In our penultimate installment of Auld Lang Syne we ask several more friends a series of year-end questions. This week we feature responses from Danny Barnes, Josh Clark (Tea Leaf Green), Ben Kaufmann (YMSB), Andrew Barr (The Slip, Surprise Me Mr. Davis), Simon Allen (New Mastersounds), Rob Marscher (Addison Groove Project, Matisyahu) and more. In case you missed our earlier installments, click here to take a look at Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3.

BEN KAUFMANN (Yonder Mountain String Band)

What will you most remember about 2010?

Did you hear about the fires we had out here this summer? Well, with the help of other musicians—mainly Phish—we got to play a big benefit for all those victims. I want to say it raised over a half a million dollars. We got to hook up with Jon Fishman again, and if we ever have a drummer—if we can convince him to leave that other project that he does—he’s pretty much the guy. He’s such a good friend and such a cool guy and getting to play with him again for such a good cause…I remember that pretty clearly. It sticks out in my mind.

What albums appeared most often in your iTunes?

I don’t listen to a lot of different music at one time. I listen to one album over and over and over again. Jackson Browne Saturate Before Using, I probably listened to that exclusively for six months trying to figure out how they got that bass tone on that record—I think it’s one of the best bass tones I ever heard in my life. The other one is American Analog Set, their album Know by Heart. I don’t know what it is about that album but it just captures you. It was the soundtrack to the second half of this year for me.

What emerging bands should readers watch out for in 2010?

I’ll give props to a local band. It’s a band called Elephant Revival. They put out a record that is something else. Adam was talking about Harvest Fest earlier and I sat in with them and played some bass with them for their set and I gotta tell you man, some of these songs that they’re doing,—we’ve seen that band grow up, we’ve been seeing them play for five or maybe more—I gotta tell you, they’re something special.

What bands or musicians would you like to collaborate with most?

Todd Snider, for sure. Jay Farrar, we were kicking around doing a disc. Our people talked to some people from his camp and we heard he wants to do a bluegrass record and I’d break a useless finger on my right hand to do that. That would be fun, he’s so awesome. Todd Snider, again.

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SIMON ALLEN (The New Mastersounds)

What will you remember most about 2010?

Wikileaks – such fun watching the power elites struggle to get their heads around the new information paradigm (a bit like how the major labels still get their knickers in a twist about filesharing).

What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?

Allen Toussaint – From a Whisper to a Scream.

What was your favorite show or tour in 2010?

NMS reunion gig in Leeds with Cleve Freckleton and the Haggis Horns.

What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?

Orgone.

What artist or artists would you most like to collaborate with next year?

Pimps of Joytime, Jennifer Hartswick.

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PARKER GISPERT (The Whigs)

What will you remember most about 2010?

I have weird hazes of being too tired to sleep but feeling good about it in London. Walking aimless, exploratory miles around town listening to music on my iPod.

What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?

Deer Tick – Black Dirt Sessions, Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

What was your favorite show or tour in 2010?

65,000 peeps at Hyde Park in London with Kings of Leon, Black Keys, Drums, and Features.

What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2011?

Futurebirds, Jonny Corndawg

What artist or artists would you most like to collaborate with next year?

Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Kings of Leon, Elizabeth Berg (The Like), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate), Axl Rose. Individually, or all of these people at the same time.

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