From the Barstool of the Publisher – March 2009

In the 100th episode of “The Simpsons,” Bart Simpson is seen at the very beginning of the show, writing on the chalkboard: “I will not celebrate meaningless milestones.”
It didn’t dawn on me until I started laying out this issue, that March should be Music History Month, and we should, in fact, celebrate some meanlingless and some very meaningful milestones in our world.
A ton of really amazing things have happened in the world of music in the month of March, and while we didn’t set out to produce a special anniversary issue, we accidentally fell ass-backwards into one.
On an international music scale, some of the more noteworthy anniversaries this month, among countless others, are: the first FM radio station (1941), Elvis Presley’s TV debut (1955), the opening of the Fillmore East (1968), the death of Randy Rhoades (1982), and the simultaneous airing by 6,000 radio stations worldwide of “We Are The World” (1986).
Locally, we’ve got a few biggies, too. Swallow Hill celebrates its 30th anniversary this month, and our cover story on Hot Rize, who will play that celebration is approaching their 31st year as a band. The Fox Theatre celebrates its 17th year, and this little magazine you’re reading turns seven.
It’s pretty amazing, actually, that in an era when print media is dying all around us, that we’re still here, still going strong and are continuing to grow.
Thank you!
Whether you’re a fan of the magazine, a contributor, a distributor, an advertiser, someone who keeps one on your coffee table or the back of your john, we can’t thank you enough.
A relatively recent study said that 60 percent of all magazines fail in their first year, and 80 percent fail by their fourth year.
So to think that this magazine started without any financial backing — just the faith that the local music scene needed something like this — is mind-blowing to us. It’s just unfathomable, and as I write this I find myself overcome with gratitude to have been given this gift — even if I appointed myself to this post.
Continue to pick us up, and we’ll continue to bust our asses to get you a magazine worth reading each month.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
See you at the shows.