Is There Anybody Out There?

Well, it’s been one year since Kick Acts rolled off the assembly line as a brand new website and hit the streets way back in January. I didn’t expect for it to be an overnight success and well, I was right. It’s not, but what did we accomplish in the last 12 months?

To start off, we kicked off opening day with a video interview from a local bass player and all around good friend Fred Bassett. In the first month of this year alone we had 718 unique visitors. Not bad for no advertising and basically just shouting at the top of our lungs. By October of this year we were up to 2,500 unique visitors. We did 27 “Ten Questions” even though we rarely stuck to our 10 question format. 🙂 We also met a lot of interesting bands and people through it.

We interviewed some of our local radio personalities. We were even somewhat successful in helping one raise a little hell after being unfairly terminated. We call that a victory.

We have also had a few setbacks. It was to be expected. Seems everyone “wants” to write for us but in reality when you sit down to do it they just didn’t have the desire to “peck out” a story. More than once we got emails saying I got a concert review for you guys and we would wait and wait and never hear back. It’s OK, we expect that and appreciate the effort but if you don’t send one in, we can’t publish it. We also lost our advice columnist early on. Her answers where witty and funny as hell but it just didn’t work out. So we are looking for another one. Sort of like Dear Abby but with a evil twisted attitude.

We did add a lot of new sponsors though. We gave them cheaper banner space for the first year. Our next year’s prices will be fair and I believe a great bargain for those that want to continue to have their banners in rotation. You know some months we had over 90,000 page hits? That’s a lot of traffic for your banner to be seen.

We also changed our religion Editor. One stepped down due to other commitments and we picked up another one that is really trying hard to bring his message to our site. Remember we welcome all points of view, the good, the bad and the ugly or “fugly” as the kids say.

We streamlined some of the columns and dropped some too. It’s a learning process. I am sure in the future some more will be added and some will get dropped. It’s the nature of the beast.

This year Allen even knocked down not one but two professional video interviews with “real” rock stars. That was pretty cool and kind of validates the site and what we are about. And in case you need to know it was Jesse James Dupree from Jackyl and Drowning Pool’s CJ Pierce.

To date we have published 487 different pieces. From ghosts, to bigfoot, to  religion, to politics, to rock music, to album reviews and a whole lot more. We are always looking for writers and things to write about. Did I mention we were looking for writers? Hint, hint…

To everyone that has contributed, we thank you, it all helps. To the ones that wanted to but never stepped up, we are still accepting submissions so what the hell are you waiting for? To the 10 or so bands out there that asked for us to interview them and we sent the questions, were the hell are your answers? What are you waiting for, Christmas? This year is all ready over so get the answers back to us already for Pete’s Dragon sake.

What does the future hold for Kick Acts? We hope to soon go to print, gain more sponsors and be able to pay writers for their material. We also want to continue to provide a place where freedom of speech is protected and exercised and continue to bring us all together in a community of web print and have something that appeals to everyone. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Tell us what you like/dislike and what you would like to see more of..ok?

Enclosing…

“Yes, The Pen is indeed Mightier than the Sword, but the Internet Trumps Them All”

That’s my quote btw. Use it, but give me credit if you do…

Sincerely,

Chuck Gee

QUEENSRŸCHE Frontman On RONNIE JAMES DIO: ‘He’s A Gentleman In The Classic Sense Of The Word’ – Dec. 28, 2009

QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Geoff Tate was interviewed on this past Sunday’s (December 27) edition of the “Long Live Rock” podcast (web site). He spoke about a wide range of topics, including Ronnie James Dio; the writing process in QUEENSRŸCHE; challenges of working in an album-length format in a digital download age; the changes in the music business marketing model; his upcoming movie role; his wine Insania and wine culture; the changing way the rest of the world views America; and QUEENSRŸCHE‘s upcoming album and live shows.

When asked if he has been in contact with Ronnie James Dio since it was announced that the legendary HEAVEN & HELL/BLACK SABBATH/RAINBOW singer was diagnosed with stomach cancer, Geoff replied, “I haven’t talked to Ronnie, but I talked to Wendy, his wife… I guess it’s been 12 days ago, before I went to Europe; I just got back yesterday. And he was going into the hospital. I’m assuming everything is good, ’cause I haven’t heard anything else.

“He’s a wonderful musician — very giving and inventive and clever. He’s a great guy. Ronnie is one of those guys that is kind of an exception to a lot of people I’ve met in the industry. He’s always very civil; he’s a gentleman in the classic sense of the word. He really treats people with dignity and honor and respect, even if you’re just a regular guy, or in my situation, when we were just starting out, he inivited us to tour Europe, which was our first tour with him and of Europe. So it was a big deal for us; we were all just kids starting out. And he inivited us into his dressing room and met the whole band, and we had cocktails and it was all very civilized. And I thought, ‘Oh, OK, this is how it all works.’ And then that never happened again with anybody else. So it was really the exception to the rule.”

The entire interview is available for streaming using the audio player below.

for the podcast and the rest of the article go here

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=132637

Drummer for Avenged Sevenfold found dead at home

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Police say James Owen Sullivan, a drummer and backup vocalist for the Southern California band Avenged Sevenfold, has been found dead at his home in Southern California.

Lt. John Domingo says the 28-year-old Sullivan, who went by the stage name The Rev, appears to have died of natural causes on Monday in Huntington Beach.

The Orange County coroner’s office is investigating the death.

 

Avenged Sevenfold formed in Huntington Beach in 1999 and won Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2006. According to their MySpace page, the five-man metalcore band was working on their fifth album.

The band released a statement Monday expressing their sadness and calling Sullivan “one of the world’s best drummers,” and “our best friend and brother.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091229/ap_on_en_mu/us_avenged_sevenfold_death