Feb/Mar Issue: Home | Editors | Features | Columns | Photos | Regional | New Groove Road Trip | Tour Journal | Venue | Levels | Ghosts | Homegrown | Inaudible | CDs | Charts

From The Editors Nope not yet.

This is the question I have been answering all month so I figured I'd share that one with you. Leanne has not given birth. But while we have no new additions at our house, we do have a few at the site. We welcome two new columnists: Lee Abraham and Michelle Waughtel. Lee is stationed out in Vegas, so he'll contribute some west coast flair (I'm sure you've seen his stuff in Relix). Michelle is back here in the east, and her monthly column will focus on the Grateful Dead, tying those threads to the present. I know you've read her work in Dupree's. Obviously we're very happy to have them with us. Starting with issue #7, Rob Turner will offer a disquisition or two from his area of expertise as he takes over as Roadtrip of the Month editor. Next month I'll also introduce you to my daughter as well, and maybe we'll even have an announcement or two about some shows the site is trying to put together.

As for Mikey- 'best of" this month, and crappy as ever. Trust me.

later days and peace,
Dean

---

It's The Beginning, Of Our New Age!

The internet is really a funny place to hang out. In so many ways it provides daily information and entertainment, along with archives of pretty much every bit of history known to man. Beyond the factual information, there are sites like this one which provide editorial commentary on something which many people love, allowing them to contribute to it and give it a chance to grow. What we are doing here is very special, and each month I am reminded of that...

Right around 1:30 in the morning on the night of the deadline...

It's all about content, they say. Without content, people would really have no reason to keep coming back. Sure, you can have flashy pictures and cool graphics, mouseover effects up the wazoo! But the bulk of what's important lies in the writings and thoughts of the contributors. I must give homage to those people who give me something to organize every months. Sure, structure is important, but I feel like my job is pretty easy when it all comes down to it. I throw up the articles, add some paragraph tags, a few hyperlinks, make it look pretty (the main page this month lines up PERFECTLY in Netspace, by the way) and then allow people to navigate through it with ease.

But what keeps me going every month is my constant strive to organize the information in new and exciting ways. Keeping it fresh is a priority because the eye candy is just too fun to ignore! So, in the coming months, you will be seeing what will hopefully be an evolution of what's going on here, a new way to organize the information to make it easier for you to read about the music you love.

Yet I feel that keeping it simple is always important. I'd rather you spend your time reading about an amazing show than waiting for a huge graphic to load. That's the philosophy which has worked so far, and hopefully it will continue to provide ease of access in the future. Because after all, it really is the best damn music in the world!

So, this month, I give you, Search JamBands.Com! It's really the most basic search program available, and might not help you in your quest to find that little tidbit of information you could swear we talked about 3 months ago, but it's a start. In the coming months, we'll be implementing a more advanced search which will hopefully tie together a lot of what we're doing here...it's just the beginning.

What I've been listening to this month:

• The Slip - "From The Getko" - Weight of Soloman
• KVHW - 12/26/98 - The Wetlands Preserve, NY - Spring Water!
• Phish - 11/20/98 - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA - Bathtub Gin
• Phish - 2/20/93 - The Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA - Reba (the best Reba EVER!!!!)

and on a personal musical note, I finally discovered the E-A combination on the guitar. A whole new world of music has been opened up to me. Wish me luck!