Kevin Reeves official site

A letter of despiration.

I started to post this really long explanation of the following letter that I wrote to music industry guru Bob Lefsetz, but decided against it. I’m gonna post this thing in it’s entirety and let it speak for itself. Many podcasters and fans want to know how things are going in my career. Well, below is everything in a nutshell. The real fucking deal yall.

Dear Bob.
My name is Kevin Reeves. I’m a singer/songwriter/keyboardist living in
Nashville. I’ve been reading your posts for about the past 6 months and I
firmly believe you’re definitely right on about the current state of the
market, our music listening and buying habits, and how labels are not able
to turn their giant ship around to meet the winds of change in order to sail
in the right direction. I am writing you this letter because as an artist, I
feel I am in dire need of some advice and encouragement. I have a situation
that is somewhat different from most artists, and I hope that you might be
able to provide some insight and some wisdom, having been a part of this
business for so long. If you’re still reading, my sincere thanks for your
time. First, a little back-story.

I was born in 77, and began to gravitate toward music at an incredibly
early age. One thing that probably fueled this love of music was the fact
that I was born totally blind. Throughout my childhood, I explored every
single musical genre that I could get my hands on. By 8 years old, I had
gravitated to prog and art rock. Yes and ELO were, and still are my favorite
bands in the entire world. I could sing “Heart of the Sunrise” in it’s
entirety by 10 years old. Being a 10 year-old in 1988 and loving such bands
as the above mentioned, along with E L P, Pink Floyd, Bad Company,
Foreigner, cream, etc, put me at odds with my peers. Most kids were either
not into music yet, or just interested in the pop charts. So already by this
time, I felt irrelevant. Even though I was listening to Metallica,
Meggadeth, Pantera, Slayer, and other metal bands in Junior high, I still
felt like I was 10 years behind everybody. While I think that Metallica’s
black album was amazing in 91, it didn’t give me the same feelings as “Heart
of the Sunrise” or ELO’s 1977 epic “Out of the Blue.” During my formative
years, everyone around me knew that music was my passion, and thought I
would be famous someday. I remember taking such songs as “jukebox Hero” and
“Shooting Star” to heart, as they chronicled the events of an aspiring
musician. The truth was, I was torn. I loved the idea of moving an arena
full of fans, but wasn’t interested in the “fame and fortune.” It wasn’t
about the money. It was about the song, as you said in your post about Neil
Diamond. I was somehow aware, even as a youngster about the idea of artists
compromising one’s art in order to sell records. I didn’t want that.
Whatever I did as an adult, I knew that I wanted that to stand on it’s own.
Since graduating high school 10 years ago, I floundered, trying to find my
place. By 18, I felt like a guy who was just unthawed from a Cryogenic
state, having been frozen for 10 years. By the time I was of age to begin
pursuing a career in music, the idea of a “jukebox hero” was gone. Anyone
living in that reality was considered 80’s and cheesy. I didn’t know what my
musical direction or destiny was. During high school, I had discovered
Christianity, and thought that my be a direction I wanted to go. But even
trying to pursue writing Christian music, I felt like I was years behind my
peers. Grunge had fully taken over, and while I loved Nirvana, Alice in
Chains, and Sound Garden, I didn’t feel that I fit there either. My last
year at college, while I was attending a program on Martha’s Vineyard, I
discovered my “Sound.” I figured out what I was about, or at least what my
songwriting and musical direction would be for the moment. But by then, I
felt it was already too late. I graduated college at 27, and made my way to
Nashville, and began working on my first album, which I self produced and
released in the spring of 06. Fast forward to the present. I currently work
at a piano bar, playing such hits as “Jukebox Hero” and “Shooting Star.” I’m
working on writing for my second album. Here in lies my current problem.
While I felt that I was able to find my creative direction by 27, I feel as
though I am entirely too late to the game. Guys at 18 figure out that they
want to be the next Panic at the Disco or My Chemical Romance, and they go
for it. They have the look, the sound, the whole package. A label loves
that. They snap them up, hoping to cash in. Even at 18, I never felt that
