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Hello 2010

I know it has been quite a while since I've written anything worth posting. This is a new year. It's time to be more diligent with sharing my thoughts.

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The New Year has come. 2010. Do you feel any different?

Have you taken an ion shower? Have your wardrobe bots dressed you appropriately? Did you take your breakfast pill? It should have been ham and eggs with biscuits and gravy. A nice, hot cup of tea comes in a separate pill. Did you hop into your flying car on your way to work today?

I feel almost primitive in comparison to the expectations put upon us by nothing more than a number. I’ve never cared much for numbers. This, plus that, equals all well and good. Logic has its place. I could never be a Vulcan. I care more for feel. You know how it is. I can count on what I feel more than I can feel what I count.

When I play a particular piece of music, I do count. It’s not so much of a 1-2-3-4, as a “Uh-uh-uh-ah” in most instances. I do use the 1-2-3-4, but not as a constant. I feel where the beat should be by how it syncs with my heart. I could swear that my pulse changes to suit the music. But don’t quote me on that.

Changes are exactly what I’m thinking about. When am I not? Life is in a constant state of flux. It’s inevitable. With this “New Year,” I’m planning on some even bigger changes than before.

I seem to be coming out of a block that has lasted for quite some time. They come and go but this one was particularly annoying. Every time I thought I was free of it, it just pulled me right back under. I’m no longer allowing that to happen. Along with my music, I’m hoping to make my way back to drawing and painting. I might even get back into sculpting again. All of these are avenues through which I may channel the energies that I have been expelling into the atmosphere unused. It’s raw. It’s a waste to allow such energy to atrophy – to fritter away – uncultivated. In some ways, it can be considered murder. To neglect this living energy until it passes – ceases to be – is murder. How many times a day do we, each or us, as artists, kill ourselves only to do it all over again?

My Plan:

New years require resolutions, do they not? Well, I’ve made some. I have been smoke free for days since the first of the year. That was one of the most important resolutions I’ve made so far. I’m refusing to break this one. As a singer, it’s very important to take care of my voice. I’ve noticed a big difference in recordings from the past and my more recent work, and though I like the rasp I get in some of my heavier songs, I would like to return to a purer sound. I also noticed how much I came to rely on a cigarette to prepare me for a show. No more. It’s not easy to give it up. I’ve moved past the chemical addiction, but the psychological addiction is one hell of a monkey, and my back is tired.

More importantly, I have resolved to allow myself to embrace the creative ebb and flow rather than fight to manipulate it to my will. This will make it easy to handle the dry spells and even easier to connect with that part of myself responsible for the conception and birthing of my artistic offspring. This will keep me as close to sane as I will ever get. It will also help me to see my way from concept to fruition in terms of my projects. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is find the energy to get started on a project. Those are the projects that find and untimely death – murdered by neglect. There will be no more of this.

Next is focus and organization. I have always been the type to go with the flow. While that’s not a bad thing by any means, like logic, it also has its place. Like a river or a stream, the flow can be shaped and changed over time without creating too much of a disturbance. Then again, disturbance is good for artists. It is when we take charge of this, the flow, that we can comfortably intertwine our creative and mundane lives one to another.

Perhaps, in my own little world, I can create that utopia. It may not have flying cars, meals in pill form, robots to dress me… who needs that? It will be a place where a sense of accomplishment will grow on trees and creativity will roam free. It will be a place where I may count as I please: “1 – uh – 3 – ah.” It will be a place where change is always good. It will be unpolluted by negativity. It will be my own.

The New Year has come. 2010. I do feel the difference.

The Resident

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm helping this new venue open up to live music. Therefore, I'll be starting my acoustic residency at Bar Bizaare on Thursday, October 1st. @ 9pm. I'll be there every first and third Thursday of the month until they get sick of me and send me packing. Cool huh.

Bar Bizaare stands on the corner of 35th. Avenue and 36th. Street. There is a fantastic menu, a wonderful drink selection in an ultra comfortable space and now, live music.

Bar Bizaare:
3501 36th St
Astoria, NY 11106


ALSO:
You can find me at Sunswick every third Saturday of the month from 9pm - 1am.

25 beers on tap and a bunch of the coolest people you'll ever want to get hammered with. Trust me. I know.

