Allowing ourselves to become dangerously sentimental, Rocks Off polled our regular contributors to ask them the one music-related thing they're thankful for this year. We'll stop before we cue up Dido.
Chris Gray: Besides being grateful to be here at all -- in a way that, an all-too-short time ago, I was most certainly not -- I am thankful to be working with all the people from whom you are about to hear. Of course it's not all sunshine and roses (how could it be?), but I am proud of all their work on this blog, and proud to have them here. I find that their enthusiasm for music, especially the local scene, has a way of renewing my own just when it's starting to flag.
A close second is that local scene I just mentioned, which may never, ever get the kind of credit it deserves -- which I also find to be its most endearing attribute. May it ever be underestimated, and may those who do always be pleasantly surprised when they do found out how much it has to offer. A distant third is my iPhone, because this year I finally discovered (to my bank account's peril) exactly how easy and fun it is to download music from iTunes. This is, I shit you not, how I became a proud Little Big Town fan.
Brando: Spotify. It's taken what was already great about Pandora and made it even more accessible thanks to mobile capabilities as well as the playlists. Feels like I'm back in high school trading playlists with people.
Christina Lynn: I think I am gonna go with Florence and the Machine. Not only do I love Florence's voice, but I respect the fact that she admits who her influences are but doesn't copy them verbatim. To me, she is a lot like the rockers of the 70s and 80s.
Creg Lovett: I'm thankful that Chuck Roast is now hosting in-store performances at Vinal Edge (239 W, 19th St.), and that the Pain Teens are reuniting at Fitzgerald's the day after Thanksgiving.
Corey Deiterman: The one music-related thing that I'm thankful for this year is that I got the opportunity to see so many amazing shows. From seeing my favorite band, At the Drive-In, reunited and playing a tiny club in Austin, to seeing a 78-year old Leonard Cohen perform for three and a half hours with more energy and passion than some 18-year-olds, to watching the Flaming Lips rip through Dark Side of the Moon at this year's Summer Fest, and to seeing Cloud Nothings coming into their own as one of the best bands at this year's SXSW, it's been an absolutely amazing year for shows.
