I'm Craig. I'm married to Laura. I live in Nashville and make music for a living. I play guitar, write songs, and produce records.
Craig McClellan and Brian Yak - O Holy Night

O Holy Night

Craig McClellan and Brian Yak

O Holy Night - Single

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Free Download: O Holy Night - Brian Yak and Craig McClellan

I am so excited to finally be sharing this Christmas song with you. Brian and I have been working on it every spare second we’ve gotten over the last few weeks (which during the holiday season is very few).

I’ve asked all of my friends to vote, donate, and listen to a lot this year. I thought I should do something to give back to them. So here it is. No strings attached. A free Christmas song.

All you have to do is click the link at the bottom of this post that says “soundcloud/craigmcclellan.” Once at the soundcloud page, at the top of where you listen to the song, there is a little down arrow where you can download an mp3. Enjoy, and be on the lookout for more pop goodness from Brian and myself in the new year!

Vocals and Bass by Brian Yak
All other programming and mix by Craig McClellan 

Empty Me

Sarah Banks

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Sarah Banks EP Preview - Empty Me

I’ve been working on Sarah Banks’ EP for quite awhile now, and we are finally entering the last stages of production.

For a few months now, people have been asking me to hear this EP, but I haven’t had anything I really wanted to show them…until now.

I’m starting to get mixes back, so I wanted to share with everyone a rough mix of Empty Me. There are still a few small tweaks that need to be made, but overall I really like it. Be on the lookout for the full, completed EP early next year!

Lead Vox and BGVs: Sarah Banks
Guitars and Programming:Me
Keys: Travis Cullman
Bass: Brian Yakaboski
Drums: Kenny Davis
Engineered and Mixed by Rich Ramsey 

The Hills He Didn't Climb - Country Demo

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New Music: The Hills He Didn’t Climb - Country Demo

The last time I posted new music on this site, it was a country demo I did for 3 great writers here in Nashville.

One of them, JP Williams, recently asked me to do another demo for him. This time it was for a song he wrote with Larry Bastian called “The Hills He Didn’t Climb.” I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

All instruments were recorded or programmed by me. Lead vocals by JP Williams. BGVs by Jonathan Taylor Martin.

Never Say When - Country Demo

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New Music: Never Say When - Country Demo

Last week I promised you a musical post. Sorry it’s been so long since the last one.

I was asked recently by my friend Jason Cox to do a demo for a country song that he had written with JP Williams and Dustin James. I had never done country before, or tracked vocals for real in my home studio.

I’m definitely proud of how it turned out. Let me know what you think.

The Spirit vs The Kick Drum (Flashback Remix) - don’t worry, no voting necessary

The Spirit vs The Kick Drum (Flashback Remix) by craigmcclellan

Everyone may very well be sick of my remixes after me consuming all of their feeds with my Hanson Remix.  However, my NI Maschine setup is amazing for remixes so I wanted to try one out.  You may remember my previous Derek Webb remix.  I still had all of the vocal stems from his last record, so I decided to take on another of my favorite songs of his. 

I am really pleased with how it turned out. I really like Maschine for creative purposes.  I will post a review up here soon. The only thing I’m not thrilled about with this project is the mix.. I mixed my Hanson track in Ableton. This one was done in Logic. I think this had a lot to do with it, as well as the newness of Maschine to me.  It’s all a learning process though, so overall I’m really happy.  I hope you enjoy it.

Vocals edited and final mix done in Logic.
All of the backing track done in Maschine using almost entirely stock Maschine sounds.  2 synths from Omnisphere. 

Maschine Test

Maschine Test by craigmcclellan

Last week I purchased Native Instruments Maschine.  I’m extremely excited to have it and think it will be a great tool for programming.

After learning my way around it, I decided to try and come up with a little instrumental piece to try it out.  This was the result.  It’s nothing amazing, and could use a little polishing (especially in transitions between sections).  However for a little test piece, I’m really proud of how it turned out.

So enjoy.  Everything was done in Maschine.

Dana Jorgensen - Let Me Be The One

Dana Jorgensen - Let Me Be The One by craigmcclellan

Written by Dana Jorgensen and Jason Cox

This song is what started my programming work on Dana’s record. It was supposed to have a Maroon 5 type feel originally that just wasn’t quite working. I offered to work out a new arrangement of the song just to see if he liked it. I programmed all of the drums, strings, and keyboards. Fortunately, he loved it, and asked me to work on more of the album. I believe this will be the album’s first single.

Hanson “Give A Little” Remix Contest.

Give A Little (Lose Control Remix) by craigmcclellan

A few weeks ago, I posted the music video to hanson’s new single “Give a Little.”  last week, they posted the stems to the song on their website for a remix contest.  This is my entry.

Please go vote for my remix on Hanson’s Contest Page.  Look for “Give A Little (Lose Control Remix) by craigmcclellan in the files and click vote.  I would love to win this contest.

Thanks so much friends, and I hope you enjoy my remix

Edit: From what I am gathering, you can vote once per IP address.  This means that you can vote generally from different computers on the same network if you have Cable internet.  You can vote from home and work computers.  You can vote from smart phones (on both 3G and wifi).  Come up with as many ways to vote as you can!