Whenever I do my first live acoustic show, I’m going to use my handheld Everio camera to do that with by hooking that up to my PC… also, I’m planning to hook up my Focusrite audio interface to the computer so I can plug in my guitar and microphone… that way I can sound amplified and you can really hear me through the speakers. I’m gonna figure all this out… this will be a big time live performance… all of it.

So for my first live show which will be a David Bowie tribute, I’m going to really rehearse these songs so I can try not to mess up guitar parts, singing and lyrics and all that stuff. I won’t forget lyrics ’cause I’ll be reading the lyrics off of notebook paper anyways… it’s okay to do that on a live stream at home. Bowie wrote a lot of lyrics so it will be hard to memorize his lyrics… I only have some of his songs memorized by heart, though.

Doing my first live stream show, I thought it would be cool to do David Bowie first since he’s my favorite artist and it’ll happen real soon. I think people will be surprised that I can nail his songs and do ’em justice which is the goal.

I may do tribute shows of other bands & artists, though sometime in the future I may do Johnny Cash ’cause I wanna do a tribute for him too. I’d also like to do Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, John Fogerty/CCR and the Beatles too.

I will also do live stream shows with me doing various cover songs as well.

As for original music???? Yeah, I definitely plan on doing live stream shows of nothing but me performing my originals. I’m gonna wait to do that when I write a new batch of originals ’cause I don’t want to be doing just older songs. I’ll perform my older songs, yeah but I want to perform new songs as well and I want to get back into songwriting at some point.

This live stream show will probably be a regular thing… it won’t be just for this country lockdown ’cause I’ll always be doing live streams ’cause I’ve been planning it for years anyways.

Kev

Yeah, admittedly I love to listen to quite a few wrestling podcasts… the wrestling podcasts that I like to mostly listen to are “83 Weeks” w/ Eric Bischoff, “Something to Wrestle” with Bruce Prichard, “Talk Is Jericho” with Chris Jericho and sometimes the Steve Austin podcast. I also read plenty of wrestling books over the years of my life.

A lot of you know that I’m a big wrestling fanatic… a huge pro wrestling superfan I would say. I’ve watched wrestling for years, most of my life really. Again, I just love and respect what they do and I love the business.

I like listening to wrestling podcasts and read wrestling books ’cause simply put, I just love learning wrestling history and I also love learning all the behind the scene stuff and all the backstage secrets. I just like the history of wrestling and just love hearing the stories from the wrestlers themselves and people who work behind the scenes. It’s all just interesting stuff to me.

I’m trying to watch all of “WCW Monday Nitro” on the WWE Network ’cause listening to podcasts and reading books about WCW drew me into watching “Nitro” on the WWE Network. I didn’t watch much WCW Nitro when it used to be on TV in the past so I’m trying to watch all of it on the WWE Network.

If you want to be considered as a true wrestling fan then you should know about the business as much as possible and learn about wrestling history as much as possible. I would say that I’m pretty knowledge-able about wrestling by now. I pretty much learned everything about wrestling’s important storylines and angles like the formation of the NWO, the Hogan heel turn, the Montreal Screwjob with HBK and Bret Hart (I think this was the famous angle that lead to the McMahon and Austin feud)…. the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression Era and all that stuff.

You should do more than just watch wrestling on TV… you gotta know everything as much as possible about wrestling and I try.

Which wrestlers or wrestling personality that tells the most interesting stories? Well I would say Chris Jericho, Eric Bischoff and Bruce Prichard are the most interesting which is why I listen to their podcasts a lot. Those three men are very honest and aren’t afraid to say the cold hard truth which is why I love listening to them.

Other wrestling people tell stories too but most of them are just egotistical, bitter and whiny babies… like Bret Hart for example. Bret Hart is indeed one of the greatest of all time that can’t be denied but in real life, he is kind of an asshole. His negativity in interviews is a bit of turn off and he’s definitely one of the most outspoken and controversial wrestlers. I bought Bret Hart’s book “My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling” for my Ipad just so I can get his side of the story of the Montreal Screwjob thing. I also want to see the Bret Hart documentary “Wrestling With Shadows” at some point. Maybe I’ll make a separate post about the Montreal Screwjob ’cause it’s interesting stuff… to write about my thoughts on it.

I’m currently reading Bischoff’s book, “Controversy Creates Cash” and almost done with it and I think that’s definitely one of the best wrestling books out there. That book definitely helped me look at the wrestling business differently… Eric is a very interesting and intelligent guy. I’ve always respected that man and he should absolutely be in the WWE Hall of Fame for sure.

