I know people want me to do mostly original music nowadays which is good and I do like making original music, but the thing is I like playing and singing cover songs too. I’ve always loved to do both originals and cover songs. I’ve always thought it was important for me to do both. In the local musicians community, we’re now in an age where original music is finally accepted and cover songs are now in the past. It’s good that people mostly want to hear originals but you shouldn’t forget cover songs either.

I like to do cover songs ’cause first of all, they are fun to do and secondly they help improve my musicianship. Yeah I like to play and sing a lot of cover songs. I just want to perform all of my favorite songs that I’ve loved over the years. Sometimes I would pick some pretty odd covers that no one would expect me to do… I just do them ’cause I simply love the songs. I just perform any cover I want and the ones that I can do well.

Each time I put out a cover song, someone will ask me, “When are you going to put something original out?” Well, I like performing cover songs ’cause I love playing them. Cover songs are pretty important to do anyways and you shouldn’t neglect them. When I perform a cover song, I give it my best. I’m gonna get back into performing cover songs again on video whether me playing an instrument or just doing it karaoke style.

Lately I’ve been working on Judy Garland’s “SomeWhere Over the Rainbow” the song from Wizard of Oz. I’m doing that one ’cause I love that song and it’s a song I’ve always wanted to cover so I downloaded the backing track of that song from Itunes. I’ve been practicing that song everyday, trying to get all the notes down and seems to be a pretty simple song to sing really. It’s not that hard as it sounds. That song has a bit of a range but I seem to do quite well on it so when I’m ready, I’ll video tape myself singing it and release it for all to hear. It may seem weird to do a song like that but I dig all kinds of tunes. I dig everything pretty much.

I love singing and I want to be able to sing as much cover songs as possible. If it bothers other people then I don’t care. It is interesting though, how nobody cares about cover songs anymore. It’s important to have a wide range of cover songs that a lot of people know and I’m trying to do all that.

I like to perform covers to put on a little excitement. I played so many cover songs on guitar over the years that I’ve probably forgotten how to play most of them, but I’m gonna re-learn them. I like to learn covers from every genre of music really. Now that I’ve been messing with electric guitar a lot more, I’m gonna start learning some metal and harder rockin’ covers. I’d like to start learning songs from Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Dream Theater, etc. I’ve already started learning songs by Led Zeppelin on electric guitar, I’m still trying to master the solo part on “Stairway to Heaven”. I know how to play all the rhythm guitar parts for that song but it’s the solo I’m trying to get down note for note and I’m getting there.

My listeners and fans do enjoy me performing covers, though ’cause they get a lot of good feedback each time I upload a new video. I know I haven’t released anything in a long time, but “Somewhere over the Rainbow” will be the next one soon.

Don’t criticize other musicians for wanting to do covers. It’s a good thing to do and always has been. Any musician that says that it isn’t is probably not a real musician themselves.

Kev

I used to use ReverbNation and Soundcloud to upload my songs for all to hear, but those websites only allowed you to upload songs individually. At first, they didn’t allow you to upload albums and release them. Now both ReverbNation and Soundcloud do allow you to release your albums on there which is cool.

If I ever did an internet only album, I was gonna use Bandcamp to upload it there but now I don’t have to since ReverbNation and Soundcloud both allows musicians to create albums now.

It’s so freakin’ cool, though! I’m gonna start making my own albums and release them all on the internet for free. I don’t need money for them ’cause I don’t do music for money. I won’t make people pay for my songs just to get people to listen to them.

If I ever made my first internet album with title and cover and all, I’ll probably use Soundcloud to release it exclusively. I’ve always wanted to do my own album. In the past, it used to be very hard for musicians to upload albums for the internet but now it’s much easier everywhere.

I still got my old songs on both ReverbNation and Soundcloud so I’m gonna have to start doing some changes on both sites.

I really want to make my first album and it’ll probably be homemade. I got good enough sounding home studio gear so I’m really good to go. I’m glad those music sites improved and that way I can start using them again. I do want to get back into songwriting and I will.

When I start recording again, I’m gonna try to make them sound as best as possible. I’m not the best at producing but I’ve been reading and researching about that stuff. I’m gonna teach myself mixing and mastering and all that stuff. I want to produce it all myself.

What songs would I write about? Whatever I can come up with really: fictional stories, horror songs, political messages, poetic songs, etc. Just whatever comes to mind. If I want to write political messages, I probably will. Just write whatever the hell I want to!

After I make my first album, I’ll come up with a title, come up with a cover, get it copyrighted and then release it. I do want my next batch of material to be more melodic. Music that can be listenable and enjoyable. Songwriting is fun and I want to get back into it.

