THINGS I LIKED / DISLIKED ABOUT 2013

So this year has gone by fast and I have a lot to be thankful for. So I thought I'd write a blog about a list of things I liked and disliked about 2013. Either way, I'm thankful.

• LIKED
• Touring with iShine Live this past spring
• Meeting a lot of #kaneiacs at my live concerts and public appearances
• My mom's successful surgery and 100% recovery
• Traveling the country
• A great relationship with a girl (not dating anymore... oh well)
• Recording some awesome new music
• My CD being released to retail stores in the USA
• My song "Blue Sky" being on radio
• Getting my driver license
• The sub and stereo on my car (1996 Olds 88)
• Meeting Lecrae and a lot of other awesome artists over the summer
• Still playing basketball even though I can't be on a school team anymore
• God helping my family through some tough things
• DISLIKE
• Industry people canceling things
• Concerts being canceled
• Unable to play team ball at school
• Being away from home so much and losing friends because of it
• Finding out that not all followers on social media are true fans :(
• Having to catch up on so much school because I travel so much
• Not having a regular social life to just hang out and have some fun
• Most of my summer was spent working and not chilling

I'm sure there are dozens more I could list, but this is what comes to mind right now.

How about you? What's been the best about your year?

NEW MUSIC

Ok, so I'm still trying to make new music this fall. I have already committed to making 9 new songs and will still be doing covers once in a while.

The hard part about making new music is that to make it sound like radio quality, you have to hire people to produce and engineer it. That costs a lot of money. I know I've asked you all to help me, but it has been tough to be a student, have a job and try to raise money to keep doing new music. Some people think when you get popular on the internet that somehow you just have a lot of money and stuff. Unless I sell my music or raise donations to record new music, I can't keep doing what I love to do.

So I'm hoping when I have concerts this winter that you all come out and support me so I can keep making new music.

So far, I have the following songs written:

"YOU'RE OUT THERE"

"FALLING FOR YOU"

"STRANDED FEELINGS"

"JUMP START"

and have five other songs being worked on.

The cool part is that I have the opportunity to record some of these songs with some other great artists helping.

Please check out the music of:

Jor'Dan Armstrong (especially the song "I'm Down")

George Moss (especially the song "Hand's Up")

D-Tropp (especially the song "Misbehave")

Johnnie Rep (our new collab "Falling, For You")

And of course I will keep doing music with Street Scholar.

So that's my update on new music.

HELP ME PLEASE

Hey Kaneiacs,

I'm heading back to the studio to record some new music this fall. I'm really excited about making new music. But it costs a lot of money to record and I'm hoping you would consider donating as little as $1 to help me raise the funds to get it done.

You can do that going to my fundraising page at

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/spencer-kane-new-ep-2014

Just click the CONTRIBUTE NOW pink box and help.

If you can donate more, there are some things I am offering to thank you. You can see those on my page too.

Thank you Kaneiacs for your help on this :)

KANEIAC CONCERT CONTEST

Hey Kaneiacs,

I'm excited to announce a cool new way for me to meet you in person over the winter 2013-2014.

I'm launching a brand new contest where if your team wins, I will be performing in your hometown sometime this upcoming winter season!

So here's the deal.

In order for your "TEAM" to win, you need to do three things:

1. Gather all your friends and work together by tweeting #KaneiacConcertContest and #YourAreaCode. That will start the count and create your TEAM. (example: #260 is my area code)
2. Get at least 100 different twitter users to tweet the same and your TEAM will be a finalist for me to come and perform for FREE in your city.
3. Everyone on your team must text the word KANEIAC to 313131 using your cell phone to receive contest updates and to learn who won, the date, time, and location.

Now here's the thing... they MUST be 100 "different" twitter users FROM that same area code. All 100 will get VIP access to a meet and greet before the concert and get an autographed VIP gift pack from me.

The date and location information will be worked out and the winning team will be notified as soon as possible.

So, good luck and get busy tweeting :)

This is only valid for U.S.A. states and cities. Sorry for my international KANEIACS. Someday I will visit your country :)

LIFELIGHT FESTIVAL WINNER

Teen Artist, Spencer Kane, Wins Emerging Artist Contest at Lifelight Festival

Bethany, MO – June 21, 2013

Sixteen year old singer and actor, Spencer Kane, based out of Kendallville, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee (www.spencerkanemusic.com) competed against other emerging national recording artists at the 2013 Bethany, Missouri Lifelight Festival for a chance to be a featured main stage artist at the same festival in 2014. He and his Kane Krew won first overall after each contestant band was allotted a 30 minute set in front of fans, judges and festival organizers.

Lifelight Festival was founded in Souix Falls, South Dakota 18 years ago and has steadily grown to one of the largest Christian Music Festivals in the United States with over 150,000 in attendance each day. Because of the success in South Dakota, Lifelight expanded to Missouri four years ago which averages 15,000 attendees. This was also the first year of Lifelight Texas located at Al Denson’s ranch in Sherman. Spencer participated in Texas and will be performing twice at the South Dakota festival over Labor Day Weekend.

Spencer was chosen over several hundred entries earlier in 2013 to be one of the final competing acts at Lifelight Missouri. Each finalist to compete had to submit an audition to Lifelight organizers through various online music event sites.