Sunswick
3502 35th. Ave
Astoria, NY 11106

I'm actually play both sides of the Frank Sinatra School for the Arts.

Let's bring some more of that love to Astoria.



~Bobby Kane~

Fight to keep our New York venues open

Please read this and pass it along to every New York Artist you know. I've sent a copy of this to the White House.

Artists are suffering. Not only for their art but more so in this current economic disaster. There really is no other word that more honestly portrays the situation.

The thought of Long Island City losing Lucky Mojo's, one of my favorite places to play, is ripping the heart right out of me. We are losing our homes left and right. By homes I mean our venues and performance spaces, galleries, etcetera. Some people may say to just find another place. These people are not artists. Some may think that it’s no big deal. They may think we need another discount drugstore within site of three others.

Without the arts, the world becomes bland, cold, grey and expressionless. A sunset is a beautiful thing. It’s a natural and wonderful site to behold yet we tend to take them for granted more often than not. Seeing a sunset through the eyes of your favorite painter just makes you appreciate the real thing that much more.

In my case, I began hosting an open mic and trying to build it into the most supportive and uplifting open mic in the city. I did this in order to insure amateur musicians and comedians (and some of the pros) always had a place to express themselves and feel at home. I am also a singer/songwriter. I play a good number of solo shows and I have a full band. I play with a couple of other bands from time to time. There are many others out there like me. We live to create beauty and share it with everyone. It’s what makes us feel alive.

How can we do this if, every time we turn around, venues keep closing down because of one reason or another?

I want to find a way to keep our performance spaces open so that artists can share their gifts with the people of their town, their city, and the world.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it when I can barely pay my own bills, but I’m going to find a way to gather musicians, painter, sculptors, photographers, dancers and anyone who cares one bit about the arts and we’re going to find a way to fight this. We’re going to find a way to stop our venues from being shut down.

I could use your help. To be honest, I don’t even know where to begin. All I know is that I have to do something. We have to do something. I’m going to do something even if I’m by myself but two heads are better than one. Twenty thousands heads would be even better.

Are you with me?

Bobby Kane

a.k.a. Robert A. Smith

Tango

Shall we dance?

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As musicians, we are accustomed to being a little different than the rest or the world. Artists, in general, tend to be set apart from mundane society by our oddities and idiosyncrasies. What’s wrong with that? Not a dammed thing. It the reason we’re artists.

It’s our tenuous relationship with the mundane life that usually comes into question. Some of us can flip the switch. We can become “normal” when the time comes. The spotlight turns us back on again. Others aren’t so fortunate. They’re always on. They’re always in artist mode. While these folks tend to be considered the most true to themselves, they, often have the most difficult time acclimating to the tedious, humdrum and monotonous existence of the rest of the world.

I tend to fit right into the intermediate of these two categories. (Talk about teetering on the brink.) There are times when I can switch off and fit in amongst the norm. For the most part, I tend to always be in discovery mode, collecting and converting information into art. It’s a difficult system to adjust. I don’t always have a handle on when this change will take place and it tends to confuse those around me – those non-artists, that is.

Where does the switch lie that takes us into business mode?

The true artiste, (so they say) isn’t thinking in terms of business when they set out upon their artistic endeavors. It’s art for art’s sake. That’s what I always hear. Isn’t it? Maybe there are a few out there that venture into the world of art for the money. Some might even see a return on such an investment. For the most part, the artist doesn’t start off thinking of making money hand over fist. Those people call themselves artists but have no clue what true art is all about. The greatest profit art can give is the ability expose one’s soul in a way that brings enlightenment and understanding to all parties involved. That’s not to say that you can’t, or shouldn’t make a profit from you art, only that it shouldn’t be your sole motivation. Profiting from art for the sake of profiting from art negates the definition of art. Making a profit, as a secondary, or tertiary condition of gaining enlightenment from, and opening the gates to the soul through one’s art, this is doubly profitable.

That being said, who can say what type of artistic personality stands to gain more in, or from the capital arena? This is a question to which I have no answer. Then again, is there a correct answer? How would anyone know?

