Blog Post, Monday, January 8th, 2024
Why I Am Personally Thankful
I’ve had enough jobs between 15 and 30ish to know what I wanted to spend time doing and what I didn’t.
I hate— computers.
Offices.
Desks.
Bosses.
Time clocks.
“Vacay!!”
Elevators that open on to other floors.
Asking for time off.
Office Christmas parties.
Co-workers in the traditional sense. Lunch time.
Peoples opinions.
Commutes.
Morning radio shows.
Windshield scraping at 6:45am.
And since January of 2011, I’ve done none of those things.
I have been to an office Christmas party but the office was the Florabama.
My commute is to my shows to play country music for crowds who love me.
My time clock is “when do we start?”
My vacation is permanent.
My elevator rides go up to my room.
Asking for time off is not playing shows I don’t want to for people I don’t like.
The only computer I own is the phone I’m holding to type this blurb.
If you read this you’ve probably been to a show and listened to my music.
Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.
Come see me again!
When I’m not on the road with country bands in Orlando and Houston and all over the Sec, I play at the Florabama lounge in Perdido Key Florida every Wednesday at 2 except in July when I’m on tour playing my original music. Check out my stuff on Spotify and Amazon music. Also you can buy hats and shifts from my store right here. I love to see people wearing my gear at shows. We have good quality hats and shirts and of course you can buy my music on iTunes.
If you’re looking for a band anywhere in the SEC (roll tide Geaux tigers war eagle go dawgs hook ‘em gig em go Vols Gators Noles hotty toddy hell state)we do Trio or four piece mostly and our four piece bands are my preference. It gives that feeling of a concert in our own backyard. Tim McGraw on the front porch type deal.
I have local bands in each city that don’t travel and it saves the client money. It is in fact the only reason they can afford a band at all. I don’t haul a country band to Houston because the band already lives there. Same with country bands in Jacksonville florida Kissimmee florida Orlando Florida ocala Florida Daytona Beach Florida Tampa Florida Georgia Galveston Texas all over Mississippi Louisiana and Texas.
We play a wide variety of country and classic rock for a wide varying venues and events. Weddings parties corporate retreats backyard BBQ’s Graduation parties fiftieth anniversaries.
George Strait toby Keith AC/DC Dwight Yoakam Tyler Childers Jon Pardi Morgan Wallen travis Tritt Bob Seger Bon Jovi Joe Diffie Chris Stapleton band of heathens Eric Clapton CCR Brooks & Dunn Luke Bryan Jason Aldean Kane brown Alan Jackson mark chestnut Parker McCollum……. The list goes on and grows each week.
Blog Post, Monday, December 18th, 2023
Why Thank You is Important
Why thank you is important.
Anytime someone is giving you their time or money, which is time, experiencing your art you owe them a thank you. Communicating a thank you can be things other than the words “thank you.” How many people are on the planet? That’s how many creative ways people can come up with to say thank you.
However, “thank you” is very powerful and does things not visible at first glance.
It acknowledges the time/money exchange. Somebody either gave you their time out of love or really enjoyed your performance. Either way the same thank you is appropriate. If they didn’t care for your art then your thank you is a certain color in your soul. Probably the same color as how you feel about your art yourself, it’s a work in progress and you just got a chance to work on it in front of a live audience. Thank you!
Or maybe they loved your art and you get the feeling that comes from really baring your soul and having another human being reflect you positively. In which case, “thank you so much for being here!” What greater gift can a stranger give than to say “you do an amazing thing that made me think or feel something I wouldn’t have.” They give you the gift of validation.
They have other things they could have done with their time and money and they included you. It’s a gift they gave and if you had a mama….“what do you say honey?”
When I’m not on the road with country bands in Orlando and Houston and all over the SEC, I play at the Florabama lounge in Perdido Key Florida every Wednesday at 2 except in July when I’m on tour playing my original music. Check out my stuff on Spotify and Amazon music. Also you can buy hats and shifts from my store right here. I love to see people wearing my gear at shows. We have good quality hats and shirts and of course you can buy my music on iTunes.
If you’re looking for a band anywhere in the SEC (roll tide Geaux tigers war eagle go dawgs hook ‘em gig em go Vols Gators Noles hotty toddy hell state) we do Trio or four piece mostly and our four piece bands are my preference. It gives that feeling of a concert in our own backyard. Tim McGraw on the front porch type deal.
I have local bands in each city that don’t travel and it saves the client money. It is in fact the only reason they can afford a band at all. I don’t haul a country band to Houston because the band already lives there. Same with country bands in Jacksonville florida Kissimmee florida Orlando Florida ocala Florida Daytona Beach Florida Tampa Florida Georgia Galveston Texas all over Mississippi Louisiana and Texas.
