I know how this can be pretty confusing to some people out there. A lot of people can’t tell whether someone is a true friend or not. To me, it’s easy to tell whether someone is a true friend or not.

I’m sure you see this all the time through social networking and in the real world. People complaining about how their so-called friends are dealing with a lot of drama and negativity. You have to deal with betrayals and now they all of a sudden become your enemies. I’ve been there myself so I hear ya.

Ways to tell whether someone is a true friend of yours???:

Ways someone is a true friend: 

• They find the time to keep in touch with you first always: They are the first to drop you a text, FB private message or even a phone call to ask how you’re doing and have friendly conversations about whatever. If they take the time to contact you first then that’s an immediate sign they like you for you.
• They are willing to hang out and spend time with you: Another big sign that they are willing to be friends for life. They want to hang out with you and do fun stuff. Hang out at home, just talk or even go out to do fun stuff like go to the movies, shop around and stuff like that.
• They give you a gift as a symbol of friendship: When someone really likes you, they give you a small gift like a music CD, books or movies on DVD/Bluray and things like that. This is another big sign to tell that someone is a true friend. They give you treats, give you a small gift of whatever you like and other treats like a meal or something.
• They give you loyalty: They’ll find ways to show that they like you by trying to make you feel like you’re not getting used. They’ll always keep in touch on a regular basis. Always. Never losing interest in you and never forgetting you. When they show you loyalty, you show them loyalty in return. They’ll always show that they like you.

Ways someone is an enemy: (people who pretend to be your friend but in reality, they’re your enemy)

• They only come to you when they need something: They ask you for money, ask you for free rides for where ever they want to go (for those that drive, that is), asking you to buy things for them, etc. You get the deal. When you get people like this, they need to go.
• Always saying negative things about you and criticizing you about things: I don’t know why you continue to keep your friends, when some of them can’t say anything positive about you. When you get so-called friends, always saying negative stuff, judging you and criticizing you all the time… they need to go.
• They don’t care to contact you first, you alway have to be the first to contact them: When you call someone a friend and it’s you the one that have to make the contact first like send a text message, private message or a phone call to them all the time… that’s a sign that they don’t really care about you. The ones that don’t care to contact you first, probably secretly doesn’t like you and this person needs to go.
• They don’t give you loyalty, don’t give you treats/gifts at all, don’t care to hang out: Nowadays people don’t know the true meaning of loyalty. It’s getting harder and harder to find loyal friends these days so I hear them. These are the people who don’t think about you often… the ones who don’t care to see how you’re doing and all that stuff. These people need to go.

The way I look at all this, I’ve learned you should keep the true friends and get rid of the so-called friends. Don’t be afraid to eliminate toxic people from your life. I do it all the time. You always see people in social networking complaining about friends stabbing them in the back and stuff. Don’t be afraid to get rid of them. This is what you need to do if you want to have a happier life. It’s your responsibility to be tough toward negative people. Don’t allow them to get all over you. Don’t be afraid to shut out negative people from your life. Pretend they’re dead and act like they don’t exist. It’s easy. I do it all the time. I have no time for drama.

A lot of people think I’m anti-social and “shy” but not really. I do like good people and good friends myself but I’m one of those types that if you treat me good, I’ll treat you good but if you don’t, watch out. I’m only an asshole to those who are an asshole to me first. That’s how it goes, ya know? Don’t be afraid to be an asshole to those that only deserve it.

You’ll know who the true friends are soon enough.

Kev

I was just doing some googling on musician stuff and stumbled upon this interesting blog about “8 reasons why singer/songwriter shows are boring”. It’s a good write-up and I agree with most of it to be honest.

Yeah, most singer/songwriter acoustic shows are boring as fuck and I’ve seen a lot of them over the years of my life. This article here explains why singer/songwriter solo shows are boring and this article here explains how you can make your performances less-boring:

8 Reasons Why Singer Songwriter Shows Are Boring

When I used to play out and believe me, I used to play acoustic solo shows all the time in the past… I would do my best to give people a night they wouldn’t forget. People would drive all the way to see me perform so I would give them my best performance.

