Gillian Welch and Victoria Williams sat and watched Emmylou Harris perform, the guys from Los Super Seven hung out with some of the Knitters, and Patty Griffin stood by as Buddy Miller performed. It was a little surreal, but the un-reality hit a peak when Dolly Parton raced in on a golf cart for her set, and then raced out as soon as it ended. Despite some sound problems, the tiny turquoise-bedazzled genius performed just like we hoped she would. We salute Warren Hellman for putting his dollars behind such a gorgeous undertaking, and letting us all share it for free.

Best Local Band of 2005: Can we say all of them? Seriously. All the bands that work their arses off, scheduling practices and hustling for gigs, praying for some press or radio or label interest, agonizing over how they're going to get the money together to make a recording, and suffering tragedies like van breakdowns or stolen equipment. All that for those tiny bits of glory and fulfillment they get when they play onstage. Rock on.

Best Career Move: Congratulations to Two Gallants, who have begun a promising career with esteemed indie label Saddle Creek Records. Expect extensive touring and timely releases, and look for their full-length debut with Saddle Creek in January 2006 (listen to the Indie Interviews podcast with the band about the album). Another perk of signing with an indie is artistic freedom, which the band exercised on the b-side of their just-released "Las Cruces Jail"/"Long Summer Day" 7-inch. Enter to win your own copy (contest ends 12/14).

Best Club Bookers Who Do the Work For You: If you like new music but you never know what to check out, you'd do well for yourself to head to Popscene every Thursday night. Whether it's coming out of London, LA, or Australia, Popscene has all the latest music before you've heard of it.

There's no way we could cover all the great music or music-related events that have come out of the Bay Area this year. Please leave your musical shoutouts in the comments.