The inaugural piece: The MusicFile: Sorting out the top 10 Southern songs of 2012.

The top five are:
1.“Birmingham” by Shovels and Rope
2. “I Found You” by Alabama Shakes
3. “Numb” by Gary Clark Jr.
4. “Am I That Lonely Tonight” by Justin Townes Earle
5. “Gospel” by The Whigs

But you can click on through to the column for more on those and the rest of the top 10.

The MusicFile’s best new Savannah bands of 2012 (not all are truly brand new, but largely fresh to the scene):

Adam Intrator of Triathalon

The column has links to SMN interviews with numbers 1 through 4.

The MusicFile also has a post with their top 20.

And if you just want to listen, here are The MusicFile’s top 20 songs from the South in 2012:

Welcome to our beta version of the re-vamped MusicFile. Over the past two years, weâ€ve moved from New York City to beautiful Savannah,Ga., started a music festival called Savannah Stopover that takes place the weekend before SXSW each March (you need to come down for this!), launched a concert promotion and event business and in the process of all that, have sorely neglected our first born~~The MusicFile. All that changes now as we embark once again on our goal to bring you the best new music with no attitude and no fuss.

Itâ€s overwhelming to keep up with music today, particularly if youâ€re not into the mainstream pipeline of mediocrity. We try and make it a little easier. We donâ€t do negative reviews, we just shine a spotlight on the best undiscovered, rediscovered and under the radar tunes that get our juices flowing. We do the scouring so you can do the listening. And, once we left the microcosm of NY and settled into the deep south, we realized how much great new music is coming out of the region that just doesnâ€t get its due so weâ€re launching a new section of the site called “Down South” where weâ€ll showcase the best new talent from south of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi.

I was really excited a couple of months ago when Kayne Lanahan — founder and CEO of both Savannah Stopover and MusicFile Productions — told me that she and her team were revamping and relaunching The MusicFile site. As Kayne herself noted in a guest post on the Creative Coast blog in February (see In Search Of A Music Scene), music blogging has a role to play in nurturing Savannah’s scene.

Of course, The MusicFile doesn’t fill the role of hyperlocal blog that Savannah also needs, but it will be another conduit for connecting Savannah music fans to broader trends as well as to specific bands that we’d otherwise miss.

The site has just recently been relaunched, so there’s still some tweaking to be done to the beta version.

this mountain, from Johnson City, Tennessee

With sites like Pitchfork doling out plenty of negativity, I like The MusicFile’s emphasis on positive reviews and spotlights.

So maybe the presence of The MusicFile in Savannah will attract a little more attention for us from outside — from bands, booking agents, and journalists.

And maybe its presence will spur some entrepreneurial writers to launch the kind of hyperlocal music blogs we need — ones loaded with reviews, schedules, pics, and clips. I do OK with my Music category posts and my 912 Music Calendar, but those barely scratch the surface of what dedicated bloggers could do.

In other news, Savannah Stopover will be making a big announcement on Tuesday, November 27th. They will also be hosting a reception at ThincSavannah on November 30th. Click here for more.