Set before me one hundred venture capitalists and one hundred random musicians and give each pairing five minutes to converse. Allow each person to take notes about their interaction with. Read the notes and they will be just as varied as the combinations. There really could be no way to know.

I would love the chance to gather one hundred venture capitalists in one location and speak to them one by one. I would take notes on every interaction and distribute them throughout the musical community. A true gift is one you share, is it not?

I know this seems contradictory but it brings me to my next point. Being an artist for art’s sake does not mean you have to starve. This is why so many of us have day jobs. A loan or grant from a venture capitalist or other organization is not free money. There is an expected return. No one is going to look at you and just give you money because they feel like it unless you have an extremely generous and wealthy uncle. You have to have the potential to make some kind of return on their investment. Weather it’s paying the money back over time, (with interest) or creating something seen as an undeniably worthwhile contribution to the community or the world at large.

The point is this. Money is a necessary evil. How you get it is entirely up to you. (I just hope it’s by legal channels.) Our world is conditioned to believe that we cannot live without it. For the most part, that’s true. Try walking into a supermarket and bartering for a loaf of bread. You’ll see just how far you get.

In the dance of life, art and money go hand in hand. Just take great care in choosing who will lead.

~KANE~

www.bobbykanemusic.com

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buy unique gifts at Zazzle

iTunes meets Bobby Kane

It looks like "Last Call" is a hit. Downloads are through the roof.  

For those of you that have have already downloaded the single, thank you. For the rest, what are you waiting for? Pass this along to your friends and feel free to write a review on iTunes. Let the world know how much you love the song. There's so much more to come. 

Check out the show schedule and stop by www.bobbykanemusic.com for even more insight.  

Find me on Facebook using the link below.

Thank you again,  

~Bobby Kane~

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We're going to be booking a lot more now that the CD is almost done. Keep your eyes out for us. Below, you'll find a number of was to become a part of the Bobby Kane world. Listen to some tunes and sign the mailing list. You'll be glad you did.

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Dumber? No.

Is it just me, or do we all get dumber as we get older?

I’ve been listening to some of the songs I wrote long ago. These were songs from my college and high school days, or even earlier. I feel like I was a better songwriter back then. I could weave a metaphor into an intricate chord structure and “BANG” a beautiful song is born. That’s the way it seems to me, these days, as I try to write a song befitting those that have come before.

How did I do that before? Oh yeah… I remember.

I must have scrapped four or five songs before that one, brilliant gem made its appearance. I wrote lines and lines of crap, over and over again before I found what my heart really wanted to say. I’ve given up on a song months before realizing that I could combine it with another song I gave up on the year before to create melodious life.

I guess, in some ways, we do get a little dumber as we get older – as worldly knowledge takes the place of inherent wisdom. I think, to be honest with you and myself, we just tend to become forgetful. My problem is that I have so many songs from so long ago and even a good number from now. When I sit down to write a song, when that feeling strikes me, I want to pour it all out onto the page and into the universe like a deluge of thought and emotion. I get frustrated when it doesn’t happen, as I’m sure we all do for it’s not so much that we can’t write but that we have forgotten that it takes time to create.

Depending on your personal outlook or belief, the Earth herself was created in six days or over a period of millions of years. Either way, it took time. Nothing is instantaneous in the process of creation. This isn’t magic. Even magic needs prep time.

The hardest thing for me to do is walk away. (If only you knew my relationship history… I digress.) Sometimes, in those moment when the flow of your creative stream seems diverted or blocked, the best thing you can do is walk away. I have found that sitting with it and trying to crash through the wall might just make things worse. Walk away. Think on it or throw it out of your head until later but don’t frustrate yourself more than is necessary. There is no instant gratification in the creative world.

I really needed to tell myself that. I will need to refresh my memory from time to time. So… maybe we’re not getting dumber. Maybe we just become forgetful. We forget the work that went into creating your work. We become impatient. Relax. Everything has its time.

I’m going to go back to some of my old ideas. It’s time to reexamine them and see what comes of looking at them with new eyes.

Another security feature protecting my creative sanity is the joy of having connected with so many wonderful musicians. I’m looking forward to collaborations with people like Jaclyn Shaw, Jason Vitelli, Katie Letts, Christina Anicet, Tracy Thorne and so any others. They’re wonderfully talented people, every one of them. Also, my new musical family is a huge help in opening my creative floodgates.

