The Musical Divide

Hello,

First of all, for anyone who’s stuck around during this blog’s relaunch period, I can’t thank you enough. I usually reserve these types of discussions for the end of the year, after I’ve had time to reflect on the year and think about where I want to take the blog in the next year.

Obviously – at least for anyone who’s followed this blog long enough – 2023 has been a turbulent year for me in maintaining a level of consistency with the outlet compared to past years, which is why I want to talk about this blog’s future direction and how it could affect things moving forward. Posts have been more sporadic, and I’m nowhere near on top of new releases and reviews as I’d like to be or would have been in the past.

In a sense, for me it’s just the price of growing older and accepting greater responsibilities within my personal life. I can’t complain with what I’ve been able to accomplish with this personal passion project over the years. Not so much in a “this is totally Pulitzer-worthy stuff” (I’m not fooling myself there), but rather in a way where I’ve been able to contribute what I’ve wanted to see in the general online country music community myself, as a fellow reader of outlets and fan of the genre.

That’s why it’s been difficult to step back like I have over the past few months, because there’s still a lot I want to write and accomplish. But it’s going to have to be a much slower endeavor from here on out. That will greatly affect what’s been the bread-and-butter of this outlet: reviews. For personal reasons, I won’t open this door too wide, but I will note that I started a new job recently with increased hours and one where I can’t listen to music while working like I could before. I can’t complain, because I love the work, but this obviously means I haven’t listened to many new releases as of late.

It also means I won’t be able to go on the hunt for those new discoveries quite like before. I know this will disappoint longtime readers of the outlet who perhaps gravitated toward it for the long-form deep-dives and recommendations, and I’m truly sorry for that. I’ve thought about new ways to maintain a better balance that will allow me to cover more by potentially saying less, not unlike what Country Universe has done recently with its excellent BlueSky Bullet Points series. But I also know that people appreciate the longer forms of analysis and perspective I try to bring to the table with every review, and given that that’s been a staple of my writing since I first started, I don’t want to sacrifice that just to keep up with the musical rat race.

What it means, then, is that I may henceforth cover far, far less music than before, but will still try and focus on either the big, key releases, and/or the ones that really catch my ear – all while giving them the true time and attention they deserve. Again, I apologize to those that will likely be left hoping for more, but I feel like this is the best way to go about it moving forward in a way that will still be true to the outlet’s spirit.

This also means that my usual year-end extravaganzas may take a hit, with this year potentially being the last one in which I’m able to stretch them out to lengthier proportions. I’m happy to say I’ve already got lists set for both my top 25 favorite albums and top 50 songs of the year (which could obviously still very much change before the actual end of the year), but moving forward, I may have to experiment with a new style. We will see.

Otherwise … you know, I keep saying I feel bad about the changes made, but there’s also been a silver lining to it all for me. Putting this blog on the backburner and taking my spare time to write about what I truly want to write about – rather than what I think I have to write about - is probably the healthiest manner in which I’ve engaged with music in I don’t know how long. I feel so out of the loop with the current climate … but I’m also happy to be able to do what I want to do and write about what I want to write about. And I’m happy that you all still care and are along for the ride. The blog’s best days may be in the rear-view mirror, but I’m looking forward to far more comfortable ones, and it’s good to say that when the inspiration strikes, I’ll certainly get to work. It might be a slower go, but I’m going to craft my country music guide: one post at a time.