I’m seeing discussions in facebook lately of musicians complaining about how this music scene is lacking. It’s getting tougher for bands & acoustic solo artists to book everywhere, nowadays. I’m seeing that a lot of musicians around here are admitting that they’ve been getting rejected by a lot of venues. A lot of musicians just get gigs around here from other musicians, just word of mouth, when a band needs an opener, musicians will ask to get on those gigs. They would either ask other bands to get on gigs, or the bands will ask them. Either way. Venues don’t reach out to bands to ask them to play on a gig. Don’t usually work that way anymore.

The only time when a venue wants to book a band and flat out ask them, is when a band has a large following. Those are the bands that seem to be getting all the gigs, these days. Even the popular and more successful bands struggle to get gigs too.

Even if I try to get myself back out there, if I want to gig again, I’m probably going to have a tough time getting on a gig too.

Several years ago, when I was gigging out like crazy, I had no problem getting gigs from venues. I’ve asked plenty of venues for a gig and they actually accepted me. Venues such as Cafe Lena’s for Wednesday night “Emerging the Artist Breakout Series”, King’s Tavern, Backstreet Billiards, the Coffee Planet, Slow Jed’s, etc. As far as Valentine’s goes, I didn’t ask the venue to do their evening “Happy Hours”, there was a musician already doing those shows who I befriended with and I asked him to help him out booking the shows, so I can play there myself.

There are so many bands and artists in the Capital District trying to get gigs, but none of them get much around here anymore.

If you’re struggling, there are still ways to get gigs. Like I said before, try asking to be the opener of their show. Tell the venue that you’re willing to play for free, or if you want, you can even set up a home gig and have a small audience at home, that always works too. There’s always ways to play out. You can even do a live internet streaming show, which I plan on doing when I think of a plan.

Musicians struggling to get gigs around here, it’s just further proof that there is no music scene here. Everyone’s always accusing me of not doing much in music. This could be part of why I don’t do much ’cause there’s no place to play out anymore. So what’s the point of going back out, anyway, ya know? I’ll be lucky enough to even get a 1 gig or two in 2013, even if I tried hard to get a lot.

I understand musicians want to play live a lot ’cause that’s what we do this for. Perform in front of an audience, and believe me, I love performing too. It’s just sad that musicians get forced to get stuck doing nothing ’cause a lot of places don’t have live music anymore. Venues are closing down, bars/cafe’s stopped having live music, venues are getting even more strict with their booking policies, etc. Soon, everything will be “pay to play” gigs, because of the economics.

I may not like the bar & club scene, but I do play them anyway ’cause I just want to perform in front of people.

Performing live is awesome. I too wish we could have a better scene. It’s just proves that bars, clubs, cafes, etc. don’t care about you or your music, they just want a large draw. If you don’t have a large draw, no show. It’s pathetic the way these so called, “venues”, handle the booking but it is what it is. All they care about is the money. It would be nice if this scene was more music appreciative and positive, which is far from it.

Kev

I know I get a lot of haters & trolls. I’ve been dealing with that shit for years, but, I understand that’s the name of the game when you become a musician. You have to deal with all kinds of hateful and critical people everywhere. It doesn’t matter how good your music is. It doesn’t matter how good of a person you are. Male or female. You’re gonna get haters. Haters are gonna hate, period. All bands and music artists get their share of haters (I’m sure EBJ gets a lot of them too). While this is ridiculous, and I do hate that people feel the need to be negative toward music artists who work hard to entertain people, you just have to realize that you can’t please everyone.

Haters can actually be inspiring people, honestly. Why? Because they let you know what they don’t like about you, and you can actually learn from them to improve yourself. Plus, they can help make you tougher and keep doing what you love is playing music. If you want to succeed in your dreams and goals as a music artist or if you’re in a band, you must stay above these people, and ignore them.

This is why I’m strict on moderating comments everywhere. Whether it will be in my facebook page, my blog or youtube channel. I have to moderate comments so I can eliminate negativity and drama of any kind.

