Chez

Happy Birthday, VC! Thanks for providing me a daily outlet to obsessively post what I listened to the previous day. I blame (and miss) PopTodd. I've gotten so many great insights and recommendations on this board for music I should have discovered years ago (but didn't); so thanks to everyone who expanded my horizons. Looking forward to meeting many of you in-person.

Congrats, Boss. I'm happy for you. Few things better than when the baseball team you love wins it all.

Low Cut Connie

Saw them cover the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" with Robyn Hitchcock at the Chicago Theater a few months before the world shut down.

Chicago's Bloodshot Records closed on Monday after providing a home to many alt-country/insurgent country artists for over 25 years. It's roster included (at one time) Alejandro Escovedo, Robbie Fulks, Jon Langford, the Bottle Rockets, Ryan Adams, The Mekons, Andre Williams, The Sadies, Justin Townes Erle, the Waco Brothers, Graham Parker, Sarah Shook, Old 97's, Rookie and many, many more. Although the last two years were, to put it mildly, turbulent for the label, I, for one, will miss them. They were scrappy and put out a lot of great music by fantastic artists.

Agreed - It's not nearly as good as New York, but I still listen to Magic and Loss from time to time - usually on the anniversary of a friend's or family member's death. And it still punches me in the gut and lifts me up in the same 40 minutes! And that's a good thing.