Very good wishes to all who visit this site, deliberately or by chance, flesh-and-blood or bot...
One thought to round off 2013, first. As is traditional, I forgot one album that could have made some contributions to the compilation of the year, even if it's not consistently strong enough for the top ten. It's Way To Blue, the record that followed the excellent Nick Drake tribute concerts back in 2010. The best song on it comes from Lisa Hannigan, who played so well at the Edmonton Folk Fest last summer but didn't release a record of her own last year. She definitely deserves a mention as one of my stars of 2013 and you can see her sing 'Black Eyed Dog' here.
And one thing new for 2014: if you're still wondering why I keep going on about Braden Gates, have a look at his latest video here, a cover of 'Satisfied Mind'. You can feel the cold of an Alberta winter as you watch it, the poor lad could have done with some mittens...