Yes, I do know about other people making anonymous accounts to bully me in other places online. I do know about all the hateful youtube videos targeting me, I do know about the anonymous facebook accounts targeting me, and even twitter accounts. I also know about the anonymous blogs attacking me as well. I let that stuff go, ’cause I can’t do anything about that stuff. People can attack me else where, but not in my world. See what I’m saying?

I want to be around good people who are actually supportive and kind. There are supporters out there who have my back. I have my share of fans too. This is another reason why I’m strict on moderating so they don’t have to deal with negativity of other people too. It’s not just about me.

I’m not a selfish, ego-driven, attention whoring guy, that people mistakenly see me as. If you give me a chance, you’ll see that I can have heart and actually care about other people.

Kev

A lot of musicians around this area make the mistake that you can be yourself and act how you want to as a musician and a human being. When somebody calls out their unprofessional behaviors in music, that person will get told they should stay out of someone’s business that doesn’t concern them. I have been told that, a few times. You see, here’s where they are wrong. When you’re a musician, put yourself out there publicly. You become a well known figure in your area of local music. You’re posting on your websites, social networking pages (like FB, twitter, etc.), posting in public forums, blogs, etc. Everything you do publicly, it is no longer your business. Everything you do publicly, gives people the right to respond their thoughts, whether you like it or not.  I used to think it was okay to be yourself and act how you want to as a musician, but as I got older, I learned more about being a musician as I was gigging out in the scene. I started to learn that having a professional attitude in music is a big deal.

Do you want to be looked at as a good person or a bad person in music? You must have a good attitude in music. So you can get more respect from the fans and from your fellow musicians. How do you have a professional attitude in music?

Simply put, be nice and friendly to everybody. It’s okay to be honest and real about things, but don’t be an asshole about it. There are better ways of being real about things without being way too negative. There are several other musicians I know who shall be nameless at this time, who’ll put up angry rants daily in facebook and other forums. They’ll even go as far as bullying and harassing other people if they don’t agree with one another’s opinions. I see it in craigslist, all the time as well.

Yes, there’s going to be a lot of assholes in music, but the professional thing to do, if you want to have a good & positive music career is don’t pay any mind to them. Musicians have a problem of replying to everything which is unprofessional, the way I look at it. If someone wants to be an asshole to you, ignore it, and let it slide right by.

Don’t like the music of other bands or don’t like other musicians as a person? Keep that opinion to yourself. I used to do this stuff in my blogs, bash other bands & musicians publicly, but I learned that it was wrong.

You must take proffessionalism seriously even when gigging. Didn’t get paid as much as you would like to? Who cares, move on, and get over it. Didn’t get to play a long set at a show that you were originally booked for? Who cares, move on, and get over it. Not the end of the world. The bartender or the booking person of your gig, decides to treat you badly? Don’t respond back and become defensive, just continue to be friendly and positive, anyway.

Are you getting nasty critics from music fans, and music blogs giving you bad reviews? Ignore it, let it go. Responding to that stuff, and begging for respect is not the way to go. Musicians have a problem with this. Just be glad that you’re being talked about ’cause sometimes bad publicity is good.

I’ve had made my mistakes too, but I learn from them. I know a lot of people will accuse me of having an unprofessional attitude, but sorry to say, but when I was out there gigging, I had a 100% professional attitude, all the time. Having a professional attitude in music, is all about being careful and responsible of how you put yourself out there, and honestly, a lot of musicians around here don’t have that.

If you mess up and don’t have a professional attitude, you will get a lot of bad karma from it. Clubs & venues will refuse to book you. Fans will refuse to support you, and all kinds of stuff. I take professionalism from other musicians and other people in the music scene very seriously. I’ve ran into plenty of people with horrible attitudes. I don’t want to be around with people like that.

I’m learning much better to have a professional attitude. It’s a good thing to have and really wish other people in this music scene will learn to have it too.

