ok, i've had this idea for a while, maybe instead of just an "idea," maybe it's a vision, maybe it's a dream, maybe it's nothing. but it's been stuck in my head and won't go away for long long enough that i thought, "what the hell, give it a shot."

to explain, i started "blogging" a while ago and my ramblings are 90%+ about music, i also frequent the message boards of several bands; over the rhine, cowboy junkies, patty griffin, ryan adams, tom waits, to name a few. some i’m active on, some i just lurk. personally, i enjoy writing about a concert i just saw, a new cd i just bought, etc and i also enjoy reading and am intrigued about and by others experiences. so i started thinking, with the opportunities on all of these message boards, with fans and lovers of music from all over this country and all over the world, would it be possible to channel those experiences, that love of words and music down to one or two spaces for people to share? imagine if fan of "over the rhine" in colorado could share an experience with a "patty griffin" fan in germany and turn them on to something they were unaware of, or a cowboy junkies fan from hawaii could relate a story to a ryan adams fan in england that hooked them? or someone in louisville recently discovering the music of a new artist like ben sollee could tell the world about him and share a link with them to hear his music for the first time and let them decide for themselves. could be cool? no?

so here's the idea, dream or whatever...

i have started blogs on blogspot and wordpress, both titled "what we need is music." i plan to run both side by side for a while and see what happens and where this goes. the idea is to send me your reviews, both concerts and cd's, photos if you have them (linked only please, they would need to "hosted" somewhere). maybe your new musical "finds" and how others can hear them (links to websites, myspace pages, etc) and what you like about them. talk about, help promote or increase awareness of upcoming concerts that you are going to see and/or artists you appreciate. the goal is to talk about music you enjoy, not trash music that you don’t. but by all means, if you see a show that disappoints, invest in a cd that doesn’t deliver, be honest and talk about it objectively and fairly. i see this being all encompassing, it can be whatever we make it, whatever we decide for it to be, whatever we make it.

you never know unless you try...

i hope to have some initial content up in a day or two, feel free to start sharing your thoughts and contributions to me (and how you would like your credit to read) @: bivester@gmail.com

the sites are;
wordpress: http://whatweneedismusic.wordpress.com/
blogspot: http://whatweneedismusic.blogspot.com/

ok, it's up and running! and thanks to keith for submitting the first review (and i'm jealous from reading it).

the sites are still evolving and being tweaked and probably will be for quite a while. please drop by when you have a chance, and as often as possible. hopefully the content will be ever changing. leave a comment, say hello. whatever.

also, please send me your submissions (bivester@gmail.com), concert or cd reviews, upcoming shows in your area, new artist finds, pretty much anything music related is welcome. just read and participate.

thanks in advance for your support.

bill this is awesome! it's now bookmarked as a favorite that i will keep checking in on....