Wow, 2010 already!  Well, 2009 was a banner year for a cappella, with so many incredible albums, so much positive media attention, and it seemed like every time I turned around, somebody was stepping it up to the next level.  I’m going to tell you right now that 2010 is promising more of that.  I can’t say exactly what it will bring, but it promises great things.  In this first show of 2010, you’ll hear:

Track Title	Artist	Album	Original Artist
Let’s Get It Started	Tufts Beelzebubs	<figure style="width: 100px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Shedding (2005)</figcaption></figure>	Black Eyed Peas
What Hurts The Most	Six Appeal	<figure style="width: 100px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Four Play (2009)</figcaption></figure>	Rascal Flatts
Gravity	Overboard	<figure style="width: 100px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Stranded (2007)</figcaption></figure>	John Mayer
Let It Die	Tufts Amalgamates	<figure style="width: 100px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Teaser (2009)</figcaption></figure>	Foo Fighters
In The Back Seat	UNC Loreleis	<figure style="width: 100px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">On The Record (2008)</figcaption></figure>	Arcade Fire
My Romance	Fifth Avenue		Gloria Grafton and Donald Novis (by way of the Hi Lo’s)

As I mentioned in the show, I was a nominator for this year’s CARA awards (which are for albums released in 2009), and one thing struck me as I was listening: I was pleased to hear the rise in the music genre diversity.  Pop/Rock is an overly broad classification at times, but it was especially true to my ears this year, where I heard Pop, Rock, Y’alternative, Alt-Rock, Grunge, Hick-Hop, Christian Rock, Teutonic style metal, hair bands, ballads, classic rock, New Wave, and a lot more than I would have expected.  It was surprising and pleasant.  Also, it seems like the proliferation of quality engineering and masterful production is shrinking the gap from the mediocre to the supreme.  I had some difficult choices to make this year.  We’ll see the results next week.  In the meantime, go listen to show #61, and let me know what you think of the new website!