Since I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on my cover songs lately, it got me thinking that maybe I should one day start a cover band. I’m actually thinking about it too. That’s something I could make some pretty good money on. I was never really about the money when it comes to playing music but I’ve actually thought about it a lot, ya know? Start a cover band to play bar gigs, wedding receptions, private parties and things like that. Not sure if I’ll do it but thinking about it.

I feel I’m doing alright with cover songs and I could probably do just about any cover song just fine. If I ever started a rock n’ roll band, I would probably end up doing both covers & originals. Mix it up, ya know? It’s always good to do that.

I could probably sing just about any cover song but the ones that I can’t do are the ones with the really high notes and screaming. I’ll just do the songs that I can do. If I start a band doing cover songs, I don’t know if I’ll play guitar in a lot of songs, though ’cause in some songs, I would want to just sing and dance… have a blast on the stage and be an entertainer.

I really do wanna start a band of my own which is something I’ve always wanna do and I will when I think I’m ready.

I know I can rock in a band and I will one day show people I can.

Kev

If there is a huge problem going on in America right now, it’s this. Another reason you can never get into any intelligent discussions or debates with people online is that they never read the actual articles or blog posts. They just read the headlines of the articles or blog title posts. Never taking the time to read the whole thing or watch any videos. They just read the title of the post and then they comment right away. I know they don’t bother taking the time to read anything ’cause some jackasses are quick to comment right after the article is posted.

Facebook is worse on that, though. It is why when you read news stuff on Facebook, you would see a bunch of people replying in the comments writing about stuff that has nothing to do with the article. They just read the headlines and comment.

I never do that. Before I post something on this blog or reply to a comment on a different blog/news site, I always read it first to see what’s its about and then I’ll make my opinion on it. You can tell that I do that too.

As soon as I make this post, chances are some idiot is gonna reply immediately the second I post it. Never take the time to actually read it. That’s probably why your response never makes sense most of the time.

People don’t take the time to read the actual articles or blog posts ’cause they’re real lazy and dumb. A lot of people are like this these days. It’s real sad too.

Kev

What’s my secret in learning cover songs and making them sound good? Well, the secret is just listening is pretty much key. There’s no other way around it really. The secrets to mastering a cover song, listening to the song as many times as possible. Figure the song out by ear instead of looking at guitar tab. Learning songs by ear isn’t really all that hard at all. It may be frustrating to start the song over and over again, figuring out all the guitar parts but it’s worth it if you want to get the song right.

Before the age of guitar tab, all guitarists would do is sit there in front of their stereo systems with their guitars and try to figure out the songs by ear. All day, for hours. That’s how they learned to play is by figuring songs by ear. You should try the same.

As for the vocal parts of the cover song, it’s pretty much the same way… listening. Listen to the melody and sing along.

The secret to making a cover song sound good is that you don’t want to make your version exactly the same way as the artist. Don’t play the song note for note. Just make it your own version. Make it sound like that you wrote it. That’s pretty much key to getting people to enjoy your cover songs is making them sound like your own.

If you make the song sound exactly like the recording on CD then people won’t care at all. Always make it your own version.

Still thinking about what my next cover tune is gonna be but I’ll come up with something. One thing I like to do with my cover songs is surprise people with them. Perform songs that they never expect me to do. That’s how you do cover songs. When you do cover songs people expect to hear stuff like “Mustang Sally” or “Sweet Home Alabama” but not me. Once again, I just choose the songs that I like and the songs that inspired me over the years.

I would like to cover some classic rock too and I’ll make my way to it. I would like to do some songs by the Who, David Bowie, the Doors, some Zeppelin, early Springsteen, Peter Gabriel and things like that.

Kev

I really shouldn’t give up doing cover songs because they usually get a lot of positive feedback. Honestly, my cover songs usually get more feedback than my original songs, though. I would love it if people gave the same positive feedback to my original songs but oh well, I guess I have to let the people do the talking and let the music speak on it’s own. Maybe people feel that my covers are better than my originals. Maybe I was meant to be a cover song musician, I don’t know. While I’m flattered that people enjoy my cover songs, writing original music is where my heart is at, though.

What could I do to get more positive feedback on my original stuff? I guess I’ll have to keep writing and keep putting my songs out to see what kind of feedback they get. Sometimes, my original songs do get a lot of positive feedback but only certain ones. Songs like “Evil Fred” is a popular song of mine and that often gets requested so I guess you can say that “Evil Fred” is pretty much my anthem. Some other originals get positive feedback as well.

Anyway, whether or not my original songs get a lot of feedback from the public, I’m okay either way ’cause I write music for me for the most part. When you’re a songwriter, you can’t expect people to like all of your music. Letting the music speak on it’s own and let the people do the judging is the best thing to do, I guess.

Once again, all I have to do is keep writing and keep trying to get better. I am doing just that. I try to improve my songwriting every time. These days I’m trying to take the craft of songwriting more seriously. Timing & rhythm. The lyrics. The vocal. The melody. I try all I can to get more people to appreciate my originals than covers but I’ll keep trying, though. Don’t get me wrong, I do love people giving me feedback on my covers.

Covers are fun and I’m gonna keep doing them. I’ll think about what my next cover song is gonna be.

Kev

Have you ever come to those situations where you try your best to show certain people in your life love & support but they don’t care to show you any in return? I’m sure you’ve all been there. I’ve certainly had. Many times.

