Ask any musician who inspired them to want to pick up a guitar/bass, a pair of sticks, a microphone, whatever…and undoubtedly you’ll hear the answer “The Beatles on Ed Sullivan”. But ask anyone who made them dream of being rock stars, and you’ll hear “Kiss”, “Led Zeppelin”, “Aerosmith”…

If I knew then what I know now…

This book was gifted me recently and since I was dealing with my back going out (it goes out more than me!), it was prime time to thumb through the chapters. THEY JUST SEEM A LITTLE WEIRD by Doug Brod mentions four bands that “remade rock and roll”: Kiss, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and Starz. I was a fan of the first three bands in the 70s; Starz was nowhere on my radar until years later when I met Richie Ranno at a music store where I worked. I had heard of them though. Anyway…

I am not one to spoil things for people. I found this book very entertaining, definitely eye-opening with some wild stories (it was the 70s, man). All four bands were intertwined in some way, and the competition was fierce! Never mind the bands, the managers/promoters/agents were as cut-throat…YIKES! But if you want to swim with the sharks, better wear your chain mail. And this industry is nothing but sharks.

If I knew then what I know now…

As a teenager with very lofty aspirations of making it in music, I definitely ruffled many feathers with family, friends, you name it. I was not going to let anything stop me, and I mean ANYTHING. But I wasn’t willing to do anything or ALMOST anything. After reading these stories (and hearing of others that were not written on these pages), it’s easy to see why I was never cut out for this. The word “business” is longer than “music” for a reason.

As of this writing, Aerosmith are “no more no more.” Kiss retired too. Cheap Trick are still going strong. Starz reunites here and there for local gigs. But all these bands have war stories for decades. If you want to know how dirty and nasty this business is, start with this book. As a friend told me recently, “You never made it because you’re not totally narcissistic like some artists.” That may be true but I gave it a fighting chance, didn’t I?

I wish this book came out years earlier. I would have saved myself the aggravation (and aggravating others) of trying to make it.

If I knew then what I know now…

Recently I did a Zoom interview with Evan Haga. He write blogs for Music & Arts (the store where I teach) as well as Premier Guitar. He wrote me via LinkedIn, and asked if I would be up for doing a Q&A about being a teacher.

Sign me up!

Those of you who wish to see me in a different light can head over to M&A and read about my unorthodox teaching styles…but hey they work!!! Been a teacher 28 years, and 7 of them for the store, so to be recognized for this is quite cool. Actually MORE cool than when I was trying to make a name for myself as a guitar god.

Well, sorta semi-guitar god.

Artists are a funny breed. We isolate ourselves while pouring over a new song, a painting, a novel, whatever. And then expect the rest of the world to love us and what we create.

Is it a right or a privilege to be successful/famous?

When we’re young, we’re undaunted and don’t give a damn about anything but the goal we set ourselves up for. As we get a bit older, the drive can soften and then lapse into ennui or comfortability. For some, the drive can get stronger because we’re advancing in age. We put on some weight, might lose some hair, our fingers might slow down, our voices get darker. Do we cater to such solemnity or keep pretending we have a fighting chance?

For me personally, I’m in the middle.

I had enough drive to power a small town well into my 30s/40s and a bit of my 50s. That all changed last year with the tepid response to my latest cd ACT NATURAL. I felt like “Nobody cares anymore? But they cared about the last album! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME!?” Fact is, my ship sailed. I get it. I am fine with that. That does not mean I will stop being creative. Far from it. I still have some drive but my energies are not what they once were. If I never play my own songs live ever again, fine with me. There’s no demand for it, nobody knocking on my door asking “Is there a Bello show?” or “Any new albums?”

I always created music for me. Period. And if others happened to like it, then great. I hit a point a while back where I expected everyone to dig my stuff and talk about me as much as they do any has-been hair metal band. But sad to say, Motley Crue’s drama is more palatable than any cool solo I lay down.

Maybe you are thinking “That’s selfish” about creating music for myself. You have to be a bit self-centered but not so much that you alienate people. Jimi Hendrix said it best to Dick Cavett about (paraphrasing) “Nobody writing the songs I hear in my head, so I have to write them.” Also Paul Stanley once told Dan Rather that Kiss had to be born because no other band were doing what they wanted to see. You have to step up, and in the process, risk losing some friends.

I’m down to three I think.

I’m not a stunningly original guitar player, but am unique in some regards. That can be a curse as much as a blessing. When everyone else wants to hear the same tired blues cliches or redundant metal solos, I opted to find inspiration elsewhere. Do I still enjoy metal? Yes. Do I feel a part of it? I tried but was never meant to fit in. So what’s there to do?

Write the music in my head that nobody else is doing!