Festival Assistant Director, Deanna Barker, was in attendance and commented that Spencer’s performance is exactly what is missing in today’s Christian music market. “I have a 14 year old daughter who listens to his music all the time and couldn’t wait to see him perform live. It was incredible to see how the youth connected with his speaking and performing. I’m so glad we have him at Lifelight and can’t wait to see him perform on the main stage,” she stated.

Spencer performed with choreographers EJ Ferencak and Jade Ross as well as fellow songwriter and producer of some of Spencer’s music, Street Scholar. They are known as the KANE KREW.

Lifelight is one of several Christian Music Festivals held throughout the United States each year and is also a member of the Christian Festival Association (CFA). There are 20 participating festivals involved in the CFA and each location holds the same competition with no artist competing at more than one venue for the chance to return for main stage the next year. When the festival season ends each year, all 20 locations submit their winning act to the board of the CFA for them to choose one act to tour all 20 festivals the following year. Spencer is now qualified as one of the choices.

ABOUT SPENCER KANE:

Aside from his recurring role on Season 4 of the TV sitcom, iShine Knect, Spencer is more widely known as a national pop recording artist. He is a two-time Los Angeles based AI Award Show Finalist for Best Pop Artist in 2012 and 2013 and has a worldwide fan base in over 71 countries. He has been touring with iShine Live throughout the Midwest U.S. this past spring and will continue touring as a solo artist in states from New York to Texas through the remainder of the summer months. Along with a multi-state iShine tour in October, he will perform internationally with a 2 week tour in South America in September. His music can be downloaded online from various retailers and his single "BLUE SKY" was released to radio stations nationwide on June 14.

ABOUT iSHINE: (www.ishinelive.com)

iShine is a division of Bema Media, LLC based in Franklin, Tennessee and is most easily understood as a faith based entertainment platform alternative to Disney® or Nickelodeon®. iShine includes an award winning television sitcom called iShine Knect® which airs Saturdays on TBN Network, the nation’s largest Christian based programming station. In addition, it sponsors a national concert tour each spring and fall which showcases music from both independent and signed iShine teen artists. The brand also include an online radio station similar to Radio Disney® in programming with mobile apps for youth to download for streaming music on their portable devices. Dove New Artist of the Year in 2012, Jamie Grace, is a former iShine actor and artist. Other known artists on the show and tour include Radio Disney featured bands The Rubyz and Mission 6. Daughter of New York Times best-selling author Francis Chan, Rachel Chan, is a prominent member of the cast and tour lineup.

- END -

SOCIAL MEDIA STUFF

I get a lot of people wondering about my social media stuff.

• Why do I follow or unfollow some people? 
• Do I have a personal facebook account, not my fan page? 
• Why don't I reply to tweets? 
• Why don't I DM? 
• Do I snapchat?
• Do I use oovoo?
• Do I give out my personal cell phone for texting?

As much as I want to talk to every fan I can, it's not possible. In fact, it's nearly impossible to find time to do much else other than practice for concerts, do YOUNOW broadcasts, work on new music, and make music videos. Oh yea, and somewhere in there I have to find time to do school (year round) online.

So, to simplify the many questions I get about social media, I will just explain here:

1. TWITTER
• Follow/Unfollow:  My marketing manager uses software for the follow and unfollow part. I do NOT follow or unfollow anyone. I only tweet stuff and reply to tweets that I can. WHY? Well, the fact is that twitter is not only a way to stay in touch with my fans, it's also a way for me to get other people to know about my music. It's a way to promote who I am and my music. Because of that, my marketing manager uses software to help find people on Twitter who may like my music. He also uses that software to unfollow people who don't interact with my account regularly and are just wanting followed so they can add to their FOLLOWER count or say that someone verified is following them. They have no real interest in being a fan and so it's like not really a true connection. 
• Some people's accounts are just for spamming and if they follow me, it artificially inflates my followers and that can look bad because it's not REAL fans. It's just fake accounts. Several artists have this same thing happening and TWITTER is really cracking down on suspending these accounts. In fact, I've had my followers up to 60,000+ at one time and eventually found out a lot of them were fake accounts and TWITTER suspended them. So now my marketing manager is being very strict about who we follow and making sure it isn't fake accounts.
• We are starting a new thing to make sure my followers are true fans by asking EVERYONE to add #KANEIAC to their profile bio. There is a way for us to know if you keep that there and it will allow us to keep following you so the software doesn't accidentally remove you.
• BLOCKING:  My marketing manager blocks anyone who spams my timeline with any requests over and over again. You may also get blocked if you are impolite or use profanity in your tweets which include my twitter name.
2. FACEBOOK
• I have my facebook page and a personal facebook account (2 separate facebook addresses). I prefer to just communicate with fans on my official fan page. Unless I know you well enough, I don't like to give out my personal page.
3. SKYPE
• I have a SKYPE account (spencerkanemusic) where I type chat with fans. I do "NOT" video or voice call fans. I've tried this too many times and it NEVER works out well. I will chat with you on SKYPE but only by typing.
4. YOUNOW
• I try to be on YOUNOW.COM to broadcast a chat at least once a week. It's hard to do, but I try. You can join YOUNOW.COM and FAN me on there. If you fan me, it will email you when I'm on and I also TWEET when I'm on. This is the best way to talk to me and see me on video.
5. ASK.FM
• I answer questions as best as possible, but will NOT repeat an answer I've already provided in the past. Before you ask, look through my question history and see if my answer is in there.
• I do not answer questions about my personal life other than things I've shared in public. Things like if I'm dating someone, family member information, personal address, etc. are not things I will talk about out of respect for other people's privacy.
6. KEEK
• I do have a KEEK and update videos on there once in a while.
7. SNAPCHAT, OOVOO, KIK, or other social media or phone apps.
• I do not use these and won't. 
8. PHONE TEXTING
• I do not text people my parents don't know personally and their family.
9. EMAIL
1. I prefer emails for business questions. If you have a question about how to buy my music or gear or about booking me for a concert, send it to info@spencerkanemusic.com. Otherwise, you can send fan mail to that address as well.
10. MAILING ADRESS
1. My Spencer Kane Music mailing address is:
   SPENCER KANE MUSIC
   PO Box 273
   Kendallville, IN 46755

