The Seven-Year Stitch
Well, here we are, at, quite unbelievably, the 7th anniversary of this blog. That's right, it's been a full 7 years since I started this little endeavor, and although it has never quite become what I had hoped it would (just haven't had the time to put into it), it has kept chugging along as what it is, averaging about a post a week throughout that 7 year's time. So, it hasn't been the most consistently updated of these types of things, but even at that rate of posting, it has amounted to nearly 400 music shows, bootlegs, and rarities files available for downloading. So many other music blogs have come and gone in that time (some much better than this one), but I have kept on plugging along through thick and thin. And what I have put out here is some really quality stuff, some obscure, much well-known, but all music and artists that I personally enjoy very much, available in as fine of sound quality as possible, and many of these shows are (or at least were) not generally available anywhere else. I try to provide some background and context to the music and artists, as well as my own commentary, rather than just unadorned music files, to give those new to these artists some perspective and history, to explore the music further. And in that sense I hope that what I have provided here has been useful and worthwhile, as well as musically satisfying. And so, I am somewhat proud of what I have assembled here over the last 7 years, and I hope it has been something that you come back to often and have been introduced to some new music here that you really enjoy, as well as the artists that you already knew and liked, to expand your musical horizons and enjoyment in addition to your music collection. I also take pride that most of the music that has ever been posted here, is still available for download, even multiple years after first posting. I try to keep the links up to date as much as possible, so that the music will continue to be available for all to sample. I have been pleasantly surprised that most files have received fairly regular downloads (to keep them active), even for the older posts going back several years. Sure, some of the more-obscure stuff needs to be refreshed every now and then, but overall, shows are still being downloaded pretty regularly, which pleases me to see. I guess it indicates that new people are finding the blog and going back through the older posts. So, that's all good. We seem to be pretty steady regarding visits and pageviews, not increasing, but not declining either.
And once again, as I have each year at this time, I also want to take this time to thank and celebrate all the others out there who have made so much of this great music, which is not available for purchase anywhere, freely available to all who wish to download and enjoy it. I am only able to offer these downloads because others before me have made them available. So, to all the other bloggers, tapers, forum posters, and music fans that have collected these recordings and made them available over the internet, as well as to all the great artists and musicians out there that allow these recordings to be freely exchanged, I offer a huge and heartfelt Thank You. And again, I implore everyone to purchase all the official releases of your favorite artists. The music here serves to supplement, not replace, all of their officially released music. They are supported by fans like us.
As for the future of the blog, well, who knows? I certainly wouldn't say there will be 7 more years ahead, but you never know. I have contemplated shutting it down several times over the past few years (following various shutdowns, closures, and loss of files), but it continues. At least for the time being, it will continue pretty much as it has been, that is, on the same limited basis (one or two posts a week, tops). I very much enjoy doing it, but just have a very limited time I can devote to it. So, please be patient, as it may take me some time to get around to posting things, etc. But I will always strive to provide new and interesting content that is generally not available from the other usual music blogs. As I've said previously, I do wish I could get more comments, feedback, and discussion from you, the readers of this blog. Please, let me know what you think of what is here, provide your own insight and perspective, and some real discussion of some of this great music. I would love to hear and see more from you, if possible.
For the immediate future, I have collected upgraded versions (FLAC or 320 kbps vs. 192k files) for many of the older posts, but just haven't gotten the chance to get the posts updated and improved. so, for the rest of April, rather than posting much new stuff, I'm going to take this chance to get things on the blog updated and upgraded. So, stay tuned for news of these and other changes that will be part of Upgrade April. Hope you like and can use some of these upgraded versions and improvements to the site.
