Ryan Stasik

Every year around this time our partners at Glide poll your favorite artists on their tops shows, albums and experiences of 2008 along with predictions for the coming year. This year’s list of participants contains more outstanding acts than most major festival announcements including Mike Gordon of Phish, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Reed Mathis of Tea Leaf Green/Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Hardy of Dead Confederate and so many others.

[Photo by Adam Kaufman]

Keep your eyes on Glide tomorrow for all of the entries. To whet your appetite, here’s Ryan Stasik of Umphrey’s McGee’s picks for the Glide Magazine Best of 2008…

Best Album(s) of 2008

Skeletal Lamping – Of Montreal, Chinese Democracy – Guns n Fuckin’ Roses, Robotique Majestique – Ghostland Observatory

Favorite Song(s) of 2008

My favorite song of 2008 is from 1968. Just pick one!

Your Personal Favorite On-stage Moment/Show of 2008

Omega Moo’s show in Boulder CO, with Brendan, Jamie, and Darren…12-4-2008

Classic Album or Artist You Discovered This Year

Sparks, Lalo Schifrin, NKOTB (im sure I’d like it if I heard it)

Best Film You Saw This Year

Rediscovered Russ Meyer and all his works

READ ON for the rest of UM bassist Ryan Stasik’s Best of 2008…

In the most exciting baseball/music collaboration since MTV’s Rock n’ Jock, Hidden Track is kicking off our preview of the 2007 Major League Baseball season today. Over the first six months of our existence we have stayed completely focused on music. But Ace and I are just such big baseball fans that we wanted to tie our two passions together in an interesting way.

We have talked to a number of your favorite musicians about their love for America’s Pastime, and over the next few weeks we will bring you their thoughts on the upcoming season. And at the All-Star break and at the end of the season we will check back with these guys to see how things have turned out.

Today we start with an essay on being a Pirate fan by Umphrey’s McGee bassist Ryan Stasik. Stasik grew up as a diehard Pirate and Steeler fan in Pittsburgh. Here’s Ryan’s take on his beloved and dreadful Bucs prospects for 2007…

Where to begin is the question when you have witnessed every season go under .500 since the days of Bonds (beat it), Bonilla, and my hero Andy Van Slyke in 1992. Well, let’s start with hope since we finished the second half of the ’06 season over .500 and out of the cellar in the NL Central by a game to the Cubs. What a day it is to brag about your team being better than the Cubs!

Here we are again ready for a new season and living in Chicago I am able to breathe that hope in the air for those dreadfully cursed Cubs and their fans, yet I am a realist and know both our teams will blow it! The Pirates by playing like a high school team bountiful of errors and mental mistakes, and the Cubs by injuries and long lasting slumps.

Read on for Ryan’s full preview of the Pirates upcoming season…