I hope this helps explain things better. For the sake of having some personal time in my busy life, I may choose not to talk on any of these social media programs. It is not that I'm ignoring fans, but sometimes I have to unwind :)

CONCERT VIDEO - REMEDY LIVE STUDIOS

On June 9, I rehearsed with my KANE KREW and DJ for the upcoming Summer concerts I will be having in several cities in the midwest. We were able to have some studio audience members in the small sound stage at REMEDY LIVE studios in Fort Wayne.

There were some audio issues the first few songs, so the sound is low, but it is adjusted. This was basically like watching us do a dress rehearsal for the concerts, so there's some stuff that didn't look right and some things we're going to work on for the upcoming dates.

Please check the UPCOMING link on my website for dates and cities of all my upcoming concerts.

FREE - LIVE TV CONCERT AT REMEDY STUDIOS

Join Spencer for a limited seating FREE live concert in Fort Wayne at REMEDY STUDIOS at 6pm on Sunday, June 9.  Seating is limited and reserved for the first 40 people only in Studio B at Remedy's North Fort Wayne facility. (6429 Oakbrook Pkwy, Fort Wayne, IN 46825)

The concert will be streamed LIVE on the web and feature  music, conversation, dance and an audience Q&A with Spencer.

If you would like tickets, please email info@spencerkanemusic.com to request the total quantity you will need.

It is only available to the first 40 fans to respond and obtain tickets. This is a limited seating setting because it is being filmed in a TV studio.

This concert will be filmed for inclusion in the upcoming release of the Official Music Video for DON'T SWITCH IT UP. To be a member of the studio audience, you will need to sign a model release (under 18 must be signed by a parent or guardian).

You won't want to miss an evening with Spencer before he heads out for the summer and fall on tour and filming of Season 5 of the TV sitcom "iShine Knect".

KANEiacs AROUND THE WORLD

Well, I thought I'd try to make a list of all the countries where I know my fans are from. If you don't see your country on the list, then tweet your country and say "ADD TO THE LIST" in the tweet so I know. There's 79 as of the time of this post.  This is awesome :)

Albania
Argentina
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Bosnia
Brazil
Brunei
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
England
Fiji
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guam
Guatemala
Honduras
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kuwait
Liberia
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Mexico
Mongolia
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uruguay
Vietnam
Venezuela
Zambia

DON'T SWITCH IT UP - LYRICS

LYRICS

VERSE 1

You say he's the one

And you know for sure

Yet you change yourself

You seem insecure

You try to make it all work out

And you're listening to the crowd

You ain't gotta be that way

So listen to me when I say

PRECHORUS

What's wrong

With the way you are

You're taking things too far

(It's like I don't even know you anymore)

So girl I just wish you knew

There's nothing wrong with you

CHORUS

So don't, switch it up, switch it up (repeat)

(You ain't gotta change girl)

Cause you are who you are, and it's more than enough (repeat)

VERSE 2

You're judged by the magazines

The TV and Celebrities

Or the girls that you hang around

Always saying what you need to be

But there is something you should know

The way you think and look, don't let it go

Cause a guy with a heaven mind

Wont make you change, or make you waste your time

PRECHORUS

What's wrong

With the way you are

You're taking things too far

(I don't even recognize you anymore)

So girl I just wish you knew

There's nothing wrong with you

CHORUS

So don't, switch it up, switch it up (repeat)

(You ain't gotta change girl)

Cause you are who you are, and it's more than enough (repeat)

BRIDGE (RAP)

I never been the kind

That gave a mind

I feel good in my own skin

Matter of fact

I ain't trying to be what I'm not

I'm just sayin, I'm all real

I ain't playin pretend

Some like to switch it up and give up

But they perpetrating theyself

And in the end you only hurtin yourself

So stay true to who you are

You might as well. Stop!

CHORUS

So don't, switch it up, switch it up (repeat)

You ain't gotta change

For no one

Be who you were made to be, made to be

You ain't gotta switch it up, switch it up

You ain't gotta switch it up, no

You ain't gotta change girl...

FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY

Some of you know I spent several days in the Dominican Republic in October 2012. It was a time I will never forget with fellow iShine artists The Rubyz and Rachel Chan.

I am asking you to please consider being a partner with Food for the Hungry in their goal of helping kids have food, water, clean bathrooms and getting an education.

I want to give you a special Gift Pack if you do. I will send you an autographed T-Shirt, CD and Photo when you send an email with a photo of you and your family holding up the photo of the child you sponsored. Share their name and yours, along with your mailing address and I will send my special gift pack as a thank you.

Even a one-time donation will make a huge difference for the kids I visited in the Dominican Republic.

