It’s been about a year since I last reflected on the state of Blank Tapes. Back then, 11 pieces had been published between September and December 2024, so I set what seemed like a reasonable goal of 30 articles for 2025. I remember being excited about the potential but also uncertain about where this experiment would lead. I know now that it was the early stages of building something more sustainable.
Well, when you combine a love for interviewing musicians with deep roots in your local community, good things happen. What started as a small website has grown into something I never quite imagined: a growing team, a sprawling artist directory, benefit shows and compilations, and extensive writing about North Carolina music.
With the stage set, let’s talk about what happened in 2025 and where we’re headed in 2026.
Looking Back on 2025
Growing the Site & Team
When I set out at the beginning of 2025 to publish 30 articles, I had no idea we’d end up tripling that number. And yet, with this piece, Blank Tapes has published 91 articles. That includes a mix of artist interviews, album reviews, show coverage, and yes, a few self-indulgent bonus essays that aren’t strictly about North Carolina music.
One of the most exciting developments has been the addition of three new contributors to our crew: Stephen Mullaney, Shanna Rogers, and Loren Fraites. Every single connection has been people who discovered the site and wanted to be part of what we’re building.
The goal has always been to add new voices and perspectives, rather than to make this a one-person operation. It was exciting to bring folks into the fold and I hope we keep that up in the new year.
Local Show Representation
I wanted to attend at least one local show per month, but I will end the year with at least 15 (barring any last-minute plans). That’s a modest 25% increase over the goal – pretty good, but there’s room for improvement in 2026.
As the year progressed, I found myself gravitating more toward local music by default. At some point in the second quarter, I essentially stopped listening to “mainstream” or major indie label releases unless they were by North Carolina artists.
Running a North Carolina-focused music webzine requires more time to engage with local communities. I look forward to better representing Blank Tapes and supporting our artists even more than this year.
Organizing the North Carolina Artist Directory
What started as a “second half of the year” project ended up launching in January instead. I couldn’t wait. Around the same time, Dan from SCOBY and saturn is changing graciously offered to merge her work with mine. The result? A living database of 400+ North Carolina artists spanning every genre imaginable.
Is it perfect? No. Some bands are on hiatus, some have broken up, and keeping track of everyone’s status is an ongoing challenge.
For 2026, I want to add a color-coded legend or status column to reflect who’s active, inactive, or no longer together. The directory has largely grown through artist submissions via our form (please submit!) and from artists we’ve interviewed. I estimate that another 100-150 artists from our 2025 coverage still need to be added – which we aim to rectify over our winter break.
Mountains to Sea Vol. 1
What began as a low-key fantasy project became one of 2025’s biggest undertakings. As I interviewed more artists throughout the year, it became clear there was genuine interest in a benefit compilation. We put out a call for submissions in July, aiming for 20 tracks, and we received exactly that — a perfect mix of interviewed artists and open submissions.
We pressed 101 cassette tapes and raised just over $1,000 for the Community Foundation of Western NC. It was a genuinely cool experience that I can’t wait to build upon next year (hence the “Vol. 1” of it all).
But here’s where I need to be transparent. Producing physical media isn’t cheap. The tapes for this compilation costs about $500, which is money that could have gone directly on top of what we raised. However, most of our sales were physical copies, so it’s clear there’s a love for the format.
As we plan for Vol. 2 next year, there will be some consideration to be made for whether an all-digital compilation makes more sense. Especially since we’ll likely get many more submissions now that our platform has grown. A digital-only approach would allow us to include more than 20 songs without the constraints of an 80-minute cassette, and it would maximize the impact for the cause we’re supporting.
Obviously, I’d love to build a run of physical tape releases, year after year. But I also want to focus on what has the greatest impact. Which brings me to…
The Frog Hollow Benefit
I never planned on booking a show this year. On top of the compilation, it felt like too much. But lo and behold, we managed to through one together to support Frog Hollow Outdoors at the end of October.
