Nicole Atkins Winners and other stuff...

Well, to start with, I'd like to thank everyone for entering the Nicole Atkins CD Giveaway contest. I did this as much to find out whether or not I have enough readers to constitute such a contest, as I did to introduce her music to others. The response was much better than I anticipated and I guarantee that I'll be doing some more in the future as the opportunity presents itself. Congratulations to Christopher Morris and Chris MacDonald. The CD's will be in the mail first thing Monday morning. To all the others who've entered, all may not be lost. I noticed today that the Hero Hill blog is hosting pretty much the exact same contest. I definitely recommend that you enter this one as well, because the CD is gold.

Speaking of Hero Hill, on December 31st, they posted a very interesting article on music blogs. It featured opinions on what a music bloggers' motivation should be, what they actually often are, and whether or not a music blog can be considered a viable form of music journalism. It's a very well written article and it certainly gave me personally a lot to think about. Ultimately, my reasons for blogging may be similar to others, but my motivation isn't exactly the same. I just really like music. It's as simple as that. I also like to talk too much. However, the desire to present my views in audio form (i.e. a podcast) just requires way more work than I'm interested in doing. So I blog, and I'm just having a good time. I don't take myself too seriously, nor do I have any desire to allow this blog to be anything more than an enjoyable hobby. Every single artist that I rave about is someone that I personally enjoy listening to, whether they're big time or a smaller local artist. There was a brief spell there where, admittedly, the idea of getting a free CD was muddying my judgment a little bit and I was probably being a little bit more complimentary of certain bands than I was really feeling. But that was in the early days and that's how you learn and I can assure my readers that these days, any artist I focus on is an artist that I truly believe in 100%. And there will be plenty more of that throughout the new year.

Also, I've been taking a bit of a break from the concerts over the last couple of weeks, but there are some more coming up in the near future. Here's a list of some of the ones that I may or may not be checking out in the weeks to come:

Sat Jan 12th - Fox Jaws and Bass Lions at El Mocambo (I've got some friends visiting that night so I likely won't make it, but dang it, you should!)
Wed Jan 9th - Nada Surf @ Sonic Boom Records (In-store performance)
Fri Jan 11th - TWM 8 featuring Mark Berube, qr5 and The Cheap Speakers @ Rancho Relaxo
Wed Jan 16 - Au Revoir Simone @ Lee's Palace
Tue Jan 22 - Peter Bjorn and John w/Young Galaxy @ The Phoenix (Got my tickets!)
Fri Feb 1 - The Weakerthans @ Sonic Boom Records (In-store appearance)
UPDATE: The Weakerthans Sonic Boom in store has been cancelled! Drag.
Sat Feb 2 - The Weakerthans @ Nathan Phillips Square (If it's not insanely cold)
Sat Feb 9 - Dean & Britta w/ Keren Ann @ The Mod Club (Got my tickets!)
Sun Feb 17 - Nicole Atkins and the Sea @ Lee's Palace (Got my tickets!)