When I write originals, I do my best to write good originals that people would remember and actually like. That way after a show of mine, people would remember the song. Most people remember songs like “Evil Fred”, “Mr. Tough Guy” and “Time Bomb”  (original songs I wrote) which is why I played those three songs at all of my gigs. Why? Because those three songs were the most requested. It’s hard to get people to like your original music but somehow I seemed to have pulled it off. Not trying to sound egotistical, just telling it like it is.

A lot of singer/songwriters do look plain when they go on stage, ya know, look casual. I never tried to look plain when I go on stage. I would dress up into nice clothing. At most of my gigs, I would dress up all in black mostly ’cause that’s my style.

When I play my gigs, I like to put on a fucking performance… not a sleeper fest. When I play my guitar and sing on stage, I like to look like I’m having a fun time. Move around, bop my head up and down to the music and go crazy, ya know? Most singer/songwriters I’ve seen over the years just stand there like a zombie looking nervous and stuff. I like to perform with confidence.

As for playing one instrument, I do play one instrument but trying to learn the piano/keyboards so that’s a start.

It is always important to throw in a few covers at your live performances ’cause I’ve always tried to do that. It all depends on the show, if they want to hear all originals then play all originals but if covers are requested then play some. This is why I’m desperately trying to learn a bunch of cover songs just in case I go back out there performing live again ’cause I think I’m gonna.

That article I posted above is a good read if you’re a musician yourself and if you perform live often.

With all this being said, I do miss performing live and writing original songs. I’m planning to get back into it.

Kev

There’s a lot of musicians & bands out there that worry about critics & haters. Some bands & musicians would become so defensive when their music gets criticized by other music lovers or professional music critics. My advice is don’t worry about what other people think of your music. The attitude that you should have is always make music that you like. You don’t really need to play music for other people. Just make music that makes you happy. That always has been my attitude from day 1.

People always expect me to write music that would please everyone but it’s not gonna be always that. I try my best to make the best songs possible that everyone can enjoy but if there are times when people don’t care about my songs, I’m fine with that. I’ve always made the music for me. Will continue to make music for me and make music however I wanted. Not caring if my music offends people or not. Sometimes I do make songs that turn people off.

Pretty soon, I planning on making my own hard rock & metal music when I get an electric guitar and I will continue to have that attitude. Make whatever rock & metal songs that pleases me. Make songs however I wanted. Most of my listeners know me for my acoustic music but I want to make the change to hard rock & metal. I’ll probably turn my listeners off even more but that’s okay. I’ll just make music whatever pleases me.

That’s what music should be about. Making music that pleases you. If it happens to please other people? That’s fine. If it doesn’t? That’s fine too. I’m okay whether or not people like my music ’cause I do music for myself for the most part. Always did.

I want to play rock and metal guitar soon. Big riffs, headbanging rhythm, dark lyrics… all that stuff that metal fans would like. As far as metal vocals go, I’ve been experimenting with growls a lot and gonna try to make songs like that too. I want to rock and go heavy finally. I’ve been listening to a lot of heavy music lately and want to make that kind of music for myself.

I have been learning how to play hard rock & metal guitar lalely. I’ve been learning to shred too so I’m gonna experiment with shred solos as well. People don’t think I could make this kind of music but watch me. This is the kind of music I’ve always wanted to play and it’s the whole reason I picked up the guitar to begin with.

It’s why I’m planning to buy a new electric guitar soon. I’m gonna buy a good one. A solid body electric around the price range of $400 – $700. I’m not really picky with guitars like a lot of musicians are these days. I just buy whatever guitars that looks and sounds cool to me. Any guitar that fits my sound and style is what I’m looking for, I’ll probably buy. Doesn’t matter the brand. Whether a guitar is Ibanez, Washburn, Jackson, Gibson, Fender Strat, etc. I don’t give a shit. If it looks good and sounds good, it is probably for me.