I want you to read more about them here

http://fh.org/work/countries/dominican-republic

Talk to your parents about sponsoring a child or even just making a one-time donation. Like I said in my video, it is amazing how blessed we really are and I hope you realize that it's more than just music and having fun at our age. We need to do something to help and Food for the Hungry will be that something you can do to make a difference.

I WANT TO VISIT YOUR CLASS ROOM

Lots of my fans ask me to come to their school, but the distance and timing doesn't seem to work out in most cases. So, instead of me coming to your school in person, I can still visit in your class through SKYPE IN THE CLASSROOM. It doesn't matter if you're in ASIA, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AMERICA or CANADA OR MEXICO. I can Skype into your classroom.

I will talk to you and your class via Skype about BEING KIND as the best way to stop bullying. Lots of schools have had me in their classroom using this method and I hope you consider talking to your teacher or counselor about it.

To learn more about how it works check it out here.

Hope to see you in the classroom soon :)

KANEIAC KLUB TEXT (FREE)

This is probably the COOLEST new way to keep in touch with me and everything I have going on. I know most of you read my tweets or have fanned me on Facebook, but NOW you can find out what I'm doing VIA TEXT to your phone.

It's easy. It's FREE. Just text the word

KANEIAC to 313131

and you're subscribed to my exclusive text updates. When I say "exclusive" I mean that you'll get information before any other public social media. You'll be the first to get new merchandise, songs, watch new Music Videos before anyone else, and a lot of cool other updates.

And, yes, I am the one texting you an update each time.  But here's the deal, not only can you get updated on where I'm performing, new song releases, or when I'll be on a radio or TV broadcast, you will also get a chance to win FREE SPENCER KANE MERCHANDISE AND MUSIC. Things like shirts, CD's, iTunes gift cards, hats, posters, tickets to concerts, and any other cool prize I can imagine.

Now, unfortunately, this is for U.S. cell phone providers only. It will not work outside of the United States at this point. We're working on a way to expand this to Canada, Mexico, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Australia, but right now... it's just the U.S.A.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

You just text the word KANEIAC to 313131 and you're subscribed. Every time I send out an update to my KANEIACS, you'll see what it's about.  Some cell phone providers may not include this text method in your standard plan, so check with you parents or cell carrier if the AUTO REPLY to your text doesn't show up within a minute or two. You'll get a quick message from me explaining that you've subscribed.

I will be sending out an update real soon, so make sure you get signed up RIGHT NOW and you'll be the first passengers on the text KaneTrain.

MY TWEETS

I know most of you read my tweets, so I thought I'd just blog about why I post them.

Just like how I come up with lyrics for new music, I like to tweet about things that I experience or hear about from fans or friends.  A lot of times I am just tired and tweet things that come across my mind. Other times, I find funny sayings or quick jokes that make me laugh, so I post them.

Sometimes I post lyric ideas and see how you all react to them.

Sometimes I tweet about what I'm doing at the time.

But other times I tweet things I hope encourage you guys. I mean, there's like enough things happening to all of us every day that a tweet that makes you smile or feel encouraged is something I hope helps in some way.

I get asked a lot about some tweets I post. In fact, a lot of the funny tweets are posted to make people laugh, but some people think I'm serious or talking about something that really happened. Sometimes they really did happen to me, other times I'm just being completely silly.  I read comments on my Facebook or replies on Twitter and people are concerned or wondering if I'm ok. I have to laugh because my post was a joke.

I guess if you read my tweets long enough you'll start to realize I live a pretty humorous life. In fact, between my parents and I, we are always trying to make each other laugh about something. We laugh a lot every day and I want to share that in my tweets with all the #KANEiacs out there :)

So, next time I tweet something that makes you laugh, smile, think, or just shake your head, be sure to reply and tell me. I know RT and FAVs tell me that some of you are liking them, but it would be great to hear from all of you.

HELP NEEDED

Hey guys!

Sometimes I am entered into competitions where I need a lot of fan support / votes to help me to place or win.

In the past two years I have been nominated for Best Pop Artist for the AI Music Awards Show in Hollywood, CA. I've also been included in the Stars of Tomorrow radio show Top 5 and Top 10 artist each month. These are just a few contests where fan votes really make a difference in if I win or not.

Well, right now I'm in a contest on talentwatch.com and I need to be able to finish in the top 3 to win, and hopefully in first.

Voting goes until like the end of April 2013, so I really need your help.

If I win this contest, I will be featured live in concert in Nashville for two nights and also be featured on Nashville Now TV show for like a month as a featured 1/2 hour show.

I've been in first place several times, but I think the other artists on the site have fans that are also trying to help them win.

Here's what I need you to do:

1. Please register as a FAN on the site
2. Once you're registered, go to the contest page
3. Find my profile photo and click on it
4. Rate my INTRO video using the number scale below the video (1-10)
5. Then you'll see my other music videos on the right side of the page
6. Click each of the remaining videos and use the sliders to the right of the video to vote for my videos. Each slider can go up to 100.
7. Become a fan of me on there
8. Once you are done voting for my videos, you can then go vote for other artists.
9. Remember, the higher the vote rating for me, the better. While you're there, vote for others too.
10. Tell all your friends to please register and vote for me too.
11. You can only vote 1 time per registration. You can't vote many times a day or even once a day. Just one time per registration.

I will find out on May 3 if I have won.