way about myself. While everyone felt that I was Brilliant, and I would
“Make it” I somehow felt that I wasn’t “Cool” or “hipster” enough. This
feeling still permeates today. I’ve done my homework, and have resigned
myself to the fact that the 3 “majors” wouldn’t be interested in my stuff.
It isn’t cool. The closest thing I can compare myself to is Jellyfish, but
they died out in 95, because it wasn’t “cool.” So, the only thing I can do
is go Indy, or so it seems to me. The other card I feel that is stacked
against me is my blindness. I have never been one to ever use my disability
as an excuse, but I am seeing ways in which I am hindered by it. The
blindness doesn’t effect the musical side of things, but it effects the
logistics of trying to launch a career. The story of a “rock star” is that
he or she moves to town, works a job, and plugs into his/her “Scene.” Once
this individual has built up a circle of friends, they form a band, play
shows, build a fanbase, beginning the hippy lifestyle of living on the road
in an attempt to garner label interest. And even after the deal is inked,
there are no guarantees, thus the hippy lifestyle must continue until things
stabilize. For me, I never felt like I had a “Scene.” I never felt a part of
something bigger than myself, which was the spirit of rock and roll to begin
with. I’ve always felt musically alone, never being in step with anyone
around me. Currently, I have been able to use Podcasting as a means to
promote my music, but the several hundred sales of my album haven’t gotten
me any further forward. I have a few hundred internet fans cheering me on,
but I feel as though I have no team players, no one to help me. I’ve gotten
a ton of advice from people around me about the fact that I’m in the heart
of music city, and I should be calling everyone in town to try to get an
audience with someone, either a label or a publisher. I’ve read marketing
blogs and books by such folks as David Hooper and Julie Blake, but I don’t
feel that any of it applies to me. They talk about street teams, gigs, etc.
What street team? What gigs? I can’t drive around town and try and get gigs
booked or put flyers out. The cab fair would be hellacious. No one in my
circle of friends is available to help me do such things, because they all
are absorbed in their own careers, as well they should be. And nobody reads
flyers anyway. And a guy with a keyboard? Who cares. My albums are primarily
guitar, and piano versions of them don’t work as well as I’d like them to.
I’ve considered midi tracks, but everyone hates midi tracks. I would be even
more irrelevant and taken even less seriously. I can’t play guitar very
well, I’m just good at arranging guitar parts. In a town like Nashville,
putting a band together is merely impossible unless you have money to pay
the players. No one is interested in getting on board for the long haul, and
the ones that are aren’t all that great. What kills me is the fact that when
I go play writer rounds here in town, I get rave reviews from the whole
room. Everyone piles accolades on me and wonders why I’m not further than I
am. I’m not saying these things out of ego, but out of frustration. I feel
alone. I have no one to help me. From my research, a booking agent or
management wouldn’t give a damn about you unless you have numbers. It’s like
the no experience without a job, no job without experience cycle. I’ve
thought of cold calling folks in town, but I freeze up, I don’t know what to
say, don’t know how to make them care. I feel like small potatoes. I drank
the internet promotion coolade, but found that due to the fact that everyone
and their brother has a pro tools rig, myspace, a disk on CD Baby, and
tracks in iTunes,no one really cares. Music lovers are bombarded by spam
emails and myspace messages asking them to buy their record, come to their
show, etc. Notice that myspace now has a setting whereby users can disable
friend requests from bands and artists? That says more than anything about
the current state of internet promotion for musicians. I apologize for this
incredibly long and rambling email, but I am reaching out to you for some
kind of insight. Am I too late to the game? Should I hang it up, and only
pursue a writing career? Would a label even care? Should I continue going
Indy? Is there any room for a 30 year-old blind singer/songwriter? Any help
you could provide would be gratefully appreciated. At you’re convenience, I
invite you to take a listen. My debut album is entitled “It’s about Time,”
available in iTunes at
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=194608522&s=143441&i=194610462.
Thanks so much for your time, and I appreciate any advice or insight you can
give.