Kev

One of the things that I love about songwriting is that it gives you complete freedom to write and express yourself however you want to. It is interesting how people responds to your songs whether it is good or bad feedback. I’ve always had mixed reactions toward my music over the years.

Some say my lyrics to my songs were too dark and too controversial. Some complained that my songs were too long ’cause a lot of times I would write songs that would go up between 6 – 10 minutes long or a little longer. Some even said my songs were a bit too “rock n’ roll” and not folky/country enough. Yeah, admittedly some of my lyrics were dark & controversial. Some of my songs were long and some of my songs were a bit too “rock n’ roll”. To correct some things though, I did write “positive” and “happy” songs. I did write short songs and I wrote plenty of folk/country songs.

I like to mix it up with my original songs. I just write how I’m feeling, ya know? If I’m feeling angry/pissed off, I would write angry songs. If I’m in a good mood, I would write positive/happy songs. If I’m sad, I would write a ballad or something. I just write what I’m feeling and that’s the end of that, ya know? Yes, I do write a lot of acoustic rock ’cause that’s how I’ve always liked to play the guitar. I only write the slower songs whenever I’m in the mood to. Just write whatever comes out of me.

When I used to gig in the past, I struggled to get gigs booked at cafes and coffeehouses that mainly played folk/country. Many of them wouldn’t book me ’cause they felt I was too “rock” and they felt I didn’t promote myself as a folk artist. I always promoted myself as a rock artist ’cause that’s what I am. A perfect example of this is one time I tried to book myself an actual gig at Caffe Lena; I tried to book myself to perform on one of their big weekend main shows but the managers there said they wouldn’t book me ’cause I was too “rock n’ roll”. I’ll never forget it so they put me on their Wednesday night “Emerging the Artists” series instead so I played those shows.

I’m a rock n’ roll musician. That’s what I am and that’s what I do. On the acoustic guitar, I like to rock pretty hard on it. I try not to play the acoustic like a folk and country instrument. I play the acoustic as if I’m playing the electric guitar if that makes sense. That could explain why my performances are always so tight and aggressive. I play the acoustic guitar this way ’cause I listen to a lot of rock n’ roll and metal. I don’t listen to folk and country much. I just play all the stuff of what I’ve been influenced and inspired by all of my favorite bands and artists that I listened to over the years. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Ac/Dc, The Who, Black Sabbath, The Doors, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Dream Theater, etc.

I did write some folk songs, though and that’s what old songs titled, “Evil Fred” and “Back to Running” were. They were folk songs.

The point of this topic is that if you’re a musician and singer/songwriter… make music how you want to. Make music that makes you happy. If you get mixed reactions and people complain about the way you write your songs then who cares. Don’t listen to the negatives and the critics. The point is just make music for you and make music whatever makes you proud.

People had a hard time understanding me as an artist ’cause they’re not used to hearing rock n’ roll acoustic musicians. They’re still used to hearing the acoustic guitar as a folk/country instrument. I never played acoustic guitar that way. I try to play the acoustic like a folk/country instrument ‘but I can’t do it ’cause I’m so used to rocking hard on it. I’ll always play guitar like that. That’s how I’ll always write my songs.

When I write my next batch of originals which will be soon, I’ll continue to write acoustic rock. I’ll try to write folk/country stuff too, though. I’ll mix it up some. I do want to put out a new acoustic demo album soon and it’ll be an internet only album kind of thing like always. My plans are that for my songs I’ll add guitar solos and put in my own backing vocals too. I’m gonna try to make my next batch of songs more melodic than my past songs. Like I said before, I just want to make music that I’m proud of and hopefully other people will like  it too. If not then that’s fine. I like to make music for myself anyways. I want to get back into songwriting again and I’m planning on it this Spring/Summer.

Kev

Think I’m gonna revive my ReverbNation page this year. Get it back into action again. I’m planning to record a new batch of songs this year ’cause I have a bunch of ideas spinning in my head. I want to get back into songwriting again. I know I said I was gonna do a full band rock n’ roll demo but that’ll still come sometime in the future. I think I want to do another acoustic demo, but this time it will be homemade on my new home recording system.

There’s my ReverbNation page above and it has 14 songs on it so far. I gave some of them a re-listen and I’m still proud of all the music that I wrote in the past.

I’m planning to do a new acoustic demo and gonna try to come up with around 10 – 15 songs or more. I’ll come up with as many as possible. I’m gonna make my upcoming songs even better than the last batch, though. Better guitar playing, better singing… all of it.

I think my singing has improved a lot so when you listen to the above songs and my upcoming songs, you may noticed a difference, I hope.

I want to get back into this music thing. What kind of songs do I plan on coming up with? Anything I can really. Acoustic rock, ballads, etc. Whatever. I won’t write love songs even though I tried writing one before. I’ll just write whatever comes up in my head.

