Typing this on August 31 at 2:53pm, so you will see this tomorrow September 1st.

I’m from the future!

The year is 3/4 gone and as we all say in unison: “THIS WENT FAST!” The summer especially sped by like it was caught robbing a bank. For me personally, the first few months of this year were honestly a pain in the ass. Slow and croaking along, felt like there was no end in sight. But once Memorial Day weekend hit, my life just went ZOOM!

Actually played some real live gigs! Mother of all things holy…I strapped on a piece of wood with strings, made noise and a few bucks too. While it’s okay playing cover songs (I still say cover bands are way more cut-throat than original ones), I want to get back to doing my own music. But not so fast, Sparky…

I will never lie to anyone: my confidence was shattered real bad due to the lack of warmth surrounding my last cd. I was proud of it, and can still be, but I equate “albums sold” with “good stuff”. Not so. There are moments on that album where I can say “That was some cool shit” but other parts, no. Some of you may say or think “You’re being too critical” and you’d be right. But I tried a bit too hard to write super-heavy music and it didn’t click well with people. I own up to my errors and am hoping to right the wrongs.

But as I always opine, I can’t and won’t force things to happen. A few blogs back, I expressed interest in trying my hand at a funk/fusion thing, and while I had some decent ideas, my black heart still wants things heavy. Doesn’t always have to mean gobs of distortion. More about conviction and attitude. If I don’t feel it, why play it? A funk riff here and there is cool, but too much of it can be monotonous. I still enjoy the new Cory Wong album but to do a WHOLE album like that? It wouldn’t work for me. Maybe more fusion elements? Yeah I can do those. But again…if there’s no balls behind it, what’s the point? There’s plenty of room-temperature artists out there.

You spot ’em, okay?

And while I won’t make any stellar predictions at all, I do feel a change is coming. What it is, I have no clue. Could be a false alarm and I continue my life as a basement dweller surrounded by guitars, amps, and cats. Or the muse might say “Okay Bello, you did your penance, here’s your reward.”

I’m pretty friggin’ deep for a metal player, huh?

Or am I not metal enough?

I simply don’t care anymore.

I write and play MUSIC.

Period.

I never set out to be an instrumental artist. It all happened purely by accident via my Ibanez endorsement 21 years ago. I used to do instrumental demos in the hopes of finding a big-named band but who knew that it would ultimately by my so-called career?

Certainly not me.

When I would play in bands during my awkward high school and college years, my dad would tell me “Ditch the singer, go instrumental.” I would say “Well, you need a frontman to get noticed, get signed” and all that. I always had this inability to work with singers. I can blame myself because I am stubborn and want the attention. Some singers were damn near difficult to be around and work with (or work FOR, depending on how they over-estimated themselves). But still, if I wanted to make it, I had to be in a band with a vocalist.

Or so I thought.

After I did the first album TWISTED METAL in 2003, a funny thing happened. It got nice press. People said they liked it, but added things like “It’s kinda weird”. What else is new, right? Did I think I would do a second album, a third, etc, up to a ninth?

Certainly not me.

As a teenager, I was sucked into the whole Yngwie Malmsteen thing and it was easy to see why. Then I bought albums by other instrumental artists and ultimately thought “Where are the songs?” I can see why some people can’t dig instrumentals but it was all the rage in the 80s with Shrapnel Records.

Know what’s weird? I wasn’t crazy about most of those albums on that label. Boring as toast for the most part.

However…

Upon hearing Joe Satriani’s SURFING WITH THE ALIEN, I thought “Now there’s songs along with crazy guitar work!” Of course, another benchmark called PASSION AND WARFARE by Steve Vai, who was once a student of Satriani’s, really spun my head around. Still never thought I could be an instrumental artist.

I check out instrumental albums on YouTube and honestly, nothing grabs me. Some things are cool but again, if I can’t tap my foot to it, or do the slow mile-wide headbang, forget it. I am a fan of Steve Steven’s MEMORY CRASH album. Two songs have vocals but overall, the album has really incredible guitar work! And the tunes are cool!

So will I ever have vocals on a song? Probably not, unless Freddie Mercury or Ronnie James Dio come back from their graves.

Maybe if Mike Patton isn’t busy…or Corey Glover.

I don’t have that kind of money though.

So I stick to doing instrumentals.

How do you love something that never loved you back? Easy…you don’t argue, don’t over-explain, just walk away and close the door.

That’s exactly what I did after the failure of my latest cd.

Also, not being accepted by the gatekeeping metal world forced me to re-think things. Do I still love heavy music? Absolutely. It’s in my DNA. But after years of hearing “I hate when you do that” and “Can’t you write something normal?”, it’s time to give up the ghost. Like Ricky Nelson once sang, “Can’t please everyone so you gotta please yourself.”

Been listening to Cory Wong/Vulfpeck, Mark Lettieri, High Fade and other funky acts as of late. Maybe it’s the pompous ass in me thinking “Yeah that’s where I belong” but my gut instinct is telling me “Yeah, that’s where you fit.” Even when I write heavy stuff, it has a swing and groove to it. As much as I love Iron Maiden and Slayer, I take my cues more from Living Colour and fusion acts like Tony Williams Lifetime and mid-70s Jeff Beck.

I’m not going to say I’m a funk expert at all. I cut my teeth in a funk-metal band in 1990, as well as my own music since 2003. Though some have told me “I don’t really hear funk in your music”, it’s there. Once in a while I throw in a Jimmy Nolan funk lick, or a Prince vibe. Oh and I played with TM Stevens, who seriously educated me. I thought I was funky then.

Nowhere close.

Will I go pure funk? Probably not. I still need doses of metal distortion in my diet. I could easily do a radical 180 and throw people way off-axis. (OH THAT WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN!) But I think my days of wanting to melt faces are over. I want to see smiling faces, people dancing, not just stand there and think “I hope he covers Metallica poorly.”

As I listen to this new Cory Wong album STARSHIP SYNCOPATION, I am taken aback by the purity of the guitar tones as well as the overt 70s disco/funk/R&B vibes. High Fade is a power trio (hmmm…) that has a guitarist who can turn his phrases on a dime (another hmmm…) Of course, when I chuck on Living Colour, that to me speaks volumes. Hearing them back in 1988 sent me over the edge, got me thinking “THIS is for me!” I said the same thing about thrash metal early on but I wasn’t cool enough to hang with the metal crowd even in high school.

Idiots.

So where is the music taking me? Right now, I am in NO rush at all to do anything. I have been writing a lot of demos since last September (even before my last cd came out…go figure) but listening to them now, they sound so trite and angry. I don’t like that. I have no problem tearing everything apart and starting over again. I’ve done it before. And sometimes the results were better. I have to do what’s in my heart, and if doing more funky music is the way to go, then fine.

There are plenty of metal bands doing it better than me anyway.

Too much competition anyway.

Still not cutting my hair though 🙂

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!