
Another calendar year is just about in the books, so it's time to look back on our highlights and milestones of the year, as well as look back on the art, music, literature, food, and other things that helped us escape, cope, and march forward. And maybe point out some of the shitty things we didn't like about this year, too. Balance is integral to this fleeting life.
Thank you to these brave Bloodshot artists for turning the tables and being critics for once.
Robbie Fulks
Favorite show you played in 2018: Rockygrass: getting to pick with Michael Daves, hang with Tim O’Brien, sing with Sam Bush, kvetch with Darol Anger, etc.
Favorite show you saw in 2018: I went to two shows, Peter Wolf and Liz Phair, and really liked both. (Of the two, I pick Peter for my blow-job queen.)
Favorite song of 2018: "Jay Gould's Daughter," also several Dallas Frazier songs
Favorite 2018 album: Missed ‘em all!
Favorite 2018 TV or web series: Missed ‘em!
Favorite book you read in 2018: Educated by Tara Westover
Favorite online video of 2018: Triumph’s showdown with Ted Cruz
Favorite thing from the past that you finally got around to in 2018: I decided to check in on Cheers. I’d seen a lot of them before, when they were originally broadcast, but I wanted to see if they were as strong as they seemed at the time. I found out a couple things. First, that, though they weren’t large, there were evident peaks and troughs in the scripts, according to who wrote them. Sam Simon and Heide Perlman (Rhea’s sister), for instance, wrote excellent episodes. Second, that Nicholas Colasanto was an terrific actor, standing out even among a terrific cast. Third, that, yes, it was an unusually strong series—though the first season, which was naturally a little more experimental and ended on an emotional and unforgettable two-part episode, was probably my favorite. Finally, if you’re in the middle of Montana without strong wifi and you hook into your cellphone’s emergency wifi to watch Cheers on your laptop, 4 episodes will cost you $200 and make your wife really angry—which is a little like a Cheers plotline in itself.
Best thing you ate in 2018: A little pie with cheese filling and minted peas at a bar near the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle whose name I can’t find online
Best thing you drank in 2018: The Heaven’s Door bourbon generously supplied by the Writers Museum in Chicago
Best new place you visited in 2018: Tromso Norway
Best bad decision you made in 2018: At my age, every bad decision is decidedly bad. So I don’t know. I spent a little money on a nice microphone I didn’t need (Telefunken M80), but it really wasn’t much money….a pathetic reply.
Favorite new trend of 2018: I just love when people are forced by twitter mobs to apologize for an opinion they had
Least favorite trend of 2018: The middle of my body making it harder for me to bend over
Top personal victory of 2018: Getting my last kid to move out of my house
Use an SAT word to describe 2018: Lastkiderrific!
What are you most looking forward to in 2019? More of the same—collaborating with people I admire. Brian Yorkey, the Cobb brothers, Jenny Scheinman, Matt Flinner, Duke Levine, Alex Hall, Linda Gail Lewis, Redd Volkaert, Brennen Leigh, and if I really tried to include everyone this list would go on 6 times that length. Watching Universal horror movies with my grandson. Maybe I’ll tackle an area or two in which my knowledge or skills are terribly deficient: auto mechanics, guns, meditation, marine agriculture.
2019 New Year Resolution and % chance of success: Learning to play the guitar better, and based on the chaotic trendline of the past, I don’t know how to calculate the odds.
Scott H. Biram

William Elliott Whitmore
Ruby Boots
Favorite show you played in 2018: First Avenue in Minneapolis opening for Low Cut Connie. Wicked crowd! Purple Rain.
Favorite show you saw in 2018: Unknown Mortal Orchestra in Dallas
Favorite song of 2018: "Star City" by Olympia
Favorite 2018 album: Can’t Wake Up by Shakey Graves
Favorite 2018 TV or web series: An Innocent Man
Favorite book you read in 2018: Just Kids by Patti Smith (finally)
Favorite online video of 2018: Janelle Monáe "PYNK"
Favorite thing from the past that you finally got around to in 2018: Eating Haggis in Glasgow
Best thing you ate in 2018: The eight Violet Crumbles I brought home to Nashvillle from Australia
Best thing you drank in 2018: CBD Matcha Latte on Willie’s Ranch midway through the SXSW madness, that glorious mement is tattooed on my brain.
Best new place you visited in 2018: I was never in one new place long enough to find out.
Favorite new trend of 2018: I don't even know how to recognise what a trend is, seriously???
Least favorite trend of 2018: Again, what is a trend? Do I live under a rock? Or just hate the idea of a fucking trend?
Top personal victory of 2018: This whole fucking year felt victorious tbh.