Sincerely,

Kevin Reeves

http://www.kevinreeves.net

http://www.myspace.com/kevinreevesmusic

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Jeff Healey dead at 41.

Yesterday morning, guitarist Jeff Healey died in his Toronto home, having lost a lifelong battle with retinoblastoma. He was 41, and was considered to be one of the great blues rock guitarists of our time. With hits like “Angel Eyes,” “Confidence Man,” and his famous covers of “While my Guitar Gently Weeps,” and “Stuck in the middle with you,” He had a sound and style that will continue to shape generations of guitarists to come. He will be dearly missed.

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Help The Freefall Effect get featured on a nationally syndicated radio show.

As you may or may not be aware, “Calling Captain Obvious,” the debut album from my sideproject The Freefall Effect, is heavily influenced by our current political climate, and is a great testament for our distrust in and disdain for the current system. Another champion for this movement for change and revolution is radio talk show host and documentarian Alex Jones. His radio show can be heard daily from 12 to 3 eastern on the genesis Communications Network as well as several AM and FM affiliates. During his show, he plays all kinds of different music as a transition into and out of commercial breaks. This is known as bumper music. Since our debut album features songs that are in line with many of his topics discussed on the show, we feel that our music would be appropriate for his audience. We have emailed his staff, but have not heard back. We’ve come to the conclusion that the only way this can be achieved is for Freefall Effect fans to email his staff and request our stuff to be played as bumpers. This will greatly increase our visibility among his ever growing audience. We would love it if you, the Freefall Effect fans, would go to this page and fill out the contact form, introducing his staff to our music by pointing them to our main site, http://www.thefreefalleffect.com, or our official myspace site, which is http://www.myspace.com/thefreefalleffect. Let them know that we have released an album that really falls in line with Alex Jones’ subject matter and would be a great addition to the lineup of bumper music for the show. When you fill out the contact form, you’ll be presented with a dropdown box listing the many different departments of his website to direct the email to. Select “Alex Jones Radio Show” so that the email will be directed to the appropriate staff members. Any help you can provide in this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for everyone’s support.

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“Calling Captain Obvious,” The debut album from “The Freefall Effect” now available on the iTunes music store.

It’s finally here. “Calling Captain Obvious,” the debut album from
The Freefall Effect is now available on the iTunes music store. Just as a quick reminder, this is a hard rock sideproject comprising of yours truly and Ian Baird. You can here song clips on the store page. Or click here to go directly to our page in the iTunes store. Enjoy.

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Website back up after damn near 2 weeks of downtime.

Finally, after 2 weeks of being down, my site is back up. This has been a crazy last 2 weeks, but I was able to see a light at the end of the tunnel, made obvious by the fact that you are reading this.

Here’s how it all began.

Two mondays ago, I wanted to add 3 domains to my web host, which at the time was iPower Web. After registering thefreefalleffect.com, nashvilleround.com, and Binauraleyes.com, I enlisted the help of Quinn Ebert to perform 3 separate instalations of Wordpress. My plan was, and still is, to run wordpress on all these sites and run them from 1 host. As soon as the php myadmin databasses were created for these other sites, everything broke. urls were pointing to the wrong sites, wordpress logins were not working, etc. After getting IPower’s tech support on the line, I tried to explain to them what the problem was, but I felt as though noone was understanding what I was trying to do. After some terse 1-line emails with the support staff, I threw up my hands and immediately signed up with Go Daddy. Then came the 2 to 3 day wait for the domain transfer to go through. There was no way for me to access the ftp site unless the transfer had been made. Once that was complete, I logged into the ftp and began to upload an exact copy of my website, which I had downloaded from my original site days before. Upon completion of the upload, I had my friend import all the databasses and edit the wp-config file for my main site. No dice. I began to get errors in the actual code of some of the actual wordpress files, especially on line 222 of the functions.php file. What the hell does that mean? So, I tried a standard wordpress upgrade, replacing all the files with new ones. Then, I ran the upgrade.php file and it completely broke everything perminantly. Now, I was presented with a 404 everytime I went to http://www.kevinreeves.net. When accessing my site with Firefox and Safari, I realized that the page was redirecting a tun of times. This was pointed out by Amanda Rush, my next enlistment in the fight to get my site back up. She played around with the databasses and the wp-config files with no luck. This brings us to yesterday. After having done some searches regarding hosting wordpress sites on Go Daddy’s platform, I came across this extensive blog post deeply detailing some issues he was having with installing multiple wordpress installs on one host. Down towards the bottom, a comment caught my attention. Transcript follows.

“Now it’s much easier using the Godaddy Hosting Connection panel. The panel can be used to install many available scrips and wordpress is one of them. It took me 5 minutes without having any experience with wordpress:

http://www.FactoryPattern.com

Posted by: FP | January 17, 2008 at 03:33 PM”

Had this been what I needed all along? Would this be the key to fixing everything? Well, yes and no. I was successfully able to install wordpress on my site, and you could indeed see the new install, but only if you went to http://www.kevinreeves.net/wordpress. Unacceptable. The site wouldn’t even load if I went into the Go Daddy control panel and set kevinreeves.net to point to kevinreeves.net/wordpress. What the hell? None the less, I had a brand new wordpress install that worked in theory. I proceeded to import all my posts, comments, catigories, themes, and plugins into the new site and set it all back to the way I had it before everything broke, intending for it to go live once again. It took the enlistment of Ernie Petrangelo to make some suggestions that finally fixed everything. First, he suggested that I delete anything relating to my old install of wordpress from my previous site out of the root of my public_html folder and leave the new install alone. When I went to my site, I was presented with the standard Go Daddy 404 page. Now we’re getting somewhere. We tried a couple of test index.html pages with great success. We now know that kevinreeves.net was resolving correctly. But why wouldn’t it access the /wordpress folder? Then Ernie had the idea that fixed everything. He suggested that I dump all the wordpress files out of the /wordpress folder into the root of the public_html folder. I didn’t think this would work because I was under the impression that either the myadmin.php database or the wp-config.php file had to reference a folder such as /wordpress. How pleasantly wrong I was. Upon moving all the wordpress files to the root, the website worked without fail. Now everything relating to kevinreeves.net works great. My goal this coming week is to successfully migrate the other 3 domains over and get their respective wordpress installs working properly. Hopefully I won’t break anything this time. Thanks to everyone who helped and endured my constant bitching for the past 2 weeks.

