A little fame. A little fortune. One helluva ride.
Kevin Bayly was destined to play music. He grew up the oldest of four in an Irish Catholic household in Bowie, Maryland. Many of his uncles (on his mom’s side) were musicians of one form or another and his mom played the guitar. He developed an appreciation for music early in his childhood.
“From the time I was six or seven, I thought there was nothing cooler than playing the guitar!”
When Kevin turned nine, his mom finally bought him his first real guitar. She taught him how to play and he never took formal lessons. But his thirst to learn was unquenchable.
He loved the competition. He loved the challenge. And he immersed himself in the trade.
As he prepared to enter high school, Kevin read Rock N’ Roll magazines. He bought records. He studied his guitar heroes, including Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Paige, and Eddie Van Halen. He dreamed of playing the guitar professionally. But that little voice of doubt would always appear. Was it a realistic dream?
“I listened to all these legends. But the talented guitarists made me feel fraudulent. I didn’t think I could ever be a professional.”
He didn’t give himself nearly enough credit.
The Dream Starts to Crystallize
Kevin attended Gonzaga College High School and was by all accounts a “normal” high school student. He was a JV lacrosse player and a Varsity swimmer. He was a good student. And he played the guitar every chance he got. Backyard parties. Coffee houses. Basements and back porches. He hunkered down and honed his craft.
By senior year, he finally found a band that clicked. Kevin started the band with twin brothers on bass and drums and a talented lead singer. But after a few months together, their lead singer left the band when he signed a record deal. The band immediately fell apart.
“That was a double-edged sword for me. I thought I had lost my shot entirely when that band broke up. But I also saw what was possible. A record deal was a dream.”
Kevin went on to the University of Maryland and continued to develop his musical talent. He pursued a degree in music but soon discovered he enjoyed playing it more than studying it. He concentrated on his other studies and on mastering the guitar. He played at college parties and local bars during the school year. He played at the beach during his summers as a lifeguard in Bethany Beach. And like most young college students, he graduated with a liberal arts degree and not much of an idea how to apply it in the real world.
Kevin had a vague notion of going to law school as a backup plan, so he headed down to the College of Charleston for a semester and registered for the LSAT. He surfed. He played guitar. He drifted.
“To quote from [the surf movie] Point Break, I was living to get radical.”
After taking the LSAT, Kevin headed back to Washington, DC. He didn’t know it at the time, but his dreams were about to come true.
“The Dance Party” Comes to Life
Soon after moving back to DC, Kevin connected with three other musicians and loosely formed a band.
“We weren’t the most talented group but we set goals and we practiced hard. And most importantly, we were driven to succeed.”
Drive and hard work trump talent any day. They started to gain local fame in the Washington, DC scene for their over-the-top, frenzied performances. The group settled on the name “The Dance Party”, and never looked back.
“The Dance Party” played all the legendary hot spots and local venues, including The Black Cat and The Velvet Lounge. They traveled to New York on the weekends and packed local establishments there as well. They took a business approach to their networking and systematically built their base of followers. “The Dance Party” became one of the hottest local bands in the DC area.
“The crowds were always bigger than they should have been. We worked hard to fill those clubs.”
In December of 2007, “The Dance Party” got their first major break. They were invited to play with another established band, “Middle Distance Runner”, at the legendary 930 Club in downtown Washington, DC. In typical fashion, “The Dance Party” filled the venue with over 1,000 people and put on the show of their lives. The future was wide open.
But Kevin Bayly wasn’t just living the band life. He had enrolled in Catholic University Law School in 2007. He was networking and playing lead guitar for a burgeoning rock group at night while pursuing his law degree during the day. Now that adds some gusto to the cliché of “working your way through law school!”
But success would put his two worlds on a collision course. A friend at The William Morris Agency in Los Angeles took notice of “The Dance Party”. Their packed shows and eclectic performances fit well with the West Coast rock scene. During winter break of Kevin’s third year in law school, with only one semester to go before graduation, it all came to a head.
