OK: I'm a virgin blogger. I actually hate the word "blog," but I'm using it quite freely here, as well as making myself space on this site whose name clearly has the word within it.

The word, however is somewhat deceiving. Over the recent months, I have been able to augment my "really-hard-to-get" audio recording collection with the massive selection available on "blogsites."

I have always considered myself outside the norm of the average Joe or Joan who downloads the latest rock, pop, R & B, country or hip-hop (another term I detest) recording and who takes away from the hard-working artist and the profit-motivated record company. That is where Blogspot and its contemporaries come in, giving us hard-core purists the chance to enjoy recordings few others will touch - or purchase, for that matter.

Much of what is offered here is NOT available through retail, online or even auction sites, and it is amazing that many of the artists have even recorded some of the material I and my ilk are interested in! Who wants to hear Madonna fart during a live concert? I do, and so does my "posse!" And if we can get the soundcheck and demo versions - all the better!

-MrE