You guys nailed this James! One of the best I've heard on here. Thanks for another great song!!!

Nice story, like the duality in the details/images.  And the bridge is super cool, nice emotional shift there, changes the meaning of the last two lines.

Tremendous story telling! So well crafted it's totally seamless. It just sucks you into the story. So well done!

This is unique and fresh but friggin' nails the sauce that makes good country songs work.

There's a lot to love about this song, but the elements of it that stand out to me the most are the last line of the first verse (the implication of meeting someone halfway, whether literally or maybe even metaphorically), the bridge that gives pause to the forward momentum of the song, but ultimately keeps the journey moving forward, and overall, your voice and guitar-work are so incredibly fantastic.

What a lovely tune. I instantly connected with it. It's a perfect balance between genre well-established elements and new ones that make the song unique and familiar at the same time.

Beautiful lyrics, James and a wonderful performance! I really enjoyed the almost cinematic quality of the words. Well done!

I love that there is actually a place called  Eldorado just outside Oklahoma..(had to Google to) Great work (as always).

Makes me so thirsty for road-trippin! And what a great concept for a song, well-executed.

"Cold Morning Coffee" (#430, 210116)

Cold morning coffee color of soil
About as thick as motor oil
Like molasses a couple of drops
Made a halo on the countertop

Cold morning coffee forgot it was there
Stained the paper on the rocking chair
Mug is sittin’ on the kitchen floor
Left over from the night before

Cold morning coffee sharp as a knife
Unforgiving like weighted dice
Some kinda’ frozen oblivion
Heart made of obsidian

Cold morning coffee heavy roast
Somewhere south of Mexico
Bitter as winter as dry as dust
Almost dead like the two of us

Week 03 - Cold Morning Coffee (210116)

Mercy Mile

Waking from the same repeating dream
Breaking out of lifelong lies and schemes
All my foolish ways now be made wise
Walking down the narrow mercy mile

Taking every step that I regret
Making every play all to forget
Nothing more can heal my hearts desire
Walking down the mercy mercy mile

Walking down the mercy mile
see our spirits soar and rise
leaving all the world behind
Walking down the mercy mercy mile

Leaving all the comfort I have known
Living in the moment far from home
Freedom can be found in rain and shine
Walking down the mercy mercy mile



Come and sit and wait with me awhile
Feel the heavy weight the mud and mire 
Tho we walk together through the fire
We are not alone on the mercy mile

mercymile SAW2021 wk 2

Cold morning coffee day
(Mark Anderson 2021)

Cold morning coffee- Cold morning rain 
An old broken heart –filled with nothing but pain
Old, faded pictures – and memories of love 
Are all that she left  him – but it ain’t enough
Umm – Umm – cold morning coffee day

An empty old house – a cold empty bedroom
Where the fire once burned – that ended too soon
Now he’s alone here  – alone all night long
With a dead whiskey bottle – like a sad country song
Umm – Umm – cold morning coffee day

(Chorus)
A cold morning coffee’s
Just an old metaphor
Like watching love turning the page
It’s like leaving the keys
And closing that door
He’s never known love that brave
What else is there to say - it's a cold morning coffee day

A cold morning coffee - A cold morning rain 
The day that she left here - She made it plain  
Another sad story – another long day
She won’t be back  – said it’s better that way
Umm – Umm – cold morning coffee day

(Chorus)
His cold morning coffee’s
Just an old metaphor
Like watching love turning the page
It’s like leaving the keys 
Like closing that door
He’s never known love that brave
What else is there to say – it’s a cold morning coffee day

Music --------------------

(Chorus)
Umm, Umm – Umm, Umm 
What else is there to say – it’s a cold morning coffee day

Cold morning coffee day -

A Place Called Eldorado (#431, 210121)

 * by Dan Rivers + James Tristan Redding * 

Place called Eldorado a couple hours from OKC
One square mile somewhere in the middle between you and me
Sick of these palm trees and I miss the way you laugh
What if I go east and you head west and we cut the drive in half

Bet there's fields of gold and green that glisten in the rain
Never made a footprint there and no one knows your name
Do you still have that Subaru with a peace sign on the back
I got me an old Chevrolet and I just filled up the tank

Hope you're leavin' Greenville L.A. just disappeared
I'm flyin' like an eagle there ain't no rear view mirror
Mile markers flashing by lead to where I'll spend all my tomorrows
A place called Eldorado

A couple books and a baseball cap the shirt you bought for me
Heart racin' as I tossed 'em all on the empty shotgun seat
Bet you're on a two lane road in the Appalachian snow
Somewhere in the desert I turned on that radio

Guess you got through Knoxville I just passed Santa Fe
And I ain't gonna' stop 'til I see your pretty face
Mile markers flashing by lead to where I'll spend all my tomorrows
A place called Eldorado

Sometime after midnight I tried to call you up
Telephone kept ringin' got this feelin' in my gut
Shook it off like I always do and rolled the windows down
Lit another cigarette too late to turn back now

Mile markers flashing by lead to where I'll spend all my tomorrows
A place called Eldorado

Week 04 - A Place Called Eldorado (210121)

The first tale of Snow and Cherry

Help yourself

i know it's hard to feel lonely
when nothing seems like it's alright
no need to keep on pretending
not this time

i know you know it's a journey
but we don't always know how far
don't let the world break your heart to pieces
not this time

no one can help you if you don't help yourself
every man can change his mind, it's alright

you know i love you to tears
that it's ok for men to cry
i know nobody has ever taught us
until now

Tales of Snow and Cherry

Help Yourself

Collaboration with David and Laurie Easterling.

