Nice knowing you, 2010

"Coming in a mess; going out in style" - D'you know what I mean? - Oasis

That line can pretty much sum up what 2010 was like for me. The start of the year signified the end of a fairly long creative break for 12th Avenue, which was much to our relief, as we were all dying to get on stage again. We spent the first month of the year auditioning bassists and after Brian joined, we hit the ground running. Although we didn't play quite as many shows this year as we have in the past; the quality of, and response to, the shows has been phenomenal. Judging by what our new management has done this year, I think next year is going to rock big time!

We released our first free digital single, "Hearts on Fire", earlier this year, which received some really good reviews and caused us to have to upgrade our website to handle more traffic. If you don't have the single yet, it's still free and available for download here.

Around the time that we recorded the song, SA had football fever with the FIFA World Cup being hosted on South African soil for the first time. I took the opportunity to watch one of the first round games at Cape Town Stadium and it was awesome. The band also had the privilege of performing at the various Fan Fests around the Western Cape, which were all amazing shows. The band also toured Gauteng and Namibia this year, which were both epic tours. It's just a pity that we weren't able to do the East Coast this year, but we promise to head out there next year again.

Even though another year is ending, there are a lot of new beginnings going on. Our bassist, Brian, welcomed his son into the world on 23 December 2010 and we're all really happy for him and his wife. We've decided on the songs for our new album and are starting recording in January. We're really happy with what we've written. For a sneak peak at some of our pre-production material, check out the video in my blog entitled "Tis the Season...". I'm also super excited for the new year, as we have a lot of cool ideas regarding our shows and new places to tour to. I really can't wait!

So here's to a new year, filled with possibilities and hopefully filled with as many good times as this one was.

See you in 2011! Don't forget to shut the door on your way out... :)