I just like learning about the industry. The wrestling business may seem fun but not always… there’s always a dark side about it.

Kev

Yes, I am bored too just like the rest of you. I should be at the gym getting those muscle gains and smashing new pr’s on bench, deadlift and squat. Even though I’ve been out of the gym, I’ve been doing home workouts some… doing mostly bodyweight stuff and stretching. Whenever the weather is decent, I would go out for a long walk just to get out of the house, get some fresh air and get my cardio in. Mostly the weather has been shit here in my hometown of Greenwich, mostly cold and rain but sometimes we’re lucky enough to get a warm day. Even though it’s been shit weather, it hasn’t been much of a Spring to be honest… we’ll get the warm weather soon enough.

What I’ve been doing through this country lockdown is playing a lot more guitar ’cause that’s all I’ve been doing most of the day pretty much.

In the morning, I’ll listen to wrestling podcasts while drinking my coffee… then I’ll be off playing guitar for the rest of the day after that and then I’ll do some reading in the afternoon. I bought a bunch of books for my Ipad to keep me occupied. Mostly wrestling books, a couple of thrillers and a Star Wars novel “Heir to the Empire” which is the first of the Thrawn trilogy. I’ve read the Thrawn Trilogy years ago when I was in high school and I thought I would start reading them again ’cause they are great books. I don’t read Star Wars books but the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn are excellent books and they are classics too… they came out in the 90’s, I think. They are Star Wars stories that continue after the original film trilogy.

Over the weekend, I finished watching “The Sopranos – Season 1”. I watched the “Jersey Boys” movie, a Clint Eastwood directed film on Netflix Saturday night and then on Sunday night, I watched “Toy Story 1 & 2” on Disney Plus. I’m not much of a Pixar fan but I fucking love the Toy Story movies, though. I’m a huge fan of those movies ’cause they’re so good and entertaining… the writing, the voice acting, the animation. The Toy Story films has some of the best animation I’ve seen. Some may think it’s weird that a 40 something man watching Toy Story films but believe it or not, there are plenty of full grown adults that are fans of those movies too. You’re never too old to enjoy Disney and Pixar. I think Disney Plus is a really impressive streaming service so I’m keeping it for sure.

I’ve been hanging in the house being lazy all the time like everyone else but what are ya gonna do when the country is closed, ya know?

I’m noticing more and more people has had enough of this lockdown, though. I’m fed up with it myself and I want the country to get reopen as soon as possible ’cause the numbers out there inaccurate. It’s time to cut the bullshit and get the country back to work. This lockdown is getting to people already. People who are so used to working all the time are stuck home trying to remember what day it is, complaining on social media how bored they are, people who drink occasionally became alcoholics, families and friends no longer getting along because of all this, people becoming depressed, domestic violence on the rise, people becoming suicidal, etc. I can go on all day.

Me???? I’m doing my best to stay strong and stay positive throughout this whole thing. I’m not gonna get all panicky and live in fear through covid-19. I’m not scared of it… just continuing to live my life and enjoy it.

It’ll be all over very soon hopefully… I’m feeling Cuomo will keep NY State closed for a long time and hopefully not, though. Despite that, I’m gonna keep living my life positive and stay strong. As Sly Stallone would say, “keep punching” and I agree especially through all this mess.

Kev

Yeah, I don’t post on the blog much anymore when I should and I’m gonna try to make some posts today.

I don’t post on blog much anymore for a couple of reasons: 1) My blog isn’t really popular anymore like in the old days 2) Pretty bored with it 3) Trying to focus on other things in life.

When it comes to focusing on other things in life, that means focusing more on guitar playing, making music and going to the gym a lot. Well, I have been going to the gym a lot 4 days a week until the country lockdown.

Anyhow, I’m more active on social media like FB, instagram and twitter more than this blog.

During this country lockdown, I’m doing my best to keep busy and try to defeat boredom… doing things like playing my guitar, singing, working on music, listening to other music, doing some reading, playing video games, doing home body workouts since there is no gym and watching streaming services in the evening.

I’m still not panicking about covid-19. I refuse to give in and get all panicky. Never happening. I’m still remaining strong, positive and calm throughout this whole thing. I try to stay positive throughout this whole thing as best as possible but that still triggers people and seem to upset so many. Not sure why. All covid-19 proves is that people are weird and messed up, lol.

Anyhow, life is going good and I’m doing well. I’m still not buying into this covid-19 overhype and I don’t care if that bothers other people. Living in fear is not good.