Kev

Edit to add: Something else I forgot to say, you see, being a musician is just like your day job. You know how you must have a professional attitude on a day job? You must treat your music career the same way. Sorry to say, but this is the truth.

Edit to add #2: Fixed this blog post up a little bit.

There’s a certain band out there who has been well known to play a mix of originals and covers. They’re a pretty established band who should be nameless, at this time. They’re announcing that they are giving up cover song gigs, so they can focus on original material only. So they are having a final cover song gig, as a way of ending an era of cover songs. I look at this, and I’m like, really? If a band is going to give up cover songs, just give them up. Giving them up quietly is the best way to do it. They’re promoting themselves like they’re retiring from playing cover songs after years of doing it, just to give their fanboys something to love them up over. Giving up cover songs for originals, is not really that big of a deal. It’s not like they’re giving up music or anything. Giving up covers for originals, is fine and good. I think it’s great when bands do that, ’cause most original bands started off playing covers, anyway, but, they usually give up cover songs quietly. I’ve never seen any of them promote it as big news. Having a final cover song gig as a way to celebrate their final era of cover songs, is just lame, but that’s just my opinion.

You have to ask yourself these questions. Should I really give up cover songs completely? Will people really care about my original material, now that I’m not doing any covers? Will I still make a lot of money doing originals, just like I made some good cash playing covers? If you think you’re going to be as successful playing originals only and make a lot of money playing originals, then think again. Playing original music only around here, is a tough journey.

Nothing wrong with having a change of direction, in your careers, but man, leave your ego at the door when doing it. On top of this, bands shouldn’t give up cover songs completely, though. It’s always a good thing throw in a few covers in your original sets. I always do. It’s good to play a mix. If I’m going to give up cover songs (which I won’t), I’m not going to promote it heavily like it’s a big deal. Who cares. Bands and their crazy egos. Nothing new here. They just do it just so they can make their fans feel sorry for them and feel sad for them. It’s not like they’re going away, christ. They’ll always be around.

Kev

There are those musicians around the scene that will support every band or artist they set eyes upon. They do it as a way to be supportive of the scene and to be friendly. Their way of being part of the local musicians community. Some musicians will add every musician they see in facebook, and they will “like” every local band page in facebook as well. It doesn’t matter if their music is good or bad, musicians out there will be supportive, anyway. All that is fine and good. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t need to be that way.

I do support local music, but I don’t need to be supportive of everything out there. I’m the type of guy who likes to look at things with reality, ya know? If there is a band or an artist I don’t like or don’t even know much about, I won’t bother supporting them. I would only support bands or artists if I like their music. If I think they’re worthy enough of supporting. If they’re professional acting, good people, and if they’re good musicians, then they get my respect. That’s all there is to it, folks! Easy to understand! Right?

On another note, there are other reasons why you don’t want to be supportive of every musician out there. You don’t want to obsess with it too much ’cause if you’re a musician, you don’t want nothing but musicians supporting your music, know what I mean? You need to reach a much wider audience than that. You need to reach an audience with people who aren’t musicians too. That’s the goal there. Nothing wrong with supporting other musicians, but you don’t want to obsess with it too much.

If you noticed, I only support very few bands & musicians around here, not all of them, and they support me in return. I only support the ones who support me in return. Only support the musicians, that you can fully trust and the ones who have your back. All those musicians, you guys support out there. How do you know if they really like you? You can’t trust anybody. The musicians community can be a friendly world, but not always. Ego clashing often goes on, and drama with musicians happens too. I’ve seen it all and I’ve been through it, over the years.  Musicians can be crazy as hell people, I know.

Just be real with yourself. That’s what I’m all about, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Free country. Do what you want to do.

