When the Crumbs local music web site first came back a few years ago, the site started off real good. The Crumbs Cafe interviews were coming in and then there were bloggers trying to keep the site going. Looks like the site is dead now. The owner lost interest and moved on? Look like people lost interest in that site pretty quickly.

Ah well, that site disappears and comes back every now and then. I used to listen to some  of the Crumbs Cafe stuff. The Crumbs blog slowed down too so that’s when I believe that nobody’s interested in that site anymore. Weird.

Kev

It’s no secret that I have a tough time getting along with other bands & musicians over the years. A lot of musicians around this scene hates me. Yeah, there are many other musicians around this area that are haters of mine but not all musicians hates me, though. There are some musicians in this area who actually likes me, fans of mine and some that do like me as a person which is awesome. There are some wonderful and talented musicians who have stayed loyal to me over the years.

Some of you may ask, why is it that some musicians go on hating each other and having long-lasting feuds against each other? Feuds that go on for a long time. Well, like always “ego” and “jealousy” is always a huge part of that. A feud between musicians usually happens when one musician is more established than the other. You know, a musician who is more well-known than the other. Usually the established musicians always want to feel more “superior” than those who aren’t that well-known. The established musicians are the ones who have played the bigger stages, opened for some national acts maybe and got some local press. You tried your best to support them, look out for them and even try to become their friend, but they don’t care to show support in return at all. Instead, they always look down upon you all the time; always having negative thoughts and feelings about you.

I’ve been a part of the music scene for many years, so I can safely say that Albany is definitely one of the most negative music scenes I’ve ever seen. This area definitely does have a lot of problems. I’ve witnessed crazy shit over the years.

Yes, you will get backstabbers. Yes, you will get haters and bullies. Yes, you will get musicians who pretends to like you, but secretly they can’t stand you. Yes, you can’t trust anybody in the music scene. I’ve learned not to trust anybody over the years. It’s the best attitude to have as a musician. Don’t trust anybody and only focus on your own music. Only focus on you and not caring what everyone else says or thinks about you.

It’s good that bands & musicians got some success with their music, but that doesn’t make them more “superior” than others.  They’re still a local musician like me and everyone else. Whatever happened to being humble and courteous? Musicians don’t have that anymore nowadays. Most musicians nowadays are so ego-driven, arrogant and stuck-up. Most of them have a rock star attitude and always had. It’s gotten much worse today. When bands & musicians don’t care to show you support and always treating you in a negative direction when you’ve been nothing but supportive and helpful, it’s time to stop supporting them.

I’ve always learned it’s important to treat your fan base with love and respect when they support you. I will never talk down on them and never look down upon them. When fans like you for your music, you must support them in return and I do my best to do that. I don’t see that with bands nowadays. Thing is, there are some bands out there that are into music not to make new fans… some bands are into it for the money alone.

This is why I have stopped supporting the local music scene a long time ago ’cause this isn’t a very good music scene, and I’m sticking with my view on it. I’m just gonna focus on my own music only and that’s it.

This area tries their best to promote “positivity” in local music, but don’t believe the hype. It never was positive. There’s a lot of problems here. You know it, I know it.

Oh well, who cares right?

This area is very liberal with their politics anyways. Most musicians here wanted Hillary Clinton for president to begin with. That’s another problem with the scene ’cause they too can have loud voices with liberal politics and they can be SJW’s. Sad.

With all this being said, I’m not really worried about haters in the scene.  I can’t get everyone to like me and can’t please everyone. My life is good. Just working on my own music, just keeping on playing guitar and singing. I’ve also been keeping busy in my fitness life like with bodybuilding, yoga and boxing. My life is awesome.

Kev

This article here is a must read for all bands & musicians. This article here is referring to the music scene in Wisconsin but this article says this is good advice for ALL music scenes.

