Time to start your new year off properly – by attending the first 8 Off 8th of the year, which just so happens to be sponsored by We Own This Town. Joe Colvert put together a lineup of some of Nashville’s finest and they’ll all be playing short sets tonight at Mercy Lounge starting at 9pm. As usual, it’s free and it’s a good way to get familiar with a lot of our cities new offerings. Check the event details for the full lineup.

After a much needed regrouping over the holiday season we are back to our regular blogging schedule. The calendar, which is why most of you come here anyway, has been a tiny bit neglected as of late but that’s where you come in. If you know of a show that you think is WOTT worthy – please let us know. The same thinking goes for our podcasts; if you know of a band that you think is doing great things and might be a good fit – let us know. The We in We Own This Town doesn’t just apply to the handful of us that run the site; it should be everyone reading it as well.

And on that note – please welcome Ryan Evrin (The Carter Administration, Millionaire Magicians) to our fine ranks. He will be tackling a new series of interviews called 5 Questions With… in which he asks five questions of a random someone around town. Look for the first one to debut this week.

It’s that time of year again when the majority of the Internet just sort of shuts down and stagnates for a few weeks while everyone leaves their office jobs and actually spends less than a third of their day on the computer. We’re no different and will be taking off until early January; though I’ll do my best to scour for some new worthwhile events on the calendar.

If you are in need of something to tide you over until Christmas might I suggest the just-released annual Partytown Hospital Christmas album. It’s poorly performed, vaguely unlistenable and almost painfully long but it’s amusing from top to bottom. It’s worth hearing through once at the very least.