Kev

A lot of you have seen me criticizing bands trying to make the big time. Doing their best to get signed and get fame. A lot of them think that social media and living around the Albany area, will make them famous. There are too many around here trying to make the industry. I can tell, and facebook is evidence of that. Musicians would try to enter themselves ridiculous competitions and contests to get on reality TV shows such as “X-Factor”, “The Voice”, “Idol”, etc. I even see quite a few bands trying to make, “The Grammy’s” competition show they got going for unsigned bands. Look, there is nothing wrong with trying your best to make it in the music business. It’s a great thing that these guys are trying to chase after their dream and become successful, but you have to be honest here.

Do bands and musicians have a chance in making the big time? Making the industry and get fame. Possibly, fame and fortune too?

The answer is no. A lot of them don’t have a good chance of making the industry, even though they try. Sorry to say but it’s true. Now, I’m not being jealous. I’m NOT trying to take away their success or take over their spotlight, it’s all about giving these guys, a reality check. I’ve seen plenty of bands and musicians trying to make it. Not naming names here ’cause this post will spark a lot of controversy, if I named names publicly. Plus, there’s a good chance they could respond and we could have a heated flame war here, so I don’t need that.

Why won’t they make the industry? Why don’t they have the chance? Simply put, they don’t have the marketing skills to get there. Sorry, but having between 1,000 to 10,000 fans in your social media pages is not going to land you a record deal. To grab the industry’s attention, you’ll need to reach a fanbase of about 100,000 or more. You need tons of fans to grab the industry’s attention. They won’t be interested in you, unless you have a lot of fans to prove them that you can sell a lot of records. Today’s industry is not the same anymore as it was back in the day.

Back in the day, record labels especially the majors, used to sign bands & artists if they like their music, but it don’t work like that anymore. Popularity is key to making it big. Plus, you must prove to the labels that you have the marketing talent which a lot of people in this area don’t. You see, it’s very difficult to get in the industry. It’s almost impossible. People in Albany making it in the industry only happens for a few bands & artists like drummer Jason Bittner, who made it and is now playing drums for Shadows Fall. Lana Del Rey also made it big. Phantogram, however, yes they are famous, but they are not in the major label industry quite yet. They’re almost there, but they didn’t quite make it big. Phantogram, still has a long road to go. I do wish Phantogram luck though, ’cause I like them.

Making it in the industry is a long tough journey guys. There’s only very few bands & musicians who have the potential of making it in the industry. EBJ? Maybe, if they keep it going and don’t give up. Sean Rowe? He definitely has a chance, as he’s almost there.

On top of this, you’re not going to make it in the industry, just by being stuck in Albany. Move to Nashville, NYC, or L.A. You have to be near those three cities where the music industry is nearby. I would recommend Nashville or L.A. You want to move in an area where the music scene is huge. Live in a music city. Again, marketing and promoting is key to making it. You don’t have the marketing drive and skills, the industry will continue to ignore you. It doesn’t matter how good your music is.

If you’re serious on making the big time. Learn and study up the industry. There are plenty of books out there. Get agents, managers. Get contacts from professional people from the music business. You have to have an extremely large fan following in order to make it. I repeat, having the marketing talent is key to getting there.

There was a singer/songwriter guy in facebook (nameless for now), who I got into an e-mail argument with. He thinks he’s going to make the industry, and I tried explaining all this stuff to him, that the industry is almost impossible to get to. Sure enough, he became defensive. He’s not going to give up this dream. He promotes himself publicly that he has a dream and won’t give up, going after it. You’ll figure out who I’m referring to, soon enough. He’s from Glens Falls area.

On top of all this, are you guys sure you want to make the big time? Once you do, you lose all control of your music. Your control of your music is gone. All of it. They’ll control your copyright. They’ll control your songwriting. The making of the albums. You don’t get to pick what songs you want on the album anymore, the label does. Plus, they do all the marketing and promoting for you. All these major label bands in social media sites like facebook, twitter, etc. Those pages aren’t really the bands behind those pages. It’s probably agents, managers, promoters, etc. Yes, sometimes the band themselves would write to the fans in those pages, once in a blue moon, but that still doesn’t mean they are in charge of their pages. Famous bands has better and more important things to do instead of hanging online. They’re too busy playing music all day long, and traveling the world.

