MusicMarauders: A Year in Review

A Letter From The Editor

This first year has been a wild ride indeed. When we started developing the initial concept of MusicMarauders it was nothing more than myself and our jazz columnist Zach Zeidner posting music links to a blog-style site. There was limited "commitment" to say the least. Here we are a year and a half later... Things have changed quite a bit. I'm not going to claim that we are professionals, but we've definitely got our shit together. We're extremely proud of all that we have accomplished in our first year. Regardless of the challenges, criticism and massive amount of work that goes into our publication, 2011 will see MusicMarauders elevated to a new level.

It's been one year since we registered the domain MusicMarauders.com and in our first year we have gone national, providing coverage from coast to coast. We've covered countless festivals, shows, and have conducted more interviews and provided more creative/honest reviews than any other publication relevant to to the live music/jamband/festival scene. Our team has grown by leaps and bounds and continues to grow almost daily. Our honesty, coupled with our dedication and knowledge of the scene has helped to bring MusicMarauders to the forefront of the live music scene.

On a personal level, I am thrilled with where MusicMarauders is after one year. We are now, where I thought we would be in three to five years. For that, we are grateful for the support of our readers, the musicians, promoters, but most importantly: our friends, families and significant others. For without their constant support and love, we would not be here today to share our passion of music with others. I remember sitting in my apartment in Upstate, NY talking to my mother about how excited I was that I booked a single interview. She said to me then "This is going to be a big deal..." That's of course what mother's say, but I knew deep down that I had the full support of her and my father. When I look back on this past year I can see the exponential rate at which MusicMarauders has grown.

There is one person that I would like to thank specifically. This person has always been supportive, even if not present, though now his presence is prominent and so essential in the MusicMarauders mix; our co-editor, Greg Molitor. His passion, knowledge of music, writing and photographic abilities continue to inspire me everyday.



Some highlights from this previous year for me, include interviewing a handful of my musical idols such as Del McCoury, Bernie Worrell, DJ Logic, George Porter & Sam Bush. As well I have been privileged to work along side Bernie Worrell, Tim Carbone, DJ Logic, Headtronics, Pete Wall & WhiteWater Ramble on other various projects and promotions. I also attended a record amount of concerts and festivals from what I have done in previous years. It's been exciting, exhausting, humbling and I've learned a lot.

Now, I'm not going to say we were the first to do what we do. In fact, there were several sites/publications before us and we respect all that they have done in their efforts to help expose and bring publicity to this scene of our's. Contrary to some of the feedback I have received from some of these other publications, I feel that we are all on the same team. I challenge folks/organizations who are being critical of others to use that passion to benefit the scene. I'm not saying don't be critical, but if you're not happy with the way something is going, get involved and change it. We are all about constructive criticism and folks bringing new music or concepts to the table.

In regards to working with MusicMarauders; we are not a business... as of yet. Therefore we have no money and operate solely on our passion for live music. For those who are interested in getting involved, whether writing a weekly column or covering one or two shows at your leisure, send us an email at musicmarauders@yahoo.com and let us know what you're in to. We will do our best in arranging credentials, photo passes, etc. All we ask from you is honesty, quality and timeliness.

We can't tell you what the future of MusicMarauders holds. We will eventually register as a business and take this operation on the road. We are exploring the possibility of managing musicians and expanding our network of writers, photographers, venues and promoters. In the immediate future we are looking into switching over the layout of the site to be more functional and user-friendly. We hope you continue to enjoy MusicMarauders and if you dig what we do, please tell your friends about us.

We'll see you on the scene,

-J-man


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