OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR 7-STRING GUITARIST STEVE BELLO

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

What a weekend!! Actually, the whole week was great. Haven’t said that in a long time. Getting more private students, as well as more students between the two stores where I teach. Oh and I did two gigs this weekend…

Let’s recap!

Friday night was the gig with Supernova at Black River Barn. I’ve played with this band quite a few times since 2022, and played in this room about 4 or 5 times. But this past gig was one for the books. Totally insane! PACKED room, wall to wall, people singing and dancing all night long. The vibes were phenomenal; the band was the best it ever sounded (at least with me filling in) and the energy from the crowd was thunderous. Even our Ozzy tribute with “Mama I’m Coming Home” got the whole place singing along and waving their phones in the air. Before I knew it, the show was over, felt like we only played for 20 minutes. It was that much fun!!

Supernova asked for my availability, and I said my schedule is wide open. So, they will get a list of dates to me. As of now, I only have the October 24 gig with them at Lentini Farms in Newton, NJ. But if more gigs happen before and after, great! I really enjoy playing with this band, as you can tell.

Onto today’s gig with Vinyl Renegades, my first time subbing with them. Met the band, got to chatting about gear and how nice the weather is. Decent turnout, great food (that’s always a plus) and the band were impressed with how well I did my homework, so to speak. Got to do songs by Joe Cocker, Blondie, Hall & Oates, and some slightly harder rock as well.

Was really great being on stage (well, the lawn) with Deb Tote Harvey again after a couple of years. Yes she will sing a song or two with Supernova here and there but we hadn’t done a full show together since July 2022. Her boyfriend Tony filled in on bass (he is in Supernova too). After we played, the band asked me for my availability as well! I had fun with them, and again if more gigs come about, then cool.

*Oh and I got to play with a violinist today for the very first time. It was SO cool!!!!

Now here’s the kicker: I play better than ever and am way more relaxed because I let go of needing validation from people. My friends have expressed this after seeing me perform, saying that I look more chill and more focused. That’s always a good thing. No, that doesn’t mean I am ready to get a live band going to do my music, far from it. I want to do one more album but that’s it! I don’t want to sell tickets anymore, don’t miss stressing and freaking over such trivial nonsense. In the words of the late great TM Stevens: “You have to sell TICKETS? You’re a musician, not goddamn Ticketron!”

But it feels good to strut my stuff, even if it’s with covers. I am grateful for any opportunities that come my way. And I will do my best to be as pro as possible.

Even if my sneakers are pink.

SHOULD I TRY SOMETHING A TAD DIFFERENT?

**Pic from last Wednesday’s Q&A w/DJ Metal Mistress**

As I get ready for these two upcoming gigs this weekend, I realized something. Between the two bands, I am doing ninety songs!!!

That’s like, um, a lot.

I am very much looking forward to throwing down with Supernova again at the legendary Black River Barn this Friday night. And then the next afternoon will be my debut sub gig with Vinyl Renegades at Marcella Community Center. No, it’s not my music that people will be clapping to, but I at least get to play to nice crowds.

I like that.

So what about my music? Huh?

I have been listening to the demos, not to come up with melodies but to just enjoy the vibes. I’ve written some pretty cool stuff. Easy to say, really. But while it’s been two years since my last cd (remember ACT NATURAL?), the new stuff I’ve been cooking up dials back a bit on the aggressiveness but is still quite heavy. Yet tuneful and melodic, even without extra melodies on top. Which begs the question..

Should I make a short teaser with one of the guitar demos for everyone to hear?

Anyone who knows me knows that I always do rough guitar demos, recorded into the Tascam and then uploaded to Bandlab for some tweaking so they could a bit more listenable. I might do a quick fade-in/fade-out on a future blog, or even a “shorts” clip on YouTube. Think if people hear something/anything (Todd Rundgren?) from me, they might have their interest piqued?

What do you think?

I will leave a vote tab below. And will wait a week to see the results. If I get a lot of thumbs-up, then I will make a teaser clip. If I get a lot of negative responses, then I do nothing.

Now start clickin’!!!

WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO HEAVY?!

The late vocalist Paul Baloff of Exodus exclaimed something on that band’s live album ANOTHER LESSON IN VIOLENCE:

“Why you gotta be so heavy?! Why so heavy…?”

I just watched two videos on YouTube about “metal before Black Sabbath” and “metal after”, and there were a lot of bands I never heard of that were/are considered proto-metal, a term that I think is as over-used as “literally” and “narcissist”. I will post the links to the videos later on in the blog for your dancing and dining pleasure.