“The Dance Party” was offered a deal from a major record label, Atlantic Records. This was the dream Kevin had first envisioned since before the time he got his first guitar. But he was also right on the precipice of finishing his long and arduous journey toward a law degree.
“I struggled with the decision. I didn’t want to lose either opportunity. But I ultimately felt the record contract had a shorter shelf life.”
Kevin went to his Dean of Studies at Catholic Law School. She couldn’t have been more understanding. Kevin was granted a one-year leave of absence and then had to check back in every six months after that to hold his spot. He didn’t have to choose between dreams.
It was off to the West Coast to become a professional musician. Kevin Bayly’s musical wave was cresting!
Making it in Los Angeles
Atlantic Records put “The Dance Party” up in The Highland Gardens Hotel in Hollywood. It was the start of a surreal and magical ride for Kevin and the band.
They went to Van Halen’s rehearsals. They jammed with (Kevin’s favorite band) “The Darkness”. They became friends with the classic 80s band, “Toto”. They were treated like royalty.
“Atlantic gave us adult money to make the record. And we were soaking in the Los Angeles lifestyle. I finally felt like I had made it.”
They produced their record at the iconic Sunset Sound Factory. And in another classic “LA moment”, the bassist from the rock band “Weezer” played on their record.
By 2010, the band’s feature album “Touch” was released to rave reviews in the marketplace. The sky was the limit.
“The Dance Party” bought a brand-new van and an 8-foot trailer (what else does a rock band need?) and headed out on a coastal city musical tour of the United States.
“That year was a blur. We traveled everywhere playing our brand of music. We would sometimes get a hotel. Sometimes, pull over and crash in a Wal-Mart parking lot. But we didn’t care. We had our music, we had our fans and we had each other.”
While “The Dance Party” was on the road, the legendary Kevin Lyman, founder of the Van’s Warped Tour, listened to “Touch” and loved the album. The Van’s Warped Tour is the longest-running North American Festival Concert Tour, attracting 750,000 people annually. Kevin Lyman wanted them to play that tour. And that is the biggest break any band could get at that time.
After wrapping up the “Touch” tour, Kevin Lyman made it official. “The Dance Party” would be playing a 60-day outdoor amphitheater slate as part of the Van’s Warped Tour.
“The Dance Party” was at the height of its fame and prestige. But Kevin Bayly still had some unfinished business. With no prospects of moving back east any time soon, he had convinced Catholic University Law to let him finish up his degree remotely. While on tour, he took some classes over Skype. He labored over research papers and he studied in the van and in hotel rooms across the country. After all that, he was six credits shy of earning his elusive degree.
“I wasn’t going to stop at that point. My law degree was too important to me.”
For competitive reasons, “The Dance Party” was not allowed to go on the road for 90 days prior to the start of the festival tour. Kevin Bayly would make the most of that time.
With some of his newly earned money and a little encouragement from his parents, Kevin was able to enroll in an exchange program in Italy with Catholic University Law School. He flew from Los Angeles to Rome to complete his degree before heading back out on tour. Now that is maximizing your opportunities!
One goal was checked off. And now it was time to continue his dream.
“The Dance Party” upgraded from a van to full-blown tour bus. The venues were the largest they had ever played. The crowds continued to swell and swoon for the wild sounds of the band. They hustled to sell their merchandise and built their loyal following. They had made it.
“We opened up for Ludacris at Byrd Stadium. There were over 10,000 people going crazy. It was a dream come true.”
But like all dreams, eventually there is a wake-up call. And “The Dance Party” would get a sudden and severe wake-up call.
The Wave Crashes
“The Dance Party” was at the height of their career. The band was thriving. The fans were swarming. But their infrastructure was crumbling.
Their manager had gone off the rails while on tour and they were forced to fire him. Meanwhile, their A&R (promotion) liaison to Atlantic Records had been fired and the new one took no interest in the band. At the same time, their agent left the business with no prospect of a successor.
