Personally, I felt that 2009 was a great year for music. As my Top Ten Albums of 2009 list can attest, there are some amazing bands out there making outstanding music across a wide gamut of styles, trends, and genres. And with anticipated releases slated from Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, and other premium artists, 2010 looks to build upon the successes of the last year.
Here at Dryvetyme Onlyne, I’m more than a bit excited to see all that this new year and new decade are going to bring. First of all, I got engaged to the most amazing and beautiful woman in the world over the holiday hiatus, and we’re planning to get married this July (as in, 7 months from now). So, that little development is more than enough reason for me to be pumped up about 2010.
Also, as some of my friends in real life are aware, I’ve spent good chunks of 2009 as one half of a indie-ish folk/pop duo called Prairie Cadets. With any luck, Marc and I will be releasing the Celebrity EP in Spring 2010 and either an official full-length or series of interlocking EPs/7″s in Fall 2010. I just figured that, in classic Rob Fleming/Gordon fashion, if I’m going to critique the music of others, it would behoove me to also create a bit of music on my own.
In regards to where I see this site growing and developing over the next 12 months, I want to first look back at my “Welcome To 2009!” post. Admittedly, I never got off dead-center regarding the development of any of those supposed think-pieces on music culture, much less any posts or essays about anything besides music (or pop culture). Instead, I spent most of my writing energy seeking out freelance paid music writing work; so when you couple that with my new drive to write short stories (or fiction in general) once again, I’m rather pleased with how things actually transpired.
Furthermore, I did happen upon three great regular guest contributors to the site: Michael Dallas Miller, Jen Broadwell, and Robert Saucedo. I met MDM a few years back when we both wrote more actively for Burnside Writers Collective, and I value his energy and go-getting mentality. I found Jen through the magic of Twitter (don’t laugh), and was happy to bring on the words of this music-loving Houston, TX resident. In regards to the illustrious Mr. Saucedo, I was introduced to him by our mutual friend, Marc Brubaker, and I’ve been enamored with his ability to find the beauty in even the crappiest of B/C/D-level movies. With any luck, I hope to find 1-2 more writers to round out my little “roster” in hopes that we all will be able to pursue our mutual love of writing.
Thus, in terms of what I would like to see happen for 2010, I want to reiterate that my goal for this site is to provide a haven for quality music writing and for those people who like to interact with such writing. I’m going to keep chasing after my dreams, and hopefully, some people might actually pay attention to what’s happening here. Moreover, I’d like to find a small coterie of advertisers and/or investors so that I can actually pay my guest contributors something, much less vainly attempt to finance all of my personal unpaid work on this website. That being said, it’s not about the money – it’s about sharing my love for music and the written word with people who share those same affections.
As always, feel free to download any songs that I provide here, comment on the reviews, talk to each other in the comment sections, and generally behave like respectable adults with halfway decent manners (all while discussing what we love about music). On to 2010 – this year is going to be great!
