New England

Journalism vs Blogging (RE: Opinionated Man)

Posted on by kevinthemusicguy

This blog goes as a shout out to the brilliant blogger Opinionated Man who has helped influence my blogging prose since I began reading his posts close to a year ago.

I can remember reading his post “Journalism vs Blogging” in February and the point that OM brought up was that he heard most Journalists don’t get paid very well and are “a dime a two dozen.” And as a Journalist I can confirm that as the truth from my own personal experiences. Most of the jobs directly available in the Journalism field are for editors, stringers, and sports writers. And as a Music Journalist I am not in a very lucrative position for any of those jobs.

And like in any field, you have a lot of competition out there. So being punctual and having strong active voiced writing is what will benefit an upcoming writer the most. Because I wasn’t punctual it’s been over a year since I’ve had an article published. That year has felt like an eternity in purgatory  That being said, I’d like to get back in the game again to help get my name out there.

As such, I will soon be buying a blog domain and naming it “Arts and Ethos of New England” for the online arts magazine I want to start someday. I am doing so because I want to be my own boss, and the best kind of non-paying work to do is your favorite hobby.

The purpose of this magazine will be to help up and coming talent get their name out to the world. As a Feature Writer I figure everyone has an interesting story to tell, and I want to make it my job to make sure they get heard saying it.

-Tatteybe

Life Reflections on a Saturday Evening

Posted on by kevinthemusicguy

In New England, the days grow shorter and the warmth of the sun fades to the cruel cold of winter. Many of my friends are blinded by the majesty of Pumpkin flavored everything, the spirit of Halloween, and the historical significance Thanks Giving can hold for people from New England (Mass especially). People from out of the area love the scenery and the tourism that Autumn offers, but don’t know it as well as those who were raised here. Personally, my favorite season is Summer and I’d love to move to a state where it’s above 70 degrees year round because I can’t stand cold weather.

However, New England is where I’ve lived my whole life and probably where I want to go when I get buried many decades from now. I still need to travel to many other majestic locations around the US and around the world. But for right now, I am happy to have a full-time job and to be alive. I still feel a lot of angst over being single, but I think I’ve accepted my plight in that I just should be patient, meet new people, and see what happens. My FB friends would know I’ve been complaining a lot about my personal life as of late because I was loosing patience, but thanks to their help I’ve found my center again and I will continue to see how things go.

A few hours ago I was playing my bass along to the isolated bass track to “Schism” by Tool, and I put my bass down feeling depressed. I was depressed that I’ve spent a year learning a song that I don’t even care much about anymore (there are many BETTER songs by Tool). A little bit later as I was waiting for my small pizza to be delivered for dinner, I went on Facebook and found this video on the Breaking Benjamin FB page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151932163383168

It’s a solo guitar and vocal video of Ben Burnley playing the single “Dear Agony” from their 2009 album of the same name. I hated the song when it first came out, but in retrospect the lyrics speak to my inner pain that I’ve experienced over the last eight months. This performance moved me very heavily as I just want to sing in unison with the singer and express my feelings to the world. And as that vision occurs to me, I also realize that I have the dual gifts of my words and my voice to express how I feel, and who I am to everyone.

I love music, and it loves me. Though the days grow shorter and colder, I know that music will always be there for me; for it is the only art medium that I know that can appeal to multiple human senses and emotions.

-Tatteybye