As far back as I can remember, I always liked the sound of a turbo-charged guitar, pounding drums and screaming vocals. Yes I like other genres too, but before I heard Judas Priest at the age of 11 in 1981, I was groovin’ to the obvious bands: Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen, Kiss, and Cheap Trick. I was “the weird one” in kindergarten onward because I was always singing along to these bands.

If I could really sing, you’d all see me perform more.

Anyway, when I first heard Judas Priest via the song/video “Hot Rockin”, I thought “Wow…look at the leather jackets…the sound of the guitars…the voice! I must know more!” Oh and my prayers were answered soon after with an Iron Maiden video called “Iron Maiden”. My mom actually walked out of the living room and said “This is noise! I hate it!”

Perfect!!

More bands followed: Scorpions, Accept, Dio, Deep Purple, Rainbow…oh this is my idea of dying and going to heaven…but wait…

Black Sabbath?! How come I never heard them before all these bands? Got me, but I bought the first Sabbath album when I was 13 back in 1983, and my ears were pummeled. THAT GUITAR SOUND!! This is where heavy metal began. Period. No dog in this fight. No room for arguing.

Soon after I heard what was considered “heavy metal”: Twisted Sister, WASP, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Dokken (ummm…no). Yeah I liked the stuff, but then a friend named Marc turned me onto…

Metallica!

Heard “Fight Fire With Fire” and I said “They make Judas Priest sound like the Monkees!” My stereo melted, my heart sped up faster, and this thing called thrash metal was perfect for an angry disillusioned 14-year-old. Soon I heard Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus…this music was made for ME!!

But then I got hip to bands like Black Flag, Venom, Mercyful Fate, Discharge…all this metal coming at me so fast and furious, I couldn’t keep up. I had to hear more of this heavy stuff, even going as far as buying an album I never heard of because the cover was cool. Did it piss off my parents? Then it came home!

And then my tastes shifted to a different type of metal in the form of Living Colour. This was called “funk metal”…what? This was a different brand of heavy, and I ate it up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Jane’s Addiction followed, then Faith No More and a band that would pummel me into submission: Pantera!

Now suddenly Metallica sounded like The Bee Gees!

So what’s my point to this blog? Simple: Watching these two videos introduced me to some bands that never hit the mainstream, or never got as far as their garage door, but for their time, there was some HEAVY shit: Proto Metal 1 and Proto Metal 2

Of course, people’s opinions of what’s “heavy” will vary but make no mistake, some of the really obscure bands from the late 60s into the mid 70s were pretty crankin’! Are they as brutal as early Metallica or Cannibal Corpse? No way. But given the time frame, I could picture brains exploding to such bands as Sir Lord Baltimore, Budgie, and odd-named ones like Socrates Drank The Conium (?) and Suck (?!) As a matter of fact, here’s the Spotify playlist created by the guy who did the videos: Beyond Sabbath

Can you tell I get excited about heavy music? 🙂

I’ll be 56 in a couple of months and still love stuff that’s heavy!!

Why do I have to be so heavy?

Why not?!

PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION

Legend has it that Prince called a bassist at 2:30 in the morning and asked him “What are you doing right now?” The bassist said “I’m sleeping!” Prince replied, “Wrong answer I’m writing songs! Why aren’t you?”

Yes I know the bassist and won’t say his name out of professional respect.

While I will never ever do this to anyone, I definitely get inspired at odd hours of the day. Could happen super early in the morning, maybe during a guitar lesson in the afternoon, or when I do a quiet evening stroll. Could also happen when a friend (another bassist!) says something that jump-starts my brain.

I wrote a song at 6:40 this morning. What did YOU do? 😉

Just when I thought “I am done with song ideas”, the muse will tap on my shoulder and said “Not so fast, Sparky!” And when inspiration is combined with a cup of coffee that has the strength of jet fuel, you act fast!!

I am learning about progress over perfectionism. In the past, a demo had to be note-correct and it would drive me nuts if something was off by a 16th note, or a chord was flubbed. For me, it’s about getting the vibes (and what my friend Laura said but won’t repeat it here as it will be the song title). I had the riffs, played with the arrangement, and had to fire up the Tascam. The timing might not be quite on the money but the attitude is there. I normally want the riffs to move a certain way but this time, I left things as-is. No fancy endings, no twisty licks, just the riffs and “sissy chords” (as the singer in Quiet Zone said to me back in 1991).

As I was recording, this feeling hit me of “You’re finding your mojo after a couple of years.” I was also feeling a new energy, or a re-connected one, and have been for quite some time with the newest song ideas that have been bursting out. I feel like Prince in that regard, always coming up with stuff, and some musicians hate me for that. OH WELL! Learn to keep up, kids!!