“The Dance Party” returned from the Van’s Warped Tour with no manager, no agent, no promotions and no additional tours or records lined up. In the blink of an eye, the tides of fortune had dramatically shifted.
With no help or promotions, “The Dance Party” had to get out of their record deal as soon as possible. Fortunately, Kevin’s talented attorney, Bryan Christner, was able to extricate them without significant penalty. Unfortunately, “The Dance Party” had lost serious momentum by then. And Kevin was starting to sour on the West Coast scene.
“Most of the people who tried to represent us after that were high school dropouts on drugs. It was so off-putting.”
And the musical scene was changing. There was more synthesis and less reliance on a powerful lead guitarist.
“The future that was promised wasn’t there by the time I arrived.”
And, in addition to everything else, Kevin’s finances were rapidly dwindling.
“I was now staying in a studio with a sleeping bag and no bathroom in the apartment. I was living on $5 Subway footlongs and using the bathroom in a nearby Starbucks. It was the “carney’ life!”
It was time for a change of scenery.
Riding the Wave Back East
In 2011, Kevin Bayly and ” The Dance Party” moved back to the East Coast. They still had a deep bond and they were still confident. After all, they were performing like champions and their music was fresh and exciting. They had the grit to move on from the debacle of their last few months in Los Angeles.
“The Dance Party” was quickly signed by an “indie” label, Cascine, out of Brooklyn. The music had more of a hip vibe so the band reconfigured the lineup and changed their name to “Brett” to differentiate from the older vibe of “The Dance Party.” They recorded an album and toured. They were back in business.
But fortune never followed. By 2013, Kevin Bayly was scraping by on part-time jobs. He was 30 years old and losing money.
“I was no longer having fun. My musical wave was in a trough.”
But he would never forget his incredible ride to the top.
“I played in stadiums. I met the best superfans. I not only checked the box, I lived my dreams.”
Kevin Bayly would never stop playing music. But now it was time to forge another path. He had met his girlfriend Brittany in Bethany Beach a few years earlier. She would inspire him to study for the Bar Exam. Together, they would build a new life.
Kevin once again hunkered down on his studies. It had been years since he was “formally” in law school. But he passed the Bar on the very first try. In June of 2015, Kevin Bayly was officially sworn into the Maryland Bar. He and Brittany married that summer.
The lead guitarist was no longer solo.
Living a New Dream
Kevin Bayly is applying his talent, hustle and grit to a new profession. He always loved the business structure of real estate transactions and finally found a new calling. He found a mentor in local entrepreneur Mike Ridgway and joined Community Title Network 14 months ago.
“It’s great. It offers me something tangible to achieve. And the professionalism and accountability are a welcome change from the music industry.”
Does that mean Kevin is finished with playing music?
“Never. I still do shows. Brittany and I actually put a record out. Music will always be a part of my life.”
And what does he miss most about his career in professional music?
“I miss playing with my friends for hours at a time. It was an incredible, bonding experience.”
But Kevin Bayly has no regrets. He trusted his instincts. He hustled and networked. He had faith is his incredible, God-given talents. He climbed the mountain. He lived his dreams.
And now Kevin and Brittany have taken another major step forward in their lives. Their first child, a son, John Bayly, was born on Saturday, October 27!
And now they are living the greatest dream of all.
What Does It Mean For Us?
Kevin Bayly’s true journey in only beginning. But the path he has carved in his young life holds lessons for all of us.
How many of us have the guts to cast our internal doubts aside and go for our dreams?
How many us are willing to work without a safety net?
How many of us have the perseverance to stick with our passion?
How many of us have the fortitude to finish what we started?
How many of us have the foresight to formulate a backup plan?
And how many of us have the courage to step away and attack another dream?
Kevin Bayly is no longer a professional musician. But stepping away doesn’t mean he has abandoned his passion. Writers write. Actors act. And musicians perform.
Life is a series of waves. We just have to ride out the crests and troughs and see where the wave takes us. Kevin Bayly has taught us that as long as we keep grinding, there will always be another wave to ride.
Thank you, Kevin. And good luck with your next dream.