Best thing to do to deal with things like this is that you wanna say “fuck ’em” and move on from them. Pretend they no longer exist anymore, ya know? They aren’t worth your time and they never has been. If people don’t care to treat you positively… pay no mind to them at all. You see, I don’t care if people don’t like me or can’t understand me. I just give them the middle finger, continue to live my life and continue to be myself. No one is ever stopping me from being myself and you shouldn’t let others stop you from being yourself either.

If you want to live a happy and positive life, then you have to kick out all the negative people. That’s what I do. Trust me, I have plenty of people that show me love & support which I’m grateful for and those are the kind of people I focus on.

Once again, if people still wanna hold a grudge against you, it’s time to get ’em out.

Just wanted to give you a life advice tip which is what I’m starting to do more on here as you can see. Just forget negative people. I don’t have time for any of that and neither should you.

Kev

I’ve actually thought about it. Seeking a bigger career in music. Ya know… graduating to the bigger stages and bigger venues. Hopefully get signed to an indie label and that stuff. I’ll admit that stuff would be cool and I would like to get there. It would be nice to tour around the US and maybe a few other countries. I would like to do what everyone else is doing, sure but I’m just trying to stay humble as best as possible and just do it for fun. I’m not worried about fame, ya know?

I would like to get a bigger career and make  money off of it but I don’t drive and having a music career requires a lot of travelling. The music business does not provide rides for ya ’cause you’ll be pretty much on your own on that one. If you’re big and famous like in the major label industry, the industry will provide travelling for ya ’cause it’s a billion dollar industry.

I’d love to move forward and achieve bigger dreams but I just play music for fun. As a hobby of mine and something that I love to do. Don’t be desperate for a bigger career. Just leave your ego at the door and just continue to play music, that’s all you gotta do.

I still have plans in releasing an internet only album, though and will make it happen at some point.

Kev

Each time I do a cover song, they usually get positive feedback. I get feedback with people saying stuff to me like that was a ballsy song to do. Why? Is it because they think it’s hard for them to see a guy singing a love song? That’s probably a huge part of it. Each time I do a love song that is a cover song, it gets a lot of feedback from women. Why? I think it’s because they like guys that sing those type of songs and it makes me wanna do it more. First it happened with the Whitney Houston song and now that Berlin song from the Top Gun soundtrack. It’s probably because the ladies like my confidence of doing these kind of songs in which men don’t perform love songs too much.

I’ll admit it that doing love songs can get you more female fans and hopefully get more women interested in me. which is part of the reason why I’m doing it, I won’t lie about that. 😉

The thing is, I don’t want to do too many love songs ’cause I don’t want to become the next Barry Manilow, ya know? I just do the love songs that I like.

What are some other ballsy cover songs I could do? The Commodores “Easy”? Lana Del Rey “Blue Jeans”? Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody”? Peter Gabriel, “In Your Eyes”? Lorde “Royals”? Harry Chapin, “Cats In the Cradle”?

They don’t have to be love songs. I’ll just do cover songs that I enjoy and songs that inspired me over the years.

Kev

Before I got this new computer, I used to make all of my videos on the PC with Movie Edit Pro 16. That was a great program and I miss using it but I can’t use it on this Windows 64 bit and that software is old so I can’t use it anymore. That’s why I’ve been making videos on the Ipad instead.

In the near future, I’m gonna be looking for new video editing software for the PC on a Windows 64 bit. I love making videos on the PC ’cause it’s easier. The touch screen on the Ipad when making movies is kind of challenging and takes a long time.

I think you can get Pinnacle Studio for the PC version and I’m looking into it. I’m researching other software too. I don’t want expensive video software, though maybe somewhere around the $50 – $80 price range.

I love making videos for the internet and want to do it a lot more.  The camera on the Ipad kinda sucks and I’m thinking I should go back to using the JVC camera. Making videos on the PC is definitely better, in my opinion.

Kev

I feel sorry for those losers who do nothing but come on my site just to attack me for their own amusement and entertainment. Even though they aren’t allowed to post, they continue to try posting anyway. These are the kinds of losers who post on my blog 24/7 with every response of theirs personally attacking me or insulting me almost all the time. They do this all day too. Don’t lie about it.

I look at all this and think to myself… don’t these losers have better things to do in their lives? Instead of keeping an eye on my blog 24/7… hitting refresh all day waiting for me to post something so you can attack me?

People like those are a bunch of losers who has a strange obsession with me which to be honest, I find really creepy. I don’t pay attention to trolls and don’t care what any of them have to say. Yeah, I get a lot of trolls and losers thinking it’s okay to treat me how they want but not under my watch.

I don’t pay attention to trolls anymore like I used to and I know I get quite a lot of ’em. WordPress doesn’t have a block feature but I wish they would put one on here, though ’cause there’s a few who I would like to kick off here in a heartbeat.

Sometimes I feel sorry for these guys, I really do… wish nothing but the best of ’em and wish they would find better things to do. They won’t. They will always be obsessed with me until they can’t do it anymore.

Getting haters & trolls isn’t necessarily a bad thing though as I’m honestly quite proud of it. Getting negative publicity sometimes is a good thing. Bad publicity is good publicity, remember that always. You just gotta learn to ignore the assholes & losers. Get used to them. I do wish they would get lives, though.

Kev