Cool musicians who blog

I thought it would be cool to start compiling links to musicians I enjoy who run their own weblogs, so let’s at ‘er. When I talk about cool, I guess I’m talking about cool as it pertains to me (who else?), and when I talk about weblog, I’m talking something fairly frequently updated by the artist themselves. If you know of a musician I’ve missed, please let me know.

Clarification: If I can find the artist listed on MP3.com (which uses the All Music Guide data in a site that doesn’t suck ass), Metacritic, or Pitchfork, it gets added to the list. Not a very good (or fair) definition of “cool”, but I gotta have some kind of criterion.

Follow the jump for a rather massive list.

(still more editing) Pulling more of the links in the comments up:

Thanks to Kottke and Andy Baio for getting the word out.

I’ll keep updating this post with more as I receive or find them. There are a few more in the comments that I couldn’t find a listing for on MP3.com and didn’t add to the entry. Sorry, folks, but if I opened this up to absolutely any musician we’d be here all year.

Comments

1 | Jon Hicks said on October 5, 2005 2:55 PM

One of the few that I read is by Doves

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2 | the scot said on October 5, 2005 6:48 PM

rob nanna of hey merceded does too.

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3 | Richard Albury said on October 6, 2005 11:24 PM

He may not be on your cool list, but Ottmar Liebert has a blog:

http://www.ottmarliebert.com/blog/

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4 | Matthew Kappenman said on October 7, 2005 5:03 PM

John Mayer has been blogging about his latest tour with the "John Mayer Trio."

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5 | kingbenny said on October 7, 2005 5:05 PM

I am not cool. Some say I'm not a musician. I certainly am not notable. But I blog. But not very often. Damn.

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7 | Tyler Bye said on October 7, 2005 5:10 PM
9 | Duckalicious said on October 7, 2005 5:18 PM

Belle and Sebastian have a kind-of blog--an online diary by frontman Stuart Murdoch.

http://www.belleandsebastian.com/diarylist.php

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10 | Andrew Kaufmann said on October 7, 2005 5:32 PM

I want to be sure I'm on the record as pointing out that Melissa Auf Der Maur is hot.

Also, Idlewild blogs, sort of -- http://www.idlewild.co.uk/idlewild.html

The problem is I can't find an archive. So all you see is the latest entry. And they call it a diary. And it's not daily. So maybe it's not even a blog at all -- but I think they're cool, so here's a shout.

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11 | DF said on October 7, 2005 5:36 PM

Ed Harcourt - www.edharcourt.com - click diary

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12 | tim said on October 7, 2005 5:37 PM

Kristin Hersh (50FootWave, Throwing Muses) just started a blog.

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13 | Jason said on October 7, 2005 5:47 PM

Andrew McMahon, from Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin

http://www.jacksmannequin.blogs.com/

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14 | manuel said on October 7, 2005 6:20 PM
15 | Swift said on October 7, 2005 6:28 PM

Mark Edwards, of the criminally overlooked My Dad Is Dead, has a blog:
http://www.mydadisdead.com/blog/

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16 | brian said on October 7, 2005 6:36 PM

OK GO has a blog and I think they are cool.

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17 | enxenetia said on October 7, 2005 6:47 PM
18 | Andrew Stone said on October 7, 2005 7:07 PM

Jason Mraz has an occasionally amusing "blog" journal type thing up on his site, www.jasonmraz.com.

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19 | Steve Rhodes Author Profile Page said on October 7, 2005 7:31 PM

Oh, although Roger doesn't blog much, he does
have over 1100 movie reviews and reviews of places to rollerblade from his touring

http://rogerm.net

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20 | Sassy said on October 7, 2005 8:15 PM
21 | Lee Author Profile Page said on October 7, 2005 8:59 PM

jeff klein blogs at http://jeffkleinmusic.com/journal . his new album "the hustler" is highly recommended.

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22 | Allison said on October 7, 2005 9:54 PM
23 | Maria said on October 7, 2005 10:04 PM
24 | Clark Schadelkopf said on October 7, 2005 10:47 PM
25 | dan said on October 7, 2005 11:12 PM

TV on the Radio: http://youngliars.blogspot.com

Updated... occasionally.