Use an SAT word to describe 2018: contusion
What are you most looking forward to in 2019? Going to the Caribbean
2019 New Year Resolution and % chance of success: To work less. 0%
Jon Langford
Favorite show you played in 2018: Great American Music Hall SF In July
Favorite show you saw in 2018: Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore with the Guilty Ones at Troubadour in Los Angeles in December
Favorite song of 2018: "Silverlake" by Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore with the Guilty Ones
Favorite 2018 album: Downey to Lubbock by Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore with the Guilty Ones
Favorite online video of 2018: Mock 9 "Work Out" [featuring Jon's kiddo Tommy!]
Favorite thing from the past that you finally got around to in 2018: Torchlit marching through Newport on the anniversary of the Chartist Riots in memory of the working men killed there in 1839
Best thing you ate in 2018: Parsnip Soup at the American Club in Sheboygan at Thanksgiving dinner
Best thing you drank in 2018: Oatmeal Chai latte at the Avondale Coffee Shop Chicago
Best new place you visited in 2018: Knuckleheads in Kansas City
Best bad decision you made in 2018: To stalk Dave Alvin
Favorite new trend of 2018: The tuck
Least favorite trend of 2018: Bigotry
Top personal victory of 2018: Forming a band with Tony Maimone and Steve Albini
What are you most looking forward to in 2019? Vengeance
2019 New Year Resolution and % chance of success: I will play some gigs. 100%
Jason Hawk Harris
Favorite show you played in 2018: The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA. August 29th
Favorite show you saw in 2018: Perfume Genius at El Rey in Los Angeles
Favorite song of 2018: Too many to name a favorite
Favorite 2018 album: Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers. I’m a sucker for the sad stuff.
Favorite 2018 TV or web series: Patriot. Not the movie with Mel Gibson, the show on Amazon Prime. It’s like if Wes Anderson and Homeland had a baby.
Favorite book you read in 2018: Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
Favorite thing from the past that you finally got around to in 2018: All of Judee Sill’s records
Best new place you visited in 2018: Alberta, Canada
Favorite new trend of 2018: Holding sex offenders responsible
Least favorite trend of 2018: Not holding sex offenders responsible
Use an SAT word to describe 2018: incendiary
What are you most looking forward to in 2019? Releasing a record I’ve been working on for 2 years.
2019 New Year Resolution and % chance of success: To run a half marathon. I’m putting my odds at 100% because you gotta believe, man.
Vandoliers
Favorite show you played in 2018: Our first-ever Yard Dog party at SXSW is up there for sure, but it's probably our first annual Thanksgiving Eve show at our favorite hometown club, Three Links. We hadn't headlined our own club show in Dallas in over a year, and hadn't gotten to play Links in maybe two years. The place was packed with lots of familiar faces, shouting every word to every song—a feeling that never gets old.
Favorite show you saw in 2018: It's a three-way tie between Marty Stuart, Marty Stuart and Marty Stuart. Watching him is like going to school and church at the same time. Behind that would be The Nude Party's Americanafest set at Third Man—nonstop smiles all around; Low Cut Connie in Dallas, who performs like there are thousands of people at the venue even on empty Monday nights; and Sam Morrow, who we saw several times, always delivers.
Favorite song of 2018: The Nude Party's "Chevrolet Van" is a super relatable anthem for the poor touring musician, reminding us why we keep piling into the van night after night. And Sarah Shook's "New Ways to Fail" has a chorus that's undeniable. Cuss words are fun!
Favorite 2018 album: Sam Morrow's Concrete and Mud
Favorite 2018 TV or web series: Bert Kreischer's Secret Time special on Netflix. We've listened to all The Machine's specials many, many times.
Favorite book you read in 2018: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories by Fat Mike—book on tape version, listened to in the van (twice) of course.
Favorite online video of 2018: Probably something from the Drunkpeopledoingthings account.
Favorite thing from the past that you finally got around to in 2018: Pickle Surprise.
Best thing you ate in 2018: We got to spend a lot of time in Memphis this year, and have never had a bad meal. Best of the best is Uncle Lou's fried chicken.
Best thing you drank in 2018: Can't remember if it was good or not, but a bar up in Illinois set a bunch of our shots on fire, which is always exciting.
Best new place you visited in 2018: Codfish Hollow. Not sure there's a cooler place to play in the whole country.
Best bad decision you made in 2018: Signing up to win $500 of free Taco Bell.
Least favorite trend of 2018: Drum machines in country music.
Top personal victory of 2018: Does signing to Bloodshot count?
What are you most looking forward to in 2019? Touring more than we ever have and, hopefully, getting over to Europe.
2019 New Year Resolution and % chance of success: Wake up early and finally start taking advantage of all the free hotel gyms and continental breakfasts. 6.66% chance.
John Szymanski (Guitar/vocals, Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls)
Al Scorch
Casey McDonough (Bass/vocals, The Flat Five)