I’ve been saying these things for a long WHILE on my blogs over the years. Yes, bands are horrible at promoting themselves. Many bands only rely on the internet. When I used to gig around the Albany area all the time, I would promote my music the best I can. I would do more than just use the internet too. I would make my own flyers, try to post ’em all over my hometown. I would try to invite as many people as possible and it’s more than just sending out event invites on social networks… I remember I used to get on the phone to try to talk people into coming to my gigs. Things like that ya know?

Yeah, bands really are lazy and horrible at marketing… a lot of ’em really do suck at it.

And about bands no longer supporting each other anymore…. this article is so right on the money. Problem is in local music scenes, bands can be pretty cliquey. Bands can be huge egomaniacs around here for sure, no doubt. The problem is if they feel if you’re not talented enough or not in the professional level of musicianship, they won’t welcome you. If they feel that you’re an amatuer then you can forget it. That’s how cliquey music scenes are getting these days. There’s also too much negativity and drama. Too much mudslinging between bands & musicians these days.

There are too many bands around here who don’t care to support other bands but are only into music for themselves, ya know? They won’t care to share gigs with other bands or support other band gigs. I’ve seen it all.

I used to be a part of the local music scene in Albany but I stopped… no longer want to be a part of it. I’m just happy doing my own thing and making my own music. That’s all I care about…

Read this interesting little article/blog post…

http://bloodrockmedia.com/local-bands-promoters-your-scene-is-dying-and-its-your-fault/

I love it when this article wrote:

This brings me to my next point, and for that, we’ll go back to said glam metal band. In another part of the interview, the band member was asked about why they thought they were the complete package. The guitarist answered, flatly, “I am better than everyone else. Everyone else sucks.”

Now, poorly worded or not, let’s look at this objectively; THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BELIEVING YOU’RE THE BEST AT WHAT YOU DO. In fact, all bands should. Unless you truly believe you are the best at what you do, then you will quickly lose that work ethic that enabled you to come to that conclusion. If you don’t think you’re the best, than there’s no reason to stay the best. It IS possible to be confidant and humble simultaneously, people.

There are way too bands bands and musicians around here saying things like “I’m (or we’re) so great”. To me that’s a big turn off. That’s the egomaniac I’m talking about. It’s the same thing as Kanye West saying that he’s god or something, ya know? I’ve seen musicians around here with that attitude (not naming names) and it still goes on with bands in Albany. Too many people around Albany with negative attitudes and plenty of assholes around here for sure. YES!

The article above is a great read and I agree with it all, 100%. After I read it, the article explained Albany perfectly. Almost dead-on.

Don’t get me wrong… I support local music… I just want to see the scene get better and improve but it never does. It has always been the same. The scene never changes.

Kev

I remember back in the old local music message board days (which those message boards no longer exist, thank god), local musicians used to be crazy as hell back then. I remember back in those days musicians would have heated flame wars and debates about “covers vs. originals”, whether you’re a “rock star or a local musician”, whether you’re an “amatuer or a pro”, etc. blah blah blah blah, I think you get the deal. Both of those old message boards are long gone ’cause the admins could no longer take the arrogance and egos of musicians. I remember in those days, musicians would obsess with their own self-importance, thinking that they’re a better musician than others. I would see many thinking that they’re rock stars just because they think they’re more established than others, not naming names.

Now that message boards are a thing of the past and social networking is the new future, musicians have gone crazier than ever. Many of them still pretend to be “rock stars” when they aren’t really and just continuing to act like they’re better than everybody just because they play in a band.

Whatever happened to musicians being humble? Nobody believes in that anymore. I’ve learned that as a musician myself, I’ve always learned to be humble. I still hold that attitude now. I’m not into playing music for fame. I’m not into it for the money. I’m not into it to make friends like a lot of musicians are these days. I’m not into playing music for partying and heavy drinking. I’m a musician ’cause I love it and want to have fun. There are those that go around acting like they’re “professional” musicians but I never acted like that. When musicians get praised for their work, they get all excited and jerk themselves off for it but with my own music… I don’t care whether or not I get positive compliments. The problem with musicians is that they are always trying to seek validation and obsessing with more attention. Not me. I just want to play and enjoy myself. That is all.

