Interview with Dennis “Rev” Kennedy of Effing and Blinding and Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
Rev: Geez. I know this is the simple answer but “Rock N Roll”. We are a rock n roll band through and through. We have guitar solos and everything!
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
Rev: I am originally from MA. I Decided in the early 90’s I needed a change and moved to NC where my family had already planted roots years before. My love for music definitely came from my mother. She was a classical pianist but she listened to so many different kinds of music. She really had a huge influence on me and the choice to want to be a musician. I love everything from Beethoven to SlipKnot.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
Rev: Hmmm. Good question. Everyone around me inspires me to write and make music. My band is a big inspiration on the music I write. Without them I couldn’t get the full potential of each song. I used to write about stuff I thought I was supposed to write about being a hard rock singer(Sex, drugs, rock n roll). Well, here I am later in life with wife, kids, dogs, mortgage, etc.. I try to write songs with some substance now. Songs with more of a positive message or even songs with no message to me but the listener gets their own message or meaning .
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
Rev: Just to make good music that myself and the band can be proud of. It is a nice bonus if a few other people out there like them also.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
Rev: No lie, probably putting together this band. This band was put together with no intentions of getting a record deal or touring the world, no rock star intentions at all but the songs we are writing in this band have some substance to them and it seems people are liking what we are doing which feels great. Oh and the fact that my youngest son ”Cam” sang some vocals on the new EP was a pretty proud moment also. He never did anything like that before so it was pretty impressive.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new
artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
Rev: Well I am old school. I still believe in going out and finding places to post PAPER fliers, and we do. Not only for shows but to let people know about a new release or even links to merch. Don’t get me wrong, I am a internet fiend. I am on facebook, Instagram, and whatever other platforms we have just plugging along. I think that if your music is good and you put at least a small effort into promoting it people will get to hear it. Then you can only hope the music fans share it from there.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
Rev: Booking is not as easy as it was 5-10 years ago. Promoting is the easy part. I could get in to a long rant about booking but we will save that for another interview. We are taking a break from playing while we look for a second guitar player. Our next show will be in Raleigh NC at The Corner Pocket with our good friends The Hoots.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
Rev: It is the times now. Its here to stay and I personally love having access to all this amazing music and I love that people have that same access to our music. That being said I do feel that musician are not getting their due from these streaming services. Hopefully that will change in the near future.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
Rev: “Wonderwall” by Oasis. I am not even a fan of them but The first time I heard that song it just took me someplace and it does the same thing to this day. I love a song that you can actually feel and for some reason Wonderwall is my feels song.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
Rev: Well, we could start with the Digital platforms out there. I wont mention any names 
but combined on this one particular site we have had our songs streamed around 20,000 times and we are bringing in a whopping $1.00 and change.. Lucky for us we aren’t doing this to get rich but it sure would be nice to be compensated for your passion.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
Rev: Right now Effing and Blinding is working on new material. One thing I love about this band is it seems every time we go through one of our writing phases it never sounds the same as the last time.. Be ready for a totally different sound then what we had on this last EP
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
Rev: I will be more then happy to pimp out our stuff!!!
Website: www.effingandblindingband.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/effing0blinding
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/effing_and_blinding/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ip4jg0QPgjyjUbUM8VByN?si=oZDwCgU6RO63fPc6t5mqfA
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@effingandblinding
Effing and Blinding links:
Band/Artist location – Carrboro, North Carolina
Website – Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp –
Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree –
