A flood of area RPM participants hand-delivered their completed CDs between Friday, Feb. 27 and Sunday, March 1. By noon on March 1, more than 160 glorious new albums sat stacked in RPM headquarters at The Wire office in Portsmouth. Hundreds of others arrived by the crateful over the next few days from all over the world, all postmarked no later than Monday, March 2. The final days before the end of the month found many participants scrambling to polish off their 10 songs or 35 minutes of original music. What follows is a sampling of unedited statements posted on the RPM discussion board at www.rpmchallenge.com. Local listening parties will take place on Saturday, March 28, beginning at The Music Hall in Portsmouth at 6:30 p.m. Congratulations to all those who saw the 2009 Challenge through to the end.

Finishing if it kills me. I’m being a cheap bastard and using the bonus postal holiday to finish the remaining five tracks. That’s right. Five tracks. Because I’ve been living on antibiotics and an inhaler the last 3 days. As it is I still sound like ass, but maybe I’ll just switch up my songs to be Dylan-esque and it’ll work for me? —girl named sam, TX

Didn’t think last night I’ve even get this far. Nuff Said. —Michelangelo, Plano, TX


And an album appeared... We have crossed the finish line. It’s been an incredible experience and our end product is something we can be proud of. —Vitamin N, St. John’s, NF

Break out the sled dogs... or the snowshoes. However, the post office is under 2 miles away—I guess I can always walk if I have to. —Cville Ramblings, Crozet, VA

Three days ago or so i posted a blog here saying that finishing was out of the question and we were destined to give up to finish it under more forgiving time restraints. Well, i had a last minute recording marathon and very happily can now say i’ll be sending a 12 song, 30 minute record in to the RPM Headquarters. —The Danger Bees, Dartmouth, NS

two albums in the bag for 09 and it’s only february... it’s gonna be a good year for the pants. —ieatpants, Astoria, NY

Writing songs is really easy. Recording them is really hard. Singing when you can’t is really hard. Getting friends to help out is really easy. The good thing is that this album is now a bit of a creative resume, and it makes a great drink coaster! —The Blacker Elves, Seattle, WA

Time for my month-long depression. It’s what happened after last year’s RPM. I can’t seem to think of anything to DO. —Nair, Swarthmore, PA

Close but no cigar... it’s hard to not focus on the not finishing part. but i wrote 7 songs this month. that’s a lot! it’s not 10 songs, and it’s not 35 minutes (it’s only 26:52) but it’s the most i’ve ever written in one concentrated block of time—and now i have some material that i can use. i didn’t make it to the finish line but i’m so glad i signed up, i look forward to trying it again next year.  —Seams, CA

NEITHER RAIN NOR SLEET NOR SNOW WILL STOP STURGES & MCGEEHAN FROM GETTING TO THE POST OFFICE —Sturges and McGeehan, Chapel Hill, NC

This is still worthwhile. I am thrilled with the results. It’s much better than I had hoped in every respect. I will almost certainly give it another try in 2010. —Anu, San Francisco, CA

So, apparently, failure IS an option... Well, I didn’t pull off RPM 2009. I don’t have a badass excuse either. I wish I had one of those bulletproof excuses like “It was finals week” or “I’m working 2 jobs” or something. But no. It was just laziness and poor time management on my part. I’m pretty disappointed. Seeing all the pictures and blog posts of people with their finished discs is really depressing. I remember how good it felt to get done last year and I was hoping to get that feeling again. Failure sucks. —Late Night Laundry, Covina, CA

Indeed. wow ... that was intense ... —The Culprits, UK



It’s been real. I’ve gotta say, it’s been fun. Making four tracks over the period of two weekends was an amazing adrenaline rush and a freeing experience. I finally found my balls to go and make the music I love, and at age seventeen, there’s always time to improve. —Empire, Denver, CO

OMG We did it! —Aged Machine, Portland, OR