In the age of social networking today, the attitudes of musicians has never changed… in fact they have gotten much worse. Yes, drama in the local musicians community still does happen. I’ve seen it.

You see, a lot of musicians are only into playing for music for more attention, more money and more fame but I’m not worried about that stuff at all. I’m not the best musician in the world. I’m not trying to become the next rock n’ roll god… once again, just want to play music and have fun.

Have a humble attitude… all the time. When you always have a humble attitude, the right people will respect you and the right people will always hate you. These days it seems that musicians having an arrogant and ego-driven attitude has become more acceptable and I don’t know how that happened. If you’re a humble person like myself, that’s what makes you the most hated.

Trust me, there are a lot of arrogant and asshole acting musicians out there especially through FB. Never let other musicians think they are better than you ’cause they are not. Just focus on your own music and do your own thing. Not worry about what others think of you. I used to want to be a part of the musicians community but I don’t really care to anymore. The local musicians community never changes. Always all kinds of drama, huge egos and arrogance all over.

I try my best to promote my music, hoping to get a review or a shoutout on other local music sites (not naming names but they know who they are) but I get ignored most of the time. Instead, most local music websites get worried about what I’m gonna say on the blog next. I mean like, really? They mostly promote artists who are already established enough and they won’t admit it. Most of them claim they promote music artists for all when the reality is they are secretly very “selective” on who they promote on their sites. They promote and give shoutouts to artists who have a pretty strong social networking following or if artists get regularly promoted through the local papers.

At the end of the day, I don’t care if I get write ups  or reviews for my music or not ’cause that’s not what I do this for. I play music for myself pretty much. If other people happen to like my music, then that’s cool too. I play music for them as well. I play music hoping to get listeners like most musicians and play music hoping to get more listeners. I’m a music artist hoping that people will enjoy my songs like most artists. That’s what we all do this for. Play music hoping to get liked.

Just be yourself and keep playing.

Kev

Even though I haven’t been going out to shows to support the local music scene much like I used to, I have noticed a bit of a change over the years, though. I remember in the past, original rock n’ roll used to be huge in the Albany area. A lot of rock n’ roll bands that I liked getting themselves established around this area but it seems that those days are dead and gone.

Lately, I have been seeing this area establishing mostly pop and folk music artists. Original country is getting bigger around here too. It seems that this area doesn’t care about rock n’ roll anymore.

What bothers me about this area is that this music scene tends to promote music and establish artists that is pretty similar to the national music industry. Pop music and country is so popular in mainstream music then chances are pop and country will be popular in local music too.

Such a shame ’cause when I was young, I used to go to local rock n’ roll shows all the freakin’ time. There’s no rock music nowadays. These days local bands & artists are still in a desperate attempt to make it in the industry (many of them will never admit that). That is why more bands around here are playing pop music which saddens me really. Don’t wanna name names.

If I ever get a band of my own someday, I’m going to do my best to bring back the rock n’ roll. I’ve always loved rock music, it’s a shame no one cares about it anymore. These days everyone wants to dance to a country band or go watch a pop duo who plays around with MIDI controllers, loop machines and samplers. *yawn*

Where are all the bands that would play tight and energetic rock shows? I’m not talking about cover bands.

That’s the name of the game,  I guess. The music scene changes and evolves. I’ve seen it changed a lot over the years and really don’t like the way it is now.

Kev

So I haven’t played live acoustic shows in a long time… well, there’s a few reasons for that…

1) I’m trying to improve my musicianship. Get better with singing and guitar playing.

2) Trying to write new original songs and learn new covers to play live ’cause playing the same songs live gets boring after a while. I like to mix it up at live gigs.

3) I still don’t like this area’s music scene… if there ever was one.

