TYPING 12.19 BUT YOU’LL SEE 12.31

I’m typing this blog on December 19, 2025. You will see this on New Years Ever.

Pretty cool, huh?

Every year around this time, I do my year-end roundup, and I leave it all out there to see. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I am a PR agent’s nightmare because they would want me to pretend that life is sunshine and rainbows. It’s not. But as you will read, you will see how life turned around for me and I’m feeling better than ever.

First half of this year was not good. At all. Maybe it’s because I got my hopes up when I was asked to play a Supernova gig on January 2. I thought “Cool, more gigs coming!” Not so fast. Things came to a screeching halt between January and June, regarding gigs and private lessons. I never want money to dominate my life but when you’re broke, everyone and everything pisses you off.

Facts.

Thankfully I had a good amount of store students yet I wanted pocket change. I did a session with the band Apathy back in April, had a great time shredding 16 solos (!) and being paid a few bucks. Okay, maybe things would pick up? Again, nope. All my mind would repeat was “What’s going on!?” Was I trying too hard? Apparently so.

I was still battling a two-year depression between the brutal winter and the failure of my last cd. Few people understood my feelings, most would tell me to suck it up or get with the times. Not that easy, so when you are in my shoes, you will understand. People notice the color left my face, I didn’t walk with any confidence, my voice sounded tired. My soul was tired. Simple as that.

Then on my son’s birthday, I received two messages on the same day from two different bands (and two different bassists!) about gigs. Okay now we’re moving. Then I was getting emails about “my son (or daughter) needs a teacher” and my heart started beating better again. Maybe money is the ultimate mood changer after all.

For me, it’s all about the music. Yes, making a few bucks helps. I can’t put gas in my car or buy strings with my good looks. More gigs were coming, more students were emerging…am I sounding shallow? I don’t think so. I am grateful for any opportunities that come my way. But I wasn’t feeling 100% me. What do I do?

I went on a nature hike, sat on a rock and looked up to the sky and asked “Can anyone help me?” I’m NOT a religious person but do believe in a higher power. Nothing happened right away and I didn’t expect that. But I would feel weird vibes, slight twinges in my stomach, my head was spinning…was I getting sick or dying? I was leveling up…feeling enlightened and awakened…my world changed without realizing. If this sounds like hippy-dippy bullshit, it’s not. I felt genuine shifts in my world.

I was still me but was I really STILL ME? Well yes and no. My humor is still intact, but my soul wasn’t tired anymore. My students said things to me like “Wow you look happier!” and “You’re more animated than usual.” My energy was revamped. Am I out of the woods? Not totally. But I can’t recall the last time I felt this amazing.

Maybe when I was 14?

I also noticed my circle getting smaller. People whom I thought were friends faded into the background. I hardly hear from a lot of “friends” anymore. I was rarely invited places, and now I am really left out of some events. That’s okay. My vibes are different, always have been. I’m not saying that I’m better than anyone. Just different and re-focused. People can sense that, and they backed off me. They don’t want to level up, they’d rather be stuck in 8th grade mentally. Fine with me, no judging. I don’t miss my youth at all, no reason to want to hang onto it.

There’s been more clarity in my world. It can be scary to have this much awareness and freedom. I’ve evolved past certain frequencies; I didn’t lose myself but found myself after many years of feeling like I was lost. I was never small enough for some people. Now they can find someone to stomp on and strip them of their identity.

But on a better note…

I remastered/reissued the final two albums to complete my discography on Spotify/Bandcamp/etc. Surprise surprise…some downloads are selling?! Some thought it was my new album. For some to think that, maybe my music was ahead of the curve a bit? Nah, that would be presumptuous of me to think so. But most of those songs sound fresh today as the day there were recorded 20-plus years ago.

And yes, new music!!!

Believe me, I was as shocked as a lot of people were when it was announced that work towards a tenth album was finally happening. Did I say those words on my friend DJ Metal Mistress’ show back on October 29? Yes I did. And the drummer once again was going to be Mike Sabatini, so this is a first: he’s the first drummer to play on three consecutive albums in a row. Kinda like Cozy Powell with three Rainbow albums. Am sure he’d like that comparison!

Demos started on October 1st, and with a break here and there, we managed to record eight demos, the last one on December 17. It’s nice to plow into the material, then sit back and say “Ahhhhh!” Is this my best stuff? I will let YOU decide. But I am super proud of the stuff so far. It’s very strong material, more how the last album should have been but…we know how that went, right? And we decided that recordings will commence mid-late January 2026. No release date, no timeline, just recording music and basking in the glory that is a brand new Steve Bello album.

I hope 2026 is a more harmonious year for everyone in the world. We need peace in our time but also a bit of loud metal never hurt nobody 😉