Again, nothing wrong with going after a dream. I kind of would like something like this myself a little bit, but who cares about getting signed, right? Just play music and enjoy. That’s it. Don’t take yourself so serious. A lot of us shouldn’t care about getting signed, anyway. Being a local musician, just play music for the love of it. We shouldn’t worry about getting in the big time. I don’t care if I make it or not. That’s not what I do this for. Quit living in your fantasy worlds, and just enjoy life, and play music. That’s the end of it.

Kev

Okay, yes, I’ll admit it. I can be a bit of an asshole in music at times, and for good reasons. Is it bad to be an asshole in music? No. A lot of people make the  mistake that they think it’s a bad thing, but in reality, it’s actually a pretty professional thing to be an asshole in music. Let me explain why…

I honestly believe that all those musicians out there who want to be positive, lovable, and be a “yes man” at everything, is doing it wrong. Some musicians mistakenly see music as being positive, but not everything is going to be. You have to do what’s best for yourself as a human being and for your music. You can’t be friendly at everything, there are times when you need to be negative.

You can’t trust everyone you meet in the music scene. That includes other musicians, the venues you work with, or hell even regular music fans. The music world is one crazy ass place. So if you want to go somewhere with your music and keep doing it, this is why you have to be a bit of an asshole. Also, don’t be afraid to turn down gigs you don’t agree with, you don’t have to say yes to everything that throws at you which a lot of bands seem to be doing around here.

It’s about protecting yourself, and your music.  This is why I do what I do. Being honest and real about everything, also helps give you more respect from people and the industry. I’m real tired of people thinking how I act is wrong. I’ve heard that from many for years. It’s about being yourself. Being who you are. If you’re the lovable and the “Yes man” type, then you’re not being true to yourself. You also need to be a bit of an asshole, if you want become successful. Being a jerk sometimes, actually helps.

You need be the Simon Cowell of music sometimes, to make your dreams come true. Think about why all those bands and musicians who stay positive all the time, never make it anywhere. Think about it a few minutes.

Kev

Edit to add: Yes, I can be a positive guy in music a lot too, but only when you feel it’s worth it. Being real about yourself is how you go forward in music.

So some of you have been seeing me criticizing the way local bands promote and market themselves. Yes, a lot of them really DO suck at it, and that’s just MY opinion. If you don’t like it? You don’t have to read it. Hell, there might be even plenty out there that may agree with me. If you don’t, that’s cool too, ’cause the truth needs to be said. I still stand by it, that this area is absolutely horrible when it comes to marketing. There are very few that know what they’re doing and very good at it, but most musicians around here are amateurs, when it comes to marketing.