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26 | deb said on October 7, 2005 11:20 PM

Tony Levin. Best known for his work with Peter Gabriel.

http://www.tonylevin.com/

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27 | John Zeratsky said on October 8, 2005 12:24 AM

Ze Barenaked Ladies have a blog: http://bnlblog.com/

(Note French-Canadian pronunciation of "the")

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28 | luke said on October 8, 2005 12:51 AM

I've been blogging as part of my dissertation which will be accompanying the debut record of my project Two States

The blog itself relating to the composing and recording process can be found at walding.org

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29 | L said on October 8, 2005 2:36 AM

Not sure if Jason Mraz would count as "cool", but I like that he's rather dorky and he writes well.

http://www.jasonmraz.com/journal/

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30 | Derek K. Miller said on October 8, 2005 2:54 AM

Craig Northey, formerly of the Odds and now with Colin James, the Stripper's Union, et. al.: Craig Northey's Journal.

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31 | Ian said on October 8, 2005 3:06 AM

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has sort of a blog here

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32 | marcus said on October 8, 2005 5:37 AM

that ain't mats gustafsson the musician, sorry.

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33 | Andren said on October 8, 2005 5:55 AM

I enjoyed looking through these. I was surprised to find out how non-commercial they were in nature. The Anchormix blog is here at http://anchormix.blogspot.com

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34 | Gee said on October 8, 2005 6:52 AM
35 | N/A said on October 8, 2005 8:20 AM

David Pajo (Slint, Papa M, Zwan, Pajo...) - http://electropopmedia.com/papa-m/

Neil Michael Hagerty (Royal Trux, Howling Hex...) - http://hhex.blogspot.com/

Van Conner (Screaming Trees, Valis) - http://vanconner.blogspot.com/

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36 | TIM said on October 8, 2005 8:41 AM

David Pajo (of Papa M, Tortoise, Slint and The For Carnation) has a cool blog: http://www.electropopmedia.com/papa-m/

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37 | hrehfeld said on October 8, 2005 11:35 AM

KoRn @ buttsexcrips (no really, that is a work safe page :)). Writing isn't exactly good though.

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38 | John Keogh said on October 8, 2005 12:19 PM

You've got Bob Fripp - don't forget his missus! She updates her site more frequently too:

Toyah’s newsletter

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39 | Jg said on October 8, 2005 1:09 PM

Can't forget Kathleen Edwards: http://www.kathleenedwards.com/.

Her "News" page is actually a blog.

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40 | brian said on October 8, 2005 1:42 PM

Paul Gilbert, guitar player from 80's seminal pop-metal band Mr. Big has a blog in Japan - in Japanese/english

http://blog.excite.co.jp/paulgil

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41 | Heather said on October 8, 2005 1:45 PM
42 | Marshall said on October 8, 2005 2:17 PM

Guster has maintained a blog for a long time...

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43 | chanzi said on October 8, 2005 3:57 PM

Guster has a blog on their site where they do tour and studio diaries.

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44 | George Myers said on October 8, 2005 10:42 PM

Very important multi-instrument composer in computer music and others is Bjorn Lynne who just mved back to Norway after over 10 years in England. "Worms4" his most recent and others going back to the Amiga era.

http://www.lynnemusic.com/blog/

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45 | Jim Vrckovski said on October 9, 2005 12:24 AM
46 | Felipe said on October 9, 2005 1:36 AM

The guys from Death Cab for Cutie blog on their official website: http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/

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47 | Nico said on October 9, 2005 4:26 AM
48 | Korak said on October 9, 2005 10:49 AM

Eskobar (Daniel, Frederik & Robert)

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49 | Gene Cowan said on October 9, 2005 12:22 PM

Sara Hickman! (http://www.zenlala.com)

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50 | Dirk Bergstrom said on October 9, 2005 12:34 PM

Rose and Rick from Poster Children / Salaryman have blogs: Rose has a blog & In My Copious Free Time

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51 | rbassman said on October 9, 2005 2:35 PM
52 | Chap Author Profile Page said on October 9, 2005 4:06 PM

Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe, Red Noise and solo work has a blog at his site
that's just been codified into a book.

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53 | talego taleif said on October 9, 2005 4:26 PM
54 | David Burn said on October 9, 2005 7:44 PM
55 | G said on October 9, 2005 8:51 PM
56 | Katy said on October 9, 2005 9:23 PM

Mike Watt runs his own website (http://www.hootpage.com/). He posts often on the message board, answers questions, posts news/tour dates/links/interviews/videos and his photography and keeps a really good tour diary (updated pretty frequently when he's on the road).

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57 | Sean Sperte said on October 9, 2005 10:26 PM
58 | A'marie said on October 10, 2005 12:21 AM

Good Charlotte, each member keeps an active blog.
http://www.goodcharlotte.com/death/index.php

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59 | camson said on October 10, 2005 2:05 AM

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned bandnews yet.

http://www.bandnews.org

It collects news from a whole array of bands and artists blogs and official sites and collates it all into one site and RSS feed.