I had ideas a couple of years ago but they weren’t fun to listen to. Strange, huh? Not really. A few people have said I do “fun guitar music”, even when it’s heavy. I’ve been more in-tune with my inner soul than trying to impress people (thank you, Living Colour!) Speaking of Colour, this tune definitely has those vibes, as well as Zep/Aerosmith, maybe traces of Jeff Beck and yes, Prince. Bold comparisons but I can back up my words.

Every. Single. Time.

DID I JUST DO THAT?!

**This pic will make sense after you read the blog below…**

“I’m done writing songs!”

Nope.

I thought I was done. But the universe had other plans.

This morning was a bit different. I was noodling around with two chords, not in a Taylor Swift way, but more of a “let’s see if these two chords go anywhere”. Stuck for ideas, I was going to put the guitar down and tell myself “Nope, fresh out of riffs.”

However, something as simple as a trippy effect can trigger things.

I have an Orange CR20LDX amp that I bought used a couple of years ago at Guitar Center for $100. It’s long discontinued but of course, I saw it and forked over the cash. I use it to write and record ideas onto the Tascam unit. I have messed with the effects on it, mostly chorus and delay. But what about this flange effect? Hmmm…I know a lot of people hate that sound, and I don’t know why. So with that in mind, I played these two chords with the flanger on.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly things opened up. The whole song won’t have flanger, don’t worry. But soon after, other ideas came to me. When a song writes itself, it’s a wild feeling. I quickly recorded on the Tascam, flubs and all, and listened back to it. Not once, not twice, but TEN times.

That’s when I looked at my hands and thought “Did I just do that?! Did I create this really cool song?! Could it be an actual hit single?!” I don’t write songs with hit singles in mind but the way this one flew out of me, it may as well could be. I’ve been excited over song ideas, licks, riffs, etc. but today I caught myself in disbelief.

The first time I felt this jolt was when I wrote “Turn To Rust” back in 2017. It was way out of my comfort zone, had ideas of channeling Hendrix/Trower/SRV, and it came out better than I anticipated. This particular song I wrote gave me the same burst of energy like “HOLY MOLY!”

For me to listen to a rough demo so many times is also rare too. I like the new ideas that are flowing through. I truly believe that the new batch of tunes are really great. I dare not say things like “This is the best stuff to date” because that’s such a cliche (I’m a PR rep’s worst nightmare). Just because something is new and fresh doesn’t necessarily make it THE BEST. It’s good to feel excited, that rush of energy and confidence is amazing. If the public says “This is your best stuff”, then great. Not my place to say it.

But the new tunes are friggin’ sweet!!

WHAT A WEEK?!

**Tales from the basement…and a new pedal!**

This has been some week. My socials look more like obituary columns. I won’t make this blog morbid, nor reminisce about the past. It has to be mentioned though that losing Ozzy Osbourne was the blow that nobody needed or asked for. Two weeks after the final concert with Black Sabbath in England, we lost the man who, along with Tony, Geezer, and Bill invented heavy metal.

Let that sink in. It’s the truth.

My students have been asking me about Ozzy, and I’m all too happy to talk about things. Yes, they want to learn “Iron Man”, “Paranoid”, and “Crazy Train” for sure. I told them all the same thing: it’s easy to mourn but better to celebrate his life and career. What a ride he had!

Onto happier thoughts…

I had to re-order the shirt that you see in this pic. Why? I apparently misplaced it at the Jersey City, that’s my thought. When I was getting changed, I totally sweat through that shirt, and must have left it hanging somewhere in the men’s room. So, I got a new one…life is good again!

But you see me holding a new pedal from Caline! Do I really need another pedal? No but I could not pass this deal up on Amazon. For one week, this Tiger Eye distortion pedal was $21! Normally $43, so I snagged it.

Glad I did, as it’s a cool pedal. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, just does its job really well. Reminds me of the Boss DS-1 for sure, has that chunky AC/DC-ish tone when used alone in front of a clean amp. It really comes alive when you use it as a boost for amp distortion…wow! The mids jump out a little hotter, and when I nudge the Gain knob a bit to the point of saturation, yeah it’s great!! I learned that trick years ago from thrash metal bands who pushed their amps hotter with a Boss SD-1 or Ibanez TS-9. Thank you, Gary Holt!