Here’s how… a full explanation…

• They only rely on the internet for promoting – Not everyone uses the internet. You must do a lot more. Make ad flyers, post ’em up all over town at bulletin boards. Almost every where you look in town, there are bulletin boards with people advertising all kinds of events in your local town. Do yourself a favor and do that. There are bulletin boards in almost every store, restaurants, diners, gyms, liquor stores, etc. Also, go to block party events and go to other band shows, pass out flyer people. It works. You may also want to tell everyone as much as possible about your show. Tell all your friends, and as much people as possible. I do this stuff all the time whenever I got a gig. You can’t just rely on the internet.
• There’s not enough info on the show flyers, graphic art not eye catching enough – I’m seeing a lot of show flyers online, and they don’t put a lot of info on there. Sure, they do a good job naming the venue, pricing, the time the show starts, bands on the bill, etc. There must be more. How about a link of each band on the show ad? That way it’ll be much easier for people to look up the other bands playing on the bill. You may also want to make your graphic art as eye catching as possible. Get people interested. Show a picture of each band on the bill. Not just just the so called, “headliner” act. There are too many show ads, where the headliner is all over it, and the other acts, don’t get lesser recognition on the ad. If you want people to be interested in the show, give each performer the spotlight on the flyer too. Leave your ego at the door, please. I made my own flyers before, and would try to make it like this as best as possible. Also, make sure the ad flyer is not offensive or too sexual. Don’t do the middle finger or don’t grab your crotch. Some might find that stuff offensive and will throw your flyer in the trash.
• Social media promotion – Okay, I know social media like Facebook which is the most popular for bands these days is a favorite for promoting your band, but you must take that seriously too. 1) Don’t over promote 2) Don’t spam people 3) You only need to post your show invite once (you post your show invite like 10 times a day, it’ll turn people off). Speaking of show invites in Facebook, you must put in as much information about your show as possible. I see a lot of bands leave out so much important information. Mostly the time the show is at, and mostly the price admission. Fans are always asking bands what time the show is at or how much it costs, it’s important to put that stuff on there. In the show invite, name all the bands and artists on the bill with a link of each performer. That way fans can go to their websites and check ’em out.
• Don’t rely on social media promotion – A lot of bands & artists around here make the mistake that they see Facebook as their official website, so I see a lot of them use that only. You see, if you want to get somewhere with your music, YOU MUST DO MORE! Again, not everyone uses facebook people! This is why! Some avoid facebook like the plague. Start up an official website (name here.com), start up a twitter, instagram, pinterest, etc. Everywhere as much as possible. I don’t have an instagram yet, but that’s because I don’t have an Iphone or something like that yet, but I’m hoping to soon. You can even advertise on craigslist and local music websites like CRUMBS for example. Most of all, start up a blog too. This is part of the reason I blog for, ’cause it’s a good promoting tool with my music. All this entertainment blogging is just secondary to me. I’ve had plenty people come out to my gigs over the years ’cause they’ve seen me promoting it on my blog. It works!
• Advertise gigs through your local papers – Get out your wallet and throw in a couple of bucks to get your show ad printed in the papers. I’ve done it before. This works too. You don’t see bands promoting themselves in the papers anymore. You can’t just advertise in the Metroland.
• Have your own youtube channel – Youtube is an excellent way to promote your projects, shows, etc. It’s also a great way to showcase your talent. Videotape yourself performing at home, at a live gig, or just do videoblog. I see bands do videoblogs of them recording in the studio and they film a lot of backstage stuff. You should consider doing the same. Youtube is great. There’s not a lot of local bands around here who have their own youtube channel. Some do! But there needs to be more! I have my own.
• Let the music speak on it’s own – One great promoting tool is letting the music speak on it’s own. Don’t be so demanding. Instead of begging people to come out to your gig, ask. Instead of begging people to like your songs, wait for the positive feedback to come on it’s own. People will go to your show if they like your music, there’s no other way around it. Just put your music out there, and just see what happens. If people hate your music, don’t be defensive. Just focus on the fans who support your music. Replying to the haters is just a childish and unprofessional thing to do, I see bands do this all the time.
• Let fans hear music for free – If you want more respect, a great promoting tool is letting people hear your music for free. What pisses me off is that some bands would force fans to hear small clips of certain songs from an upcoming album of theirs. Or worse, they would release one song a week until the album release. Pretty stupid, and egotistical, in my opinion. It’s also a pretty cruel thing to do your fanbase. Let ’em stream all your music for free. I also hate those artists that forces fans to pay them to see live web shows like StageIt and things like that. There are plenty of free live webcasts. You don’t need to force fans to pay anything. There are too many money hungry bands & artists out there. Shouldn’t be about the money, in my opinion. Just my opinion, so don’t take this the wrong way. I understand bands want to make money to cover studio time, band equipment, travel expenses, etc. but you make that money from the gigs and merchandise sales.
• Socialize in the music community – Go to all kinds of local music events. Go to other band shows other than your own. Go to open mics. Songwriting workshops. Interact with other musicians in the scene and be a part of everything. Be at the center of everyone’s attention. Sometimes a bit of ego is good. You don’t see bands and musicians doing much of this stuff.