I’m always looking to improve my songwriting and try to be the best that I can be. Just want to make music that I’m proud of and hopefully other people will like it too.

Kev

I seldomly re-share life inspiring memes through facebook ’cause most of them are total bullshit, but I only re-share the ones that reminds me of myself and ones that actually makes a lot of sense. Well this one actually makes a lot of sense.

I’m sure some of you go through the same thing. You’re either loved or hated by people. Yep, I go through the same thing myself and I’m okay with that. I know a lot of people in my life and there are those that love me out there and there are definitely those that hate me too. I’ve always got a mix of love and hate online and offline. I can never understand it but that’s the way life is, I guess. You can’t make everybody happy and that’s all there is to it, ya know? I try my best to make people happy, but I know I can’t do that.

I do find it funny how much hatred some have of me out there and it’s interesting how some would have raging tempers over the way I talk and the way I think. You know what? I don’t give a shit really. I’ve had plenty of people over the years of my life who I thought was a friend and stabbed me in the back. That’s cool, though. You just got to learn to accept it and keep moving forward. That’s all you can do. I’m fine with a mixed reaction toward me as a person ’cause all I care about right now is music and bodybuilding/fitness.

Whether people like you or hate you, it shouldn’t matter. Just be you. Over the years, I’ve learned to be me no matter the situation. It may have pissed people off over the years but that’s tough. There’s nothing wrong with being yourself. Of course, there are gonna be people who think it’s wrong and if they don’t like the way you act, they’ll try to control you. It’s interesting how people think it’s okay to try and change you just because they don’t like who you are. I’ve dealt with that shit for many years. Not just in the internet world, in the real world too.

People don’t like your attitude? Fuck ’em. People don’t like your opinions and views in certain topics? Fuck ’em. People don’t like the way you are as a person? Fuck them. Once again, just be you and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Yeah, I definitely did meet people over the years that either loved me or hated me. Once again, it’s all fine and good. Life is good for me either way. It’s not the end of the world if people decided not to like you. It’s your life that matters, not theirs.

Seriously, I did all I can to become a positive person and be good to everyone but no matter how positive I try to be, there will always be someone who won’t like me but that’s okay. Just keep being positive and be good to everyone ’cause that’s probably why you get haters to begin with. That’s the way I look at it. You’re definitely gonna get jealous people ’cause they know you’re a good person.

With that being said, I am who I am and I won’t change for anybody. You shouldn’t either. Live life the way you want to and screw everyone.

Kev

When I first started out on guitar, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I was only able to play basic open chords back in the day when I was starting out. I was a shit guitar player back then. Have been shit for a long while admittedly and now I’ve been doing all I can to improve myself. Take my guitar playing to the next level.

A lot of people want to knock people who shred and play fast. People call it “noodling” and shredding all sounds the same, blah blah blah. You get the deal. That’s why instrumental shred music is so underrated and overlooked. People always say when playing lead guitar solos, “less is more”. They always say don’t overdo yourself. I disagree. I would say play as many notes as you want in a guitar solo and play shred all you want to. You can play a lot of notes in a guitar solo as long as you make it sound musical and it can work.

Admittedly, I do have aspirations to become a shredder and virtuoso type of guitar player. I want to play like all of my heroes. Lately I’ve been listening to all the shred guys like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Alan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola and others.

I’m trying to solo like a shredder. I want to do all the crazy techniques like fretboard tapping, whammy bar tricks, sweep picking, pinch harmonics and all that stuff. I’m still trying to improve my perfect pitch and ear training which is getting better. You gotta have a good ear if you want to be considered a virtuoso and you also got to have good knowledge of music theory which I do. I studied pretty hard on music theory over the last several years and I pretty much know music theory pretty well now.

I don’t necessarily care to melt people’s faces and knock people’s socks off — all that is fine — I just want to play and improve myself. Keep moving forward in my guitar playing and take it to the next level. Just want to write bad-ass rock songs, ya know?

I really love playing lead guitar, though. I’m loving that a lot more than playing rhythm guitar. I’ve always learned that if you want to be a guitarist, you should learn both rhythm and lead. I feel that you can’t separate the two. If you play guitar, might as well play both. You’re not a real musician if you don’t play both.

When it comes to guitar solos, I’ve always loved improvised solos. Ya know, just wing it out. I love spontaneous guitar playing. I’m not a big fan of guitar solos that are written out. I like jamming. I love shredding and improvised jams.

When it comes to scales, I don’t go too crazy on scales. The only scales that I usually solo on are major/minor pentatonic scales and the modes. I love modal soloing too and I experiment with that a lot.