Kev

Well, I bought a whole bunch of albums on Itunes this week. Bought 12 albums. I rarely buy that many albums but like the Instagram post says, what are ya gonna do with America shutdown and stuff, ya know? All the retail stores including Best Buy, the malls, the movie theaters and everything else are all closed. You can’t go shopping for fun stuff for a while and there’s nothing to do in this America shutdown so I thought why not defeat boredom by buying a bunch of albums just for this one time.

Anyhow, here is the list of albums I got this week:

• Phish – Sigma Oasis (their new album they just put out)
• Phish – Hoist
• Phish – Lawnboy
• Joe Satriani – Shapeshifting (new album that just came out today)
• Joe Satriani – Strange Beautiful Music
• Joe Satriani – Super Colossal
• Dolly Parton – Hello, I’m Dolly
• Dolly Parton – Jolene
• Ac/Dc – Highway To Hell
• ZZ Top – Afterburner
• Code Orange – Underneath
• Tom Waits – Nighthawks at the Diner

Yeah, I know it’s a lot but what else are ya gonna do in this shutdown, ya know? You’re getting forced to stay at home anyways so I’m bored just like the rest of you.

I already listened to both Dolly albums and I absolutely loved them. I’m not into country music much but I love the old stuff, though. That’s what real country is supposed to sound like and they don’t make country music like that anymore. I want to get into more Dolly music and admittedly, I’m getting into country music more. I guess that’s what happens when I get older, ya know? I’ll always hate today’s “pop country” but I do like country music, don’t get me wrong.

I also listened to Code Orange… a metal band that I’ve never heard of. I’ve never heard of that band until I read an interview with them in Guitar World magazine so it got me to buy their album “Underneath” and I loved it. That album is great metal and something unusual and different. I think Reba Meyers is a great guitarist and singer, she’s one to look out for.

I’m a big fan of Phish and trying to get all their records. Got their new album “Sigma Oasis” so I decided to get a few more Phish albums.

Joe Satriani has been a favorite artist of mine for years and I followed his career for a long time. Trying to collect all his records as well. Got his new album “Shapeshifting” today and got a few more of his older records which I’m looking forward to hearing. Love the Satch, he’s one of the reasons I play.

Got another AC/DC album from the Bon Scott era and got another ZZ Top record.

As far as Tom Waits goes, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time but never really bought any of his records until now so I got “Nighthawks at the Diner” first to start with. I’ve always wanted that album so I finally got around to getting it, looking forward to hearing that album this weekend. Never bought his records in the past but I’ve heard a lot of his music before. He’s great and wanna start getting his music.

Yeah, this is a lot of albums but fuck it, I’m bored, ya know? Can’t help it. I also bought 5 books to read for my Ipad. I’ve been doing a lot of reading this week too… I’ve been reading graphic novels this week but I after I finish those, I’ll get to those digital books that I purchased. Mostly wrestling books and 1 thriller novel.

What am I gonna do with no gym? This sucks but I gotta defeat boredom like the rest of you.

Kev

Ya know, over the years of my life I’ve always had other musicians acting like they’re experts and trying to be critics toward my music. Some would get into a debate that I have no talent, that I suck and there were even debates on whether or not “I’m a professional” musician. I’ve been called a hobbyist and all that nonsense.

That’s all fine and good but believe it or not, I actually do have true fans out there which means a lot and very humbling. When you’re a musician you can’t listen to the negativity and can’t pay any attention to the haters ’cause none of that is important. You just need to keep providing entertainment for the fans that you do have and that’s what I try to do. Whether I do covers or originals, there are people that actually like listening to me. I always get people asking me, when am I going to put out new covers or new originals? I’m trying. The small fanbase that I do have, it inspires me to keep working on music.

This is why I would like to release my first album for an internet only kind of release with new original music. Yeah, I do have fans… all the doubters, critics and haters will probably call me delusional and stuff like that but I know I do have fans.

Even though my politics lean more toward the right, I have other leftist people that just support me for my music and not my politics. That’s okay, I’m fine with that too and that too means a lot.

While I do a lot of covers, I plan to get back into songwriting again this year and I would like to write a lot of songs for a double album, hopefully. If I were to release an album, I’ll probably just throw it on bandcamp and release it for free.

Some of you may ask, why am I not getting myself out there in a big way when I should musically? How am I not out there playing many gigs? How come am I not trying to establish myself and get myself more well-known? How come am I not chasing fame and not trying to get myself signed to a record label whether indie or major?

Well here’s the thing… I never saw myself as a rock star. I’m not desperate to become a rock star ’cause I don’t give a shit about that to be honest. I don’t live in delusions of grandeur of being a rock star like many local musicians are living in these days.