Please help me win!!!

#KANEiacs #KaneTrain

IT'S JUST COOL

Ok guys (and girls). So I'm going to be doing some pretty cool things in the coming weeks that will make being a KANEiac on the KaneTrain even cooler.

First of all, many of you have been logging in to watch me on Younow as I broadcast and talk and sing for viewers. This has been so much fun. I actually really like connecting with you guys and am having fun doing it.

For those of you that haven't been able to log in to watch live, here's a link to a broadcast that I did. I basically read the chat box for viewer comments and questions and then just do my "thang".

http://www.younow.com/SpencerKaneMusic/2185336/155420/24

Be careful, it's pretty goofy and you might end up thinking I'm a little cray cray. LOL



But something else that's really cool that will be happening soon.

• I'm going to be having a weekly radio show where you can tune in and listen or watch online
• I'm going to be having some pretty cool contests coming up where you can win cool prizes
• I'm going to be performing at some cool locations in the coming three months (YAY)
• I'm going to be launching a whole new way to communicate with the SPENCER KANE MUSIC team using TEXTING on your phone (this is the coolest thing I can't wait to share)
• I'm also going to be recording a lot more covers for my Youtube channel

So there, this is just some cool updates that I thought you guys may want to know.

BIG BAD BULLY

I know I talk about it a lot, but it's probably because it comes up a lot. Bullying is so much a part of what I see and hear about that it is just something that seems to never go away.

I get emails and messages from fans every week that talk about their experience with bullying. A lot of them talk about being bullied and the things they do to cope with it.

I look at my situation of being bullied in the past and find that my experiences were hard at the time, but not as serious as some of the one's I read about. It doesn't mean that what I went through wasn't real or being bullied, but it's like what my fans share is sometimes life threatening stuff.

I've been skyping into classrooms lately and hearing what students are doing to prevent bullying and I think it's just awesome to see so many inspired to make a difference.

I would love to hear stories of how my fans have prevented bullying with the actions they took to stand up for someone, or to be a part of a local bullying prevention campaign. Maybe even to hear about how sharing my music has encouraged them or someone else to stand against bullying.

Probably the worst bullying I see over and over again is what I call "SELF BULLYING". It's where someone starts saying bad things about themselves. Things like "I'm ugly. I'm dumb. Nobody likes me." Those things are what a bully would say to you and I read a lot of messages and emails where fans actually say that about themselves. I want you to know that it is actually the same as if you're being a bully. You're just choosing to say those mean things to yourself instead of someone else.

Bullying prevention starts with you choosing to not participate in bullying in any way, either as a bully, or someone who stands by while a bully is being mean to someone... or even calling yourself mean things because you think they are true.

I believe kindness is the answer to bullying. Be kind to others and yourself and you'll begin to see a big difference in your life.

Let me know what acts of kindness you're doing in your school, home, or community.

MY DOG, MAC

So some of you know I have a dog. His name is MAC and I've had him since I was 7 years old. His birthday is one day before mine, October 25. He will be 10 this year. Hard to believe he will be that old.

Mac is so smart. He is also so dumb sometimes.

I know I tweet about him once in a while, so you probably know about him from there too. Like this picture is from Instagram and some of you have seen him on there too.

So, when I was 6, I was saving for a legit bicycle. I lived in Florida and some of the boys I knew had cool bikes. I had a bike, a garage sale bike my parents found. But I wanted a "real" bike. One that was like the ones in XGames.

So I started saving all my money from birthdays and holidays and stuff and asked my grandparents to help me out too. I had saved up $200 and I was going to go to the bike shop in our town and get a real bike. I didn't want the bike from Walmart, I wanted one of the "real" bikes. lol

Then my mom and dad said I could get a dog.

I am allergic to pet hair so we couldn't get a dog or cat that had hair that shed. So we looked for a poodle. We searched all around one day and went to like 4 different places to look at puppies. Finally, after driving a long way from home into the country, we figured we'd try one last place. I remember trying to find their house cause they told us that when we came to the HOUSE in the middle of the highway, we had to turn at the next road. There really was a house in the middle of the highway. It was so weird. It was like they built the highway around both sides of the house cause the people wouldn't move away or something. It was like in the middle green grass area between the 4 lane highway.

Anyway, we found the house and the litter of puppies. There were 2 females and one male left. The two females were like clawing and jumping to get to me, but there he was just sitting in the corner of the pen by himself. He looked so lonely and had like no energy at all. I picked him up and he like tried to snuggle cause he was cold.  He was the one.

I named him MAC because at the time I LOVED TobyMac's music and Tracy McGrady as a basketball player who was called T-MAC.  So it made sense to name my dog Mac.

Well, I spent the $200 of my bike money to buy Mac. All $200 was needed to buy him.

My mom and dad were so amazed I would give up my dream of that "real" bike to buy the dog that they saved some money and bought me a bike anyway.  It wasn't the real bike from a bike shop, but I don't even remember really what kind of bike it was. I just know that ever since I bought Mac, he's been my little brother.

Mac and I play hide and seek in the house. I'm being completely serious. I will tell him to stay in one room while I go hide anywhere in the house. Then when I'm completely hidden, I yell for him to come find me. He goes from room to room sniffing and whimpering. He will like sneak slowly into a room and sniff my trail and look behind doors and stuff. I'm not joking. He literally searches for me from room to room. He even runs to my parents to see if they know where I am. They just tell him to go find me. When I know he is in the room and about to find me, I jump out and scare him with a roar and he barks and runs away. Then we start again.