We play a wide variety of country and classic rock for a wide varying venues and events. Weddings parties corporate retreats backyard BBQ’s Graduation parties fiftieth anniversaries.
George Strait Toby Keith AC/DC Dwight Yoakam Tyler Childers Jon Pardi Morgan Wallen ravis Tritt Bob Seger Bon Jovi Joe Diffie Chris Stapleton band of heathens Eric Clapton CCR Brooks & Dunn Luke Bryan Jason Aldean Kane brown Alan Jackson mark chestnut Parker McCollum……. The list goes on and grows each week.
Blog Post, Monday, November 27th, 2023
Who Are We?
A few thoughts about who any of us are.
Are we what we do? Partly.
Maybe I’m a singer cause I sing.
maybe I’m a guitar player maybe I’m an entertainer.
I’ve been a songwriter though it’s been a while. I can’t sell any CDs anymore so I lost the impetus to make more. But I guess I’m still a songwriter down inside. Intent plays a huge part in who we are. It’s what separates heaven from hell. It’s what makes peace and regret. I regret some things I’ve done but I don’t have “regret.” What you meant to do and what you gave your all to doing. What you’ll regret not doing.
I’ve given my all to staying in business as a country singer in the gulf coast but it’s still not the only thing that I am. I’ve never regretted not chasing a position with the poisonous music industry.
On a God particle level where the truth isn’t the answer to a question but an answer that can’t be questioned: I’m Katie’s husband and Michelangelo’s father and Suzanne’s son and hopefully your friend if we know each other. More than anything that’s who I am. And what I’ll never regret. Peace come from the negation of regret.
I’m rambling but sometimes rambling is as close as I get to the point.
I’m Neil Dover. I make country music for a living so that makes me a country singer. At least today. Or Guitar Player. Or entertainer.
It’s a chicken and egg conversation.
On a daily basis you’ll find me playing in my country bands in Orlando Houston Pensacola, Fairhope, Mobile, Atlanta, the Florabama, Nashville, College Station, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
I’m a country singer on the Gulf Coast. We play all genres of country music new and classic old modern. Private parties weddings corporate events festivals state fairs.
If you’re looking for a country band in Texas Alabama Georgia Florida…contact us here. I want to play for your event. Anywhere in the SEC.
Blog Post, Monday, November 20th, 2023
A Guitar With Only Two Strings
There are all kinds of ways to make it as a working musician. Obviously, there’s the Nashville and Los Angeles corporate music industry. I didn’t want that life. So I decided to make it on my own on the gulf coast where my quality of life would be higher. I wanted to make it as a country band and not just a cover band.
You can play all kinds of music in one geographical area or you can do what I did, and play one genre of music in a much larger geographical area. I sound country, it’s just a fact. So I decided to stay a country band and expand my area to be where more clients would want a Country specific sound for their party. So I built a country band for Orlando. We play events in convention centers, backyards from pensacola to Tallahassee, Kissimmee to Jacksonville.
I was listening to some records yesterday that My mother had played when I was two and three years old and realized that I had no chance but to be a country singer. I heard Merle Haggard Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, hank Senior Brenda Lee albums start to finish 100 times while my mother worked corn and picked green beans and shelled peas. I grew up in the 80s and should’ve logically played Nintendo, but I’ve never played video games. My mother had a guitar with two strings. I would sit there as a child and pluck root notes while listening. That’s all you can do with a guitar with two strings.
Some of those songs are still in my Orlando country bands Setlist. If you’re wondering into my website because you’ve been to one of my shows and curious about me then I’m very flattered to have you here. If you’re curious at the blatant self promotion mood of these blog posts then you’re exactly right. We are trying to raise awareness of my sound and band along the gulf coast through search engine optimization and specific word usage. Hopefully you being here reading this means it worked. Thank you friend.
Blog Post, Monday, October 30th, 2023
Security
You have to be security conscious traveling as a musician. You've got to protect yourself, your equipment, your health, and also your credit card. I’ve had my credit card scammed and skimmed several times. If you’ve never looked up a video on protecting your credit card, get on YouTube and do that. You can’t afford to lose out working so hard playing music for a living.
When you’re setting up to play a gig in an inner-city area, you can’t leave your doors up to make it easy to go back-and-forth to the performance area. You got a close the doors and lock every time you walk away from your vehicle.
I have played events with my country bands in Orlando and Houston and Pensacola, where it was a little bit of a grind to set up. But that only makes you a better live music provider. There are some lessons that it’s OK to learn the hard way, but having your guitars stolen from a show is not one of the easier ones to recover from.
When I’m not on the road with country bands in Orlando and Houston and all over the South, I play at the Florabama Lounge in Perdido Key Florida every Wednesday at 2 except in July when I’m on tour playing my original music. Check out my stuff on Spotify and Amazon music. Also, you can buy hats and shifts from my store right here. I love to see people wearing my gear at shows. We have good quality hats and shirts and of course you can buy my music on iTunes.
