Hangin' Out In 100b

If you stop by here frequently – or, heck, even if you stop by infrequently – you may have noticed that I have a difficult time updating regularly. We used to be really good about that, with a rotating schedule that made sure we got new content up pretty damn often. But with just me left of our little team, my partners having moved on to bigger and better ventures, and a dwindling sense of why I’m actually writing this blog, it’s been tricky. Don’t get me wrong, I love 100b. But there’s something I’ve been thinking in the back of my mind for a while that I finally admitted to myself recently:

I don’t really enjoy writing about new bands that much.

Phew, I said it, what a relief – even though it’s only about 78% true. I do like finding wonderful, secret treasures that are new to me. I’ve discovered some really fantastic – and now dearly loved – bands through mails sent here, and I’d be so sad to see that go. On the other hand, any music blogger will tell you that it’s almost impossible to keep up with the mail. 100b is just a small blip in the music blogosphere, but even I can’t listen to and assess half of what comes in. I do my best to screen and I hope I’ve caught the stuff I’d want to have heard most, but there’s no way to do any better. I was, I have to admit, starting to feel burdened by the inbox – as if I never had time to write any posts because I was forever trying to keep the mail under control.

There have been some serious rewards in there, and I do enjoy getting someone’s name out that I feel deserves and needs the attention. What I really don’t enjoy, as it turns out, is the feeling that I have to get to the newest and coolest bands first or else I might as well not bother. Because, let’s face it, I’m never going to get there first. I just can’t compete, and, honestly, I don’t write that sort of newest-hippest-band post very well anyway. I either like them, in which case someone’s long since already written it better, or I don’t like them and I really can’t be bothered wasting my time on something I don’t like. It took me over five years to realize, but that whole scene is just not for me.

But I do love music, more than almost anything, and I do love writing about it. I’ve been thinking for months now about what angle I do really enjoy writing from: I thought about my favorite posts, which bands I liked writing about most, which read as most personal and enthusiastic … and I finally figured out what direction to take. It might be a while before I get there – there’s a small pile of backed up post drafts and intriguing emails to get through first – but I wanted to get the ball rolling a wee bit now.

Mostly because – new bands, pretty please listen here – if you send an email this way, and it is dated after, say, this coming weekend (June 26th), I absolutely will not write a post about it. My new focus will, by its very definition, exclude writing about new music. I do really, really wish I could do better by the hopeful new bands that pass this way, but I just can’t anymore and never really could anyway. If you send mail after this weekend-ish, I will try to read it and promote anything I think is good via Twitter. I can’t promise anything more than that and if that means you don’t want to risk your music getting lost in the interwebs, I totally understand. I hope I’ll hear about you some other way.

So there we go. I’m pretty excited about the changes I’ll be making – even if the readership is tiny or gets even tinier, I think I will enjoy writing for it more, and I expect it will show. Enthusiastic writers write enthusiastic posts, right? I hope mine will be infectious.