Some of my favorites from 2010 – A spotlight on our volunteer bloggers

Kim Ruehl Posted On January 1, 2011

One thing which hit me on New Year’s Eve was that this site was barreling down on the end of its second year. We’ll cross that official landmark in February. But, the turn of another year seemed like a good time to recognize once again that this site is made possible in large part because folks like you show up to read the work posted here at the whim of an amalgam of volunteer bloggers around the world.

For those who may be new to this site, we don’t exactly have what you’d call a “staff” of bloggers. There’s me (Community Manager) and Kyla Fairchild (Publisher). We now live on opposite ends of the U.S., and we’re the only people you could loosely refer to as “corporate headquarters.” For the rest of our content, we rely on the members of this site – folks who have found their way here either because they were long-time subscribers to the magazine, friends of someone who was, or a Google search landed them here. Perhaps they joined to leave a comment at some point, and decided to stick around. For the most part, we’ve never met these people in person. And yet they show up here several times a week and – of their own volition – share their thoughts on the music they’re listening to, artists who have caught their ears, shows which stuck with them days later. Others have only blogged here once or twice, but have made it count.

So, in the interest of honoring and thanking them, as well as to provide a bookmark-able page for our more casual readers to make sure they’ve caught the best stuff this site has to offer, I’ve decided to share some of my favorite posts from 2010.

I spend a whole lot of time reading what gets posted here, and believe me there have been some truly remarkable contributions over the past year. As such, this list is by no means exhaustive, but should serve as a collection of highlights. Because I don’t want to overwhelm myself or you, I aimed for a Top 20 list and landed at 21. I’d encourage you to expand this list by sharing links to your favorite blogs in the comments here. You can also keep an eye on our Greatest Hits page for a running index of some of the finest work posted to this site. And, perhaps, resolve in 2011 to give your fellow ND community members some extra pats on the back this year, either by leaving comments or clicking on that “like” button at the bottom of the post. After all, they’re posting here for free.

My sincerest gratitude and appreciation goes to everyone who shows up here to blog and otherwise participate, for making this one of the most rewarding, interesting, and inspiring jobs I’ve had thus far. Now, without further ado and in order by date, some of my favorites from 2010:

Booker T emerges with Potato Hole (Terry Roland, Jan. 26, 2010)

The beautiful dichotomy of Betty Davis: A rare conversation with the elusive Mistress of Funk (J. Hayes, Feb. 3, 2010)

Ornette Coleman at 80 – Tapping America’s musical roots (Howard Mandel, Mar. 9, 2010)

Peter Wolf interview: Still Lookin’ for a Love, Midnight Souvenirs (Michael Bialas, April 3, 2010)

Pour some Sugarland on me: Why country music is the new classic rock (Steve Leftridge, April 14, 2010)

Thoughts on supporting live music, or why most jazz clubs are small (Easy Ed, May 5, 2010)

Rolling Stones’ Exile: Torn, frayed and tarted up (Paul Cantin, May 22, 2010)

Shall we gather in Brooklyn? (Bob Moses, May 28, 2010)

Highway 61 visited (Barry Dredze, June 9, 2010)

Review: The Carolina Chocolate Drops – Henry Fonda Music Box – Los Angeles (Vavine, June 24, 2010)

The forgotten legacy of the Big Bopper (Adam Sheets, July 13, 2010)

Composed – Rosanne Cash – A memoir and reflections from a singular life (Holly Gleason, Aug. 19, 2010)