Remember the Jammy Awards show that I talked about which is being taken place at Trickshots later this month? Well,  there’s another similar event already going on with the similar name. There’s a much BIGGER “Jammy Awards” show in NYC… check it out, here.

Here’s a couple of questions that I’m wondering:

1. Was Tier One Talent, the organizer behind the Jammys at Trickshots aware of prior use of the copyrighted name of “the Jammy Awards”???
2. Did Tier One Talent already know about the one in NYC and they stole the idea?

Just wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention.

Kev

I don’t have a lot of experience in playing in full bands at actual gigs. As a matter of fact, I have no experience at all in playing in a full band. I have more experience of playing solo acoustic gigs so I think that gives me the right to talk about how bands use gear at live shows. I have seen so many full band gigs and have been part of the music scene for years so I have the right to talk about this stuff all I want to.

You see… it is pretty amazing to me on how a lot of bands are pretty careless about their gear. Gear is probably the most important thing in your music career. You must take gear and equipment seriously. I have seen lots of bands that continuously have technical issues when playing on stage. Partly because a lot of musicians are pretty careless about their gear. If you want to prevent technical issues at your gigs… then you must take more responsibly and have more care for your gear.

Bands always make the mistake of bringing just one piece of instrument. They always bring one guitar, one amplifier, one bass and everything else. The key to preventing technical issues is that you must always bring spares. Bring spares of everything. Don’t always bring one instrument and one amp. Always have an extra one. Bring extra instrument cables, microphones, etc. That way if things go wrong and if your instrument/amp goes out… you can quickly replace it. Spares are pretty important. I see lots of bands that don’t bother bringing spares. When something goes out… another band will let them borrow their equipment. It’s always important to bring extra spares of everything ’cause there will be a point where other musicians won’t be able to borrow their stuff. There will also be times where you won’t get a hold of anyone to help give you a replacement… so keep things in mind.

Also before performing the gig… you must make sure everything’s working correctly. Take better care of your equipment. Don’t store your instruments in places where it has bad temperature. Instruments can go bad when you store them in very cold and very hot places. Don’t be rough on your gear… handle them with care especially the more expensive gear. It’s amazing to me that a lot of bands don’t take care of their equipment.

When you’re on stage and when you need to set your guitar down for something… set ’em on a guitar stand. Bring guitar stands. Don’t lay them on the floor or have the guitars or basses leaning against the wall. I see this stuff at band shows pretty often. Guitar stands shouldn’t cost that much.

Also, when you’re buying gear for your shows… don’t always buy cheap equipment ’cause they are bound to go bad quick. When you want to play in a band on a professional level… you have to look like pros and not amateurs. Buy good gear. The good stuff that sounds good. I’m not saying that you have to buy equipment around the $1,000 – $5,000 price range… all you need are guitars/amps that are around the $500 – $800 price range. Don’t always use the same guitar and amp all of the time ’cause the more you play on it the worse it gets.

Get yourself a good soundman who knows what he’s doing. If the venue you’re playing already provides a soundman then that should be good enough.

Another way to play a successful show smoothly with no problems is to never take a long time tuning between songs. I see bands do this and they really need to stop it. Take a long time tuning in between songs. Nobody wants to hear this. The audience is there to see you rock out… not to hear you waste time tuning. I understand certain songs are in different tunings but to avoid tuning for a long time in between songs then you must think about using more than one guitar. Tune the other guitar that the song is in and you can easily switch instruments without having to worry about tuning. Other options that you can do… there are all kinds of tuning equipment that will tune you automatically or even better you need to learn how to tune more quickly. You need to practice tuning quickly and silently at home. Learn to practice tuning by ear.

When I go see a live band show… I’m paying good money to see them and I expect them to run it smoothly but a lot of them are pretty lousy at running a show. They play the music good, indeed but they need to take more responsibility for the show itself.

If things go wrong and things don’t go smoothly… you will make the audience bored and disappointed. They could walk back to the bar or leave the show and the next thing you know… you’ll see the people talking all kinds of negative stuff about your band online ’cause you didn’t run it smoothly. You don’t want that would ya?

I have good enough equipment to form a band of my own. I have a few professional amplifiers and a few guitars actually so I’m all set. I can form a band or join a band anytime I want to now.

