We’re looking forward to 2015, but we won’t forget the best of 2014

Sure, 2014 was the Year of Baseball in Kansas City, but other local players made big waves. So before we flip the record over and crank the volume on 2015, we’d like to note which shows, venues and sounds helped make the past 12 months worth remembering.

A Big Warm Welcome

Last January, KTBG 90.9 (the Bridge), having been purchased by local PBS affiliate KCPT Channel 19, took its rebrand to the airwaves. Since its move from Warrensburg, Missouri, the Bridge has established itself as the metro’s leading spinner of local acts, with a side mission of pushing off-the-beaten-path national and international finds.

In February, the Folk Alliance International Conference took over the Westin at Crown Center, drawing thousands of acts to town from around the country and the world, and offering one-of-a-kind performances and discussions. The 2015 conference and its corresponding Winter Music Camp take place again at the Westin, February 18–22, and we’re already counting the days.

In June, Boulevard Brewing Co. introduced a three-day music-and-beer circus called Boulevardia. The West Bottoms festival brought in local and national acts to fill its diverse stages — bookings that helped the event score a colossal turnout. This is what summer in KC is supposed to feel like.

After taking 2013 off, Psych Fest returned in October for a third go-round. Shifting from its original location (the DIY space FOKL) to Westport’s RecordBar allowed a 20-band spread to spike the local-music punch for a whole weekend.

Big Nights

For plenty of us, 2014 delivered bucket-list nights out. Arcade Fire turned Starlight Theatre into a confetti-filled playground in April. Paul McCartney, at the Sprint Center in July, proved himself a rock star all over again. And Loretta Lynn, at the Uptown Theater in November, let the light shine on her country-queen crown.

Meanwhile, some standout smaller shows made our hearts soar. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds put the fear of God — and a higher love of music — into us at the Midland in June. In September, the Breeders, performing with the original Last Splash lineup, gave RecordBar audience members a show to tell their kids about. And Sturgill Simpson played to a packed and rapturous crowd at Knuckleheads Saloon just this month.

Ribbons Cut

This year’s ratio of music venues that opened to music venues that closed reinforces our confidence in this town’s music community. Five or six years ago, a resurgence in gig hot spots and vinyl emporiums might have shocked us. Today, it just feels right.

In January, Chadwick Veach and Dustin Racen opened the Tank Room, a reclaimed-lumber-rustic live venue and bar at 18th Street and Grand. In May, the Ship — that worst-kept secret of the West Bottoms — went legal, becoming a licensed bar and venue. It now regularly hosts jazz groups and DJ nights. El Torreon was resurrected once more as a venue when its new owner, the Bridgeport Community Church, began booking local and touring acts in June. Take Five Coffee + Bar spent the better part of the summer and fall moving from its original location to a bigger, better space at Corbin Park. And Black & Gold Tavern officially became Vandals in December, giving Kansas City a much-needed punk venue.

In May, longtime Barnes & Noble music manager Marion Merritt opened Records With Merritt in Westport, selling records used and new, and inside Olathe’s Green Expressions antique mall, Kyle Maggart celebrated the expansion of Hi-Fi Records, which specializes in used vinyl. In the fall, Mills Record Co., in Westport, expanded its business, more than doubling the store’s square footage with a second room. And in October, Kansas City institution Vinyl Renaissance opened a third location, in Columbia.

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Fond Farewells

It’s always hard to see beloved music locales — or even the odd sketchy spot — reach the last chapter. In August, after 25 years in business, the irreplaceable Midwestern Musical Co. closed up shop. But the place went out on its own terms: with an epic guitar bash and a star-studded lineup at its closing party. In October, Czar abruptly shuttered when its owners failed to reach a lease-renewal agreement with their landlord.

Three local-music anchors announced the dissolution of their troupes in 2014. After five years and two brilliant albums, pop-rock act Cowboy Indian Bear came to an amicable end. The Dead Girls parted ways after a decade together, as lead singer and guitarist Cameron Hawk ventured to China to pursue new dreams. And 12-year-old blues band Trampled Under Foot performed its final Thanksgiving show at Knuckleheads Saloon before its members went their separate ways.

And we still mourn jazz singer Dionne Jeroue, who died in March at age 35. She was among Kansas City’s most vital jazz talents, and her death remains a shock and a loss.

Big Time

A few local artists this year helped propel our tight scene into the national spotlight. Forbes named reigning underground rap king Tech N9ne one of hip-hop’s top-20 earners of 2014, burnishing his icon status. (Tech tied for the 16th spot with a cool $8 million annual haul.) In July, speed-rap master Mac Lethal leveraged his Internet fame on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. (In other Mac news, FX is in talks to make a TV series out of his book, Texts From Bennett.)

Independence duo Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear — featuring the chilling voices of Madisen Ward and his mother, Ruth Ward — attracted attention from Rolling Stone at Nashville’s American Music Festival in September. In October, the duo signed with lauded label Glassnote Records. Speaking of signings: Lawrence’s Your Friend joined Domino Record Co. in February; in May, Epitaph Records welcomed Beautiful Bodies to its roster.

In November, Chicago reissue label the Numero Group released a collection of dusty pop and garage tracks dating to the Kansas City of the 1960s and ’70s, all recorded at the long-defunct Cavern Sound studio. Local Customs: Cavern Sound offers a gorgeously produced reminder that Kansas City has always been a fertile breeding ground for good music.

Katy Guillen & the Girls began 2014 on a high note, competing in January at the 30th annual International Blues Challenge (one of some 250 acts, and the only all-female group). The band placed fourth, but that was hardly the end of things. In August, Katy Guillen & the Girls won the Pitch Music Award for Best Emerging Artist. In September, the band released its self-titled debut — widely considered one of the top local records of 2014 — and then closed out the year with a European tour.

But no local-music act stands out more to us than the St. Joseph trio of brothers, Radkey. The Radkes — guitarist Dee, bassist Isaiah and drummer Solomon, all between 17 and 21 years old — spent more time this year on the road than they did in their hometown, shredding fiercely on stages across the United States and in Europe. The band completed an extensive fall tour with rock acts Touché Amoré and Rise Against. And in March, at South by Southwest, Radkey blew the lid off every showcase it played, earning accolades from Spin, The New York Times and NME.

Next year promises to be even bigger for the young band, which plans to release its long-awaited full-length debut in the first quarter.

Whatever Radkey — and every one of its local peers — has in store for us in 2015, we’re ready.