Trial & Error…Repeat Rinse Repeat/YouTube Channel/Sense of Humor

I first started writing for the public about 5 years ago after decades of seeing my Letters to the Editor receive quite a bit of fanfare and enthusiastic responses. It started with penning letters old school to the Sault Star and then as the years went on I submitted them via email to social media sites. From there it went to writing about the Soo Greyhounds and then onto music interviews etc. 

I didn’t have a journalistic background as per schooling and to be honest, you don’t need one. All you need to do is read, read, read, and read some more. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes and through hundreds of books I have read, you (me/us) gain a subsconscious feel for what sounds right when you read it, and what looks right when you read it. 

Now that is just a brief bio of me, but as per the title Trial & Error; it is relation to my new love that I started just over a year ago….my YouTube channel Border City Rock Talk. On this channel I interview rock stars (Randy Bachman/Dee Snider/Eric Martin/etc) of the past and present and bring to the videos my sense of humor and style. My early videos were quite raw using only microsoft for video editing and splash…and my lighting and sound was terrible in those days; but as it went along I learned many things, and now I am pretty good at the editing and graphics and everything else that goes with it.

Did I have graphic design background as per schooling? Of course not. I didn’t need one. You see everything is out there and available to us, and YouTube is one of the best free online schools you can learn from. Unless you need the credentials as per your employer….you will do just fine by researching as per this tool and that is what I did.

I use DaVinci Resolve (free version) for my video/audio cutting and editing and I use GIMP (free version) for my graphics. 

Now, for the past four days I have been laboring to edit an interview with Billy Sheehan (Talas/David Lee Roth Band/The Winery Dogs/Mr. Big/Sons of Apollo) etc. The video is only 12 minutes long but there was some brutal footage as per camera location from me etc. If you read in the description box and watch the first couple of minutes you will know what I am talking about. 

Anyway the humor part of the title is because I am generally a “silly” kind of person so in the video edits I just do what I feel and it usually works; if something is odd and out of the ordinary I know it gets their (viewers/readers) attention and if something is funny to me I put it out there knowing that others may think the same. I approach interviews and editing like I do my writing; I just basically fly by the seat of my pants and for whatever reason things generally turn out right….and when they don’t…. I just fly again and repair until they do. 

Anyway sticking with music I got wind that Skye Wallace is blowing into town and playing here later this month and I have reached out to her handlers for an interview. Currently she is in Europe touring but her team is here in Canada so I may hear something soon. When I do I will let you know.

Tomorrow we will be back to the grind;I am starting to get a lot of subject suggestionsfrom you all and will start to investigate those, so please keep sending me topics that interest you.

Have a great day and keep rocking !! btw….make sure to watch the whole 12 mins and let me know what you think. If you don’t know of Billy Sheehan….think of Yankee Rose  by David Lee Roth or To Be With You by Mr. Big. Those two songs alone set up Sheehan financially for life as combined they have been played millions and millions of times. I was glad I got take two with one of the world best bass players.