This post isn’t directed at any band in particular… I’m not calling any of them out. I just want to see them run their shows better.

Gear is pretty important, folks. Don’t always act like they’re nothing.

Kev

While there is a lot of local talent around here from acoustic acts to full bands and the music scene here is lacking, there is a lot of local media around here trying to promote local music. The internet is pretty big for local music. There are plenty of online websites dedicated to promoting local music and there are other promoters trying to promote local music on various blogs too. Not only the internet promotes local music… we also have a few radio stations and sometimes TV helps promote local music. Of course, we also have local newspapers/magazines that try to help.

I appreciate that these people are trying to promote local music the best they can and trying to get us recognized as a music scene… but to be honest, I pretty much find most of these local media outlets around here is garbage. I find the local media around here to be a smaller version of Rollingstone and MTV. Journalism around this area can be just as horrible.

There is a couple of things that bother me about local media trying to promote local music:

1. There are too many talented musicians and bands around here struggling to get recognized but local media completely ignores them.
2. So called journalists and radio hosts around here like to make themselves look better and smarter than the artist they’re trying to promote.
3. During interviews… the interviewer can never think of original and interesting questions. I’m sure musicians are getting real tired of getting asked: “When did you start playing music?”, “How did your band form?”, “What is your songwriting process like?”, “What music artist influenced you?”, “What is this song about?” etc. blah blah blah, you get the deal.

So if you’re a music artist or in a band… when you get a write up somewhere online, in the paper, or had an interview on the radio… do you think these guys really care for you? I don’t think they really do ’cause all of these companies care about is money pretty much. The thing is… local media would promote an artist or band only if they created a huge buzz in the scene. If you have a large following and get a buzz going… that’s when the local media will eat that artist/band up. They obsess with bands/artists with a large following or if they got a buzz going ’cause they know that will help sell their newspapers, get more ratings for radio or more views for their websites. That’s all these phonies care about… period. End of story.

It’s not really about how talented they are or how good their music is… it’s about the popularity they obsess with. They ignore the struggling and lesser known musicians ’cause they know that the struggling musicians won’t help sell.

Now somebody will probably come around and call me jealous but I’m not. I’m only speaking from experience about this stuff. I’ve had write-ups in a few newspapers before and I did a radio-interview once–to be honest, I don’t really like how they all came out. You expect the interviews or write-ups to be the way you want it and hoping it will come out good but it’s usually how they want it. The local media is really about promoting themselves and not you. Right? Think about it. When you get a write up or an interview… they are the star and not you.

I don’t do a lot of interviews ’cause nobody really asked me and I don’t really care to do them. If I was ever asked to do an interview… I’d be all for it but it must be worth it. I must warn you, though, if I was ever interviewed for a newspaper or radiostation or whatever… I’m gonna be no different like you see me on here. I’m still gonna be outspoken, honest, tough, and controversial. If you don’t like me on the internet, you probably won’t like me in person. I’m the same guy… on the computer and off.

You see, when I promote artists and bands on my site sometimes… I tend to do tings a little differently. I promote artists and bands not because they have a large following and they got a buzz going. I promote them simply because I dig the music. If their music is good and they got my attention… then it’s worthy for a shout-out on this blog.

I know I started a new thing a while back where I was going to review stuff from bands/artists around this area and the world but I honestly stopped doing the reviews of local acts ’cause too much stuff kept coming in and it got a bit overwhelming for me. I didn’t have time to review every project that was submitted to me…and on top of that… most of the stuff sent to me weren’t that good anyways. I’ll still review local bands/artists and promote their stuff on here but only if I “dig” the music and think it’s worth it.

Back to the topic of local media, I’m not bashing the bands/artists… I’m bashing the journalists and promoters around here. They don’t do it well. They really need to let the artist/bands get a chance to shine instead of jerking themselves off, ya know?

I’m a big local music supporter. I respect all talent… in all levels and all styles. They don’t have to be popular acts either.

Local music shouldn’t be a popularity contest. We’re not celebrities or rock stars and that’s how local media treats musicians around here which is laughable, in my opinion. If you want to promote local music… a true way of supporting the scene… then set your ego aside and support it all. I mean all of it. Stop being so opinionated and respect all talent — even me. In my eyes, there’s no such thing as a “big” and “established” acts. We’re just musicians enjoying what we do. That’s it.

Kev