Mac can talk. He says MAMA. He does tricks and actually knows what to do when I tell him to go to his cage or go get mama or daddy. Even my friends that come over love Mac. He is so smart. So, I may be an only child, but really, Mac is like my brother and my parents treat him like a kid sometimes. He still acts like a puppy and plays with me and we wrestle once in a while. It's funny, because he tries to protect me from my mom or dad when we make him think I'm being attacked by them. Mom will jump on me on the floor and start wrestling me and Mac will go crazy barking and start biting my mom's arms to keep them from touching me. He doesn't bite hard but he like tries to pull her off of me. He does the same to my dad when he starts pulling on my legs or something. Mac is like a guard dog. I will have to video this some day so I can put it in my vlog. He even SKYPES with me when I'm on the road. My mom puts him on SKYPE and I talk to him.

I guess you know that I love my dog and hope you guys now know a little more about MAC. :)

SPREADING HOPE FOR THE BULLIED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Teen Spreads Hope for Bullied Kids Around the World

Kendallville, IN – February 19, 2013

Spencer Kane, a 16-year-old singer and actor from Kendallville, IN, whose star is quickly rising, has become the newest spokesperson for PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center.

After being bullied himself as a young teen, Spencer has released a new EP titled “One of The Kind” which features a track of the same title. The song has quickly made an impact with kids in the U.S. and abroad because it suggests a positive way to prevent bullying – by being KIND. The official music video had nearly 100,000 views in the first 10 days on Spencer’s official Youtube channel. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YtA4QIhPr0) The song has generated hundreds of emails and messages of support and was a key reason for PACER to formalize the relationship with Spencer as spokesperson.

“Our goal is to change the culture so that bullying is no longer considered acceptable in our society,” said Julie Hertzog, director of PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. “One very effective way to reach kids is through the influence of young, popular performers like Spencer whose opinions really matter to teens. He is a great role model and we’re thrilled to have him as a spokesperson.”

Spencer talks with fans all over the world about the importance of KINDNESS toward those around you and how something as simple as a brief conversation with someone can make a huge impact. He takes the message of Being One of The Kind to each live performance and is partnering with schools to share the message with students during school appearances.

“I know how many times it really hurt when people I thought were my friends would make fun of me, spread rumors, or even threaten to harm me,” said Spencer. “I wrote this song because I know how important it is to have someone to talk to when you’re being bullied or going through a tough time.”

ABOUT PACER

Every year 13 million kids in America are bullied. PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center unites, engages, and educates communities nationwide to prevent bullying through the use of creative, interactive resources. It has three helpful websites that offer a wide variety of free resources teachers, students, and families can use to address bullying in schools, the community and online:

·         KidsAgainstBullying.org is for elementary school children

·         TeensAgainstBullying.org is for middle school and high school students.

·         PACER.org/bullying is for parents, educators, and other concerned adults.

ABOUT SPENCER KANE

Spencer Kane (www.spencerkanemusic.com) has been writing and performing music publicly since 2010. His debut single “Best Friends” was released in May 2011 and he has since released 10 other original songs. He has been nominated for back to back Indie Pop Artist of the Year awards (AI Music Awards - Los Angeles, CA - 2012 & 2013). He recently joined the cast of the TV sitcom iShine Knect which debuts its Season 4 in March 2013 on the TBN Network. He also began touring several cities with iShine Live on February 15, 2013 and will be continuing to perform the rest of 2013 at various venues throughout the United States.

- END -

RADIO INTERVIEW

I hope you can tune in this Saturday morning on one of the following stations (see below). I'll be the featured guest on this fun radio show based in Dallas, Texas.

Tune in about 8am or 9am to hear The Coconut Hut Radio Show (you can listen online using the show's website) where I share a little about myself and talk about each song on my new EP.

WDLM 89.3FM East Moline, IL

WBGW 101.5FM - Evansville, IN
WBGW 106.5FM - Owensboro, KY

WKZM 104.3 FM - Sarasota, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WHGN 91.9 FM - Crystal River, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WRMB 89.3 FM - Boynton Beach, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WKES 91.1 FM - Lakeland, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WSOR 90.9 FM - Naples, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WRMB 100.5 FM - Fort Pierce, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WRMB 91.5 FM - Okeeechobee, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

WRMB 90.3 FM - Stuart, FL | View Station Website | Listen Online Now

KTIG 91.5FM - Pequot Lakes, MN
KFLO 90.7FM - Shreveport, LA
KSYE 91.5FM - Lawton, OK

EP SONG LYRICS

Cover Art - One of THE Kind (Available on iTunes)

Some people have asked about where they can see the song lyrics from my new EP. I thought I'd post them here.

