Letter from The Editor: An Update on Shameless SF

Wednesday, February 21st, 2024 - 11:35 AM

I never know how to begin these things. Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve written a “Letter From The Editor” in the entire time I’ve been running this website. Well, now is as good a time as ever.

Last year marked the tenth anniversary of Shameless SF. While I’ve always had a career outside of this site (i.e., one that’s actually paying the bills), I have always run this outlet like it’s a full time job. I like it. It’s fun to me. But if you’re a follower of this outlet, you’ll notice that, other than the occasional posts in the fall of 2023, it’s been relatively quiet. Which is odd, given the onslaught of tour announcements, new music, and reunions happening throughout all facets of the music industry.

The week after covering the Taylor Swift show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and just a few days after covering the Yellowcard reunion tour at Bill Graham Civic in San Francisco, my wife ended up in the hospital. The full story is hers to tell, but long story short, after months of testing and trying to get a diagnosis, she was diagnosed with cancer. Specifically, stage 1E Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The location of the tumor that was discovered eventually necessitated the use of a feeding tube, the placement of a tracheal stent, and multiple stays in the ER and hospital.

I am happy to share that my wife is now cancer free, she is finally eating on her own again (the feeding tube is officially set to come out in a couple weeks), and our lives are slowly returning back to a new normal. It will take some time, but we are getting there.

If there was ever a resurgence in posting on this site, it usually meant that we had some downtime between hardships and our minds were able to focus on something else for a little while. There’s a lot of waiting around when the people you love are going through chemotherapy. But even with all of that downtime, your mind is left to wander, and we found it difficult to concentrate on anything else besides what was going on. But for the most part, I began to take some time to think about what I want out of life. While I do love running this site, I don’t know if I can continue forward running this like a full time job. The last few months have made me realize that life is precious, life is short, and I want to get the most out of it. That requires not being behind computer, phone and tablet screens for eighteen hours a day, six to seven days a week. I still have plenty of bucket list goals when it comes to artists I would love to cover (and I will continue to pursue them!), but again, not with the same intensity.

As time moves forward, I’m going to continue running this outlet, but it will not be as intensive as it’s been in the past. There may be moments here and there when a lot of news stories and reviews are posted, sure! But it’s not always going to be like that. I promise to continue delivering quality work when I do write for Shameless, but it will not be an every day, every week kind of thing. Let it be clear that this site is not ending, but I will be taking a significant step back from working the way that I have.

Lastly, I would like to give a huge thank you to Jaime Schultz for jumping in and covering a number of gigs throughout the rest of 2023 that I wasn’t able to attend. She’s done an incredible job, and if you’re looking for a contributing photographer, you should hire her. You can find her work here. A huge shoutout as well to contributors Derek Simmons Tobias and Samantha Bass, who brought forth some incredible work (and you should hire them as well!. You can check out Derek’s work here, and Samantha’s work here.

To those that have been regular readers of this publication, I can’t thank you enough for your continued support, whether I’ve gotten it right or wrong. It means the world to me. Here’s to many more shows, reviews, and stories.

Thank You,
Jared Stossel
Editor-In-Chief/Founder
Shameless SF

P.S. One of the things I will actually be working on is a design overhaul. By the end of this year, I plan to have an updated logo and design. Stay tuned!