Love ->Warehouses That Might Catch On Fire

Instead of properly introducing the Big Music issue, Managing Editor/Arts Editor Baynard Woods (green) and I are just going to give you a facsimile of the nutty text messages, emails, and phone calls we've been trading throughout the year. Usually these back-and-forths happened when we were both up late at night working instead of sleeping or running between shows like crazy people trying to take in as much music as possible and find each other and grab a drink. We realized we were constructing an essay on "the scene" while on the go, which seems appropriate for Baltimore's music scene, which heavily relies on the "IRL" experience of live music (Brandon Soderberg).

• style="text-align: left;">"The Old Weird Maryland": Travis Kitchens helps Zane Campbell make country music strange again.
• style="text-align: left;">"Do Everything and Do It Yourself": Puja Patel on TT The Artist opting to build community instead of buzz.
• style="text-align: left;">"Negative Theology": Bret McCabe on Locrian's Terence Hannum plumbing the depths of nothingness on a new solo record.
• style="text-align: left;">"Brain Power": Shannon Gormley on Wet Brain fighting dickhead misogyny with powerful punk.
• style="text-align: left;">"50 Local Releases You Should Hear": Brandon Soderberg's breezy reviews of 50 local albums, EPs, mixtapes, mixes, and more from 2014.