As for how fast I can play when playing along with a metronome, I’m not a speed demon yet ’cause the fastest I can play on a metronome as if this point is about 90 bpm or a little over. Shredding means playing over a 150 bpm. I still have ways to go but I’m working on it. I’m really working on trying to improve my speed too. I want to be able to shred on both acoustic and electric.

You can achieve all of your guitar playing goals. Just gotta work hard, practice and it’ll all pay off before you know it. Just gotta stick with it and don’t give up.

Kev

So I ended up picking up some music albums from ITunes yesterday and they are pictured above.

I finally bought the Greta Van Fleet 6 song EP. Even though that album was released as a single, not really a full length… it’s still really good stuff. I’m not into today’s music much but Greta Van Fleet is one new band that I actually like a lot.

I got my own copy of Gregg Allman’s “Southern Blood” solo album which is really good stuff. This album has a mix of country, blues and rock. Even though this is Gregg’s solo music, he still sounds very much like the Allman Brothers on it.

I also got Billy Corgan’s new solo album, “Ogilala” which is beautiful stuff. The whole album is pretty mellow all the way through but still, the songs are amazing. Billy is the king at writing ballads and those songs never leave your head. I dig every song on this record and I’m gonna be listening to it a lot, I think.

I find myself listening to Iron Maiden more and more and trying to get some of their older studio albums. Maiden is becoming one of my favorite metal bands right now. They’re becoming my new obsession.

I got another Alice Cooper album ’cause I’m trying to collect his music too. I can’t stop listening to his stuff as well. Yeah, in the past I never really listened to Alice Cooper music but I think it’s time to get into him. I love Alice Cooper, his music is great shit… although so far, “Killer” is the best album I’ve heard by him.

I used to have that Grateful Dead album on CD in my music collection so I decided to get it on digital. “American Beauty” is my favorite album by the Dead. I’m trying to collect all of the Dead’s studio albums ’cause I’m a Deadhead too, believe it or not. I never saw them live before but I do enjoy listening to them. I love the Grateful Dead. Always did. Trying to get all their studio albums and then I’ll start getting their live stuff. People don’t think I’m a Grateful Dead fan but I am. Yeah, I am a huge fan of the jam band genre myself. I like the Dead, Phish, Allman Bros, etc. I dig all that stuff.

I love buying music albums. Other than playing an instrument, listening to other people’s music has always been important to me. I don’t feel guilty buying a lot of albums ’cause it’s what I do. When you’re a musician and guitar player, it’s important you should listen to as much music as possible and continue to stay inspired.

Kev

When it comes to learning how to play the guitar at any level, the internet these days is a big opportunity for pro guitarists to teach you how to play the guitar and make money off of it. There are all kinds of guitar instruction websites online where you can learn online and guitar instructors sell DVDs/books out there which I’m sure would cost a couple of hundred dollars or way more. When you want to learn how to play the guitar and improve your talent, you don’t need to do all that. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on guitar lessons. Most of the guitar gurus online just want to make an extra buck off of ya and that’s it. So be more careful when you want to learn guitar.

You can learn how to play guitar better at very low cost and even better, you can learn how to play better guitar for “free”. How? Well, when you can’t afford money on guitar lessons by a guitar instructor whether online or in person… there are all kinds of free guitar lessons on the internet and there are all kinds of free guitar lessons in youtube. If you don’t want to spend loads of money on guitar lessons, there are all kinds of guitar magazines on the newsstands that have guitar lessons in them. There are also all kinds of affordable guitar instruction books you can buy at your local bookstores and your local guitar shops sells them too. That’s how I taught myself how to play the guitar. I learned through the internet using the free lessons, through guitar instruction books, guitar magazines like Guitar World/Guitar Player/etc.

You can also learn how to play guitar for absolutely free. Most famous guitar players like Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and all those guys were self taught players. They learned to play the guitar by ear for the most part. They just sit there in front of their record players trying to figure out songs by ear. I learned to play like that a little bit myself. When I was younger, I would sit there in front of my stereo trying to figure out songs by ear. Playing songs by ear is not that hard at all. Just learning to play your favorite songs is another way to improve your guitar playing.

You don’t need to spend loads of money on guitar lessons when all the material they teach you… you can learn all that for free or at low cost. Like I said, be more careful out there. Too many young guitar players nowadays are too naïve and gullible that they think spending loads of money on guitar courses is good for them. It’s not. They just want to rip you off most of the time.

I’m very happy where my guitar playing is at now but I still got loads of work to do. I’m not a virtuoso yet but I do want to get there. Just taking my time and trying not to get too ahead of myself. I’ve been playing for 20 years now and I still don’t think I’m a pro player yet. I just want to play and enjoy myself. That’s all.

Kev