Episode 6: The 2014 Music Review Spectacular
Another year's end is upon us and that means taking stock of all kinds of things. Accomplishments, relationships, personal growth. And records. Lots and lots of records. Oh, the records that came out this year.
I am so very pleased to offer up the first in what is hopefully many year-end music shows. I sat down in the kitchen/studio with three guys who I've known and worked with as a musician, but also three guys whose tastes and leanings were all different from my own. They are, in no particular order: Bill Rose of The Standing Cinema, Jay Verdibello of Venice Sunlight and James Hearne (formerly of The Way Home, of which I was also a member).
So what does a year-end roundup entail? I asked the guys to send me a handful of songs from varying 2014 releases that they really dug. I made those songs into little mega-mixes and we used that as a jumping off point for discussion. And there are, of course, tangents. It wouldn't be a roundtable discussion without tangents. Like any conversation you hear on this show, I like to let the talk go where it goes. I thought it went really well, and I hope you do, too.
Anyways, I think I say more than my piece on music of 2014 in the episode. As far as other things go, this was a good year for me. This was the year I started doing this podcast after talking about it for the longest time. I'm glad to have focused on this outlet for the time, and it's opened up a lot of other doors and opportunities to be creative. I'll be sharing those things with you all as the new year begins. I'm not keeping them quiet out of any real sense of preciousness, but simply because a lot of it is still in the planning stages. You'll know when it's time, I promise.
This was a year that I made a lot of choices that I hope define the future for me a bit. Aside from starting the podcast, this is also the year I quit smoking. That's been a fun one, let me tell you. I'm about ten months in at the time of writing this, and it's gotten better, but for a while it seemed like I was just going to go right the hell out of my skull. It's scary how addictive a drug nicotine is. I still have moments where I think I'm going to just lose it, but those are few and far between. I was told by a friend who had quit that you measure your success in how few times a day you actually think about smoking. As time goes on, you'll realize you hadn't thought about them for days or even weeks. I'm not quite there yet, but I go large parts of the day without really thinking about it, so there's that. I take it one day at a time, and it's working out well so far.
I could go on and on about all kinds of things I came around to this year, but I think I'll just leave it here. I do want to thank each and every one of you who have listened, streamed, downloaded, shared, tweeted and engaged with this show. You're support and interest in what I'm doing here means a great deal to me. I hope you've gotten to know the guests a bit at the close of each episode, and I hope that I was able to maybe make you think about something new or in a different way. Most importantly, I hope you've enjoyed the in-depth conversation I have with cool, passionate and creative people. I definitely love talking to them, and I love sharing those talks.
Happy New Year to all. Hope you had a great year, or can at least pick out and focus on moments of greatness. I wish you all a fantastic and creative new year, full of great ideas and even greater actions.
Cheers,
DD