Which leads to the meme above. Create music/poetry/paintings because you LOVE to, not HAVE to. People can smell a mile away if you’re phony (and there’s a ton of fakers out there). “I have to write the big hit song!” means “I will drop my pants for quick fame.” If you write something that takes off, look at it as a pleasant surprise. I was never good at calculating anything. I write songs that move me, and as I said earlier, if someone else likes them, even cooler!

Sadly, we live in a time where we crave validation on social media. Cat posts get more love than ones about new songs/videos. This is why I miss the old MySpace, as it was great for musicians. Facebook? Nope. If anything, it ruined music. Made it impossible to get traction. Twitter/X is okay, Instagram could be better too. I am not on TikTok, so I can’t comment there (aside from apparently it’s more addicting than any other platform). Does anyone go to Bandcamp or Soundcloud willingly? Or do artists have to nudge people along?

Like it or not, we have more uphill battles to climb.

Thankfully I still have my hair.

Just need to lose a bit more of this winter weight.

Take a good look at that screen shot. This is what it meant for me to be a musician. Living in the moment, playing awesome funky metal songs with two legends. One sadly left us this past March.

I had it good and knew it then.

Drummer TC Tolliver (hard to see in this pic) sent me a link the other night. We both thought there was no footage from the Germany tour back in September 2014. Bassist/vocalist TM Stevens (RIP), TC and myself did a short tour sponsored by Warwick (which is why I was playing Framus gear; and yes the guys at Ibanez and Orange were informed and cool about it). Strangely, TM didn’t want anything recorded?! Who knew at the time that his onset dementia was taking hold? Nobody did. Looking back, it all makes sense now.

Anyway, when I opened the link for the video, a shit-eating grin came across my face, which is rare. TM had played with many guitarists in his lifetime, most notably Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt, John McLaughlin, Stanley Jordan. And whether some of you like it or not, I am part of his musical legacy. I personally don’t have any legacy, but there I am, for all of the world to see now. Proof that the guitarist everyone called “delusional” got to live out his teenage fantasies of being a guitar god.

Even if it was only a week long.

We were a Sherman tank, that’s for sure. I will never forget the phone call on that hot July day: “Stevie, it’s TM! I need a guitarist for a Germany tour in September. You in?” Uh, yep. And after I hung up the phone, I changed my underwear 16 times. I’M FINALLY DOING A TOUR AT 44 YEARS OLD?! I was told not to say anything until TM and TC did first, which I respected. As soon as TC wrote on his Facebook page “We’re going to Germany”, my heart raced and sank at the same time.

This was real.

But watching this footage (which is on the VIDEOS page) also made me realize that no matter what I did after this, this was going to be really hard to top. Yes, I played great shows with various line-ups of my band over the years, ranging from opening slots with Lita Ford, Joe Lynn Turner, King’s X (!!), Blaze Bayley. In my mind, I compared every gig to those shows overseas. I was torturing myself. I should have stopped trying after that tour. It’s never going to be better than that. I made peace with it.

There was talk of another tour, this time with more countries in Europe. Jagermeister was going to sponsor it, we were to get our own bus, you name it. But sadly it never came to be. And while I never once saw this as a career move, I did think “Well, now people will take me more seriously.”

Nope.

Truth be told, very very few people believed in me. I was always met with “You’re stupid if you think you can make it” and “You’re so delusional”. Did I truly make it? Not entirely. But I accomplished more than people will ever give me the credit for. Am I delusional? I had lofty goals and giant dreams, and some of them came true. It’s not like I am running around saying “Yeah, at any second, Judas Priest is going to ask me to open!”

My path as a pseudo-guitar god led me to being a guitar/music teacher. I couldn’t be more content. The students love me, want to learn, ask me great questions, and it’s win/win for everyone. I am still creative, still passionate, but more realistic about things. I’m not what people want to see or hear on stage. I don’t fit in anyone’s perceived mold. If anything, I challenge those who see me. Even when I help cover bands out, I’m not the typical guitarist who does the “dad pose” (you know what I am talking about). Often times I hear “Wow, you’re, uh…interesting.” Which means, “I was hoping to see someone I can identify with.”

TM chose me because I’m, uh, interesting. He was definitely a fireball, a huge presence, a gigantic personality with a LARGE bass tone…holy moly! I learned a lot from him (and learned how NOT to be as well). I still hear his advice in my brain: “People pay to see the whites of your eyes, not the top of your head. GIVE THEM A MOTHERF—-N’ SHOW!”

I did my best, sir.

Another gig in the books as my “tour” came off hiatus when Evie from Evolution asked me Thursday night via text: “Can you do a gig on 7.7 at In The Drink?”

My car was packed anyway!