That’s about all I can think of for now. If I come up with more, I’ll add it in.

Kev

A lot of people would like me to stop. A lot of people would mistakenly think it’s wrong, but I’m not gonna stop. I’m not gonna stop talking about local music in a brutally honest kind of way. Why, you may ask? Ask yourself, these questions. Is this music scene really so lovable and positive that everyone mistakenly thinks it is? Are musicians really musicians, around here? Can you trust everybody you meet? Do people actually like you when in reality, they don’t? Do musicians act professional at the shows? Do they promote and market themselves online, right? Are people in charge of the booking at gigs friendly and professional acting? How strict is the booking of shows around here? Are there any real venues to play anymore? Do you really have to make friends with other musicians in the scene to create a community? Do you think a band’s talent is worth putting your money toward to? I can keep going with the list of questions.

I would like to believe in this music scene more in a positive direction and would like to appreciate it more, but how can you? They call this area, Smallbany for a reason. There’s honestly no music scene here, to be honest with you. There are too many bands & solo artists struggling to get gigs, and get recognition. Why? Because all there is to play around here are bar rooms and nobody really goes to shows anymore. Think why the Albany music scene, has an obsession of musicians supporting other musicians, and they don’t get much people supporting their music. There are only very few bands around here where a lot of people go to their shows and EBJ is one of them, they got very very lucky!

The reason you have to be honest and real about music ’cause it actually helps your own music career. You must do what’s best for yourself and your music. Also, if you want the scene to get better, you must be real about the local scene. People mistakenly believe it’s wrong to be real about stuff in the scene, but like I said repeatedly, it’s actually a pretty professional thing to do. Why be a fake? Like most people are around here? Being real about yourself is a good thing to do. This is why I do what I do. I’m doing what’s best for myself.

My music gets treated in a negative direction quite often and I get so much misinformation about me from all over, so I have to.

For example, people are always saying I don’t have a lot of fans or they accuse me of not doing much, in my local music career…but I have done quite a lot. Usually when people say that stuff, chances are, they haven’t seen me live at a show or don’t know much about me. Before accusing me a bunch of things, you should see me live at a show, and then you’ll see immediately see that I can be a somebody in music, right away. I had a pretty good musical run. It may not be good to everyone else, but to me it was good. I’ve played almost every venue in the Capital District, played everywhere as much as possible. I played everything from no crowd to small crowd to larger crowds. Yes, I played successful gigs before, that were a packed house. All my gigs were years ago, maybe that’s why people today think I haven’t done anything, but that’s okay.

I guess that’s what happens when you take a lot of time off from music, that’s when people will start seeing you in a negative kind of way. If you want people to believe that you can be successful and be something, you gotta keep going, and that’s what I’m planning on in the near future. Next time I get myself back out there, I’ll try to gig on a full time basis, year round. I am doing some writing and going to start learning new covers again. I’m planning on making new originals and new covers so I can have a completely different song repertoire than the last time. I’ll try to book myself a gig when the Holidays are over. Might set something up in Feb. Hopefully, open for EBJ again.

Back to the topic, yes, people will think what I’m doing is bad behavior, but do I give a flying two fucks? NO. I love the controversial and negative reactions. Doesn’t bother me a bit. It’s why I keep doing this. It lets me know people are paying attention. I’ll write what I please. Not only that I do this for what is best for me and the music scene, I also do it for fun. Seeing mixed responses on my local band rants is just entertaining as hell! Yes, it’s addicting.

I’m never offended at what people write or think about me. Who cares. Like I said, the trick to keep going in music and surviving in the scene, is not giving a shit about anybody whatsoever. It ain’t the end of the world. I’m no different in my songs. In my original songs, they’re full of rants and honesty. I’m going to try to make my next round of original songs less controversial though. I want everyone to enjoy them.

