2005 was a whirlwind year both on and off the stage. Each week in January we’ve asked some of our favorite musicians, and some of the scene’s most creative forces, to look back on the rollercoaster year that was 2005, from hurricanes to wars, festivals to music themed cruises. This week we catch up with many more performers and those who work behind the scenes as well (and in case you’ve missed them, you should take a look back at Set One, Set Two and Set Three).

Bob Weir

_What will you remember most about 2005? _
Watching the Bush administration sputter and destroy itself and everything in its vicinity.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Jelly Roll Morton.

What CD has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD player)?
John Coltrane, Africa/Brass

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
I was exceptionally taken with the film Motorcycle Diaries.

Erik Yates (Hot Buttered Rum)

_What will you remember most about 2005? _
Working with Mike Marshall and Peter Rowan—two of the bands greatest heroes.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Crooked Still a groundbreaking acoustic quartet from back East featuring banjo and cello, two of my all-time favorite instruments, and some truly great singing.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Hard to say. The top of the list would have to include Bela Fleck’s Drive, Peter Rowan’s Dustbowl Children and Green Day’s American Idiot.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Probably the High Sierra Saturday night set. Such great energy from the fans, the boys on stage, the sit-ins with Peter, Mike, Chris Thile and Sharon Gilchrist (mandolin mania). Then the chance to play some solo stuff at the troubadour sessions afterwards.

Jamie Shields (The New Deal)

What will you remember most about 2005?
The birth of my son Benjy on October 20th.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Spoon, from Austin Texas. Both Kill the Moonlight and their latest _Gimme
Fiction_ have dramatically changed my approach to recording music.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Skatalites Meet King Tubby- Heroes of Reggae in Dub

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
The New Deal at Pearl Street, Northampton, MA April 2005.

Kevin Shapiro (Phish Archivist)

What will you remember most about 2005?
The outpouring of support and feelings surrounding hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Discovered: Matisyahu.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
I have to list both the Rondo Brothers No Time Left on Earth and James Carter/Cyrus Chestnut’s tribute to Pavement Gold Sounds.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
5-way tie:
Matisyahu/Jimmy Cliff: 3/27/05 (Easter Sunday) at Higher Ground
Meters Reunion: 4/23/05 Sprint Stage, JazzFest
Allen Toussaint: 4/30/05 Spring Stage, JazzFest
Big Apple to the Big Easy at MSG: 9/21/05 (on TV via: On Demand)
James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Reginald Veal and Ali Jackson Gold Sounds release party at New York’s Joe’s Pub, 10/7/05

Alex Botwin (Pnuma Trio)

What will you remember most about 2005?
I would have to say that one of the most memorable times for me was Wakarusa. That was really our first experience playing at a major festival and it was really cool to see how it all goes down from the inside. Plus, Kansas City is my home town so it was cool to have all of my friends from high school come to the festival.

Name one band you discovered or rediscovered in the past year.
Steely Dan. My drummer is really into them and I never really knew how nasty they were until I started listening to them again recently.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes or CD player?
Beef Wellington is the artists name and the CD is called Feel Fantabulous. He produces all of the beats and I’m pretty sure he does a lot of the rapping on it as well. Really smooth music. Other than that I have been listening to a lot of electronic music, LTJ Bukem, Ming+FS, Mark Farina etc.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months.
Performing with Conspirator was probably my favorite show of the year. Aron Magner from the Disco Biscuits sat in with us during our whole set and then in the middle of the Conspirator set we did a "hostile takeover." First. Lane, our drummer, came up and sat in with them and started the mix. Then Ben came in on keys with Magner at the same time. Finally, Brownstein handed me the bass and all the members of Conspirator left the stage. We jammed for about ten minutes and then Conspirator one by one mixed back into our set. It was pretty seamless and really fun to go in between two different bands without
stopping at all.

Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips)

What will you remember most from 2005?
It is hard you don’t even realize what was in 2005. Steven’s son Daniel being born, those sorts of things, as cornballs, can be wonderful experiences. Other than that life is pretty good to me all the time.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
I think I had heard of them before but I hadn’t listened to them before called Deerhoof. Their record that I really like right now is called The Runners Four.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Gosh that is hard to say. I really would have to say the new Steven Malkamus. He is a nice guitar player that people don’t think of him as being a great guitar player but he has so many great textures.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
I would have to say seeing Devendra Banhart at Vegoose was pretty fun. I had read a lot about him but seeing him play was good. The part I liked best was when he brings someone on the stage from the audience to sing randomly. Some stranger that sits there in the audience comes up and that is brave because you never know how that will go.

Chris Zahn (BB King Blues Club)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Liberating myself from buying CDs – I bought 3 CDs in 2005 I think out of
pity for the artists. Everything I now want I just download from the net or
trade with friends(+ I get a lot of freebies too at the club!). Artists who
bitch about it like Lars Ulrich of Metallica should shut up and spend more
time on tour where they belong!!!! Get back in touch with the fans. Go see
live music! Buy a shirt!

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Discovered: Bettye Lavette, Brother Ali, Brazilian Girls, Campbell Brothers and Tommy Emmanuel

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Compilation mixes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac 1968-1974, Meat Beat Manifesto, Archie Shepp’s Attica Blues, Keith Richards’ Stones Stones, Ace Frehley, John Renbourn Death Blues Circa 1920-1950, Earth, Wind and Fire and believe it or not 19 different R&B/Soul versions of “Light My Fire.” Who knew?

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Dead Can Dance at Radio City Music Hall – Oct. 8th 2005 Spectacular!!! Dark, ethereal, haunting medieval new-world music with full orchestra and vintage instruments. Also really dug OPETH at Webster Hall, EWF at Nokia, Manowar at BB’s and Captured By Robots at Tribeca.

Tony Markellis (Trey Anastasio Band, No Outlet, Unknown Blues Band)

What will you remember most about 2005?
The destruction of New Orleans and the deaths of Big Joe Burrell and Austin Leslie.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
The Weary Boys (Austin, TX)

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Roger Miller’s Greatest Hits.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
The Del McCoury Band at the Egg in Albany; Chris Ardoin at the Rock’n‘Bowl in New Orleans.

Josh Baron (Relix Magazine)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Dancing onstage with the Flaming Lips dressed as some sort of animal cub at
Vegoose; seeing Cream perform at MSG; watching my idea of Ryan Adams and
Phil Lesh playing together come to fruition at The Jammys.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
The Slip. Once a jamband, not always a jamband. Their new stuff fucking
RULES. Think Built to Spill meets Muscle Shoals meets world’s best bar band.
Or a variation thereof. Go see them, go love them. Thank me later.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Tough. I’m still a CD guy. I’d have to say Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, _Cold
Roses_… The National, Alligator… various Pure Jerry discs, though the
vault’s After Midnight disc two from Keane College (Midnight > Eleanor Rigby
> Midnight) is AMAZING… and various My Morning Jacket music, most notably
their set from Bonnaroo this year which included Dylan’s "Tonight I’ll Be
Staying Here With You" and, the equally if not better, cover of Prince’s "I
Could Never Take the Place of Your Man."

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Shit. ONE? Eh… This is really tough. Built to Spill at Southpaw was
stellar. But honestly I’d probably have to say finally seeing Jeff Tweedy
solo (for two nights actually) at the Tribeca Arts Center was tops.

Robert Mercurio (Galactic)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
I fell back in love with all the New Orleans’ music that I had taken for granted

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Lyrics Born: Same Sh*t Another Day

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Galactic: Nov 19, 9:30 club, DC. We had Ivan Neville, Robert Walter and the whole Stooges Brass Band on stage for a real NOLA style blowout in DC

Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars)

What will you remember most about 2005?
No question…getting married

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Ryan Adams: Jackson City Nights and Cold Roses…I’d never been a fan
before, but I really enjoyed these records"

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Femi Kuti – Live at the Shrine (cd and dvd)

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Madison Square Garden New Years Eve 2005 with the Black Crowes

Jess Besack (Sirius Jam_On)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Kicking out the jams on Sirius 17 Jam_ON with Jon Schwartz, Stef Scamardo, Buddy Cage, Adam Foley, Aunty Em and Bill Walton. We had so many incredible artist visits and performances. I’ll especially remember "Trey Day," when Trey Anastasio DJ’d for an entire day…he played everything from Devo to West Side Story!