Let’s be real about what made this event happen: we barely paid anything. With no venue rental and donated sound services, we raised over $2,000 for Frog Hollow and contributed another $1,000 to Yonderlust’s typical Saturday earnings. Shout out to Kit Linton of Yonderlust, Michael Pham of Husbandos and Late Night Lowlights, and every musician who gave their time for that fun fall afternoon.
Here’s what I learned: a well-executed benefit show can raise significantly more money with less overhead than a physical compilation. The afternoon timing also made it family- and artist-friendly. Justin Ellis from Slow Teeth and Ravary (to name a few) even played our show and another set later that evening.
This doesn’t mean I’m abandoning physical compilations, but it does mean I’m thinking hard about how to make our efforts as impactful as possible. If you have thoughts on this, please share them in our reader survey.
By the Numbers
It’s important to be especially transparent about how our website operates, from web hosting costs to the traffic y’all bring in. We pay about $7 per month to run this corner of the Internet, which is our only recurring overhead cost. There are no ads or paid sponsorships; what you see is what you get, and that’s by design.
As for traffic, here are some graphs for our weekly views and visitors:
The biggest things to note with our traffic is that we are mostly limited to sharing on Instagram. Reddit was used more to amplify our pieces earlier in the year, but dropped off to avoid breaking the “self-promotion” rules that many local subreddits have adopted.
Sure, we’ve had some ebbs and flows as a result, but folks are also now finding us via Google searches for bands. It’s been incredible just to watch people discover the site and keep coming back over the weeks and months. I’m excited to see this continue next year.
Charting a Course for 2026
More Posts, More Often
We’ve been consistently publishing two articles per week with occasional breaks for holidays (this is an unpaid venture, after all, and burnout helps no one). The goal for 2026 is to bump that up to three articles per week. If we can go beyond that with the help of our contributors, even better, but three feels like a solid next step.
Expanding New Music NC
Right now, I’m doing 99.9% of the work on our New Music NC roundups (psst, send in your music!). I’d love to bring in contributors and community members to write up featured releases and diversify the voices promoting new tunes.
One way to evolve the format would be with weekly Instagram reels/YouTube videos that highlight new releases from North Carolina artists. Not sure if that’ll be ready by January, but it’s something I’m working toward.
Booking More Concerts
As mentioned above, I want to organize more shows. We did one this year, and I think two makes sense for 2026. One in March or April, and another for our anniversary that doubles as a Blank Tapes fundraiser. Specifically, more afternoon, family-friendly sets somewhere in the Triangle. More details to come!
Fundraising & Sustainability
Surprise: we’ve soft-launched a Patreon! I’m also exploring additional fundraising options. Becoming a nonprofit might actually be easier than finding a fiscal sponsor, which is saying something.
To be clear: this isn’t about paying me. Right now, our costs are low. Basic website hosting and a print-on-demand merch setup with thin margins to keep things affordable. But as we grow, I’d love to do limited runs with local screen printers, invest in better tools, and most importantly…
PAID CONTRIBUTORS
This is the big one. I want to pay people for their work. There isn’t enough local independent media where artists and creative professionals can get paid to cover the arts. I want Blank Tapes to become one of those rare outlets.
It doesn’t matter if you want to write features, conduct interviews, review shows or albums, manage social media, create videos, or even host a podcast. If you’re contributing to North Carolina music coverage through this platform, you should be compensated.
I also want to offer paid internships to students seeking experience and college credit. Blank Tapes should help people build a portfolio, earn credit, and be paid for their work. Plus: free show tickets, music advances (where we can get them), Blank Tapes merch and stickers, the works.
If you’re interested in contributing, let us know!
Thank you for being part of this community. Whether you’ve read one article (or dozens), submitted to our directory, bought a tape, or just shared a post — you’re the reason Blank Tapes thrives.
Here’s to doing it all again, bigger and better than ever in 2026.
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