Now, when I respond to bands on how they do things in their careers, criticizing the way they do stuff on how they get themselves out there… some of these bands act like I’m trying to knock them and get all over them. Some act like I’m trying to put ’em down. No. That’s not my intention. I’m only looking after bands & artists as a fan of music and trying to help them. Trying to give them a realistic look at things, ya know? That’s all I’m pretty much doing. I’m not trying to put down the local music scene (if there ever is one) like I’ve been accused of doing many times. I’m only trying to improve the scene. Make it better so to do that, I must do it with a realistic approach.

There’s nothing wrong with being realistic about unsigned music as it’s actually a pretty professional and good thing to do. Anybody who comes back being all defensive… responding to me with a negative attitude — swearing, writing me hateful e-mails/comments, etc. — you don’t have what it takes to become a professional musician. A true professional musician would respond to me and discuss things in a mature manner or they would just ignore it if they don’t like what I have to say.

I really believe there are so many young bands out there who don’t even know what they are doing and they have a lot to learn in trying to play music on a professional level. I just want them to be careful with things. That’s all I’m doing. Looking after them. That’s why they mistakenly believe they feel the need to enter contests & competitions, go through Pay to Play venues like Red Square in order to get somewhere. They also need to run their shows a little better and I’ll have a post about that soon. They also don’t need promoters/managers either.

That’s all I’m doing, really. Just looking after the music scene. Not trying to put it down in any way. If musicians want to hate on me for this, that’s their call.

There are musicians out there who have gotten success and have done it in a smart way. Like take Sean Rowe for example. I have followed Sean’s career for years. Way back when he was just playing gigs around the Albany area and now he’s signed to a big independent label. Already made his debut TV performance on Jimmy Kimmel. Sean got there by doing all the work himself. I watched him. He never had a promoter/manager. Never entered into battle of the bands and other ridiculous competitions. Never went through pay to play scams to get where he is. He opened for big national acts as well. He toured around the states and other countries just by himself, pretty much. That’s why I respect him as a musician more than anybody else. So you all should look after him for inspiration. That guy absolutely knew what he was doing.

You see? There are good ways of getting yourself out there successfully… you just gotta know how to get yourself out there, do it responsibly, and carefully.

I’m not trying to put down the scene at all. Only trying to improve it to make it better. Trying to get musicians to have friendlier and more professional attitudes and things like that. This area doesn’t have a friendly attitude at all. Albany’s been ranked #7 as the most unfriendly cities in America so go figure.

Kev

Edit to add: Post corrected for spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Should be better now.