Thank you Lindsay, Jason and George. I’m so happy to get to play with you fantastic people. Maybe I’m not getting dumber after all. ~Kane~

FEAR Part II

From conception to fruition, how long into the process of creating and living your first dream do you begin to feel like the sky is falling, the walls are closing in and your face is covered in brick dust from hitting the preverbal wall.? 

 

When does that feeling go away?

 

I’ve been dreaming of releasing my own music for a long time. I’m actually old enough to remember when CDs first made their appearance to the music world. My first CD was “And In This Corner” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Every since, I’ve wanted to make one of my own.

 

I’m thirty three and I’m almost completely finished with my first. I’ve been saying almost for a long time. It suddenly dawned on me, as I was listening to a couple of my tracks on my iPod to figure out where my adjustments needed to be made, I’m really doing this. It was like a Jacky Chan kick to the face. That’s when everything shut down. I have two songs to complete. One is half done and the other is just about ninety percent there but I just can’t get them to sound right to my own ears.

 

I tried laying down the vocals on the half finished song and became so frustrated with the fact that my voice sounded so horrible to me that I tore up the lyrics and vowed to rewrite the song to suit the way I was feeling about it. That was almost three months ago.

 

The song that’s ninety percent complete just sounds like crap now that I compare it to the rest of the work I’ve done that I want to start all over again but I’m too afraid of trying to do that only to make it worse.

 

These are the times I wrote about in a previous blog. The fear takes hold from the inside, corrupting and contaminating everything your mind touches. The key is to realize that it’s all just an illusion. It’s easier said than done, especially when it comes to such endeavors of the soul.

 

I tried explaining this to a non-musician and, after a couple of hours of discussion, I came up with a great way to describe it.

 

Take your favorite thing. It has to be the one thing in this world you can’t live without. Now, let’s give it life. We’ll give it sentience – a soul and you can name it. Nurture it. Care for it. Watch it grow and learn and develop as you do the same. Become as one with it. Now, let’s tie you to a wall and set it in the middle of the room before you. A masked figure enters the room and begins to beat it unmercifully as you watch helplessly. It struggles but cannot fight back. It just wont die. It squirms and twitches, flinching with each swing as it cries out for you to help. The figure removes the mask only to reveal your face. It’s not a copy. It’s you and as the you that is and the you that was looks down upon your precious, beloved “it”, it’s face is yours as well. That is about a tenth of the feeling of this creative block.

 

(I just scared myself. I mean… who thinks like that? I really need to finish writing my book before someone thinks I’m a danger to society.)

 

I had experienced a long drought – writers block – some time ago that depressed me to the point of wanting to throw in the towel. Try as I might, I could not put two lines on paper, come up with a melody or even find two words that would rhyme for some time. I couldn’t understand what was damming the creative stream.

 

I started listening to my iPod without using the play lists. I set it to play all songs and shuffle. I pretended it was a radio with only one station and I had to listen. The songs that I would normally skip until I felt the mood to listen to them would play and I would listen. My favorites would play and I would listen. Then… one song shone through as just what I needed to hear. I remembered when this song first played on the radio. I remember I was cleaning my parent’s backyard and listening to something that made me feel like somebody get’s it. It was Sunshower, by Chris Cornell.

 

I automatically hit repeat. I must have listened to it about fifteen times in a row before I realized how the time had passed, all my work was done and I was just sitting on the side of the bed with that feeling of just having been on a much-needed vacation. It was a feeling I’ve always wanted to produce with my music.

 

I’ve gotten close. I’ve seen it in the eyes of some of my listeners. I picked up a pen and started writing. I started humming. I started writing to what I was humming. I started feeling and it was good.

 

You never know when or where these sparks of inspiration ignite your innovative fuel.

 

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that there will always be a way out of a dry spell if you’re open enough to find it. No matter what, you should never let yourself be tied down and don’t allow yourself to feel beaten because the only one that is beating you, is you.

 

I guess the only one beating me, is me…

 

Pardon me. I have some recording to do.