I made a demo video the day I received the pedal. Most guitarists will be fancy and hi-tech but my videos are the exact opposite. It’s like Tom Carvel once said, “My voice isn’t pretty but it gets your attention.” (I could go for mint chip right now.) The video features me unwrapping the package and trying the pedal for the very first time. What you hear is what I hear. I didn’t sit with the pedal beforehand. Just plugged in, turned on the camera, and that’s it. A genuine “reaction” video. That’s how you do it!

This pedal won’t be a staple on my live rigs but will be a spare in case something happens. I have used it at home, and it inspired another song! I plugged this pedal into the Micro Dark and HOLY CRAP, total heaviness!! Ah, the soothing sounds of my 7-string…sigh…

What’s my age again?

I’VE ARRIVED!

I’ve arrived! How so? My friend Louis found a used copy of LAYERS OF TIME at a thrift store in West Milford, NJ!

You’ve made it when you wind up in the used cd section.

He posted these pics earlier today (July 19) and I sat at my laptop thinking “Wow, someone decided to discard my cd. But now Louis owns it!” Hard to believe that this cd came out December 2015…ten years gone! (Maybe I should have called the blog Ten Years Gone, after the Led Zeppelin song?) So while I’m feeling slightly nostalgic, let me give you some interesting trivia about this cd…

The only song never performed live is “Dangerous Heat”. The title came from when I was in Nashville Summer NAMM, and the weather man said “It’s dangerous heat outside!”
The only songs played one time live were “Postcards From Mars”, “Instant Amnesia” and “Jigsaw Mind”.
“Slippery Gypsy” came from a very vivid description of Paul Gilbert on a YouTube video.
The first song written three years prior was “Too Far Below Zero”. I had a bassist who hated the song, said it was too 80s and too simple. His loss! It wound up being a crowd favorite. The title came from a store owner in Minnesota who said the weather was “too far below zero out there.”
When I opened for Lita Ford at Starland Ballroom for the first time (August 11, 2016), I purposely started my set with the title track because it’s a lumbering piece of music that suddenly gets faster. I had to mess with the crowd who wanted to hear uptempo 80s rock 🙂
The title track came from a tv show called REHAB ADDICT when host Nicole Curtis talked about peeling wallpaper off, calling it “layers of time”. In a strange coincidence, I saw an article in the NY Times about “layers of time”. And this was the last song I wrote and recorded for the album. BTW: Lacuna Coil has a song with this title…did they get the idea from me? Bueller? BUELLER?!

Recording this album was challenging and tedious but things worked out well. Sold really good too. Having big shows opening for Joe Lynn Turner, Lita Ford, Michael Angelo Batio, King’s X and Uli Roth helped. That was when I thought I was going somewhere…little did I know.

I remastered this album last year, made it sound brighter and added a bit more reverb to create a little extra cushioning. Some of the songs still hold up for me. A couple…well, it’s like seeing your yearbook photo years later. You ask “Who let me out of the house like that?” I feel that way with some of the riffs but overall it’s surprisingly good.

The album that followed three years later blew it away though…

ANOTHER TOWN AND ONE MORE SHOW…

A former store manager used to tell me whenever I had a surprise sale that “Sometimes a squirrel backs into a nut.” Meaning, you get lucky when you’re not looking.

I need to look less often!

Yesterday I got another gig, this time with the cover band Vinyl Renegades. Classic rock, dance, pop tunes, you know the deal. But what makes this gig extra cool for me? It will be the first time since July 3, 2022 that I will be sharing the stage with my awesome friend/singer Deb Tote Harvey! We used to be in the band Naked Glory back then, was a short-lived gathering but a lifelong friendship came from it, which is more important than the music.

She asked me yesterday if her bandleader John could call me to see if we can work things out, and that I could be a sub on this upcoming August 23rd gig. OF COURSE! I chat with John, very pleasant, told me the deal with the band and whatnot. I accepted his terms, and he is aware that I’m not a typical rock player. (Curse and a blessing sometimes!) But that I will always stick as close to the songs as possible, yet my inevitable quirkiness will come through. He was cool with that.

Sent me the master song list and said “What do you know from this?” Obviously I’ve covered most of these songs, and a handful are new to me. But I am a fast learner, plus I will have a little over a month to get new stuff down. Deb told him and the rest of the band that they have nothing to worry about with someone like me. That I am pro, prompt, get good guitar sounds, and easy to hang with. The last thing speaks volumes, if you ask me.

As it stands now, I still have the August 22nd show with Supernova. And then this gig the next day. But wait there’s more…

The bassist in Supernova, Tony Buono, is also filling in with Vinyl Renegades. So we have to see each other AGAIN?!? He’s gonna get sick of me HA! But he’s excited, as am I. It’s nice to be around other musicians who enjoy my company, and not beat me over the head with “I don’t like when you do that” and “Stop playing that shit!”

