Can you see my music heading down that same direction EBJ is getting? Up to the point where I start playing the bigger stages and opening for national acts? I could take myself there if I wanted to, if I work a lot harder on my music, gig a lot more, promote myself more, etc. I would also need to write better songs to get myself there, which is what I’ve been trying to work on for years. It really is hard to write really good songs that people would enjoy.

I think the secret to writing great songs that will reach out to more listeners, is writing catchy songs that people can sing along to, or even dance to. People love dancing to music and that’s why a lot of people go  see live music. You don’t have to play music that people can dance to, just write songs with heart & passion, and people will be kind enough to support it, anyway, if it’s good enough.

Just like every band and artist out there, I want success with my music too, it’s just that I’m in no rush. Don’t want to get too ahead of myself and take my slow time. I’m still not that great of a guitar player and singer yet, but I’m taking my time to improve both of those as well. I may have gotten little success with my music ’cause as long as I got myself out there playing the smaller venues, that is success, no matter what you think of it. I believe, I’m at a decent start, already. I may not have opened for any big national acts yet, but I have shared the stage with the area’s biggest performers before.

I know, I haven’t done anything musically in a long while since 2011, but the break wasn’t that long. I’m definitely coming back to this ’cause I miss it. I really do try to do my best in the music world. I do try my best to please people. I do try my best to get recognition and do my best to try to get people to support my music. Other people can’t see that I try my best, but I really do!!! I give it all I got! I try to write the best music possible, but if people don’t care to support it, that’s okay with me ’cause I do music for myself.

I just write songs however, I wanted. Whatever comes out of me, whether it’s a rock n’ roll song or a slow ballad, doesn’t matter what genre. Like I said, I’m always trying to find ways to write that great song, and it really is hard to do. Someday, I will write that great song that everybody will like. I just need to keep trying.

Kev

Sometimes I get a few people saying that my music should get the recognition it deserves. Keep going forward. Making a lot more fans. Playing a lot more venues. Things like that. Could my music get as far as to the point where the indie labels would be interested in me? I don’t know. Maybe. If I don’t get that far, that’s okay with me. I’ll just continue to do what I do. Making music and writing songs. It is flattering that a few people out there think of my music this way. On how, some think my music deserves a bigger career. I’m just not worried about it.

The best thing I can say is, that I’ll just keep writing. Write, write, write, and write. If I keep writing songs, then who knows. Maybe my music will one day explode in the music scene or even in the industry. I’m always trying to figure out ways on how to write that great song, and I believe I am slowly improving, in my songwriting.

While I do agree that music should be for myself, and not pleasing everybody, I still hope that my songs do get discovered and get heard. I don’t think I’ll ever get as big as EBJ/Sean Rowe/Phantogram, but ya never know, I could, if I decide to move this music thing forward. For now, I just look at music as a hobby kind of thing. Not a career. I just write music for the love of it. If I wanted to get that big, I better perfect my craft in the songwriting, which is what I’ve been trying to do for the last 18 years I’ve been playing music. This is part of why I have decided to try and write more slow ballads/folk songs, hoping that genre will catch more listeners ears. One thing to remind you about though, guys, is that I’ve always written slow ballads and original folk songs: “Back to Running”, “Secret of Mine”, “The Crash”, etc.

I’m really am trying hard to write great songs. I do get songwriting and recording tips from other musicians, that I can appreciate. Like I said, I’ll just keep making music and see what happens. If a big career doesn’t happen at all, I’ll just continue to enjoy life and do my thing. If a music career don’t happen at all, I’ll just continue to make music for you guys. I better write music soon instead of talking about it, and don’t worry, I’ve been coming up with a lot of great ideas musically. Stay tuned.

Kev

Every time an old performance of mine surfaces youtube or things like that, my songs still get good responses from my supporters. It’s a pretty amazing feeling, in fact, which is why I’m honored and humbled, that people still enjoy my music to this day. As I said once before, it may not seem like I have a fan following, but I really do. The more people support my music, the more it makes me want to get back out there. It is also the reason, I decided not to ignore my older songs.

I’m hoping to get back out gigging again this year, maybe book a few gigs for the Spring and Summer. I should have no problem getting gigs again. All I have to do is contact a band or artist if they need any openers or I can just contact a venue myself.

As long as I still have people that support my music, I should still do it for them.

I would like to make an album, by recording in the studio and releasing a CD, but that would be a big project, and I’m actually taking kickstarter into a consideration. Who knows? Maybe it’ll actually work. Thinking about it for now, doesn’t mean I’ll do kickstarter, yet. I’ll have to learn more about it first.

I would love to gig all over the place, constantly but since I don’t have my own transportation, and don’t drive, that what makes it tough. I’m looking into getting my license this year too. Gotta get a job to save for a car and stuff.

Maybe people really do respect my music after all. It’s really hard to tell whether people do or not. You just never know. That’s why you need to let the music speak on it’s own. If I don’t get recognized for my music at all, I don’t care. As long as people support my music, that’s all that should matter. I’ll continue to play for them, the fans.

