Well, I've been thinking about potential website topics for a few days now and i'm still having trouble even coming up with a good idea. I haven't had an actual hobby since I stopped collecting baseball cards back in middle school. I do have some passions though:
Country music: but not mainstream/top 40. I love traditional country, as well as Americana. This type of country music is mostly independent or offered through small record labels. I've also recently discovered that there are a few good Philadelphia-area based Americana acts that are putting out good music. This might not be a bad idea for a website.
Grilling/Barbequing : I try to grill or barbeque as much as I can, especially when the weather gets nice. I'm not sure whether this would be a good topic for me though, because I don't have enough knowledge to create an effective website.
History: My undergraduate degree was in History. The majority of the books I read in my spare time are history books. I also try to get to as many historical sites as I can when I go to different cities. The one idea that came to my mind was a site for historical tours. Since I live in Delaware County, a historical tours of Delco might be interesting because of the Brandywine Battlefield. Plus, there are many other historical houses throughout the county.
I'll have to think on this a little longer, though since I've been typing the historical tours of delaware county actually seems like the best idea so far.
15 years ago
I am interested by your idea of traditional country music. I think there is probably a lot you could say about it. You could discuss the roots of the music, it's evolution, popular bands, and more contemporary information.
ReplyDeleteI think it's been difficult for most of us trying to find a general topic for the project. For me, it really helped to see Andrea's breakdown of potential user groups on her blog. I started to think about who I might be able to help and that really narrowed my focus a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one struggling to find general topics for this project. I did like your idea for a site for historical tours. You have enough personal knowledge/experience on the subject, but also I believe that it is general enough to reach a wide audience. If you do chose this topic, you might want to focus on a specific area/region (though is Delaware County big enough? Would it have a large enough audience?) to cater to a defined audience.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to Sarah's comment, I think Delaware County would have an audience, mostly among tourists coming to Philadelphia who are looking for daytrips outside of the city. A couple of links from Philadelphia tourism sites could probably guarantee good traffic to the site. But I'm actually more of a fan of the country music idea, since I love old bluegrass. That's just a personal preference though.
ReplyDeleteCountry music could be a good subject for a website. Are you familiar with the recordings of Alan Lomax? He has recorded many old blues and folk songs, and I think he may have recorded old country songs as well, but I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of covering Philadelphia-area Americana/country acts. A site that featured a more specialized look at Philadelphia area musicians including the clubs/bars they play, the record labels they're on, and their fans could be useful and something interesting to research.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have a real interest in Country Music. That seemed like the best topic from your list because of your enthusiasm for it. I think you could introduce country Music fans to new less familiar artists. I also like the suggestion from prairiefirerecords about focusing on local artists and venues. It sounds like a topic you could have fun working on.
ReplyDeleteThe Byrds,Graham Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers. You could compile listening lists to give an overview of Americana and Country. Frog Hollow is the only local country I've seen, but it's not the sort of thing I hunt for. Sometimes there are great bluegrass-ish (sorry, I don't know what terms the kids are using)buskers in Old City on weekends when the weather gets nicer.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of a country music/Americana website, and it could be particularly interesting focusing on Philadelphia or this general region because one wouldn't think of Philadelphia as having a strong Americana presence. I saw the musician Jack Rose play here a couple of weeks ago--do you like him? He moved to Kensington from Virginia and is really influenced by John Fahey and Basho, etc. Anyway, that's one Americana musician here that's really great! His music is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a site devoted to contemporary country outside of the FM/top 100 genre. I think there is a lot of really good music being produced in this genre and a review site or a site with suggestions for potential listeners would be a great resource
ReplyDelete@lang - Thanks!! I'd never heard of Jack Rose, but I checked out his myspace page and really like the songs. I only stumbled onto the Philly Americana scene recently, so I don't know a whole lot. The first group I discovered was Wissahickon Chicken Shack, who are really great.
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