Seven Deadly Smacks
By Kevin White


Sixteen years of Harder Beat, huh? Wow. This thing has outlasted several day jobs, a handful of bands and my marriage. All in the name of rock & roll, right?

I wonder if I’ll still get involuntary twitches and nightsweats at the beginning of the month even without facing a deadline…

Hard to believe when Linda started the HB, we were at war with Iraq and the country was mired in a recession. Wait…what?

The more things change, I guess… At least we’re not bombarded with political scandals and celebrity misconduct like we were in the early 90s. Crap!

No wait, I got one - at least we don’t have religious wing nuts trying to legislate morality for the entire country anymore. You know, the ones who swear by the second amendment but have no problem bastardizing the first. Son of a bitch!!

Okay, so maybe all that much hasn’t changed over the last sixteen years. Sure, we’ve got smartphones, Bluetooth and twitter, but we still can’t get a decent hard rock radio station in the #5 media market in the US???

Thanks to all our readers, advertisers and supporters of local music for making it all worth the tremendous effort. Thanks to Dale, Andy, Travis, Jason, Shane, DJ, Misty, Brian and all the other writers, photographers and contributors over the years for helping make HB as great as it always could be. Most of all, thanks to Linda Hollar for giving me this creative outlet, setting up all those concerts, putting up with my procrastination month after month — and for fifteen (and counting) years of truly meaningful and rewarding friendship.

In the words of Neil Young, “My my, hey hey. Rock and roll is here to stay. It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”