Site and Country Music Critics Needed

[Country Singer]

Greetings - I would appreciate any constructive criticism/suggestions for my very modest website: http://randlucas.com

If you also feel like it, I could use your musical criticism of my singing - here's the lowdown: I've been singing for awhile but mostly solo. I am looking for your opinion as to whether I should seek to sing with a band or a few other musicians or should I just bag it - whether or not you like country music in general. Please be honest - some say I sound pretty good, others say I stink. I appreciate your constructive suggestions after listening to a few of my song snippets,as I try to decide to sing more professionally or not - thanks (http://randlucas.com/LucasSongs.html). You can post any website suggestions here but you should use the "contact" form on the website to make musical critiques since they don't really belong in this forum category - maybe I should add a poll page to my website (when I learn how to do that). Thanks.

[imagesheaven]

Your website looks OK - perhaps you should have a page telling where you will be performing and one to sell merchandise if you have any. Your voice sounds very nice - I will give more comments from your Contact page - glad someone from PA is trying to bring country music to the area. - Joe

[YvetteKuhns]

Your pink and red colors makes me think of St. Valentine's Day. The sparkling animated graphics are cute, at first, then they are distracting. The font size is too small, but I guess you did that since there is alot of text on the biography page. The country cowboy graphics are appropriate and cute, even if not original.

The site looks like a teenage fan club website. It is not professional, but it is cute. I know I keep saying that it looks cute. The guys are going to tease you. ;) Maybe you can change the buttons to look like wooden planks. That would look more country.

I won't review the music, but I will refer it to my relatives who listen to country music. Oh, okay. I had to try it. Hmm.... Your version of Always on My Mind reminds me more of Paul Williams (from the 1970s, he sang and played piano). Hey, that one song Remember When said "30 seems so old". I am 36! :eek:

You have a pop-crossover sound instead of just country. I can live with that. But can you sing Tiny Bubbles? :D

[Country Singer]

Thanks, Yvette, for your candid comments. You are so right - you are the third person who has mentioned the "pinkness" issue so I am going to change that (have done 3 pages so far). I sing "Remember When" and I'm 39 so don't feel so bad! I don't think I have a Don Ho-enough voice for Tiny Bubbles.

[YvetteKuhns]

Thanks, Yvette, for your candid comments. You are so right - you are the third person who has mentioned the "pinkness" issue

Hey, it may fit your personality. I don't know. I thought you might be gay. Ha ha. I don't care if you are. That's fine with me. The color scheme just didn't seem masculine or country.

Remember how Michael J. Fox was dressed in the movie Back to the Future when he was supposed to go back to the 1880s? Doc Brown dressed him in that Howdy Doody/Buffalo Bob cowboy outfit. That is what I actually thought what I saw your site.

I sing "Remember When" and I'm 39 so don't feel so bad!

You are not! You are? Wow! Are those pictures old or do you know the secret to eternal youth? You look so young! :)

I don't think I have a Don Ho-enough voice for Tiny Bubbles.

I just couldn't resist requesting it. You probably have heard that before. With the weather we are having now, you must miss Hawaii. ;)

[Country Singer]

A gay cabalero? No, I don't think so. I actually like the Powweb color combination of reds and yellows - tried to imitate it a bit but with lighter, brighter shades of the reds and yellows - guess it came out a little too "light" and pastel looking. Changing colors now - glad I asked for critiques.

[YvetteKuhns]

You could have had a bunch of gays posting to tell you they loved the color scheme! :D I hope that the gay people will know I am joking. :)

[Country Singer]

Thanks Yvette for your compliment about my age! Most of the pictures on my site were taken last year, but my family pictures were taken a few years ago. As for looking young for my age, it is because my parents look very young for their age too. So I guess it runs in the family.

Yes, I do miss Hawaii and actually do not really mind the snow believe it or not.

[YvetteKuhns]

I see that you chose darker shades of the colors you had. Could you make your buttons look like wooden planks or logs? You can use a piece of an image you find for the background image. Or make your buttons brown like chocolate or the cowboy hat on your website. And use the tan on the boots for the main background color and your current main background color could be used behind your buttons.