 

~KANE~

Gigging in New York (Experience)

Venue Review I & II

 

So… you’re a musician, ready to play and looking for a gig. I’m sure you’ve already found a load of articles on how to book shows or have at least gotten a bit of information from venues on what you need. One tip I will give you is this. If a venue has information on their website on what you need to do in order to book a show, read it. Don’t just skim. I used to have a bad habit of doing that. Follow it to the letter. It will work in you favor much more so than just sending them a CD the might never listen to without seeing other things for which they’ve asked.

 

This is about my personal experience with some of the venues I’ve played. I’ll give you the good and the bad as I’ve seen it.

 

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Section I – 169 Bar, Lower East Side, NYC

 

As you travel around, if you’re familiar with the city of New York, you’ll notice that some of the best venues are no longer around and it breaks my heart. Places like The Baggot Inn, The Elbow Room, CBGB’s, The Lion’s Den, Downtime, have all vanished into the mist for one reason or another.

 

One place that seems to be hunting and trapping a lot of artists in the city is 169 Bar. I remember receiving a message in my MySpace mailbox saying they wanted to book me. Well, I had been gigging for some time but I had never played there so I made contact with the booking agent, set the date and time and proceeded to promote.

 

I had asked about a cover and was told not to worry about it. I should have known then that something was up. The person to whom I spoke didn’t say there was no cover. He said “Don’t worry about it.” I was too excited about playing another new venue to pay attention.

 

Along with that, they offered, through Lower East Side (LES) Productions, to take a video and give me a DVD of the show for $35.00. Hell yeah. That’s awesome.  I can’t wait.

 

Come the night of the show, I enter to find the bar is just Dive enough to look cool. The performance space – stage, if you will – was set in a corner with your back to a huge window. The house gear was kind of beat up but that happens. The acoustics weren’t spectacular but we’re not playing Carnegie Hall. (yet) . Someone said to me that the sound guy was also part owner. I never found out if that were true but if he was, I don’t know where he got his business sense. He barely paid any attention to us. He didn’t give us any sort of real sound check and off we go with out first song.

 

Some of my friends came in as we were setting up so I didn’t have a chance to talk to them. A few more came as we were playing the first couple tunes and more still half way through the set. People are late to gigs from time to time. It happens.

 

Our time was up – quicker than anticipated. Our set was cut a bit short because they started us out late. I was almost glad because the sound guy still paid no attention to our needs. I wasn’t happy to be cut off because we were promised a full set.

 

One of my friends comes over to me after to inform me that she was charged $10 at the door. Another said the same. I asked about it and the booking guy – who also happened to be the one taking the video – said that he told me about that. NO. Wait a minute. Weren’t you the door guy too?

 

I pack up my gear in a huff as this same, multi-talented man walks over and hands me a mini DV cassette. What am I supposed to do with this? He tells me it’s the “Industry standard” format for video. I don’t give a fuck. Where’s my DVD? That costs a little extra. “FUCK YOU A LITTLE EXTRA!”

 

I nearly gave up on performing that night. To top it all off. Some of my friends weren’t even counted at the door because the came a bit late into the set. The still paid. I didn’t even argue. I just got the hell out of there and vowed never to book there again.

 

I have played there after that; only because I was sitting in with friends that were booked there and had asked me to play with them. I’ve heard that things have changed a bit there but that whole thing about being once bitten holds very true in this case.

 

 

Section II – The Bitter End, Greenwich Village, NYC

 

There is a reason that this place is world famous. It’s reputation is well earned and though it’s a bit intimidating for some, I would tell anybody to play here if you want to know what it feels like to be a star if only for one night.

 

6:00PM – Hanging out, outside the door with my guitar slung over my shoulder in an old, beat up gig bag, my amp and a half smoked cigarette, I felt cool. I looked cool. I should have had someone take a picture. It wasn’t me. It was the place.

 

I’ve sat in with bands and I’ve come to see bands at this place and each time I think I know what to expect but it gets me every time. That kick in the chest from the invisible centurion asking you if you think you’re worthy. It’s not butterflies. It’s pterodactyls fighting to the death in your gut. What a great feeling.