I don’t take myself serious ’cause all I want to do is just play music and that’s it. I’m not a fame and not a popularity chaser. Sure, I like getting new listeners and enjoy it when people like my stuff but I don’t care whether or not I have a huge fan base. If I only have a few fans, I’m fine with that too. I would play music for like 1 or 2 people or no one at all ’cause I play music for myself really. It is always gratifying when people love my stuff.

I’m dying to put out an album for the fans that I do have out there ’cause I know I do have some.

I’m also interested in making a return to live performing too ’cause admittedly I do miss doing that and miss rockin’ the stage and I wanna get back into that. I haven’t played a live gig in a long time.

I just wanna play music like the rest of the musicians out there. I don’t care about the rock star dream. If that’s your thing that’s fine, just not for me.

Kev

Yeah, I’m planning a live stream show for the internets real soon myself but I thought it would be fun if I did a 10 song tribute show to David Bowie. Since he’s one of my favorite artists and singer/songwriters and since I know more Bowie cover tunes than other cover tunes, I thought I might as well do some kind of tribute show for him. I know about 6 Bowie songs that I sing and play guitar on but I’m going to learn a few more Bowie songs that I never played before. In the Bowie tribute show, I’m gonna be doing his biggest hits and his obscure songs. I just want to perform my favorite Bowie songs.

I’m going to try to find a way to make it live stream at FB, twitter, instagram and youtube all at the same time. I’m sure there’s a way to livestream at multiple social media outlets, I would probably need a special app for that and I’m looking into that.

Bowie is my favorite artist and I’ve always wanted to do a tribute show for him anyways as I think it would be fun.

What songs will I be doing by him? I’m not going to say but there will be some surprises.

This week I’m going to spend all week practicing these Bowie songs and work on the other ones I want to learn. Hopefully this show will happen in a week or two.

I’m probably gonna make the show happen in the afternoon since more people are stuck at home and out of work.

It’s gonna be fun and can’t wait to do this… and no I’m not gonna be doing a “donating” pay-pal kind of thing like some acoustic musicians have been doing nowadays. I don’t care about money when playing music ’cause that’s not what I do this for at all.

I’ll be doing more than one live-stream show… I’ll be doing the Bowie tribute first and the second live stream show will be various cover songs. Stay tuned.

Kev

So this week, I signed up for two more streaming services: Hulu and Disney+. Just went for the Hulu without ads and Disney+ bundle deal instead of that triple bundle deal. I’m keeping Netflix and WWE Network so I’ve got 4 streaming services on my Smart TV now so that’s good enough. I took a look at other streaming services but wasn’t really interested in the other ones. I find Hulu and Disney+ being the best so I went for those.

While Netflix isn’t good anymore like it used to be, I’m still keeping it ’cause I still need Netflix for “The Waking Dead” and “Stranger Things”. Also, “The Dark Crystal” and “The Witcher” original shows on Netflix are just a few shows that I still like watching on there.

I gotta keep WWE Network ’cause I still love my wrestling

I went for Hulu ’cause I wanted something different other than Netflix and I’m liking Hulu.

I got Disney+ for the Mandolorian TV show since I’m a Star Wars nerd myself. Also got Disney+ for the Marvel films and Disney classics. I haven’t really looked at Disney+ yet but gonna check it out later this evening and start adding stuff to the watchlist. Yeah, I guess you can say that I like Disney. You gotta like Disney if you want that one. Disney isn’t just for kids, it can be for people of all ages. You’re never too old to like Disney whether you like their animated stuff or live action films. While I do like Disney animated films and some Pixar, I prefer classic Disney films like “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, “Bambi”, “Pinocchio”, “Alice in Wonderland”,”Fantasia”, etc. The old stuff are great…. not really much into the newer Disney animated films with the exception of the “Toy Story” franchise. I love “Toy Story” and I’m sure all 4 of those films are on there.

Tell you the truth, though, I’m not really a TV junkie like some would think. I got rid of my cable box and for that, I needed a few more streaming services. I hate cable TV anyways and most of my TV watching are streaming services. Streaming services is the way to go nowadays. I am a binger but I don’t binge TV 10 hours a day like some people do. I only watch TV in the evenings/nights ’cause like I said before, it’s a good way for me to relax when I’m not in the gym.

Now that I have Disney+, I can start watching the first season of “The Mandolorian” anytime ’cause the show looks good. I’ll start watching that show real soon. That show getting great reviews.

Kev