It appears so!!! The positive feedback just keeps coming, plus the views on the youtube video is up to a little over 540 views. Honestly, I didn’t think my cover would be that great. I thought I was gonna suck at it. The song was rehearsed very quickly and it was very simple. I didn’t do it the way Dolly or Whitney sang it, I just gave my own style to it. I gave it a folk music kind of feeling as you can hear.

It means a lot that people actually enjoy something I did. It really does, and I know how critical people can be over my music over the years. It’s pretty flattering.

I’m hoping that video would reach a million views. Could it be a future internet sensation?

I’ll be doing both covers and originals for my youtube page. I want my youtube page to focus on the music more than the video blogging. Youtube is a great way to show your talent.

Tomorrow is Johnny Cash’s birthday, and I’m thinking of recording his version of “Hurt” in honor of him.

Kev

There’s a lot that I still want to accomplish in music and goals to achieve. One is to learn to sing better. Yes, learn to become an actual singer. I refuse to work with a vocal coach, ’cause you’re just going to get their style. That’s why I feel it’s better to work with vocal instructional DVD/books. They are better to learn from ’cause you can get your own style that way. Be a self taught singer just like you are self taught at guitar playing.

I want to be able to sing higher, stronger, and with more emotion. It’ll take years of practice and learning, but you’ll get there if you keep at it. Some people make the mistake that you can’t get better at singing, well you can. There’s always ways to improve even if you suck now.

I don’t think I’m a great singer, I just do it for the enjoyment of it. In music, you don’t need to be a professionally trained singer if you want to sing. Just do it if you like it. No matter how bad your voice sounds. Look where it got Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Neil Young or hell, even Ozzy. They never had professional vocal training, they just did it ’cause they wanted to.

You can still write a good song, no matter what your voice sounds like. It’s all about the passion and the emotion. The intensity of the song is what matters.

I do want to improve the singing and trying to get better as you can tell. Metal Method’s “Vocal Power” is probably the best vocal instruction out there, it really works. It helped my voice become a little bit stronger. I know I plug in “Vocal Power” quite a bit here, but it is recommended if you want to get better yourself.

Kev

Again, my original songs seem to be getting largely ignored by the public. It seems that my cover songs is getting more respect than the originals. That’s okay with me though. As long as people can see that I have “talent”, that’s all that matters to me. Even though I started getting back to covers again, I’ll continue to do them, and I’ll continue to write original songs ’cause I write to express myself.

As for cover songs, I’ll just pick the ones that I like, my favorite songs and if it’s a song I think I am able to pull off, I’ll do it.

I’m proud of being an original songwriter as well, I’ll continue to do that, whether my originals get a large response or not. I just love making music, it’s a passion of mine and always will be.

Kev

I’ve kept getting asked by people when am I ever going to start releasing new original songs, well here’s one. It’s a straight up rock tune. Meant to be played in a full band. Enjoy.

Kev

I think I’m going to take my time with that Bowie song, “Rebel, Rebel”. Take some time rehearsing it. Practice the song a little more, so I can play it good when I record on video. I’ve been practicing the song all day. I can sing the vocals fine, it’s just that the song is kind of challenging to play guitar and sing at the same time, ’cause the song has a repetitive riff. I can get the verses and the chorus’s good, but the part, I’m having trouble with is the final part where Bowie sings, “You’ve torn your dress, your face is a mess, You can’t get enough, but enough ain’t the test…”.

With time and practice, I’ll be able to play and sing the whole song like it was a piece of cake. Practice makes perfect.

I do love this song too much though, and always wanted to cover this one for a long time.

Kev

… I think I got it fixed. I think I figured it out and been messing with it. Been playing guitar and singing at the same time, and I don’t seem to be getting zapped at all. So I’m all good. I wasn’t grounded properly!

From this point on  when I do live home performances for youtube, I’ll plug in my guitar amp and p.a. for a better sound.

I may even videotape my Bowie cover of “Rebel, Rebel” today. When  I finish it, I’ll post it here.

Kev

For my home live performances in my youtube videos, I would like to plug in my amp and sing through the P.A., so it can sound a little better on video, but the only problem is, it’s not safe. It’s not properly grounded and I usually get an electric shock with a guitar and mic being used at the same time. I was doing a little research on this today with google, and I think I found the solution to the problem.

I would need a microphone with an XLR connector, which I do have. I would also need to use the XLR cable for the guitar, which I don’t have yet, but I plan to go buy one soon. The reason is, it wants three prong plugs for both equipment. It’ll help make it have less power and you won’t get shocked. I’m pretty sure this is what it is.

I would like to plug in and play on my videos, so I can sound better for you all. It’s still okay to play acoustic without being plugged in on video, but I would like to have a better sound. I’ll work on it.

Edit to add: Or I might have to change the outlets to three prong plugs instead of two, ’cause the outlets in this room are pretty old. I’ll figure something out. I would like to play guitar and sing through the P.A. without getting fried.

Kev

While I don’t really care to get huge & popular with my music, I do hope to get some recognition, at least. I believe I’ve been an overlooked musician for years. I would like people to accept me as a musician more, and hopefully recognize the talent that I believe I have. I’m not trying to sound like an ego-maniac or anything.  I try my very best.

I’m trying very hard to improve the singing, guitar playing and the songwriting. My goal with singing is to sing a little higher which is what I’m working on, sing with more control and more emotion. I’m also trying to improve guitar playing, working hard at both.

What I’m trying to prove to people that I can be an actual “musician”, and not just a hobbyist/amateur.

The “Rebel, Rebel” cover song is coming along well, I believe I can pull the song off just fine. I’ll upload the video when I’m ready to record,  just need to rehearse it more.

Kev

There’s a lot of bands & music artists out there who just promotes themselves as a music artist only. They only concentrate on the music, that’s it. That’s how their fans know them as, a musician. Over the years, I’ve promoted my web presence as an entertainment blogger. Speaking my mind on things other than music, like movies, wrestling, politics, bodybuilding/fitness, video games, etc. Why do I do it? Some of you may ask?

I always felt it was important to express who you are, beyond the music. So your fans and supporters, can know other things about you other than music. It keeps them interested and entertained. It’s just my way of getting more fans. Other musicians and bands have other hobbies & interests in their lives, but a lot of them refuse to talk about them publicly. Most bands like to keep for theirselves and concentrate on the music.

Only very few like to talk about other hobbies & interests other than music, like musician Sean Rowe who is a favorite of mine, likes to talk about nature and foraging, which is cool and a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

I wish more bands & musicians would express themselves more.

So this is why I do what I do. When you’re a musician or in a band, you don’t have to promote yourself as a music artist only. If you talk about other things other than music, people will start to see you as an actual human and real. Your fans & supporters deserve to get to know you more, so they can stay loyal to you.

People seem to be confused that I’m more of an internet blogger more than just a musician, but I totally disagree. I’m a 100% both. I’m a human being, that’s who I am, and you can’t separate both. The person behind the blog is just me, and I play the guitar, so to me it doesn’t make sense that people see me as a blogger and not a musician. Think about it, right?

Kev