Your entire website is aligned to the left, leaving blank space on the right side of the screen for those of us using higher screen resolutions. That is because you used absolute positioning instead of relative positioning.

<div style="position:absolute; left:1px; top:170px; width:119px; height:490px;">
<img src="img3696.jpg" width=119 height=490 border=0></div>
<div style="position:absolute; left:0px; top:1px; width:720px; height:66px;">
<img src="welcomebanner.gif" width=720 height=66 border=0></div>
<div style="position:absolute; left:0px; top:65px; width:720px; height:104px;">
<img src="img3697.jpg" width=720 height=104 border=0></div>

can be replaced with

<div align="center">
<img src="img3696.jpg" width=119 height=490 border=0></div>
<div align="center">
<img src="welcomebanner.gif" width=720 height=66 border=0></div>
<div align="center">
<img src="img3697.jpg" width=720 height=104 border=0></div>

to center the top contents. Your other code can be condensed as well. I hand code, so my code never looks like plotting coordinates for nuclear attack. ;)

[Country Singer]

Wow, thanks for the input - I'll try the color changes. However, I don't program, I use a WYSIWYG editor (Serif 8.0). It does allow me to insert HTML code such as what you suggested for centering the pages but it doesn't allow me to remove the automatic HTML lines it generates for the left-justification. It also says I can insert custom HTML into either the Header or the Body of the page - which one would be better? Maybe I can hunt around and see if the program itself has an adjustable setting for the page alignment. Thanks again for all your help.

[YvetteKuhns]

However, I don't program, I use a WYSIWYG editor (Serif 8.0).

I noticed that in your code.

It does allow me to insert HTML code such as what you suggested for centering the pages but it doesn't allow me to remove the automatic HTML lines it generates for the left-justification.

Are you sure?

It also says I can insert custom HTML into either the Header or the Body of the page - which one would be better?

HTML code usually goes in the BODY of the page. The HEAD of the document is where the title tags, meta tags, style tags and some Javascript usually goes. You should be able to customize your HTML using your program. If not, create your website in the editor, then edit it in Notepad.

[FlaWeb]

Hey Rand,
I think your site looks good! I usually hate to see animations on a site as it takes a long time for us with dialup to download and it is usually a waste of time (some dog running around). Usually the animations have nothing to do with the content of the site, and just put there to be cute. But your animations are quick to download and are a compliment to your site and content. As far as looking "gay", I would not pay much attention to that. It is a subjective observation. Did not look gay to me... and I am as straight as they come.
I enjoyed the clips of your music. I am a fan of old time bluegrass, so do not know enough about your music to have much of an opinion. Hey good luck to you and your music. Remember there a lot of musicians that have not been noticed untill later in life (Willy Nelson, etc.). Did any of that country rub off when you went to the Grand Ole Oprey? There have been some giants play on that stage!

[YvetteKuhns]

As far as looking "gay", I would not pay much attention to that. It is a subjective observation. Did not look gay to me... and I am as straight as they come.

You obviously looked AFTER he made the changes. It wasn't an insult, just an observation.

[Country Singer]

Thanks FlaWeb for checking out my site and also for your comments.

I was actually into country music before I went to the Grand Ole Oprey, but going there made me love it even more!

I think Yvette was just kidding about the pink colors on my site prior to the new colors that are there now.

Thanks again for spending the time to check out my site, I really appreciate it!

[YvetteKuhns]

I think Yvette was just kidding about the pink colors on my site prior to the new colors that are there now.

Yes, I was. The original color scheme just didn't seem appropriate.

[peachlunaria]

Hi! The site is very cute and fun looking! I like it! Here are a couple things that bothered me a bit:

Your "listen" link. It's hard to find it's hotspot. I kept having to move my cursor around the area to finally get the arrow to turn into a hand.

Also, when I clicked on some of your pictures, some of the resolutions were kinda poor. Some worse than others. One of the hat pictures was particularly bothersome...the pixels were REALLY big.

That's about it for now :)

[Country Singer]

Thanks, peachlunaria, for the critique. I fixed the hotlink problem, all is well with that. I also fixed the hat picture with bad resolution. Thanks again.