This came out of left-field but fortunately I have the time to do fill-in gigs as needed. We played today from 4-7 (and I got home early!) and let me tell you…this was the hottest gig I ever played that I can recall. I mean, really, it was 91 degrees with a heat index of a million. Even the canopy above us wasn’t much help. We hoped to be moved inside but no such luck.

Ah, the things you do for rock and roll.

Was nice playing with drummer Steve Adamo again. First time I met him was back in October last year at a gig in Florida, NY. So when Evie said Steve was going to fill in on drums, I said COOL! We played most of the set list, made some alterations, basically winged it as we went along. Fortunately, I know a good chunk of the songs even without rehearsal.

But wow it was scorching! I love the sun and the heat, but have to admit this was bordering on overkill. I drank enough water to grow gills. My hands kept sticking to the guitar neck so some of my solos were, well, sticky. But I pushed onward. And I went through three t-shirts again!

Can’t disappoint the golfers, right?

HUH?

Yes we played on a golf course. Well, near on but still it was interesting to play and see people wearing stereotypical golf attire. Was hoping the spirit of Rodney Dangerfield would come through. SO LET’S DANCE!! Still it was a good time, the people liked everything, and now I can finally go on hiatus until July 27 with Evolution at Tony’s Pizza.

I better not jinx things!

Now, some time ago, I was listening to “Time To Fly” on my friend DJ Metal Mistress’ show, and she always says it’s her fave song from me. For some reason, when I heard it after six years, I thought “Wow this sounds flat now!” So I remastered the whole MARBLEHEAD album. Or as I jokingly say, it’s been re-marbled. Now it sounds brighter and a bit sharper, and the difference is very apparent. It’s available for sale (download only) through Bandcamp as well as streaming platforms such as Spotify and the like.

And no it’s not available on cassette! That’s something DistroKid does because it’s cool.

Come to think of it, I forget the last time I recorded on cassette…

When you see this blog, it will be July 5. Why is that significant?

Read on…

Let me paint the back story for you in a nutshell: I was with another string company from 2017 until 2023. Over time I had grown a bit (well a lot) frustrated with lack of support. Another way of saying I was not a favorite with the rep at the time. It wasn’t like string companies were knocking down my door or sending me tons of emails. But I knew it was time to move forward, but where?

Saw a story on Instagram for this company called Strings By Aurora. I was very familiar with this brand but never thought “Maybe?” I reached out to Jake over there and he sent me a set of green 7s to try out (this was around late June). I was very much impressed with the tone (that’s important, as coated strings can sound lifeless) as well as the durability. Plus my blue Ibanez 7 looked happier with colored strings on it.

After lobbying emails and voice messages back and forth with Jake, I asked “What do you need from me to be an endorser?” and he said that I was in. Simple as that. So July 5 was the day I cut ties with the former string company and became a proud artist endorser with Strings By Aurora!

BTW: I don’t name drop because it’s cheesy. But it was cool when Scott Danough (ex-Bleeding Through/currently with The Suffering) signed on as an artist shortly after.

I might have had a bit to do with that 😉

Last night’s gig with Rock Hard at Bardi’s was off the rails!

But what’s a gig without a Spinal Tap moment?

Right before soundcheck, my footswitch broke. Under my foot! Went to tap on it and…nothing. The sound guy tried fixing it and said “It’s done, man.” So with some quick thinking, I pulled the cable out from behind the amp and my tone came back! I said to the band, “No clean tones for me, only distortion” and I didn’t hear any complaints.

Why would they? 😉

So with that out of the way, we positively ripped through two sets’ worth of classic rock/metal/grunge (and, sigh, we did “Zombie” as per a college kid’s request…her night was complete though!) Alongside our tried-and-true Zeppelin, AC/DC, Motorhead, Audioslave, we debuted “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham. Safe to say our singer Alana owns that song now. Period. Also, got to do “Dogman” by King’s X!!! Yeah, my black heart is very happy 🙂

Not a big turnout but still, those who showed up were left slack-jawed at how we all brought our A-game and then some. I am not bragging, people. When you can get people to fist-bump and high-five you during a set, you’ve done something right. And I went through three t-shirts?! THAT’S HOW YOU PUT ON A SHOW!!!

I have nothing now until July 27 with Evolution at Tony’s Pizza, so my “tour” is on hold. I need to recharge and rest my fingers. And hair.

And buy a new damn footswitch!

The pic taken on the left was snapped by Eve Lina of Evolution (more about that gig in a bit). The pic on the right was pulled from the Ibanez website (more about that soon too!)

My life seems to be turning around since Memorial Day weekend. Anyone who knows me (all three of you) has seen me hit rock bottom the first half of the year. My blogs are not meant to be downers; I only want to write about the good things. But I will say this: depression is real, people. Anyone who tells you to “shake it off” (sorry Taylor) or “get over it” will never understand the darkness you truly feel.

