Fellow Sonarians, lend me your ears- literally! 
Please check this mix out on your respective sound devices.  As always, I'm interested in your feedback as it has righted a ship more than once.  Thank you!
https://soundcloud.com/jmasno5/stay-by-my-side

Instantly catchy, enjoyed it very much.

John, I REALLY like this song, it is both well written and well recorded . . . I also currently relate to the lyric, since I've recently gone through some "relationship issues" myself . . . why can't we just stay dedicated to long term these days ? . . . it's just that endless question I have . . . also, I will add that I find the guitar work extremely professional, and very well recorded, from beginning to end it kept my attention, most enjoyable listen on a Friday night, thanks for that.

John,
 
Catchy pop rock number which reminds me of the Gin Blossoms. The lead vocal is very good but it gets lost in the mix in several places. And the mix overall seems a bit muddy when the background vocal vocals & electric GTR come in. 
 
But overall, this is good stuff.
 
Cheers,
 
Bert

Very cool John.
Love the feel of the song. The separation between the main guitar and vocal is spot on
My only criticism is that there is some inconsistency in the vocal levels and the lyric gets lost at times.

Marshall and Ecurb, Thank you very much for listening!
Bert and Daryl, Thank you too.
 
Bert - I have now sidechained the Tele lead with the lead vocal. 
Daryl - I added presence to the vocal but also tweaked the vocal automation.
 
I uploaded and replaced the tune.  It is the same link.  Thank you lending me your ears.
 
Vocal level -
This is a good argument to have someone else mix my music.  I know what the lyrics are so sometimes I can not objectively listen to what's being sung and its level.  
Na!  I love mixing!  Who am I kidding?
 

John,
 
The tweaked version has much more clarity and balance through-out. I can better appreciate how good your song is now that I can follow the lyrics. And the drum track is stellar.
 
Real good writing, singing, playing, and recording to my ears,
 
Cheers,
 
Bert

Great song, pulled me right in!

My first thought was, hey, this is pretty darn good!
The drums sound incredibly live, I love how they are presented. Please tell me it's not AD2? However you treated them, they don't sound flattened by compression or flanged by mp3 conversion via Soundcloud.
 
The guitars sound pristine, and although I must have heard mix #2, I still felt that they should be brought down a hair while the vocals are up front. But they sound really toneful, I thought it was a Bari guitar for a while there, love it.
 
very high quality presentation.
 
cheers,
-Tom

emeraldsoul
The drums sound incredibly live, I love how they are presented. Please tell me it's not AD2? However you treated them, they don't sound flattened by compression or flanged by mp3 conversion via Soundcloud.
 
The guitars sound pristine, and although I must have heard mix #2, I still felt that they should be brought down a hair while the vocals are up front. But they sound really toneful, I thought it was a Bari guitar for a while there, love it.

Thank you Bert, Wayne and Tom!
Tom -
The drums are Toontrack's EZX Indie Folk but not the default Gretch kit.  I used the Ludwig Rock kit.  I usually use Superior Drummer's interface for more control but EZ Drummer sounded right on so I didn't want to fool with it.  The only treatment was a little compression on the snare to bring more of the metal ring out and a compressor on the Drum buss just kissing it.
 
The lead guitar is a Tele played through a Tech 21 Liverpool pedal with the cabinet button engaged and the Character knob turned up.
 
Overall, I knew the tune would have a pretty good mix because it sounded mixed with just the raw tracks.  I did not use many plugins.  Mostly Pro Channel, Slate's VCC, Abbey Road reverb plates, Manny Marroquin delay, and Blue Tubes delay.