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
1960’s reggae queen Phyllis Dillon

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
The Benevento Russo Duo, Best Reason To Buy The Sun and the Iggy Pop and the Stooges anthology, A Million in Prizes

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
The Arcade Fire at Webster Hall last February, and Camp Bisco IV

Justin Peroff (Broken Social Scene)

What will you remember most about 2005?
I don’t mean to seem dark … but I’ll remember that my dad survived a cancer scare.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
The Akron Family is pretty darn incredible. the world needs a band like this.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
I find myself washing dishes to the new Don Cash record almost everyday. He puts it in my pelvis while I’m scrubbing in them suds.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
I don’t go to many shows lately. My friend Greg is a Toronto promoter and insisted that I check out a band he was bringing to town called Man Man. I have to say, they were really fucking interesting. Really unique song arrangements and really intense energy. they kind of blew my mind, actually.

Paul Glace (Phantasy Tour)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Jam in the Dam

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
Quagmire Swim Team

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Thievery Corporation The Cosmic Game

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Younger Brother, Camp Bisco IV, 08/27/05

J. Bau (Hard Head Management)

What will you remember most about 2005?
I’ll remember 2005 as the year I mistakenly thought we had lost New Orleans and JazzFest forever. In September, I, along with many others, underestimated the power of the spirit of the city, its residents, its music, and those of us who love everything about it. I felt like the place that meant so much to me was gone forever. What I didn’t see on the news was the spirit of the city…a spirit which has allowed the city to put the disaster behind them long enough to return to their lives and begin to rebuild. When I do return there this May, I will remember the feeling of loss I felt this year, and a smile will certainly cross my face.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
The Secret Machines. It took their set at Bonnaroo for me to go back and listen to their album and EP and now I can not wait til their record comes out early this year.

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Neil Diamond’s 12 Songs. Especially the bonus 14th song "Delirious Love" w/ Brian Wilson. I’m a very mellow person, but every time I listen to
this album, I want to fight.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
Warren Haynes, Matt Abts, John Medeski, Dave Schools & Skerik @ Bowery Ballroom 2/2. Actually as good as it would appear on paper.

Calexico (Joey Burns and John Convertino)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Working on this new record but, outside off that, feeling like our administration is just getting us into deeper water. Being depressed and wanting to do something about it. On a personal level, the birth of John’s son on June 1. He’s doing great and we are really happy about that

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Probably the record we did with Sam [Beam, In the Reins. Also, we have been listing to a lot of Wilco. We got to open for them over the summer. We are both big Uncle Tupelo fans and to be able to hear the record and then hear them play the music live is just amazing.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
A Hawk and a Hacksaw. They are, much like ourselves, really into a wide variety of music. I think they are really influenced by this eastern European gypsy influence. We kept on e-mailing each other, getting closer and closer to SXSW, hoping to hook up. One of the members was in a band called Neutral Milk Hotel.

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
I saw Lhasa de Sela play over in Belgium. It was a world music festival was just incredible. Her record, The Living Road, is one of my favorites. I keep going back it again and again. Also, we got watch RL Burnside record with Charlie Sexton right before he passed. He was really sweet and kept asking to play a song with the band. His spirit was so open. That’s also right when John found out he was going to have a son. It was such a powerful omen.

Jon Topper (moe. Manager)

What will you remember most about 2005?
Generally just a great year. Summer Camp and moe.down where amazing and fun. moe. putting together a great benefit for Tsunami Relief and raising money in Vegas for Katrina relief, touring With the Allmans and finding out they are a great organization. Waful stepping it up on lights and becoming part of the elite.

Name one band you discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year?
The Brakes out of Philadelphia

What album has appeared most often in your iTunes (or CD Player)?
Ben Folds- Songs for Silverman

What is your favorite performance from the past twelve months?
moe.’s Tsunami relief show at Roseland