If you can't find the band you want, then suggest them!

It's really awexome!

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60 | thomas said on October 10, 2005 2:44 AM

m. doughty from soul coughing has one too:
http://www.mikedoughty.com/blog/

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61 | moonwalker said on October 10, 2005 8:15 AM
62 | dazed said on October 10, 2005 9:25 AM
63 | Motts McGregor said on October 10, 2005 11:19 AM

The Bad Plus is blogging at DO THE MATH: http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/

-Motts

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64 | Lauren said on October 10, 2005 12:32 PM
65 | PD said on October 10, 2005 1:08 PM
66 | Duckalicious said on October 10, 2005 1:19 PM
67 | dearjb said on October 10, 2005 3:03 PM

what bout deadcityradio.modblog.com ?

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68 | Dfactor said on October 10, 2005 4:51 PM

I started as a musican who blogs, but today am more of a blogger who musicians....:-)
Waved Rumor - http://wavedrumor.blogspot.com

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69 | Sharelle said on October 10, 2005 6:14 PM

Not sure if they qualify as "cool" but I think some people like Good Charlotte: http://goodcharlotte.com/death/index.php

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70 | Bobby said on October 10, 2005 9:18 PM

Jens Lekman has one of the best blogs this side the..well he's from Sweden so..

Anyway, it's called smalltalk. If you claim to have any sort of musical sense you will appreciate this artist.

JensLekman.com

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71 | Peter said on October 11, 2005 11:23 AM

John Wesley Harding was blogging during a recent tour of the USA, maybe he's kept that up...

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72 | Friend said on October 11, 2005 12:00 PM

YACHT (member of The Blow) has an intense blog with video and full archives:

http://www.teamyacht.com

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74 | nate said on October 11, 2005 3:56 PM

Jeebus. Okay, time for a new list - "cool" artists that DON'T have blogs.

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75 | anthony said on October 11, 2005 4:15 PM

Hi,
Nice idea you've got
How many posts does it take to make a blog ?
Cause for TV ON THE RADIO
and "THE DIRTBOMBS:http://thedirtbombs.blogspot.com/
They aren't many updates.
But they are cool musicians.

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76 | mobius said on October 11, 2005 4:46 PM
77 | lyn said on October 11, 2005 4:51 PM
78 | matt said on October 11, 2005 6:35 PM

the bomarr monk (anticon / restiform bodies)

http://bomarrblog.blogspot.com

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79 | kurt said on October 11, 2005 8:47 PM

Jonathan Coulton. His latest blog postings request overlay tracks for one of his many creative-commons songs.

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

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80 | Anne Cloudman said on October 11, 2005 10:35 PM
81 | Nader said on October 12, 2005 3:33 AM

We've indexed a couple of the listed bands on Bandnews.org. A lot of them were already in the database.

Kathleen Edwards (blog) unfortunately doesn't allow robots to crawl their site, so no news from her. stupid ;)

Greets, Nader

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82 | Jeff said on October 12, 2005 9:10 AM

Barenaked Ladies is the coolest band you have mentioned. :(

I don't know how anyone could say "not very cool" when talking about Barenaked Ladies. Must not be your type of music. But the guys sure are cool. :)

Thanks for posting them anyway.

Jeff

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83 | Attu said on October 12, 2005 9:36 AM
84 | :k: said on October 13, 2005 12:09 AM

Kevin Bacon (of the Bacon Brothers):
http://pissyeller.org

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85 | Mrs Jones said on October 15, 2005 6:48 AM
86 | grant said on October 15, 2005 5:41 PM

R&B/ Urban Gospel artist Kirk Franklin has a great blog on his site.

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87 | Seb said on October 15, 2005 9:24 PM
88 | Larry said on October 16, 2005 3:04 PM

Thanks. If anyone knows of a silmilar collection of actors, actresses, playwrights, etc., that blog. Please forward URL to me.

/thanks

larry Aronson

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89 | Abbi said on October 18, 2005 1:34 PM

The amazing thing is, even the musicians already listed will be around to cultivate your community for years to come.... so you won't have to be here for years. Thank you so much. Check out tidwit.com

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91 | Barry said on October 28, 2005 6:03 PM

Hey, barenaked ladies kick ass!

