Sometimes, ya gotta follow your heart. This summer, I’m following mine to Wisconsin.

For the last few years, I’ve watched the lineup for Mile of Music and salivated. I wanted to go so badly, but life circumstances prevented it. And, to be honest, I probably talked myself out of it because of the cost factor (the festival itself is free…but ya gotta get there and have a place to stay, right?).

If you’ve never heard of Mile of Music, it’s a four-day music festival held in Appleton, Wisconsin. Essentially, they shut down a road and every possible venue along the road is a music venue. There are literally hundreds of artists that play the event. One of the artists involved in getting it started was Cory Chisel, who I’ve had a serious musical crush on for years. Last year, my buddies Wild Adriatic and SUSTO both played.

I’m not missing it this year. Reserved my hotel and bought my Music Maker badge today.

Two double bonuses:

One of my dearest friends in all the world, who I haven’t seen in years, lives just outside of Appleton. So I get Steph time!

The festival starts on my birthday. Happy birthday to me!

Carpe diem, guys. Life is too short not to do the things you want to do. Anyone want to meet me in Wisconsin in August?

“It’s been a long December, and there’s reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last…” – Counting Crows

I don’t think it’s just me. 2016 has been…challenging, to say the least. Okay, it’s been downpour of terrible. I’ve been dealing with some things over the last few months, and haven’t been as inspired to make my seasonal mix as I normally am. I’ve been tossing potential songs onto a playlist since August, but when it comes to Mixes, I’m a fusspot. The flow has to be just right…and if it’s not, I’d rather just not put one out. I just could not get this one right. At one point, this mix was over 40 songs long!

Anyway…I finally got my mix-making mojo back. I pared the tracks down a bit (sorry, Jimmy Eat World). I decided to make it a combined Fall-Winter Mix. Then I sat down to write the liner notes…and well, frankly, they are a giant ball of feelings. There are 5 pages of liner notes, you guys. All I can say is…I’m sorry. But you’ll understand, I think, as you go through them.

So anyway, here it is. I hope you dig it. I hope your 2016 ends on a high note. And cheers to a much better 2017 for all of us….

Future Thieves at Evening Muse back in June.

If you’ve been reading my blog for at least a year, you know that 2015 was a record breaker for me. I’ve been keeping count of all the concerts I’ve been to since 2004, but in 11 years, had never managed to make 100 shows in a year. Last year, I hit 101.

And because I’m a serious overachiever in some areas of my life, I started 2016 with the goal of going to 125 this year.

Obviously, 2016 has not gone as planned. I actually ended up spending about 2.5 months of the year in New Jersey with my family, so I had to revise my goals a little bit. New goal: beat last year.

So the magic number is now 102.

Right now I’m at 93, with 34 days to go. I’ve got a big 10 days coming up here shortly, so I SHOULD make my number – hopefully get to 104 or 105. But you never know – things can always come up. Show cancellations. Sickness. Car issues. You get the idea. I don’t want to jinx myself.

102 will either be Wild Adriatic in Asheville or Future Thieves in Atlanta, if all goes as planned. I’ll have to document with a photo with the band (one of those will be easier than the other).

So far, SUSTO is leading the pack with who I’ve seen the most this year at six times; and of course, my most visited venue is The Evening Muse (29), but Visulite (21) isn’t far behind (I have to mention this, or Chris will never forgive me).

I’ll give more stats and fun facts when I actually make my goal. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

How is everyone else’s count looking so far this year?

It’s Memorial Day…the unofficial start to my favorite season of the year. 80+ degree weather, blazing sunshine, afternoon thunderstorms, more crabs than you can eat, and slow lazy days by the pool or on the beach are some of my favorite things.

I guess it’s no surprise that my Summer Mix is always reflects that…I love putting it together. It just feels like happiness to me. The 2016 Summer Mix was compiled in the midst of what is one of the toughest times of my life, so it’s not the usual 20+ song run of splashes and sunshine that it usually is…Instead, it’s a little more tempered. But I am still loving it.

I hope you do, too. Happy Summer, friends.

Grab the liner notes and maybe a bonus track here: http://bit.ly/KrissieSummer2016