I took a chord progression David came up with as we were starting to collaborate, then brainstormed the first draft of the lyrics. Then David edited the lyrics to fit his way of singing it and we chiseled down extra stanzas to fit to length (not necessarily in that order).  I'll probably record another version sometime soon to improve the mix between the video's audio and the audio into DAW, possibly adding drums, bass too.

Songbird- McDoniels-Easterling Co-write

Week 4 #songaweek2021. Photo is from a walk with my kids on a woodsy bluff trail overlooking downtown Saint Paul. Feeling very "meh" about this song and life in general today so just made a quick phone recording to git 'er done for another week :)

I’m walking on winter’s water
Skating on thick ice
No fear of drowning
In this frozen paradise

I’m standing in silent snow light
under a full moon
shadows of tree branches
brush the drifts with deep dark hues

Januaerial view
icicle dreams come true

I’m listening to birds and breezes
in the winter woods
bright songs and deep sighs
whispering a world of good

i’m sleeping through winter’s long night
warmed with gentle fire,
soft quilts and old stories
of worlds beyond my cozy shire

Januaerial View

Week 4 HELP YOURSELF  31/01/21
¾ G C D Em capo 2

G
HERE I GO
C                     D
DOWN THAT ROAD AGAIN
G                                     C                  D
I ALWAYS STAY IN THAT STATE SO LONG
EM
LET  ME GO
C                      D
PROVE ME  WRONG AGAIN
Em                                 C         D        G
BUT OVER AND OVER THE SAME OLD GROUND
2
LONG AGO
YOU WERE NEAR TO ME
YOU SHOWED THE COURAGE TO SEE ME THROUGH
ALL THE YEARS
EVERY TRAGEDY
OUR HEARTS SANK DEEP IN THE STONE COLD GROUND
3
WHERE’S THE TUNE
WHERE’S THE MELODY
FELL ON DEAF EARS AND KEPT ROLLING ON
ON AND ON IN MY MEMORY
OVER AND OVER THE SAME OLD SONG  
 
4
SHOULD WE CROSS PATHS AGAIN some day
ILL NEED TO KNOW THAT YOU FOUND THE WAY
FROM THE PAST THROUGH THE PAIN AGAIN
BR OKEN IN PIECES AND SHATTERED LIKE CLAY
OVER AND OVER MADE NEW TODAY

BRIDGE D  C  G 
D
WHO CAN I RUN TO
C                                        G
IM STUCK IN A MIRE SO HUNGRY AND TIRED
 D
WHERE IS MY RESCUE
C
THESE TEARS HAVE RUN DRY
G
RAINED DOWN IN SKIES

help yourself wk4

You've Got To Help Yourself (demo)

Days and days of grey and overcast
Waiting for this goddamn storm to pass
Trying, not to, fall into the mud
Bleak midwinter cold the trees are bare
Feeling like the sky is looking there
Heart is sinking into the flood
But I swore to myself that when the sun came out I'd sing and play

And there's blue in the sky today
---
Black clouds got the best of yesterday
Spring could be a hundred days away
Trudge that path to happy destiny
I can be a grumpy son-of-a-bitch
Grateful for the way you handle it
Trying to seek out the best in me
And I promised myself that when your love arrived I'd sing hooray

And there's blue in the sky today
---
And EVery time I think I went too far you walk me back
And every TIME that I get LOST you help to GET me back on track
And anyTHING I tried to MAKE it fell part ‘til I FOUND you
Then right on cue… the sun came shining through

And there's blue in the sky x4 today

Blue In The Sky

The second tale of Snow and Cherry

Cold morning coffee

Cold morning coffee
i keep on messing up
i couldn't say i love you
every time just like the one before
just like before

Cold morning coffee
i've got myself to blame
my mind wants to be here
but my heart is somewhere else
somewhere else, somewhere else

broken hearted on my own
sick and tired of being alone

Cold morning coffee
i'm ready to forget
the neighbor's dog is crying
i guess I'm not the only one in pain
my heart's in pain

broken hearted on my own
sick and tired of being alone

Cold morning coffee
i'd give it all away
just to have another chance to
try it all again
all again, all again

Cold Morning Coffee

Nashville songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Godin Guitars Official Artist and Founder of www.songaweek.org.

His catalog of 500+ titles includes collaborations with hit writers Mark Narmore, Elliott Park, Steve Dean, and Pete & Pat Luboff, among others internationally from England to Australia.

Redding's music has landed cuts by numerous recording artists including Dan Whitehouse, Emma Gale, and David Easterling.

Week 04 - A Place Called Eldorado (210121)

JamesTristanRedding

Recent comments

Julia Bloom

The Belvideres

Forest and Dove

cristhopper

Related tracks