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92 | Nom De Plume said on October 31, 2005 4:59 PM

Add to the list erstwhile guitar god and former Captain Beefheart sideman Gary Lucas:

http://www.garylucas.com

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93 | CZ said on November 5, 2005 3:39 PM
94 | issa said on November 13, 2005 7:05 PM

the rosebuds have a blog. therosebuds.blogspot.com
their official site it's at www.therosebuds.com

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95 | issa said on November 13, 2005 7:08 PM

the rosebuds have a blog. therosebuds.blogspot.com
their official site is at www.therosebuds.com

indie-rock band. husband and wife.

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96 | tom doyle said on December 23, 2005 10:32 AM

my work with john lennon years ago makes me a proud man to see this type of site it would have been johns dream check the shows projecttomdoyle.tripod.com and write back at tomdoyle33@yahoo.co.uk rock on from the bronx underground

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97 | Henry Halff said on February 20, 2006 9:54 PM

You asked "If you know of a musician I’ve missed, please let me know."

James McMurtry: http://www.myspace.com/jamesmcmurtry

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98 | Moose said on April 3, 2006 4:13 AM

Err ... I heard about this really cool musician who blogs a lot. Never met him but ...

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99 | Kirsten said on July 4, 2006 5:47 PM

ARCTIC has a trio of blogs:

1) News - http://www.projectarctic.com/news/ - regular news about ARCTIC performances and announcements
2) News of the North - http://www.projectarctic.com/news/index.php/north - environmental news and activism
3) ARCTIC Expeditions tour blog - http://www.projectarctic.com/expeditions

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100 | greedbluered said on November 18, 2006 9:11 AM

Jim Steinman! (Best known for composing for MeatLoaf)

http://jimsteinman.blogspot.com/

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101 | Sam said on November 30, 2006 1:58 AM

Pat Monohan, Jimmy Stafford, Brandon Bush of the Grammy award winning band "Train"

http://myspace.com/jimmystafford1

htt://myspace.com/pat_monoman

http://www.brandonbush.com/blog/

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102 | Glenn Page said on December 21, 2006 7:04 PM

STeve Kilbey prolific leader of the band "THe Church has a great blog

The Time Being
http://stevekilbey.blogspot.com/

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103 | Uhoff said on March 28, 2007 8:04 AM

Russian hip hop band in UK called The Oligarchs has official blog on myspace -

http://www.myspace.com/theoligarchs

and their vocalist' blog here -

http://kolinzeinikov.blogspot.com

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104 | Max said on April 10, 2007 3:02 PM
105 | carly said on April 30, 2007 3:38 PM

ernie halter maintains a regular blog. and they’re quite amusing..

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106 | Mary Jane said on July 10, 2007 2:25 PM

On July 6 you were tagged... by me... as one of 8 blog personalities I would like to know more about... If you choose to accept this mission, simply post a list of 8 random facts about yourself... and invite 8 more awesome bloggers to do the same...
Thanks for the list of cool Musicians who blog...
MJ

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107 | marco said on August 5, 2007 9:44 PM

From my cold dead blog....................

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109 | CPBJ said on December 21, 2007 6:00 AM

It's a great blog list.

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110 | Kim Kinrade said on January 13, 2008 6:11 PM

Hello,

I've been following your blogs without comment for a while. I liked what was written but thought was a bit too old to join in. My first band was in 1965 and I remember When Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass first released "Whipped Cream," the album on which your girl to right was prominently displayed.

Keep the string-side up,
Kim
http://www.kimkinrade.com/blog

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thanks for the good research work done here.
Great blogs, thanks.
d

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112 | Songwriting contest said on July 10, 2008 9:13 AM

Hi,

It's a great initiative.
Good luck with it.
I know I'll keep you on my favs so I can access your list of musician blogs. :-)

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113 | Musician Finder said on August 18, 2008 4:12 PM

Funny, I find all these musicians to be the eggheads of the music community. Where's Slipknot or Metallica's blog? ;)

-Dave from www.musicianforest.com

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114 | Financially Free Musician said on December 25, 2008 2:47 AM

Sleater Kinney has a blog. Sweet...loving this list. Thanks! Happy Holidays

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115 | David Stern said on January 22, 2009 10:28 AM

Blogging musicians are cool!

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116 | HDC Media said on March 16, 2009 6:22 AM

This is a great list of musicians with blogs. Thanks

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117 | Jade said on April 12, 2009 6:43 AM

Nice list, very well compiled.

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Well at least you are honest.

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119 | lee said on May 3, 2009 6:42 PM

I know musos well and rather than say they are cool I would say to be more accurate... space cadets.

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120 | lee said on May 3, 2009 6:44 PM

Cool musicians are normally associated with the Jazz world.

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121 | Taw99 said on August 18, 2009 3:20 PM

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