That’s what all musicians and bands should be concentrating on, the fans that support them. Not worrying about the haters and doubters. No matter how many people dislike your music or if they doubt you constantly, you WILL have supportive people who will be kind enough to support your music. That you should be thankful for.

Kev

Ya know, after thinking about it a while, I probably won’t forget my older songs and will still play them at the gigs. I’ve learned that if you want to get your songs known and get even more listeners you need to keep playing your older hits at the shows. That’s what all bands and singer/songwriters do. They all may get tired and bored as hell playing the same songs at every show for at least 10 years or more, but they have to keep playing their hits, ’cause that’s what fans want to hear at the concerts. Same thing, I must do, I guess. I will still write a bunch of new songs, however, I’ll just play a few of my classics in my future gigs if I ever get back out there. I guess, I will still play my older classics at the future gigs, ’cause I know the older songs will probably get requested by the long time listeners of mine. I guess, I gotta play a mix of old songs and new songs at the shows. If you keep playing your older songs at the gigs, who knows, maybe those songs will become big hits online in the future and those songs could go viral if you keep playing them. It maybe boring playing the same songs at every show, but it’s worth it to make your long time die hards, happy. I still have some people that still enjoy my older songs. I’m proud of them myself.

If you’re tired of playing the same songs at every show, that’s why you got to play your songs differently at every show, to make things interesting.  That’s what Led Zeppelin and Hendrix have always done.

As long as your classic songs, made you successful, you need to give those classics the respect and show people how those songs made you successful. Well those classic songs, “Evil Fred”, “Mr. Tough Guy”, “Time Bomb”, “Back To Running”, “Secret of Mine”, “The Dark War”, “Nightmare Has Begun Today”, etc. They may not seem like classic songs to you, but they are to me. I’ve had those songs for more than several years, and been playing them at the gigs ever since.

I gotta write new material, though, and am gonna work on new music this Spring/Summer, for sure. I want to try to write at least 20 songs or a little more. Maybe up to 50 songs if I get inspired. I’ll just pick the best material to put out there publicly. I gotta get back into this.

Kev

This was an old performance of mine, I think it was in 2011 in the summer or something like that. That was my last gig I had and I haven’t had a gig since then. Yeah, it’s been a long while since I’ve had another gig, but I’ll get myself back out there soon, I promise.

These are the kind of songs, I need to leave behind. Let these songs stay in the past. I like, “Time Bomb”, and “Mr.Tough Guy”, but man. They get so old, playing them at every gig. I gotta write new stuff this year. A mix of rock n’ roll songs and slower ballads.

This video just surfaced the internet out of no where today. I didn’t even ask this guy if he had it or I never told him to upload it. He’s just a fan and supporter of my tunes. He also followed most of my past gigs.

I do want to get back out there, doing this, though. Performing is one of my favorite things to do, ever. This is why I do this. To perform live in front of people.

Kev

Some of you may look forward to my upcoming new songs that I plan on doing, but they are not what you think they’re gonna be. I’m thinking about changing a different direction too. Writing a lot more slower ballads. Folky and sad songs. Positive family friendly stuff. After the large response and positive feedback from the Whitney Houston video, it made me think that’s the kind of music that I was made to do, after all. If I write original slow ballads, maybe I might get a wider audience then? Sing songs with passion, that will possibly give people goosebumps. Maybe try the folk and bluegrass direction. Not sure.

I’ll still play the fast and upbeat acoustic rock, I’ll never give that genre up, but I want to concentrate on slower songs. I want to prove people that I do have singing talent, and singing this type of music, slower ballads, just might do the trick. Songs that you can relax to and maybe even slow dance, to.

I’ll still do the rock n’ roll stuff, of course, but with a full band sometime in the future if I ever get one formed.

After that Whitney Houston tribute video last year and the response it got, really inspired me. I need to do more music like that. Not exactly love & romantic songs, I can write slow songs about other things like peace and hope, my usual topical stuff.

I’ve been experimenting with a lot more finger style guitar, so you’ll be hearing me doing a lot more of that.

Kev

… the only problem is the budgeting. Making my first real album is something I’ve been wanting to do for years, but it’s the money. I can easily record a bunch of songs in the studio anytime. I could probably save up for studio time easily, but it will cost even more money for mixing, mastering, and all that stuff. If I have other musicians record instruments in the studio for a full band album, that would cost even more money ’cause I know some musicians will be expecting payment. If I make an album, it would be a $10,000 project. It would also cost even more for CD manufacturing.

I would like to make my first album with great sound quality, ’cause I think people WILL take my music seriously more if I did a studio album. I already did record in the studio for acoustic stuff back in 2006, but that was just a demo, though.

