2019 Year in Review!

So, I'm way behind on posting about what I've been up to, mainly cause it's been a lot and I really haven't had a moment to reflect. I've been on tour, Mega Ran on the west coast, took a trip to Utah with David McHenry and went CANYONEERING in the desert! Frikken amazing and I'll talk about that another time soon.

But, I want to talk about resolutions. I made three resolutions last year. I actually really like making resolutions. I love the New Year. It's a reminder to take a moment to stop and reflect and get reset on your direction and goals.

Of the resolutions, I only kept one of them, but i'm proud of that one. Here's what I wrote down.
- visualize every day image of success (playing in front of 10s of thousands of people, bank account with millions of dollars)
- "I have nothing to fear"
- No alcohol
- Cook more!

I don't alway take that time to reflect, especially as life gets busy and I get overwhelmed. So visualizations did not happen. Though, I certainly had lots of real moments of success: lots of concerts, gigs, music created. Last year was certainly successful in the amount of music I made.

I did not cook more! In fact I cooked even less! Cooking is the number one thing I can do for my health. I haven't been making it a priority and I need to if I want to have the energy to do all the things I'm trying to accomplish. (Full disclosure, I'm at Applebee's as I type this.)

"I have nothing to fear." This is a reminder to not get in my own way. Fear is the biggest roadblock. I may want to do something: apply for an event, reach out to someone about my music, do a live stream, release a record, etc. But without realizing it, I can stop myself from ever even doing it out of fear of ridicule or rejection.

The resolution that I stuck with was no alcohol. I've done this before in 2016 and it was great and very much needed (I even wrote an article for Better Humans on Medium about it (https://medium.com/…/my-alcohol-free-year-first-6-months-co…).

The first year I got so much done. I was very productive. I had a lot I wanted to do this year, and decided, screw it, I'm going to it again.

So I did. I didn't tell to many people, unless I felt like I had to explain why I wasn't drinking with everyone else. I didn't even tell David McHenry, one of my closest friends and roommate.

Was it worth it? Oh, of course. Health-wise it's been great, especially since I haven't been doing myself any favors by eating out so often. Productivity-wise I've done a ton, which is I why I made this resolution in the first place.

Now, I did bend the rules a bit. I did allow myself to drink on three occasions: when Missy and I went on vacation, when we went out for our 2-year anniversary, and when Dave, Chris and I made it back alive from our canyoneering/hiking adventure.

Overall it was worth it. I got a lot done. And the inconvenience of not drinking was at most minor.

Here are some of highlights of things I'm proud to have done from 2019:

Jan
- performed as 88bitat MAGFest
- performed at 88bit Pax South

Feb
- Made a game, Crabmageddon, with DR. BLOC
- Performed with Leonard DiCosimo
- Performed at VGM CON

Mar
- Performed a Return of Simple show
- recorded keys for the new Orange Animal record

Apr
- 88bit performance at NEOSonicFest
- performed on the hardest music I've ever learned with NO EXIT New Music Ensemble

Mar
- performed at Chagrin Falls Blossom Festival
- performed with Orange Animal CD release

Jun
- performed lobby music for the run of Dear Evan Hansen
- started playing at Playhouse Square Plaza
- 88bit at Cain Park
- took a vacation for the first time as an adult. (Thank you Missy!)

Jul
- 88bit at Appletree Books books for No Exit
- 88bit at Confluence
- 88bit at Classic Game Fest

Aug
- Finished mixing my record with Sean OKeefe
- Started playing at Distill Table for the summer

Sep
- toured with Mega Ran and SkyBlew
- Performed at PAX West
- Performed at MAGWest

Oct
- lobby music for Summer at the Palace Theater
- performed with Connor Bogart at Beck Center for the Arts
- performed with Deb De Lucca and the The Carole King Tribute: Home Again
- Hiked Angel's Landing, Zion National Park, Utah and Neon Canyon, Escalante, Ut and didn't die.

Nov
- 88bit performed at Cleveland Gaming Classic
- Exhibited STRAYLIGHT at Cleveland Gaming Classic
- played in the pit for Irving Berlin's White Christmas, my first big show at Playhouse Square Theater
- mastered my record with the amazing Paul R. Blakemore

Dec
- performed with Connor Bogart's big band at the Akron Civic Theatre
- played a bunch of Christmas gigs and parties
- Recorded keys for two new Mega Ran tracks
- performed a New Year's party for Lago Custom Events at Aloft Hotel

Other highlights:
- Ran a weekly show at BAR 107 called Singer's night where people would come up and sing with my accompanying them on piano.
- performed regularly at WXYZ Aloft Cleveland Downtown
- performed regularly the Cleveland Clinic
- started playing at Valenti's Italian Ristorante
- wrote, performed and recorded 3 more songs for STRAYLIGHT and helped
- arranged and performed songs from 5 new games for 88bit
- taught hundreds of piano and composition lessons to an inspiring studio of students
- played lots of gigs with some truly amazing musicians

OK, typing that all that out feels like I've done a lot. But man, I have so much more I want to do and accomplish. Thank you all for being a part of and supporting me on this journey called life. ✌️💛🤘

Rob KovacsJanuary 15, 2020