Thanksgiving is only 2 days away and it has me here at BourbonAndVinyl thinking about all the things to be thankful for this year. Well, that and the wife is busily prepping the house for the impending Christmas holiday. Ergo, I have barricaded myself in my office with a tumbler of bourbon and a stack of records. Christmas is not my favorite holiday. Frankly, St Patrick’s Day is the only religious holiday I still observe, but I digress.

In an attempt to avoid helping decorate the house for Christmas in any fashion, I have decided to compose the Top 10 Rock and Roll things I’m thankful for this year. There are many things I’m thankful for in my personal life: my beautiful wife and daughter, my parents are still going strong into their 70’s, Keith Richards is still alive, I discovered Bulleit Rye this year and everybody seems healthy. But in this post I must turn my attention to the things in the world of rock and roll that I’m thankful for in 2015. Without further ado, here are my Top 10 Rock n Roll Things to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1. U2 has rescheduled their Paris concerts for December 6th and 7th. If any band on the planet could help salve the wounds of that city it’s U2. U2 has been the virtual soundtrack of my life. I remember the last time I saw them, standing on the infield of some baseball stadium while tears ran down my face. Their music moves people that much. I read on Twitter that Bono said, “We’re going to put on our best for Paris.” There is no one better. U2’s best is as good as it gets people. My heart is still with you Paris!
2. The Rolling Stones came to town this summer on the Zipcode Tour and I finally got to take my 20-something daughter to a Stones concert. It was a magical night for my wife, daughter and I. The Stones were on fire that night. They seem energized and rocked the stadium like it was a pub down on the corner. I hope they take that energy into the studio in 2016. At least now my daughter knows what I’m doing when I do my weird Mick Jagger dance around the kitchen, late at night, when I’ve been over served.
3. The Faces, after years of keeping my fingers crossed, finally reunited for a show this year. I was hoping for an album and a broader tour, but I’ll start with a charity show. It was only a brief 35 or 40 minutes but it gives me hope for the future. It was a lot like dating in high school – I waited for a very long time for something that lasted a very brief period of time, but I sure hope to do it again.
4. Archival Releases – Whether old live performances from Hendrix or Neil Young, or full fledged box sets from Springsteen and Dylan, I am very excited about older artists raiding the vaults. Springsteen’s “The Ties That Bind – The River Sessions” is extra special for me as it was the first record of his I ever bought. Dylan’s “The Cutting Edge” sounds like it’s for completists and obsessives but that pretty much describes me.
5. Strong Releases in 2015 – Here at BourbonAndVinyl we like to focus on established artists who are releasing new music. It’s the reason I started this blog in the first place. We had plenty of those in 2015 – from Keith Richards, Rod Stewart (who is writing his own stuff again, which I’m thrilled about!), Chris Cornell, Dave Gahan, Jackson Browne and the list goes on.
6. The trend in #5 above looks to continue in 2016 – There are a lot of great artists who appear to be prepping new music in the coming year. Most notably David Bowie whose Blackstar may be his weirdest in quite a while – 2 words, jazz musicians. The Cult have a new record coming, Hidden City. Many, many others are rumored to begin the studio including the aforementioned Stones.
7. Tom Petty now has his own SiriusXM radio station. Terrestrial radio is largely dead to me. The fact that Petty has his own station, dedicated to his music is fantastic and well deserved. Buried Treasure, his show on XM, will also be broadcasting old episodes. Check it out if you haven’t yet.
8. Guns N Roses original lineup to reunite for a tour – It’s only a rumor but fuck yes! I’m hoping that’s true. To see Axl Rose (vocals) reunite with Slash and Izzy on guitars, Duff on bass, and Steve Adler on drums would make up for me missing them when they were still together. This current group calling themselves Guns N Roses should call themselves “The Axl Rose Vanity Project.” I wanna see the original guys. As Joe Strummer once said, “never underestimate the chemistry of 4 (or 5) guys in a room together making music.”
9. The Led Zeppelin Reissues are finally done – I’m thankful because I’m hoping Jimmy Page moves on and puts out some solo stuff. It’s over Jimmy, time to move on.
10. Fleetwood Mac finally coaxed Christine McVie back into the fold. I’m very thankful for this because she brings balance back to the Force in that band. And by “the Force” I mean the ego’s of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there celebrating that particular holiday. For those who aren’t, here’s to a happy and healthy Holiday Season to come.

Cheers!