By DAN ARMONAITIS
As I started the new year, I couldn’t help but take inventory of what has happened with TheMusicAdvocate.com in the short period since the site launched on Oct. 23, 2019.
While having a morning cup of coffee, I looked back at the statistics for the site and was reminded of just how much time and effort has been put into this project and how much of the content that’s been produced so far has been appreciated by the music-loving community here in the Upstate.
Without you, the reader, The Music Advocate would have no reason to continue to exist, and seeing such positive stats gives me the confidence I need to keep it going into 2020 and begin the process of taking it into a new phase that I’ll be sharing information about in the coming days.
For now, however, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on The Music Advocate’s 20 most-viewed articles of 2019. Given the tremendous numbers, there’s a good chance you might have already read a few of them, but, if not, take a moment to check them out for insight into what kind of content this site has to offer for musicians and music lovers throughout the Upstate and beyond.
(Click the italicized headlines for links to the specific articles.)
1. David Haddox, longtime Spartanburg drum educator who taught Marshall Tucker Band’s Paul T. Riddle, has died at age 74 (Posted Dec. 9)
Haddox obviously had a tremendous impact on others, as evidenced not only by the overwhelming number of page views and shares this “in memoriam” article garnered but also the outpouring of love expressed in the comments section.
2. The Sally Rides, Spartanburg’s new all-female rock band, to launch this weekend at The FR8yard (Posted Nov. 7)
This was the article that made me truly feel like I was on to something special with this site. Posted just over two weeks in, it was viewed and shared extensively by an enormous amount of people who were eager to learn about this “supergroup” of women musicians who already had impressive individual fan bases from their collective years of music experience.
3. Howard Childress, the youngest of The Sparkletones, has died at age 76 (Posted Nov. 30)
This one was the hardest to write from a personal standpoint but was also quite fulfilling. Childress had been a friend of mine for several years and I had just visited him at his home less than 24 hours before receiving the news of his passing. The Sparkletones, best known for their 1950s rock ‘n’ roll hit “Black Slacks,” had a massive following worldwide so it didn’t come as a surprise that this article was so widely viewed and shared.
4. Singer-songwriter Marvin Evatt celebrates his home state, Clemson football with ‘Something in Those Hills’ (Posted Dec. 27)
Despite only appearing on the site for less than five full days, this was a hugely popular article. Evatt only recently immersed himself in the Upstate music community after a lengthy run as a fairly successful country music artist in Nashville, so it’s likely we’ll be hearing more from him soon.
5. Jeff Anderson returns home to celebrate the release of new EP at The Spinning Jenny in Greer (Posted Dec. 4)
Anderson, who played in various Upstate rock bands during the 1990s, now lives in East Tennessee and has reemerged as an up-and-coming country artist who obviously has plenty of fans, given the impressive number of views this article amassed.
6. Nationally acclaimed indie rock outfit SUSTO to headline Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium’s Second Stage (Posted Nov. 21)
South Carolina native Justin Osborne’s musical project, SUSTO, is well known to indie rock fans throughout the U.S. and beyond, so it’s not surprising that this article was as popular as it was. Hopefully, this is a sign of the caliber of entertainment the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium will continue to attract to its fledgling Second Stage series.
7. Charlotte’s Josh Daniel to link up with Spartanburg musicians for ‘The Last Waltz’ at The FR8yard (Posted Nov. 26)
The show this article previewed drew a packed house to The FR8yard on a stunningly gorgeous Thanksgiving Eve, so it’s no wonder that so many people were eager to read about it both before and afterward.
8. The Cleverlys to heat up The FR8yard with unique combination of bluegrass and comedy (Posted Nov. 13)
This site was just beginning to pick up steam when this article was posted, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it receive as many views as it did. Of course, it didn’t hurt that The Cleverlys have a solid national following.
9. Darby Wilcox, Mourning Dove to share stage at Yee-Haw Brewing Company (Posted Nov. 8)
Understandably, the bulk of this site’s initial followers were from Spartanburg, given my years of recent experience as an arts & entertainment writer for that city’s Herald-Journal newspaper. The popularity of this article about two of Greenville’s finest artists, however, played a key role in expanding the site’s reach.
10. The Shady Recruits, featuring Marcus King Band members, to perform Friday at Gottrocks in Greenville (Posted Nov. 27)
Upstate native Marcus King has become an internationally-renowned star, so it goes without saying that an article about a band featuring members of his group would receive as many views as this one did.
As for the other 10 articles that round out the Top 20, some of them suffered in sheer numbers simply from being posted during the infancy of the site before a solid audience had been built. I have no doubt that future write-ups about such acclaimed artists with Upstate roots as Marshall Chapman, Jim Lauderdale and David Ball/Uncle Walt’s Band are sure to attract even more viewers than the already solid numbers the ones listed below did.
With that said, here’s to continued growth for The Music Advocate and, hopefully, even bigger numbers in 2020.
11. Spartanburg native Marshall Chapman returns home with friends, stories and songs (Posted Oct. 23)
12. Jim Lauderdale returns to The Spinning Jenny with Donna the Buffalo (Posted Oct. 31)
13. Breaking news: Warren Haynes Christmas Jam won’t happen this year, to resume in 2020 (Posted Nov. 12)
14. Sound Observations: I don’t want to be miserable, so I created this website (Posted Oct. 23)
15. Sound Observations: Omnivore Recordings to reissue classic Uncle Walt’s Band, David Ball albums (Posted Oct. 31)
16. L.A. punk rockers Go Betty Go return to Greenville for the first time in a decade (Posted Nov. 1)
17. Western NC’s Vagabond Crowe stays busy, plays weekend gigs in the Upstate (Posted Nov. 7)
18. Renowned folk-rock troubadour Johnny Irion to perform Wednesday at The Peddler in Spartanburg (Posted Dec. 10)
19. Howl in the Valley returns to The Radio Room to play with two other Spartanburg bands (Posted Nov. 15)
20. Spartanburg Philharmonic to showcase local composers in ‘Homegrown’ concert (Posted Nov. 21)