I love buying guitars and more music gear when I can.

Kev

I don’t know if I’ll perform live acoustic shows at music venues around the Capital Region or not but I will definitely do live home acoustic performances for the internet. I’ve talked about that a lot in the past and still have that planned out. I just gotta learn new cover songs and write new originals.

I am noticing that this new feature “live” video through various social networking sites like “facebook” and “periscope” has become so popular lately. A lot of people has been making live videos lately and I want to start doing the same soon but with live home acoustic concerts. The internet is like a live audience anyways so it will be cool.

I’ve been learning more cover songs lately and gonna start writing originals this year. I’ll probably do “live” acoustic home performances like a couple of times a month and will perform for an hour set.

I know a lot of people work during the day so I think it will be best to schedule a live internet performance for either in the evening or late at night. A live internet performance is something I always wanted to do and I’m gonna give it a try soon. I think a live internet performance would be a lot more fun!

Kev

So I have 4 guitars (2 acoustic and 2 electrics), 2 electric guitar amps, a small p.a. system, an audio interface, studio monitors (or speakers), a mic preamp (which I’ve never used yet), 5 guitar pedals, a mic stand, a music stand and pop filter for mic.

That’s an alright gear collection but I could use more, though. I plan on buying more electric guitars somewhere down the road. I’ll need a solid body electric and I’m gonna try to find one with a whammy bar ’cause I want to experiment with whammy tricks. I want to get more electric guitars for different sounds and stuff. I’m also planning to buy one more guitar amp which I’m looking for an acoustic amp, not an electric amp. I would also need a MIDI controller too which I’m planning to get soon. I’m also planning on starting a big guitar pedal collection ’cause I need more sounds: Delay, chorus, echo, fuzz, Octave pedal, etc.

I’m gonna keep my focus on electric guitar this year ’cause I want focus on rock guitar. I want to start writing original rock n’ roll songs. Plus, I’ll learn more electric rock covers from my favorite bands like I’ll learn all the riffs and solos from Led Zeppelin, Megadeth, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. Maybe I’ll go even further and learn some shred guitar songs by Joe Satriani ’cause I’ve always wanted to learn “Satch Boogie” and “Surfing With the Alien”. Maybe I’ll try to learn Van Halen’s “Eruption” too. I’m just getting so bored of acoustic and wanna switch to electric full time. Electric guitar is awesome and wanna focus on that.

Back to buying musicians gear, I love buying more music gear when I can. I’m planning to look for full time work this year and that way I can save up for music gear a lot quicker.

Kev

https://twitter.com/KBrocking/status/832744700691886081

Well, the singer/songwriter by the name of Joy Villa… the one who stood up for us Trump supporters at the Grammy’s by simply wearing a MAGA dress. Well since she was courageous enough to help stand up for us, I decided to return the favor and support her in return. Just bought her 5 track EP, “I Make The Static”. She doesn’t have a full album out yet but just an EP out for now. I’m sure she’ll make a full length album pretty soon. Her music is pretty good. Listened to some of it in youtube so I ended up getting her EP. She does have a great singing voice.

I also bought 5 other albums from Itunes as well:

• Sturgill Simpson “A Sailor’s Guide To Earth”
• Gojira “Magma”
• Kristen Capolino “These Days” (a local artist who I’m a fan of, she’s a young shred guitar virtuoso around the area)
• David Bowie (his 1967 self titled debut album)
• Alexander O’ Neal “Hearsay”

I’ve gotten into Sturgill Simpson music lately ’cause I really dig his music so I bought his latest album. The Gojira album “Magma” has been getting a lot of great reviews in the metal world so I decided to get that album for myself as I am a huge fan of metal. David Bowie, I’m still trying to collect his entire discography of studio albums… I really want his whole collection of music. Alexander O’ Neal is an R&B and pop artist who I’ve gotten into as recommended by a friend of mine and I really dig his stuff.

Once again, the variety of genres. I like to listen to all sorts of music. That’s just me.

Kev