You’re probably expecting me to say something like “I can’t believe we made it to a year!” but
that would be a lie if I said that. I believed. I believed in myself, my talent, my work ethic, my
passion, my dedication, and most importantly – my determination. I’m different from others. I was born with a physical disability and that very quickly turned me into the type of person that if someone told me that I couldn’t do something, not only was I going to do it, but I was going to kick ass at it and then proceed to shove the fact that I did it and kicked ass at it in the face of those who told me I couldn’t for a very long time afterward.

With that said, I want to start off by thanking those who didn’t believe in me. I want to thank all of the local publications that never responded to my emails, or lied to my face by saying that they weren’t adding any new photographers to their team but then immediately proceeded to add more able bodied photographers to their team, or invited me to join their team but then kicked me off their team a few months later for dumb ableist reasons, and literally sought me out and hired me but then only assigned me three shows over the course of a year. I want to thank everyone who tried to discourage me from starting my own publication. I want to thank everyone who said no when I asked them to be on my team.

But I didn’t just believe in myself; I also believed in those who I personally chose to come along on this journey with me. I want to thank Jordan, Max, Kassidy, and Emma for believing in me enough to say yes when I asked them to be a part of what was just a crazy idea in my head at the time. Thank you for sticking with me since day one despite me at times not knowing what the hell I was doing and/or not always being the easiest person to work with while I was learning how to run a publication and manage a team for the very first time. Thank you for all of the time and effort you’ve put into helping this passion project of mine not be a complete failure. Appreciate you.

I want to thank McKenna for being the first writer/reviewer to join our team and for opening the door for more talented writers/reviewers to join us along the way. I want to thank Brandon, Chris, Shea, Max, and Britta for seeking out the opportunity to be on our team and for their continuous contributions of their time and talent. I want to thank each and every person who has contributed to the growth and success of this publication at one point or another. Despite things not working out for various reasons, you were and always will be appreciated.

We as a team want to thank all of the incredible bands and artists that we have had the absolute privilege and honor of covering over the last year. Without you we wouldn’t have anyone to take photos of or write about and without music the world would be a very sad and dull place. You mean so much to us. We love you all.

We want to thank all of you, whether you’ve been here since we announced that we would be
starting this publication, since our very first post a year ago today, or have joined us at some point
along the way, for your support. We are a team of photographers and writers who do what we do out of pure love for music, photography, and writing and we would not be able to do what we do without you; people who care about and support what we do.

We want to thank all of the publicists who have approved us to cover shows over the last year. This publication would literally be nothing without you. A special thank you to Emma Orland at Nettwerk for approving us for our very first show despite the fact that we had literally nothing to show for ourselves at the time. Forever grateful.

Even though we put a lot of hard work into this publication I don’t think a year ago any of us would or could have ever expected or imagined that we would cover 218 shows in our first year!! That includes eleven arena shows and three stadium shows! Unreal.

And we’ve only just gotten started. Only onward and upward from here.

Love Jessica