 

I played there back in 96 for the first time. My old band was a fun little project and we weren’t super awesome or anything like that but we  loved. We set up and did a sound check. It was quick but it was thorough and we were amazed at how we sounded when we took off into our first song. All the way through the set, I could hear the minor adjustment made by the sound guy. Most people would never have noticed it but I always pay very close attention to things like that even when I’m in the audience.

 

When we came down from the stage, the transition was smooth and elegant from show to business and back to fun. I stuck around to hear some of the other bands and we were treated like any performing musician want to be treated by a venue – like we matter. I’ve played there several times, sitting in with other people and it has never changed. My friend Jason Vitelli had his CD release at the Bitter end this past year. I played with him n a couple songs and got the same feeling all over again. Not only was I playing with a fantastic musician but I was in a place that felt like heaven.

 

I’ve never felt shafted or slighted, neglected or out of place at The Bitter End and I recommend to any musician that’s any good, can draw a crowd and wants to know what it feels like to be a rock star, look into playing The Bitter End. Once my CD is done, I’ll be holding my release there as well.

 

Also… look for Jason Vitelli’s CD, No Photographs on iTunes. You’ll dig it. To find out more, check out www.roomfulofsky.com or www.myspace.com/jasonvitellimusic online. You can find them through my website as well. www.bobbykanemusic.com

 

~KANE~

GOAL?

Setting goals is something that just about everyone does. The true test is how many of us follow through.

 

I’ve set a great many goals for myself throughout the years and, much to my dismay, have followed through on very few. For a long time, lack of self-esteem and fear of failure made it very difficult to have a positive outlook about things that were not sitting right in front of my face – things that had already proven themselves unlikely to jump up and bite me in the ass.

 

Fear is a killer. It’s like a poison that gradually works its way under your skin, into your blood, corrupting your mind, heart and soul piece by helpless piece until you whither and die inside. It had been sickening me for so long; I forgot what it was like to feel.

 

Slowly, that has been changing. I’ve noticed myself taking more chances and following through on more of my goals. Baby steps seem to be working.

 

When I was younger, my greatest fears were of being accepted or not being accepted. Both sides of that coin frightened me. I found, in the latter stages, my biggest fears centered on money. If I buy this, or invest in that, would I have enough to live? What happens if I have to move, or lose my job? These questions plagued me without cease. To a point, they always will. What does happen in those cases?

 

I’ve gone from having a great life with a healthy income to not knowing where I was going to sleep or if I would have a roof over my head. I know what that’s like. I’ve picked up the tab for my friends at dinner. I’ve also accepted scraps as my only source of a meal.

 

You would think that living through such extremes would cause me to go crazy and hide myself from the rest of the world, or worse. No. That’s not me.. I did get close to packing it all in and giving up. When music is you blood, you would be surprised how many time you feel that way but you can’t do it. Not only did these experiences fail to break me, they have strengthened my resolve. Though, at times, I still find myself ravaged by fear, I have been able to push through in many cases and take calculated risks.

 

“Don’t be afraid to take that big step. Lucky Numbers 4,8,16,24,36,40”

 

Those words were hidden inside one of the best fortune cookies I’ve ever eaten. I keep that fortune with me. I’m beginning to listen to its message. Instead of running to the edge of the precipice and leaping into the mist, with no sight of the other side, I’m setting little goals for myself – building a bridge across the abyss – constructing it stone by stone. Though I would rather fly than walk, I would truly rather walk than splatter.

 

My newest goal it to obtain another show quality guitar – one that I don’t have to fix every five minutes, and a new amplifier. I love Line 6 amps. I’m super picky about guitars. Epiphone/Gibson and Jackson have been my absolute favorites for as long as I can remember. Schecter has been impressing the hell out of me lately. Thus, my current goal is to obtain a new Line 6 Amp and a Schecter, Diamond Series guitar. I’m giving myself two months to make it happen. That’s not to say that if it doesn’t happen in two months, I’m just going to forget about it. I’m giving myself the deadline in order to push myself to make it happen. I’m also holding fast to the mental attitude that it has already happened, it just needs to manifest before me. You wouldn’t believe how well that works and how much good it does for the soul. The effect as well as the affect of such a positive, self-reinforcement is immeasurable.

 

The fear is still a factor but I’m growing ever stronger. I shall endure.

 

 

~KANE~