Title: REASON TO BE
Written by: Spencer Kane
Produced by: Zach Hall (Tobymac Dubbed & Freqd Remix, Five Knives, Newsboys #1 album from 2011 - Producer)

LYRICS:
He's your dream guy
Don't treat you right
But you still try
Give him all you've got
But he still makes you cry

All alone
Calling me up
Feeling lost inside
Like what's the point in this life
Tell me what good am I

The day's not over
The night's not here
I'll be your shoulder
I'm always near
Come and I'll show ya
Let go of your fear

When you're looking for a reason
A reason to be
I'll show you a way
A way you can be free
Sometimes it gets hard
Like in fog you can't see
Cause we all have a reason
A reason to be

Up and down on the list
Looking for your name on the wall
And your heart beats fast
And you're all alone in the hall
The coach said no
You feel lost inside
Like you just don't matter
What good am I?
But I'm here to show ya
A reason to be

The day's not over
The night's not here
I'll be your shoulder
I'm always near
Come and I'll show ya
Let go of your fear

When you're looking for a reason
A reason to be
I'll show you a way
A way you can be free
Sometimes it gets hard
Like in fog you can't see
Cause we all have a reason
A reason to be

Hold tight, hold tight
I'm gonna love you til
It's alright, alright
Open up your eyes
I'll lead you to a better life (2x)

Chorus to end

_____________________________________________________________

Title: MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Written by: Spencer Kane and Zach Hall
Produced by: Zach Hall

LYRICS:

At the time you seemed ok
Trying to be cool, all eyes on me
Cause it seemed pretty fun for a second
Going with the flow, following the peer pressure
My compass was spinning
North, South, East, West
Trying to fit in, yeah
(Are you feeling me now, you ain't gotta follow the crowd)

When I went left, my heart said right
Feeling all around
Like a room with no light
But then He showed me the way
Dusted me off, it's like I heard him say

You say, you say, ah ah
Follow me and it'll be alright, alright
You say, you say, ah ah
Follow clouds by day and fire by night now (repeat)

Move in the right direction
Move in the right direction

I feel it now, that the fun's over
Trying to be cool caught up to me
Now I'm searching my Script (scripture) for direction
Pullin my head out the clouds, no Jetson
I found a new beginning,
Up, down, right, left
Now I got it, yeah

Back from the left, my heart stayed right
Shining on me like stadium lights
Now I got a new day,
Dusted me off, just like I heard Him say

You say, you say, ah ah
Follow me and it'll be alright, alright
You say, you say, ah ah
Follow clouds by day and fire by night now (repeat)

Move in the right direction
Move in the right direction

You say, you say, ah ah
Follow me and it'll be alright, alright
You say, you say, ah ah
Follow clouds by day and fire by night now

____________________________________________________________


Title: ONE OF THE KIND
Written by: Spencer Kane
Produced by: Jeff Savage (Dove Award winning producer and co-writer of TobyMac's "IRENE" and "J-Train")

LYRICS:

Pushed down, to the ground
It's like nobody cares
She's thinking to herself
Is anybody out there
Outcast, no friends
Can she make it through
Just another day alone
No one to talk to

(so whatcha gonna do?)
You could keep on walking
Leave her to herself
It's not your problem anyway
(whatcha gonna do?)
You need to level out your pride
You should be one of the kind

Everybody needs someone to talk to, talk to
Why can't it be you?
(you should be one of the kind)
Everybody needs someone to hear them, to see them, to free them
One of the kind, oh oh oh

Spotlight, so bright
He's so popular
Athlete, school star
Never insecure
He can't forget
Why she'd go away
The silent tears he cries
Like every single day

(so whatcha gonna do?)
You just keep on walking
Leave him to himself
It's not your problem anyway
(whatcha gonna do?)
You need to level out your mind
You should be one of the kind

Everybody needs someone to talk to, talk to
Why can't it be you?
(you should be one of the kind)
Everybody needs someone to hear them, to see them, to free them
One of the kind, oh oh oh

Why can't it be you? Everybody (repeat)

You should be, one of the kind
Open your heart
Open your mind
You should be, one of the kind
Open you heart

Everybody needs someone to talk to, talk to
Why can't it be you?
(you should be one of the kind)
Everybody needs someone to hear them, to see them, to free them
One of the kind, oh oh oh

Chorus fade to end

____________________________________________________________________


Title: 413
Written by: Spencer Kane
Produced by: Jeff Savage

LYRICS:
Tough times and I want to give in
Why try, when I'm never gonna win
So hard, I think I can't reach it
I try to understand the secret

But when I think I can't
I think it's impossible
Or say "No way, it's never gonna happen" no

I know a place,
A place that I can go
I'll find a way to let my confy (confidence) show
I'll be alright
Cause I CAN DO ALL THINGS

I go to my 4-1-3
Let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin His style
C'mon let's talk for a while
I go to my 4-1-3
Let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin this style
C'mon let's talk for a while

Still going, I'm gonna make it through
No fear, cause I'm walkin in the truth
4-1-3, I know I'm gonna win this
So bring it on, I know that I can take this

You can never stop me, you never stop me
Imma make it to the end
And you can take me, never break me
Cause Imma make it to the end

But when I think I can't
I think it's impossible
Or say "No way, it's never gonna happen" no

I know a place,
A place that I can go
I'll find a way to let my confy (confidence) show
I'll be alright
Cause I CAN DO ALL THINGS

I go to my 4-1-3
And let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin His style
C'mon let's talk for a while
I go to my 4-1-3
And let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin this style
C'mon let's talk for a while

You can never stop me, you never stop me
Imma make it to the end
And you can take me, never break me
Cause Imma make it to the end
You can never stop me, you never stop me
Imma make it to the end
And you can take me, never break me
Cause Imma make it to the end

I go to my 4-1-3
And let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin His style
C'mon let's talk for a while
I go to my 4-1-3
And let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin this style
C'mon let's talk for a while

