 🎶"#muchteam #richregardle💥

Whadup, say sum in the comments. Check out my life’s collection of music. DM if you wanna become and investor in the business. Working on a short film and visualizers looking for camera people and actors alike. Let’s make some mf money and fix this fucked up planet! https://post.hookmusic.com/share/hook/4341e77a-d705-494b-a732-75f32594823a

Thank you for listening my tracks😊

Released in the past👇

https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/artist/6osauDmbZF24WatOkTpacz

https://www.beatport.com/release/nulupo/2633029

Better Not Say (Eclectic Collective by CGManess, with Nyla K)

Entheogenic Psychonaut (Josh Clary)