Every song on this site is made with AI, using Suno. That's the starting point, and it's simplest to say it plainly.
What differs from song to song is how much of it comes from David van Coolwijk, the music creator behind AI Country Music. Each song carries a label that tells you which kind it is: in the player, in the song list, and in the catalogue.
Two kinds of song
AI-assisted Made by David, with AI as the instrument
David writes the lyrics himself, or rewrites them until they're his. He decides the style and the arrangement, often uses his own voice through a voice model, and mixes and masters each track separately in Suno Studio. The AI performs; the choices are his.
Songs credited to David van Coolwijk and Eliza Lou Charlotte are made this way.
AI-generated Made entirely by AI
Lyrics, melody, arrangement and vocals are all generated by AI (Suno). David didn't write these songs.
Songs sung by Captain Frasca are made this way. So are the traditional songs from the public domain: their words and tunes are old, but the recordings are made entirely by AI.
The voices
- David van Coolwijk: a voice model based on David's own voice, used for the songs on this site. It's his voice, performed by AI.
- Eliza Lou Charlotte: a voice based on voices from David's own family.
- Captain Frasca: a persona. An AI-generated voice with a name, not a real person.
Some songs use a voice model based on the voice of David's daughter. That is done with her permission.
None of the voices is modelled on an existing singer or artist.
What kind of music it is
Traditional story country: songs that tell one concrete story, acoustic and restrained, without modern polish. Three strands run through it:
- western ballads and cowboy songs in the manner of roughly 1870 to 1890, often based on real events;
- Appalachian old-time mountain ballads and string-band songs from around 1920 to 1940, with close harmony;
- story songs about ordinary working people, in the style of the late sixties and early seventies.
Alongside those there's outlaw country, which has been part of the catalogue from the start.
Genres: Americana, Traditional Country, Folk, Western, Outlaw Country.
Original songs
The songs are original. They draw on eras and styles, not on particular songs: none of them is a copy or a cover of an existing song, and no voice imitates an existing artist.
The one exception is a small group of traditional songs from the public domain, old enough that anyone may record them. Those are marked as public domain in the player and in the song list.
A music creator, not an artist
David van Coolwijk describes himself as a music creator rather than an artist. He doesn't perform these songs on a stage; he makes them, with AI as the tool.
Questions
Is this real music?
They're finished recordings you can listen to, but no band played them and no singer stood in a studio. Every song is made with AI. The label on each song says whether David made it with AI as his instrument (AI-assisted) or whether it was generated by AI in full (AI-generated).
Who writes the lyrics?
On AI-assisted songs, David does: he writes them, or rewrites them until they're his. On AI-generated songs, including everything sung by Captain Frasca, the lyrics come from the AI. The public domain songs keep their traditional words.
Does David sing himself?
He does, and the songs he sings himself are on Spotify. Right now burnout makes singing hard, so the songs on this site credited to David van Coolwijk use a voice model based on his own voice: you hear his voice, performed by AI. Captain Frasca is not David; it's a persona with an AI-generated voice.
Can I use the music?
You're welcome to listen and to share links to songs. For anything else, such as using a song in a video, podcast, film or game, or publishing it somewhere, ask first through the contact page.
More questions, about listening, the old radio station and public domain songs, are in the FAQ.