Exodisc, Montmartre, Paris

As the year comes to an end, like most of us I think, I’ve been spending some time looking back at the last twelve months remembering all of the good times. There are certain things you take with you into the new year, almost like souvenirs of 2012. I’m not just talking about the Detroit Blues album discovered in a little record shop in the hills of Montmartre 4,000 miles from home this past August.

There was the starry night in Lyon at the Roman amphitheater, savoring every note of that phenomenal Bon Iver show. There was the afternoon I spent in Music Heaven, right here in Detroit at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, hoping Jack White would never leave the stage. It’s the memories and experiences we take with us as our adventures through 2012 come to an end that to me are the best keepsakes of all.