This is my last write up about this for now. I got better things to post.

Kev

If you really think that I’m trying to minimize the success of other bands, when I call out their unprofessional behaviors, then that just shows that you don’t deserve to be a musician or even be playing in a band to begin with. In reality, it shows that you are a complete failure at music and has gotten nowhere with it. If you were as big and successful as you say you are, then you wouldn’t be on here writing all that stuff to some blogger on the internet. If you were a real musician, out there making a living and being successful, you wouldn’t have time for any of this online drama that these bands constantly get themselves into. You would be out there focusing on the music, 24/7. Making albums, touring, and busy promoting yourselves. If these bands think they are so successful, then they wouldn’t be replying to me trying to defend themselves, so they can make themselves look better than I am with their musical resumes.

You see, nobody cares about your resumes. Nobody really cares if you shared the stage with this band or that band, and nobody really cares if you traveled across the states or even the world. Your resumes and the opportunities you got in the past, does not give you the respect as a musician. That’s why musicians constantly talk about their resumes to everyone, ’cause it’s their way of showing off, to make themselves look good. Don’t get me wrong, congratulations on all those opportunities and success, all that stuff is great, but that’s not the only way to earn respect toward you as a musician.

The way to earn respect, is just play your music. That’s it. Just play the music, let the music, speak on it’s own and the respect from the people around you will come on it’s own, that way. Like I said before, respect doesn’t fall in your lap. You can’t force it into you. Bands are so full of themselves, and the way they promote themselves in facebook, just proves it.

It would be nice if the local music scene would treat each other as a community. Help each other move forward and achieve our dreams, but nope. Sure enough, everyone wants to think they’re better than everyone else ’cause they opened for national acts or played on some big festivals or toured overseas. Like I said before in one of the comments in the previous post, as a local musician, nobody is bigger than anybody. We’re a local musicians community. We’re all the same. There’s really no such thing as rock star around here. Of course, in this day and age of the internet, everyone wants to make themselves look like a rock star.

I’m a fan of local music. I’m a musician myself. I’ve had gigging experience. I’ve worked with live bands at shows before, so I know how it’s all done. I do have plenty of experience even though people would want to think, I have none. And yes, acoustic performing can be considered gigging just like the full bands. Some would mistakenly believe that acoustic performances are “open mics”, but yes, an acoustic performance is a gig.

Definition of a gig from a dictionary:

A light two-wheeled carriage pulled by one horse.
A live performance by or engagement for a musician or group playing popular music.
A harpoonlike device used for catching fish or frogs.”

Whether acoustic or full band, it’s considered a gig. Doesn’t matter what you think of it.

I’m not saying that I play better than everyone else. Not saying that I’m just as big as everyone else. I’m just saying that musicians need to leave their egos at the door. It’s a turn off for me. It’s not cool. It doesn’t make you look better. Bands think they don’t have an ego but a lot of them really do. We’re not celebrities or stars, folks. We’re just a local resident who plays music just like everyone else. Some may have more experience, but that doesn’t make them any better.

I’m a big fan of quite several established acts out there not just, EBJ. I just don’t like getting accused of destroying other bands success and goals. That’s not my intention. I only look out to them.

The reason I take band professionalism very seriously is not only ’cause I want to make my money’s worth, I also want to make sure if they’re worthy enough of sharing a gig with them. I have experience sharing the stage with other acoustic acts and yes, I’ve opened for plenty of full bands too! Soon, I will get myself back out there doing the live gigging thing all over again, whenever I get new songs together. When I do, you should expect me to write brutally honest reviews of all shows that I have been a part of, like I’ve always done. Nothing wrong with it.

I’m noticing that my local music discussions is getting more views and more action, which is feeling good. I’m leaving the comments closed on this topic, ’cause I just wanted to rant some more. Enjoy, and your welcome.

Kev