If I were to start performing live acoustic gigs again, it would just be for a few shows out in Saratoga Springs. I don’t think you’ll ever see me perform in downtown Albany ever again. They call that area Smallbany for a pretty good reason, I would say. I’m not really a big fan of this area’s music scene anymore. Haven’t liked it for a long time. Reasons being… people in this area are too crazy and there are a lot of nutjobs out there for sure. This area’s music scene still hasn’t changed which is nice (sarcasm). Lot of musicians with huge egos and nasty attitudes around here for sure. This stuff still goes on. This area is too cliquey and can get dramatic. A lot of opinionated people around here.

Plus, it’s getting a lot harder to get gigs nowadays anyways. There’s no point in travelling many miles to some bar room to just a few people, ya know? That’s why I would only play a few shows near my hometown if the opportunity ever comes up but I would play live again at some point. Just when the time I feel is right.

Yep, this area’s music scene is still crap and I will always stand by it. My opinion, my blog, my thoughts, my life so if you don’t like it and it offends you? Go away. I don’t even go out to see other bands & artists hardly at all except to go out to see EBJ sometimes but that’s about all.

Hell, I might not even play live gigs at all ’cause honestly, I enjoy making music exclusively for the internet more and I prefer that.

Kev

The Teenage Casket Company, a band from Nottingham UK is playing their final and last show ever. The band has decided to breakup and call it quits. While it’s sad, I can understand ’cause bands wants to move on to other things sometimes. The TCC is a great band and I’ve been a loyal fan to this band ever since I shared a gig with them back in 2006 when they came to Troy, N.Y. We played at a venue called the Hudson Duster which is no longer in business.

Ever since that gig, I’ve gotten more support from TCC fans who stayed loyal to me to this day which means a lot. I’ve even made a few great friends from Nottingham who I keep in touch with on a regular basis.

I believe when The Erotics called themselves, the “Ebrocktics” was a reference to me. Whether they were making fun of me or not, either way, it’s still great publicity so I thank them for that.

I wish I could go to the final TCC show this Friday night in Nottingham. Wished I saved up a bunch of money to go ’cause I would have went to Nottingham to see them and to visit a friend that I have there. I will definitely go to Nottingham someday, though.

The TCC rocks and I dig the Erotics too. Because of that show at the Hudson Duster that helped me get more publicity from the Nottingham UK which feels real good.

Check out the TCC in the videos below. They’re a rocking band.

Kev

When bands and musicians perform their shows locally, I am noticing that more and more bands & solo artists has been reading lyrics as they sing when they perform live. Some bands & musicians would read lyrics off of paper and set them on a music stand. I would also see some bring their Ipad and read lyrics off a teleprompter or whatever.

I’ve always disagreed with singers who read lyrics off of something. I look at it as them being too lazy to memorize lyrics by heart. Yeah, I know memorizing lyrics to original songs or covers by heart is a little intimidating but I think reading off of something when singing is cheating. If you want your listeners to take you more seriously, I think memorizing lyrics is the best way to go.

To me, it isn’t really all that challenging to memorize lyrics. It’s pretty easy really. I don’t know why so many musicians out there think it’s a hard thing to do. Yeah, I understand that singers worry that they’ll forget some stuff in songs when singing but that’s the beauty of performing live. Who cares if you forget a word or two here and there or if you mess up a little bit. When I used to gig all the time in the past, I always thought it was important to memorize all the lyrics by heart. I always did.

A long time ago, I used to read lyrics off a notebook when I perform open mics and stuff when just starting out performing but that’s when I was starting out back then. I think it’s better to memorize lyrics. Reading off of a something when performing live is a bit of a distraction for the most part. You want to be looking at the crowd, not looking down on something the whole time. You can sing a lot better when you memorize lyrics by heart.

This happens more and more each time I go out to see local music or see live videos by local bands. There’s nothing wrong with reading lyrics while singing live, you can do it if you want to but if you want to perform better or if you want people to take you more seriously… then get rid of that music stand and memorize the lyrics by heart. It’s really simple.

Kev