Shanies: Artist of the Year

The awards thus far have highlighted a good number of independent bands, all of whom greatly deserve the recognition, however, as we begin to look at the individual or artist who contributed the most to the music scene this year, it's hard to deny one of the heavy weights the title. I try my best to root on the little guy, but every now and then, we just need to be realistic and talk about someone who's done more in 2013 than most musicians ever do in their lives.

My annual awards would not be complete without giving praise to god, a.k.a. Dave Grohl. Two years ago, Dave's mainstay, Foo Fighters, won this award after having an exceptional year of releasing their 7th studio album and a companion documentary about the band. This year, Dave's done it all solo and went on a one-man-wrecking-ball-crusade to save rock n roll. His first crack at film direction with Sound City ended up being my 'video' of the year and the documentary I now watch whenever I need to feel better about life. However, Dave didn't stop there. Let's reflect:

• Gave the keynote address at SXSW in Austin
• Was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame with Nirvana
• Contributed drums on the new QOTSA album, ...Like Clockwork
• Recorded and played with Paul fucking McCartney
• Filled live drums for the Zac Brown Band and subsequently produced latest album
• Claimed a fucking day... April 10 is now Nirvana Day
• Was instrumental in reuniting Bl'ast
• Started recording the Foo's 8th album
• Was Dave Grohl

So what did you accomplish this year? That's what I thought.

-Read passage from these sacrilegious verses, the words you just love to hear