Thanks, Asbury Park!

Asbury Music Awards

I wanted to write a quick note expressing my gratitude for the outpouring of support I received last night for CoolDad Music. Not only did CoolDad Music receive awards for Top Website, Top Journalist, and Top News Publication; but also, several of you came up to me personally to tell me that you like what I'm doing here. That means more to me than I could ever say in any acceptance speech.

I'm not a musician, but I think I can identify a bit with the feeling of working on something day and night for no other reason than a love of doing it. While awards are a wonderful form of validation, the fact that you can make even a small amount of time in your life to do something that you love is a reward in itself. I would like to extend my congratulations to all of the winners, nominees, and even those who weren't nominated. Each one of you is making time to do something that feeds your soul; and, in doing so, you're feeding the souls of others. That is a wonderful thing, and you don't need an award to tell you that.

I'm telling you. In the way that people came up to me last night and told me that what I do here means something to them, I'm telling you that what you do means something to me. If I didn't have the opportunity to go out and watch you all play, I honestly don't know what I'd be doing with myself.

Thank you to all of you. Thank you to the Asbury Music Awards. Thank you to the musicians whose work I need in the same way I need food, water, and sleep. Thank you to the other photographers who I learn from every day, whether by looking at your work or nerding out with you at a show. Thank you to the other writers who constantly set me on the path to finding new music. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this site -- Allyson Dwyer, Henry Lipput, Scotch LaRock, countless guests and bands who have contributed reviews and year-end lists, and photographers who have shared their work here. Thank you to all of the venues for providing a space for great music and for rarely giving me a hard time about bringing my camera. Thank you to everyone who has worked with me on fun extracurricular stuff like putting on shows and making videos. Thank you to my family for putting up with my obsession. Of course, thank you to anyone I may have forgotten.

And thank you to everyone who spends any time at all on CoolDad Music. I'm going to keep it up here as long as I can.

I'll have some photos of last night's festivities a little bit later.

Happy 2016!