Mean people suck.

While I don’t see myself fully submerged in the cover scene, I am enjoying it a bit more than I expected. I was your typical snotty “It has to be originals!” but while I am still creative and vital with writing music…if I have to play pubs and bars to see big crowds and make nice money, then fine. I didn’t sell out. I still have my integrity. And everyone knows that.

Will more gigs happen? Got me. If this squirrel backs into another nut soon, then great!

BTW: 5 points if you got the reference in the blog title.

HALFWAY DONE

So I played a gig this past Friday with the cover band CRASH. Yeah it was cool, perfect weather, outdoor gig, played for only 90 minutes as opposed to doing three sets over the course of a few hours. Not complaining at all, if anything I am grateful for any opportunities that swing my way. We’re halfway done with 2025, and for me personally, I am ready for the second half of the year.

But the first half…yikes!

I have no problem being open with people. And it’s not to sound like I’m fishing or looking for sympathy. If anything, I want someone else to think “Hey I feel like that too, and I’m not alone.” This past winter was brutal on my mental health. The year started off fine with a Supernova gig on January 3rd. I honestly thought “Okay great! I’ll get more shows with them and other bands, right?”

Right?

R-r-r-i-i-ight?

Someone shut the faucet off though. I had NOTHING happening. Spent $1200 to get my car fixed and it’s been murder trying to recoup my losses. Private lessons slowed way down to a crawl. The gigs weren’t coming as I hoped. But again, I’m not alone here. Other musicians have said the same things, that student interest dried up, as well as gigs. Clubs and bars won’t pay what we’re worth; if anything they still pay like it’s 1975 when $100 was “a lot of money”. I raised my private rates $10, from $50 to $60. I was $50/hr for 25 years. And of course, some people quibbled over $10. Yet can go on lavish trips and get their nails done.

Priorities?

On my oldest son’s birthday back this past May 20, I received two Facebook messages from three different bass players. Tom from Blame It On The Girl asked me to fill in for two gigs (one was cancelled due to rain) and then Tony from Supernova said he had two gigs for me coming up soon. Another bassist Bob asked me two weeks ago to help out Crash, which happened this past Friday. (I think bass players have their own secret society…hmmm…)

I thought I was ready to start work on a new album but nope. Just not feeling it. But the new demos are good, to my ears at least. Other musicians might balk and say “I don’t get it” or “This is too weird.” If I wrote bland shit, I’d have more friends. No thanks.

So I am hoping the rest of 2025 treats me a bit kinder.

Pretty please?

DIDN’T EXPECT THIS? (NEITHER DID I!)

What happens when you pick up a 7-string guitar, drop the low B to low A on a whim, and a bunch of chords come out?

You record it before the feeling goes away.

That’s exactly what happened to me this morning (July 3, which also happens to be my son Julian’s 24th birthday!) You will be seeing this blog on Friday because that’s when the new unexpected single “It Hurts To Laugh” will be released.

But what about a metal album, Steve?

I have the tunes, just need the money to make it happen.

My mood has been much improved over the past few months. When I wrote other ambient songs in the past, my energy was a bit low but still found inspiration here and there. Today I felt like trying something a bit different, just for fun. As a result, this piece flew out of my hands and onto the guitar.

Upon mixing it, I decided to take the same exact track, flip it backwards and speed it up so it would mess with your eardrums. This will work best wearing headphones/earbuds. Why do anything normal, right?

The title came from a Stephen Bishop song (work with me here) in which there’s this lyric: “It hurts too much to laugh these days.” So I truncated it to “It Hurts To Laugh” and without realizing it, the backwards guitar sounds like laughter a bit. Or maybe my coffee is just too damn powerful.

Upon listening to the final mix, I thought “This sounds like Mahavishnu Orchestra meets 10cc.” You might be thinking HUH?! But listen closely…you’ll get it. The forward guitar arpeggios sounded like “Birds Of Fire” without even trying. Just felt natural to play the chord progressions in a fingerpicked style. And of course, for you geeks out there, it goes 5/8, 5/8, 7/8, and 5/8. The backwards guitar was treated with a lot of reverb and ping pong delay, which reminded me of the choral sounds in “I’m Not In Love”. No joke, I love that song!

You’re scratching your head now.

I can tell.

The tune will be streaming on most platforms and can be purchased on my Bandcamp page.

And I promise, a heavy album is coming…not sure when.

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