Happy 12th Anniversary - So Many Roads!

Twelve years ago today, while my kids were still in middle school, I decided to start my own blog dedicated to live rock and roll music. I figured I'd post a show every now and then, maybe from a concert I attended or one I wished I had gone to. I didn't really have a plan - just a love for live concerts and a voice in the back of my head, reminding me of something a friend once said to me - "the only thing better than finding great music, is sharing great music."

Today we celebrate 12 years of So Many Roads To Ease My Soul. The name comes from the title one of the last Grateful Dead tunes written by Jerry Garcia, fitting since the Dead of have been such a integral part of my musical journey. Moreover, the name truly describes how I feel about music - it is a comfort in tough times, and exhilarating in good moments, always touching my deepest emotions. And So Many Roads describes my life's journey as well, moving from one stage to the next, taking one path than another, as time marches on. Now, 12 years since the launch of this blog, my kids are juniors in college, my wife and I have been married 29 years, (and she hasn't thrown me out of the house despite all the time I spend on this blog, and my constant whining that I need yet another hard drive because 6 TB just isn't enough), and I've hit 62 years of age. The blog with no plan now has an overarching structure - this day in rock - and varying monthly themes. We've posted almost 5000 different concerts from almost 200 different artists. Those posts have included such monumental events as Woodstock, Monterrey Pop, Knebworth and Live Aid. They have also included a host of personal moments, concerts I attended that have stayed with me, and helped inspire me to write this blog. We've grown from a 2 column layout to a 3 column one, have added numerous links to set lists, artwork, rock history, etc., and have been through 18 versions of our front page banner. We average over 750 visitors a day and have had folks from 180 different countries stop by. We've had over 3 million unique visitors, and over 13 million page views. And on top of that, the blog spawned my first (last and only) book, Ten Rules of The Road I Learned At My First Concert: An Ordinary Gut's Lifetime Of Live Rock And Roll.  Who could have imagined!

I'm still amazed that so many folks have taken an interest in my little place on the web and in my book. Amazed and very appreciative. It takes a significant investment of time and effort to keep So Many Roads going. Finding shows to post, especially great sounding shows, isn't easy. Researching each post to provide some historical context involves numerous hours of searching the web. Of course, writing something coherent, that will actually interest folks who stop by, just may be the hardest part. Somehow, we've managed to do enough to keep people coming back, day in and day out for over a decade!  I never would have believed So Many Roads would last this long when I made that first post way back on November 11, 2009.

Writing this blog hasn't always been easy. Of course, demands such as family and work always have had to come first. Some days, finding the right show to post or coming up with something to write seems damn near impossible. Other days, dealing with file sharing issues, or less than appreciative visitors has made me want to just pack it in.  In the end though, I have always been guided by 3 things. First, I love music, history and writing, so this place lets me pursue those passions. Second, whenever I get disgruntled, I wind up getting a comment like the one that follows and it makes it all worthwhile: Anonymous said... "This is such a GREAT site!!! Definitely one of the top 5 sites I have ever seen...MUCH THANKS from me, and from the many shy folks who have never left a comment :-)" Third, I've made some great Internet friends while running this site, a list so long now that I'm afraid if I try to name everyone I might miss someone. I don't want to do that and offend anyone accidentally but please know that no words could ever express my appreciation for all of you who have commented, shared insights, and helped me grow this place.

I alos want to thank all of those folks who plunked down their hard cash tp buy my book, Ten Tules Of The Road I Learned At My First Concert.  As I said above, rhe book was an outgroiwth of this blog, a opportunity to collect many of the stories I had shared here, combine them with other memories, to produce what one kind reviewer called "a love letter to live music."  It was my chance to document a now long gone era, when you could see 3 or 4 concerts a week and never spend more than $10 a ticket.  The book, like concerts I share here at So Many Roads, help keep that era alive for those of us who lived through it!

I look forward to celebrating a baker's dozen years of So Many Roads next year, as we continue this "long strange trip". Thanks again for helping make So Many Roads what it is today!

PS - a special shout out to the one and only Dino's Bootleg Tunz world, which was the inspiration for this site.  Dino was The Man, The Myth, The Legend when it came to bootlegs, and his place on the web will never be duplicated. I'm just doing my best to carry on what he started.