Goodbye "Sounds from the Basement"

So begins my triumphant return to blogging . . .

Many of you who knew me in college knew that I worked at The Blaze, ASU campus radio during all four years. And those of you who were around near my final semester probably saw about 9,000 messages about my show "The Basement" and a compilation of live performances that has been available online called "Sounds from the Basement".
www.purevolume.com/theblaze1260am

Each week I would bring in a local Arizona band and sit down, talk about their music, play album tracks and give them the mic for 30 minutes to play an acoustic set. It felt like a waste to have all of these saved up just for me, so I put them all up for FREE download on PureVolume and had a nice release show at Modified (which coincidentally was my last show in Phoenix). It was a great night with great friends and the compilation has existed as a time-stamp on some of the bands that have made huge waves in the last year or so since it's been out : What Laura Says, Dear and the Headlights, Kinch, Skybox, This Century, Raining and OK, Captain Squeegee, Matt Reveles and more.

In order to post all of these for download (about 17 total, plus videos and pictures) I had to buy a subscription to PureVolume, which expires on September 15, 2009. I've decided to take the page down entirely at that point not only to say goodbye for myself, but to let the music exist where it did and encourage the next wave of whatever that is to continue on.

If you are interested in hearing some really cool, organic tunes, you now have approximately 30 days to visit, stream and download. I had a conversation wih a friend about what band may put Arizona on the map again, and you have about 17 here that have a fair shot. You decide.

That being said, I'm going to update my blog each day with either a picture or video from the bands featured and some that aren't and share some stories about them as I had gotten to know them over the years. I want to introduce you to some new music that just so happens to be concentrated into this one compilation. I hope, even if only for a few people, that it's a reminder that music exists through PEOPLE, not a machine, and college radio is as organic as you will get. For those of you who have just met me in New York, this pretty much meant the world to me, and will probably always make me the most proud as I continue on in music.

Time starts . . . now.
-Ashley