If you’re looking for a band anywhere in the SEC (roll tide Geaux tigers war eagle go dawgs hook ‘em gig em go Vols Gators Noles hotty toddy hell state)we do Trio or four piece mostly and our four piece bands are my preference. It gives that feeling of a concert in our own backyard. Tim McGraw on the front porch type deal.
I have local bands in each city that don’t travel and it saves the client money. It is in fact the only reason they can afford a band at all. I don’t haul a country band to Houston because the band already lives there. Same with country bands in Jacksonville florida Kissimmee florida Orlando Florida ocala Florida Daytona Beach Florida Tampa Florida Georgia Galveston Texas all over Mississippi Louisiana and Texas.
We play a wide variety of country and classic rock for a wide varying venues and events. Weddings parties corporate retreats backyard BBQ’s Graduation parties fiftieth anniversaries.
George Strait toby Keith AC/DC Dwight Yoakam Tyler Childers Jon Pardi Morgan Wallen travis Tritt Bob Seger Bon Jovi Joe Diffie Chris Stapleton band of heathens Eric Clapton CCR Brooks & Dunn Luke Bryan Jason Aldean Kane brown Alan Jackson mark chestnut Parker McCollum……. The list goes on and grows each week.
Blog Post, Monday, October 23rd, 2023
You Will Not Make It Without Friends
You will not make it as a musician without friends. Without friends, you won’t have anybody to play music too. You won’t have any emotional experiences to draw from to give back to a crowd. Without friends sorrow turns to loneliness. With friends, sorrow becomes empathy and love and forgiveness and introspection.
I’ve been blessed with friends since the beginning. Some have stayed with me and some got discouraged when I did not want to pursue “making it.”
When I moved to Fairhope Alabama in 2011, I made friends with a guy named Harry. Through Harry I made friends with another guy named Louis, Luis introduced me to a bar owner that paid me $75 for three hours of music. I only owned a cheap, hundred dollar PA system. I sat on one speaker and pointed another speaker at the audience. It wasn’t great but I was grateful.
That was my first country band in Alabama in that small bar with my buddy Louis.
When I’m not on the road with country bands in Orlando and Houston and all over the Sec, I play at the Florabama lounge in Perdido Key Florida every Wednesday at 2 except in July when I’m on tour playing my original music. Check out my stuff on Spotify and Amazon music. Also you can buy hats and shifts from my store right here. I love to see people wearing my gear at shows. We have good quality hats and shirts and of course you can buy my music on iTunes.
If you’re looking for a band anywhere in the SEC (roll tide Geaux tigers war eagle go dawgs hook ‘em gig em go Vols Gators Noles hotty toddy hell state)we do Trio or four piece mostly and our four piece bands are my preference. It gives that feeling of a concert in our own backyard. Tim McGraw on the front porch type deal.
I have local bands in each city that don’t travel and it saves the client money. It is in fact the only reason they can afford a band at all. I don’t haul a country band to Houston because the band already lives there. Same with country bands in Jacksonville florida Kissimmee florida Orlando Florida ocala Florida Daytona Beach Florida Tampa Florida Georgia Galveston Texas all over Mississippi Louisiana and Texas.
We play a wide variety of country and classic rock for a wide varying venues and events. Weddings parties corporate retreats backyard BBQ’s Graduation parties fiftieth anniversaries.
George Strait toby Keith AC/DC Dwight Yoakam Tyler Childers Jon Pardi Morgan Wallen travis Tritt Bob Seger Bon Jovi Joe Diffie Chris Stapleton band of heathens Eric Clapton CCR Brooks & Dunn Luke Bryan Jason Aldean Kane brown Alan Jackson mark chestnut Parker McCollum……. The list goes on and grows each week.
Blog Post, Monday, October 16th, 2023
The Nuances of Playing and Singing at the Same Time
Let’s talk quickly about guitar and singing.
You have to be comfortable with the guitar you’re playing and the songs you expect to play. Don’t go out and try a new style with a new song in front of a crowd. Any crowd you’re playing for deserves good music.
Trying something new in front of a crowd can be entertaining if you key them in on the experiment and they give their consent. But more often than not you should wow them. Play the way you’re good at, with
songs you sound good on. Singers who actually play an instrument and sing will have physical postures different from mic holding singers. Your body has to make music on the instrument while your mouth stays in decent position with the mic. Celine dion, Tim McGraw. Just two examples but it’ll give you an idea. James Hetfield, Travis Tritt. Their hands are doing different things, they look different. I look different. I’m kind of curled around the guitar to get the angles I want to get the chord rhythm I want. I play in country bands and do solo shows in Orlando Houston Pensacola Mobile Atlanta. Texas south and north Florida south Alabama Georgia Mississippi Tennessee Illinois Kentucky Missouri Indiana. I’m the lead member of the band so my instruments have to be solid, the band depends on me to fill certain sound holes. I choose the right guitar for the song and set up in sound check to be where I want it in the songs. A classical guitar needs different levels if it’s strummed or finger picked. Don’t try to play a twelve string on a song you finger puck. Don’t strum the classical for the chorus when it’s set up for a finger picking verse. I could go on but it’s a quick blog and you get the thread we are tugging on.