If I do an album sometime down the road, it would probably be an online only release ’cause no one is buying CD’s anymore to begin with, so what’s the point of making an album on CD? If I can make an album down the road, I’ll make it available to download at Itunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc. Online only release albums is cheaper, I think. Bands are wasting so much money on CD duplication, when they can just simply do an online exclusive release.

Before anyone asks, NO, I will NEVER do fan funding projects with kickstarter or pledgemusic. I’m sure those funding websites are legit and they really work. I just won’t be any part of the fan funding stuff. It just makes you look bad and desperate for money, but that’s just my opinion. You don’t need to rely on your fanbase for money, when you should be rewarding them with your music instead.

For now, this is why I just record my songs doing home recording on Mp3’s. They may not be the best quality since it’s home recording, but at least it helps gets my songs heard.

I’ll also admit, I kind of would like a bigger career in music. I would love to perform the larger clubs and bigger stages, sure, and maybe even go on tour on my own budget, but another problem with that is transportation. I don’t drive, and am going to look into getting my license this Spring/Summer ’cause I want to be out gigging a lot more if possible.

It’s nice to know that people really like my music out there, for reals. I know I haven’t released any new tunes in a while lately, but the more I hear people enjoy my stuff, the more it makes me want to get back into songwriting again, and I have been messing around with stuff. For now, though, while people are waiting for new music, I could get back into doing cover songs again.

Kev

In the music world, I believe that the best thing that ever happened to me musically, was when I did that Whitney Houston tribute video. In early, Spring, shortly after Whitney died, I posted a tribute video covering one of her songs, and that video suddenly went viral. It got over a little 700 views. People started giving it positive feedback everywhere, and I couldn’t believe it. I honestly didn’t think, people would like it that much, ya know? I kept thinking it was going to suck and people wouldn’t care. Turns out, I was wrong.

That’s what I hope for with all my music, ya know? I want people to enjoy it, care about it, and respect my talent like all musicians. That’s the kind of response, I would like to get with my original music too.

Which is why I have decided to take guitar instruction more seriously. Get practicing and learning music. Get better with my songwriting and cover tunes.

This year, I plan to get back into this music thing. Take songwriting more seriously. Try to stop writing dark, and controversial songs. Try to write more positive and family friendly stuff. Songs about love and hope. Songs that people can relate to. Maybe more autobiographical songs. I gotta try to stop writing political songs too. As a songwriter, you can’t help what you write. Sometimes you can’t help writing dark & controversial stuff, ya know what I mean? You just write whatever comes to your mind.

I gotta get back into lyric writing, ’cause I haven’t done that in a while ’cause I’ve been more focused practicing guitar. I think this year, I want to start reading more poetry, so I can make my lyrics a little more poetic, rather than telling a story. Take my songwriting to a different direction.

I can’t tell my own talent. I just let the people do the judging and let the music speak on it’s own. You either like it or you don’t, but I do hope people will like it more. That’s always been my goal. I know I’m mostly well known as a blogger, but I can somehow become more respected as a songwriter, sometime down the road.  I just got to work hard and keep going with the music. Ignore those haters and doubters who want to shoot down your dreams, and keep going. I’ll be playing music ’til I’m dead. I don’t give a rats ass what anyone else thinks.

Kev

A lot of bands and musicians really take themselves seriously. I never did. While I would like my music to become huge & successful, I don’t really care to get there or not. Why, you may ask? The answer is simple. I just play for the love of music. Whether I get lots of fans, just a few fans, or hell, even if no one listens to my music at all. I’m good. A lot of bands & music artists out there are pretty desperate to get recognized and get noticed. Again, that stuff is great, don’t get me wrong, but it shouldn’t matter. One thing I’m not gonna do and never did, is go out there and pretend that I’m so popular and act like I’m so great like too many seem to be doing these days. I won’t be afraid to admit that I suck and not many listen to my music.

That’s the way to be ya know? I don’t have delusions of grandeur like some mistakenly want to think of me as. It’s good to be real with yourself. There are too many musicians out there that don’t want to admit that they suck, it’s all crazy. I mean, why won’t you? If you admit that you suck as a musician, people are not gonna care, anyway. If you don’t admit that you suck, it just proves my point that a lot of musicians have a huge ego around here.

I would like to have the same success and popularity other bands are getting. Performing on bigger stages, opening for national acts, etc. I just don’t care if I get there or not. Other than that, I’m just a happy guy. Enjoy life at home. Playing my guitar and writing songs. That’s all that matters to me.

If so many people did care about my music, I probably would be doing this more. It is probably why I haven’t done a lot lately. I do plan on getting back into the music thing, though. Hopefully, in 2013. I just got to write new songs whenever I get to it and learn some new covers to play out there. I still like to gig sometimes ’cause it’s what I love to do, whether a crowd shows up or not.

I never saw myself as a local celebrity or a superstar. Other bands & musicians, want to see themselves that way. It’s crazy.

One way to earn more respect as a musician, is don’t take yourself too serious. Just play, and enjoy. That is it.

Kev