The Days of Lore

2013: A Music Odyssey

Monday, January 7th, 2013 | musiX, pdX, vinylZ | 2 Comments

It’s been a long while since I’ve written anything substantial on The Days of Lore. Keeping up with it is difficult when you don’t have an editor breathing down your neck to make deadlines. You sort of have to breathe down your own neck. Is it hot in here?

For the 17 of you with impeccable taste who’ve followed TDoL over the past four years, I have heaps of reasons (excuses?) for the draught—most of them good. A quick rundown: The site got hacked (fixed it), I got hitched (and planned it), and somewhere in there I was working 12-hour days driving a 15,000-pound refrigerated truck (hated it). After that I began freelancing full-time, and the paid work took precedence over keeping up with a blog. Besides, who reads blogs anymore?

I did know that when I fired this thing up again, I wanted to come into it refreshed and excited. And I wanted to reassess why the hell I do it. I came to the conclusion that this is a space where I can satisfy my own tawdry needs. It’s really that simple. I can write about music or interview rock bands I love regardless of whether or not it coincides with an album release or the short shelf life of [insert hot buzz music news trend here]. I can talk about that great Ike & Tina record I picked up (or am in search of). [Cred-killer alert] And I can dedicate an entire week to KISS if I want to. This is also my personal Petri dish for dissecting my own thoughts on music, and those who write about it and consume it. Above all else, The Days of Lore is to have a good time. Because this is music we’re talking about here … we’re not curing fucking cancer. That’s essentially what TDoL has always been about; it’s just nice to give myself a reminder.

So here I am. Staring at this familiar space at 2 a.m. on a Monday. I envisioned this entry as sort of a mission statement. Actually more like a manifesto, because that sounds cooler and more mysterious. At the same time, I didn’t want to overthink it … which I tend to do. Like the previous sentence. Is it complete? Is “overthink” one or two words? WordPress is telling me two. Should I have used a comma in place of ellipses? What would you do?

Well, I guess that sort of sums up what’s happening here. I promise to breathe down my own neck. And I promise to redesign this old heap this year, too. Please hold me to it. On that note, I leave you with Ike & Tina’s “Nutbush City Limits,” from the 1973 album of the same name (I really am on the hunt for this record). It’s been rumored that T. Rex’s Marc Bolan played guitar on the single. I’d like to think so.

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Tags: 2013, blogs, Ike & Tina, manifesto, Marc Bolan, music, music writing, T. Rex, The Days of Lore