Blog Post, Monday, October 9th, 2023
What Makes Country Music "Country?"
Let’s talk about country music lyrics a bit. People ask me sometimes when I’m with my country band playing in Houston and Orlando and Pensacola, “What makes a song country?”
They ask about certain instruments and if it has a southern accent or if it says something about mama or Texas or Alabama or whatever David Allan Coe song they are smirking about. One reason country has lost its soul, beside the internet is that few knew and fewer still have held on to the real definition of a country song.
A loose and general rule is: Can the words be spoken out loud and make sense as a sentence or statement. That’s the definition of country. It’s not fiddles and steel guitar. Its conversational. Try one. Pick a country song and say the words. Does it still make sense? Does it tell a story?
There are exceptions to every rule, but take the challenge and see if the country song you picked still makes sense when spoken. Now, pick a pop song and try saying the words. You’ll likely find that some of them are “country Songs” if they wanted to be.
Try Metallica. The Beatles. It’s poetry but never conversational. Pick a George Strait song and read the words out loud. I’ve made my point.
I love playing these songs. And thankfully lots of people along The Gulf Coast love hearing them. I book up all the time playing real country music with country bands in Houston Texas Orlando Florida and Pensacola, Mobile Alabama, Fairhope, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, College Station, Kissimmee, Ocala, Jacksonville, Savannah Georgia, Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham, Hattiesburg, Biloxi, and Jackson Mississippi.
If you’re looking for a country band along the Gulf Coast reach out to us on the website here and let’s get you on the calendar.
Blog Post, Monday, October 2nd, 2023
Ten+ Years and What I've Learned
I’ve been a Gulf Coast Country singer songwriter and recording artist, playing in country bands in Houston, Mobile, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami for years now. It took me a long time to figure out the business model, but after 10 years of playing every week at the Flora-Bama Lounge & Package in Pensacola, Florida I’ve made enough contacts, I realized there was a large pool of classic and modern country and classic rock musical talent playing in the venues along the gulf. All I had to do was work up a setlist they could all work too. So for any client looking to throw a party anywhere in Texas, Louisiana, mississippi, ALABAMA, Florida, or Georgia. I can keep the cost down by having a classic and modern country band in that area. Check out a few live iPhone videos of the bands here.
Blog Post, Monday, September 25th, 2023
Doing What It Takes
So you want to make art for a living? The first thing you need is art, indisputably. Nobody will be able to deny that what you’re making is art? It better be good. People work hard for their money, so what you’re selling them better be worth it.
You’re going to bust your ass. I did and do and will.
Be prepared to sacrifice your free time. Be selfish about your downtime. Say no to “let’s hangout and get a beer.”
Say no to that last minute cheap cruise. Say no to everyone who wants you to waste your time at a non art related event.
Stop going to church unless you’re playing in the band. That’s a whole day you can sit and work on you guitar chords. God can hear you. :)
Stop browsing in the grocery store.
Stop using your drive time to make phone calls.
Stop binging on Amazon Prime.
Buy a notebook and write down a hundred songs you already know the words to.
Get on UltimateGuitar subscription and start putting chords with lyrics in your iPad. Buy a better iPad.
Find an open mic at a bar somewhere and make somebody stay and have one more drink than they intended to. Trust me, the manager will notice.
Because if you’re going to make music or anything for a living, you will have to change someone’s life. And first your own.
That’s the only way they pay for it, if you can make their life something different even if only for a minute. Are you going to be worth their time? Take a deep breath, be honest with yourself, And If the answer to that isn’t a very loud Yes, then you aren’t going to sacrifice enough so just stop. The world needs cashiers, too.
You will do whatever it takes. And it will take everything.
But here's my promise to you, it’ll give you everything back and fill that hole you’ve been pouring distraction in.
A longtime ago I wrote a song that I’m legally forbidden to play. One of my favorite lines is in that song and it goes
“Happiness will only take you as high as the mountain you’ve climbed.”
Just speaking from my own story, if you want to have country bands in Orlando, country bands Houston, Mobile, Pensacola, and Atlanta then you’re going to have to go do that. Gas tank, shoe leather, phone calls and band rehearsals.
You can’t buy it online.
The more crap you dig out of your life, the more room for all the music and love you’ll have.