Whenever I criticize the Capital Region music scene, it’s always looked at as “controversial”. Why? It’s because not many wants to be honest about the music scene. Not a lot of people wants to be real about it. It’s just that the local press and local music blogs on the internet always want to promote the music scene as positive and lovable. No one out there wants to be real about it. The thing is that the local press and local internet blogs that are out there wants to make the Capital Region music scene look like a big music scene when it isn’t really. The reality is the music scene is pretty much a “shithole”. There is nothing here and that’s the truth that no one wants to talk about.

There is a lot of talent out there around this area but there are not much venues to play at anymore. Venues come and go around this area for sure. It’s gotten much harder to book gigs in this area as well.

I can sit here and talk about all day why this music scene is so bad. One reason is that this scene can be pretty cliquey. There’s always heated arguments of “professionals vs. amateurs” and “originals vs. covers”.

The bigger problem with this area is that if they feel that if you’re not a professional enough musician then your reputation could get destroyed just like that. If they feel you’re not a real musician then they will feel you do not belong. If they see you as a hobbyist kind of musician, they’ll start to feel more superior. If you’re not professional enough then it’ll be harder for you to get gigs around here ’cause of the huge egos and stuff. Yes, there are a lot of huge egos around here. Not just musicians… promoters and venue owners can be huge egos too. There are too many around with a rock star attitude and acting all pretentious. It’s crazy.

When I first started playing out in the past, I’ll admit I had some ups and downs playing gigs myself. I had to go through a lot of negativity, drama and crazy stuff just to get myself playing. That’s all I want to do is get myself out there and play music like everyone else. Of course, you’re going to have to deal with huge egos and haters who want to see you fail. That’s the name of the game, I guess.

People around here will never admit that this scene is so bad ’cause they can’t handle the truth. I think they all know, they just don’t want to say it publicly.

Another thing I hate about this music scene is that this music scene is pretty liberal with their politics. Yeah, Hollywood has a  liberal problem but the Capital Region music scene is much worse. Local musicians and bands can too be a bunch of liberal loudmouths. This is another reason I refuse to play around this area again. Whatever happened to keeping politics and music separate? I also feel like I’ve been totally blacklisted from the music scene ’cause of my conservative politics and support for Donald Trump. I don’t give a shit, though. If they can talk politics then I can too.

One thing for sure though, it’s amazing to me the Capital Region music scene are so tolerant with others views in politics (note the sarcasm). When I talk my right-wing politics,  I’ve had musicians around the area refusing to support me ’cause of it and maybe this is why the local blogs refuses to write about me ’cause of my political views. Oh absolutely I’ve been attacked by many in the Capital Region music scene ’cause of my right-wing stuff. It does sickens me that most in the Capital Region are pretty liberal… even some of the most established musicians and promoters are pretty liberal. There are conservative musicians around here but not many. I’m sure they’ve been blacklisted from the scene too.

Would I ever get back out to play music live again? I’d like to but it’s pretty unlikely. This scene sucks. It always did. It’s not always fun being a musician, there’s always going to be ups and downs like I said. I might hit a few open mics but that’s about all. I’m not sure if I’ll play an actual gig around here, though. This scene is too much for me.

However, though… I do love playing music live for the internet and I’ll always do that. When I start writing songs again and learning new covers, I would video tape myself performing them. I still have plans in doing a home show for the live internet and I’ll probably do that on FB Live sometime. Sounds like fun.

Kev