I go to my 4-1-3
And let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin His style
C'mon let's talk for a while
I go to my 4-1-3
And let me tell you bout the G-O-D
I love reppin this style
C'mon let's talk for a while

___________________________________________________________


Title: BLUE SKY
Written by: Francesca Batistelli
Performed by: Spencer Kane
Produced by: Jeff Savage

LYRICS:

When you’re down and you’re out
And you don’t think you have a friend
When you’re lost in the doubt
And you can’t see what’s around the bend

Just hold on
Don’t turn around
Keep on walking
Don’t lose heart
‘Cause I am here, I am here
Wherever you are, wherever you are

(Chorus)
When the rain is falling
And there’s no silver lining
And you just can’t seem to find the light
When you need a reason
To help you keep believing
Let my love be your blue sky

Don’t you know that I know
Life can be so hard it makes you wanna give up
But don’t you know over the horizon
The sunny day you’re looking for
Is waiting right here in my love

Just hold on
Don’t turn around
Keep on walking
Don’t lose heart
‘Cause I am here, I am here
Wherever you are, wherever you are

(Chorus)

Come on come on
Don’t you be afraid
Whatever comes tomorrow
My love is here to stay

(Chorus)

CONTEST FINALISTS

Thank you to everyone who submitted their FAN VIDEOS for my recent contest giveaway of a signed CD, a T-Shirt and 2 Tickets to a concert on our tour.

We need you to LIKE the video which you think is the best FAN video.  Watch the video and click LIKE so we can count the votes from fans. (*You may need to click the Youtube logo in the bottom right in order to get to the actual video page on Youtube so you can click LIKE) Although fan votes will help us think through a possible winner, it won't mean that the most votes is automatically the winner.

We'll have votes until February 10 and then announce the winner(s).

Here's the videos:

Don't just watch the video, be sure to LIKE it so we can count your votes too.

Thank you. #KaneTrain #KANEiac

NEW CONTEST

Win my new EP, a ONE OF THE KIND T-Shirt, autographed picture, a pair of tickets* to one of the concerts on the upcoming iShine tour where we can meet, and a super secret surprise revealed to the winner.

What do you have to do?

Post a Youtube video of you doing any ONE of the following:

• Lip sync to ONE OF THE KIND (at least through the first chorus)
• Explain why you are my #1 fan in the world (give specific reasons)
• Dance to ONE OF THE KIND (at least 1 minute in length)
• Do a cover of any one of my songs

In every option above you MUST be shown on camera.  Be sure to say your first name and what country you are from at some point in your submission video.

Send the link to your video submission to spencer@spencerkanemusic.com

• Entry must be received by February 3, 2013.
• Only one entry per person on the video.
• More than one person may appear in the video, but only one prize package will be awarded per winning video.
• The video must be titled:
• Spencer Kane Fan Contest Video
• It must remain available for public viewing on Youtube.
• Share the video on all your social media (Twitter, Facebook, Four Square, Pinterest, etc.)

All video submissions are reviewed by my managers and we have the right to choose whichever video as the winner. PLUS... we may choose to pick more than one winner, so your chances are better than just one final winner.

Most of all, have fun making it. Use your phone video camera, or webcam if you don't have a regular video camera. I'm looking for some creative stuff here :)

I can't wait to give away the prizes.

*tickets do not include any travel related expenses or local expenses required to attend the concert. Just two admission tickets.

Dating

I get asked a lot if I have a girlfriend. The answer I give is "No."  I have had a girlfriend before, but not right now.

I get asked if I will date a person I meet online. The answer I give is "No."  I think dating is about hanging out with a girl and spending time getting to know her family and doing group dates with friends.  I can't do that if she doesn't live near me.

It's hard to date a girl when my schedule is so full. Honestly, I would like to have more free time to hang out with friends and even go on a date with a girl, but it just doesn't work out with as busy as I am with school, sports, and of course, music.

If I wasn't so busy, I'm sure things would be different.

I'm still waiting patiently for when the time is right to have a girlfriend. Until then, I have both guys and girls who are my friends and we chat and hang out when possible.

Just thought I'd share that with you all.

Writing Songs of Hope

Well, in about 3 weeks my new EP, One of THE Kind, will be released on iTunes. I know that many of you have already heard the debut single and title track One of THE Kind and also watched the official music video on my youtube channel. But there are 4 other tracks being released in this EP that I'm excited to share.

The whole EP is about encouragement and hope.  I try to write songs that offer hope to people because I think there's a lot of negative stuff in life that people deal with and I want to make music that helps people feel happy or at least hopeful.

The other songs on the EP are

413 - a song about what I do when I'm going through a tough time and how I know I can make it

Move in the Right Direction - a song about dealing with peer pressure and making a change in not hanging with the wrong people or doing things that can make trouble for you or others

Reason To Be - probably my favorite track on this EP. I wrote this song because a lot of people my age or younger (and some older) spend too much time worrying about their boyfriend or girlfriend or whether they make the sports team and stuff like that. I know those things are important, but so many of my friends and people I've talked to are so upset if their relationship doesn't work out or they don't make the team. So this song is more about knowing that your life has purpose even though you think what's happening now makes you feel lost inside.

Blue Sky - this is a song written by Francesca Batistelli and has always been one of my favorite songs. You can look up the lyrics online and see why. :)

I hope you all had a great new year and I am excited to share my new EP with you.