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Computers driving me batshit.

Ever have something so subtle, so stupid, so insignifigant, trip you up and drive you up the wierd wall? Here’s one for ya.  For the past few hours, my friend Ernie Petrangelo and I were messing around with Wordpress. We were working on updating it to version 2.3.2, and he was showing me how to use the visual editor to format your text and insert links and such. For the past 2 months, I’ve been creating blog posts using microsoft word and front page. I would create the blog post, insert all the hyper links, tweak the code, render the page to make sure everything works, grab all the raw code, paste  it to the wordpress blog, view the page, see that the code is all wrong, reopen front page, retweak, rerender, repost, repeat. It would take damn near an hour to post a blog that  should take 10 minutes to write. The visual editor would allow me to do all the formatting and hyperlinks, keeping the code under the hood and making my life way easier. The first attempt worked great. But for some reason, the Jaws for Windows screenreader decided not to recognize the main edit box where you write your blog post or webpage. Ernie pointed out that the main box that you type in was totally greyed out.  I spent hours trying to find out why this wouldn’t work, restarting Jaws, restarting Internet Explorer, all to no avail. I could have continued to use the classic editor, but the “Insert Link” button lacked the dropdown box to allow you to make the link open in a new window. How dumb. The secret to keeping customers and readers on your site is to make any external link open in a new window so they don’t navigate away from your site. You want them to click the link in your blog post  or web page, view the information on the page you are refferencing, close the window, and continue surfing on your page. Because of this, using the classic editor was out. I really felt like the visual editor was what I needed to use, but the damn thing wouldn’t work. I went so far as to put a post  in the Wordpress Forums requesting that they put a dropdown list in the “insert link” dialogue in the nonvisual editor. Then, I could use wordpress the way I always have, but be able to use the  insert link button and have it do what I want. Then, I got the brilliant idea to restart my machine. Maybe IE was so screwed up that it just wouldn’t work. Upon restarting, Jaws recognized the edit box in the visual editor, and I could finally create a blog post. Now, I can use the visual editor, taking full advantage of the many features it has to offer, including the propper formatting of hyperlinks. Go figure. Hours of pulling out my hair and wanting to throw my keyboard through the monitor, and all it took was a damn restart? Sorry for the geek rant, but it was just driving me insane.

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Drums on a keyboard?

My friend Andre Louis put up a cool YouTube video of him playing drums on Addictive Drums, an incredibly realistic sounding sample library from XLN Audio. Filmed with a Nokia N95, this video shows off one of the most amazing keyboard drummers I’ve ever heard. Check him out.

YouTube Link

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“Calling Captain Obvious: The debut album from “The Freefall Effect” now available on CD.

>It’s finally here. "Calling Captain Obvious," the debut album from
The Freefall Effect is now available on CD Baby. This album features yours truely on vocals and keys, and Ian Baird on drums, bass, guitar, mixing, mastering, and album artwork. Featuring the podsafe hit "Redemption," this album is a definite departure from anything Myself or Ian has ever done. Enjoy.

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Adam Curry’s Interview with Ron Paul.

I know that this is incredibly old news, but I’m about 100 epesodes behind on Adam Curry’s Daily Sourcecode. I just found out from Geoff Smith that Ron Paul for the 2008 presidential elections. On October 24th, 2007, Curry interviewed Ron Paul on his show. After hearing the interviewm, I thought it was great and worth passing along to you all. Click here to download the mp3. Enjoy.

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Freefall Effect weeks away from launch.

The official debut release of The Freefall Effect, the new sideproject from Kevin Reeves and Ian Baird is merely moments from release. The album has been mixed, mastered, pressed, and shipped to CD Baby for distribution. We are merely waiting on an answer from them as to when it will be live and available for sale as a physical disk, download, and in the iTunes music store. As soon as all of that is up, we will put out the official press release. If you would like to hear songs from this soon to be release project, feel free to hit our myspace at http://www.myspace.com/thefreefalleffect.

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