Enough of that…

Played another gig with Evolution on June 21, first day of summer/longest day of the year, at Westside Tavern in Ridgefield Park. Was great to have James Bruno fill in on drums, so things were hot hot hot (along with the weather). For me personally, if I can lock in with a drummer well, then I feel more confident. Most guitar players only listen to themselves, and it shows in the music. I always grooved to drums, whether it was John Bonham or Neil Peart. While I pride myself on playing flashy licks, it’s the rhythm that people tap their foot or bang their heads to. Otherwise it’s just…mud.

Singer/guitarist Eve Lina took that pic of me before we performed. There was a giant fan on my side of the floor so she said “Turn your head, look right at the fan” and snapped that pic. Goofy, yes. But I got to channel my inner Steve Vai-meets-Fabio vibe. Don’t hate me 🙂

The pic on the right (copied from Ibanez website) is going to my next purchase! I was in Guitar Center the other day and saw this used Ibanez 7-string for stupid cheap, so of course I threw down some money to hold onto it. I can’t pick it up until Tuesday because they use “police holds” on used gear but this guitar basically jumped into my hands. It’s a GRG7221QA in black burst fade with a maple top. BTW: Who names these models at Ibanez?! It’s a mouthful!!

Anyway…I strummed this guitar at the store for all of 10 seconds and that was it. I don’t own many guitars. You’d think someone of my caliber would have a gigantic collection but nope. Last time I bought a guitar was the purple Ibanez Mikro in 2021 on Black Friday. Before that was the shell pink RG 6-string in 2020! So while I love perusing guitars, I don’t necessarily have to scarf down every one I see. If one moves me, I make the purchase.

Having the money and gift cards help too!

Next Steve Bello sighting will be with the cover band Rock Hard at Bardi’s in Pequannock, NJ on Friday June 28! This will be the third time playing there and I want to see a packed house like last time. I like crowds that clap. A lot. It’s always a thrill being on the same stage as Alana, Tom and James. We will have at least 2-3 new songs to debut (one I am SUPER FRIGGIN EXCITED about) along with the mainstays.

Manifestation is beautiful!

First show of my “tour” started last night in Red Bank, NJ with the cover band Evolution. And what better way to kick the summer off than by playing at a cool room with the doors and windows open!

And a kick-ass sunset behind us!!

I hadn’t been to Red Bank in a few years. Last time was to rehearse for the album MARBLEHEAD. Now I was here to play a gig for the first time ever in this town. (I need to get out more often!)

Evolution performed at a place called Five Dimes Brewery and, true to form, they served a lot of beer. I don’t drink…uh-oh. But they had Pepsi WHEW! I am truly the Donny Osmond of heavy metal and proud of it. Anyway, the weather was perfect, the vibes were flowing, set-up was a breeze. Played for almost four hours with two long breaks in between. Think I earned my stripes.

Three sets of music ranging from AC/DC to Weezer, Harry Styles (you read that right) to Metallica…a little something for everyone. The band would extend parts of songs so I could improvise leads and it was cool. Of course, the singer Eve asked me to play “Eruption” by Eddie Van Halen. I honestly feel weird playing that. My take is, Eddie did it, leave it alone. Other guitarists try to play it and just sounds…wrong? I don’t think I play it so great but what the hell, it made the people in the room pull out their phones to take videos 🙂

The drive down was riddled with shore traffic, as to be expected. The drive home was a snap! Smooth sailing, got home 1am (that’s early!) and now here it is, Father’s Day.

Time to do nothing and like it.

Gigs can happen at any time. Especially when I’m not looking.

Story of my life.

Last night I was asked by Eve of the band Evolution if I was available for a show next Saturday June 15. Once I got my schedule under control, I said “I’m in!” So now I have three shows between June 15 and July 27.

Which means time for a string change.

Since it’s almost summer, why not go for yellow strings on my Ibanez Universe? I love these Aurora strings, really. They hold their tune and tone, as well as look cool. Gets people talking too. I like to see the looks on peoples’ faces, and to be seen.

The gigs are listed on the UPCOMING EVENTS page of this site. Two shows will be with Evolution, one with Rock Hard. Evolution does covers ranging from AC/DC to Weezer, as well as Violent Femmes, Cranberries and Alanis. Last gig I did with them back in October, Eve asked if I knew “Man I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain.

I learned it on stage!

Rock Hard, as the name implies, does hard rock, heavy metal, grunge by bands including Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Hole, Living Colour, Audioslave, etc. I like that these bands (and Supernova as well…when’s the next gig, guys?) have such a wide repertoire. I never feel bored.

So my wish to perform shows in the summer is happening. I like that.

I hope you do too.