Saturday's WSJR funeral was easily one of the best times I've ever had doing anything involving this website. First of all, every band I saw was great. Like, "I actually want to listen to this shit at my house sometimes" great, you know? And a lot of people came out to see them, way more than I expected, which was a welcome and pleasant surprise that made the whole experience substantially better. I talked with old friends, met a few new ones, and had a really good time at a concert I was honored to be a small part of.
At some point during the night, I reflected back to a few weeks ago when a friend of mine asked me if I thought I had "accomplished" anything with WeShot JR after almost five years. Am I "proud" of it? Would I recommend that others give something similar a try themselves? Is Dallas worth fighting for, and didn't moving to Chicago pretty much already answer that question? After first wondering why my friend was being kind of a dick, I realized that I really didn't know how to answer his inquiries. And then I realized that it didn't matter.
This site was started in January 2006 mostly out of boredom, with an aim to have as much fun in Dallas as I possibly could while I was stuck living there for school and work. As the site launched and I looked around the internet, I realized that there really wasn't anyone else in town doing what I was trying to do, which seemed strange but not all together surprising. You see, up to that point, I had spent several years in Dallas going to a lot of mediocre shows and reading countless articles on boring 90's holdovers like Deathray Davies, Old 97s and others, wondering what, exactly, was wrong with the local music media and why Dallas hadn't caught up with the rest of the world. Was it shitty writers? Shitty bands? A shitty music scene? I really wanted to find out. It seemed that Dallas was stuck in a certain era of its own history, and I figured there were a lot of people out there like me who wanted to experience good music in the city but had no idea how to find it, or if it even existed at all. I wasn't a part of any "music scene," I had no inside scoops into anything going on, and truly lacked any kind of real insight into what Dallas music was all about, other than whatever knowledge I already possessed regarding music in general.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this site had a very humble aim when it started, and not only did it more than accomplish my initial goals, it eventually became much more than I ever thought it could be. If someone had told me that I would work on it almost every day for five years, I would have laughed at them, just as I would have if they had told me I'd get to interview everyone from Robert Pollard to Sonic Boom to Silver Apples, or get to put on concerts, or start a record label, or host parties at SXSW or a showcase at Melodica Festival. I have no idea what we did or didn't accomplish with this site, or if we changed anything, or how many people will even remember us a few years down the road. But I do know that we, as in the writers and readers of WeShotJR, made some noise in this town, and I loved almost every second of it.
As silly as it might sound, working on this website has been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done, and I'd like to truly thank everyone for reading, even those who hated us. Especially those who hated us. Because in a place like Dallas, if your opinions don't piss people off, you're doing something wrong.
I'd like to give special thanks to:
Sam Machkovech
Sanctuary Studios
Zac Crain
Wanz Dover
John Freeman
The Shapes
The Party-- Nature, Sober and Select
James Watkins
The Chat Room
1919 Hemphill
Seth Sherman
715 Panhandle
East Plano
Muscle Beach
Art Prostitute
Daniel Francis Doyle
Orange Coax
Fight Bite
Nevada Hill
the Undoing of David Wright
The Strange Boys
8th Continent
Fra House
Wisconsin
Majestic Dwelling of Doom
all current and former WeshotJr writers
Sally Glass
Fred Holston
Anyone who has performed at any of our shows
Bill Holston
Prince William
House of Tinnitus
Paul Slocum
Cliff Notes
Josh Baish and everyone at Rubber Gloves
TPH
DL
and anyone else who deserves it
