Happy New Year! Before we here at SoundcheckCorp. get too far into 2013, we'd like to make a quick programming note. For the month of January, our daily "Artist of the Day" feature is going on a brief hiatus. It will return around Feb. 1.

This seems like a good time to recap what the Artist of the Day feature is all about. It stemmed from tbt*'s annual Ultimate Local Music Guide, in which we profile dozens of artist spanning all genres from all around Tampa Bay and beyond. Over the past three-plus years, we've featured a new one of these artists each day on Soundcheck, in order to give them exposure to a wider audience. It's really helped us discover some great new music.

We say it all the time, but it bears repeating: We're always looking for new artists to profile around Tampa Bay. So if you're an artist, or you know someone in a band, please drop us a line. 

Some guidelines:

-- Tell us all about the band -- the lineup, your history, the style of music you play, etc.

-- If you've got a photo of the band, please send it. 

-- Send us any music you like, too, either as a download, an .mp3 or a link to a streaming site (like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc.)

-- If you have any big shows coming up, let us know. We try to spotlight artists who are performing around town.

Send all of this stuff to soundcheck@tampabay.com, and we may just spotlight your band on Soundcheck. You can also mail or drop off hard copies of press materials at tbt*/Tampa Bay Times, 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg 33701. And you can always tweet us at @tbtsoundcheck. 

See you in February!

-- Jay Cridlin, tbt*