A Year in Concert (Plus, Our Holiday Sale)

What was your favorite show of the year?

It’s That Time Of Year for music writers: list time, invariably focused on subtle differences in ranking of an always too-narrow selection of recorded art. Don’t worry, ours are coming next week, along with the stomach-churning prospect of trying to pick the “best” out of a bunch of music that makes us feel things and sounds good in the process.

Swamp Dogg at the Station Inn for Americanafest

I’ve been always been more inspired by live music, though, and especially recently (as you’ve probably noticed) have felt like writing about it more than I have anything else. Even if you count the 30 or so sets I saw at Americanafest as one show (and it didn’t….feel that way, ha), I averaged almost a show a week this year, which has been pretty standard for most of my adult life (give or take a lockdown year or two…). Live music is my work and my hobby, an unmatched source of joy and inspiration. I even made a long overdue return to the stage this year on bass alongside my good and extremely patient friend Nathan Mongol Wells (also frontman of DRTI faves Ottoman Turks) :)

Trying to pick a favorite is…nearly impossible. I loved Creekbed Carter Hogan and Willi Carlisle, as I wrote about; Americanafest had an embarrassment of riches, from the surprise Old Crow Medicine Show set at Robert’s Western World to Emmylou Harris singing Mary Gauthier to Swamp Dogg claiming his rightful place on the Station Inn stage and much, much more. I saw Miranda Lambert sing Marfa Tapes tunes alongside Jon Randall and Jack Ingram not once but twice, and in my Hayes Carll conversion year saw him three (yes, three) times (but he didn’t do “She Left Me For Jesus” once :( ).

As I reflect, the shows that left me feeling warmest inside may have been Willi/Creekbed Carter and Iris DeMent/Ana Egge — my first time seeing all of those artists live, and in all cases was just blown away by their skill and generosity, their clarity and purpose. Especially at the Willi show, as I wrote about, the feeling of solidarity and camaraderie in that little room was palpable. Dallas is not a place people necessarily come to find that feeling of creative community and togetherness, so to stumble upon it makes it all the more special.

Not to get all corny with “The dictionary definition of x is y,” but “in concert” also simply means “together.” As the wonderful Vandoliers sang-shouted at their spectacular Friendsgiving set last week — one of the best live bands working in America today, if you have a chance to see them in your town — “We will be braver than we’ve ever been/Together, we will sink or swim.”

What was your favorite show of the year? Tell us (and your fellow subscribers!) who we’ve gotta catch on the road in 2025.