A Whole lotta something..

Well, I've been really busy in the last month, unfortunately I haven't had much time to blog. Time to play a little catch up... The Blues project seems to be in full swing lately, shooting about two portraits a week. At this rate I may be able to complete the project in time for Blues Fest 2011, lets keep this snowball rolling! Here's a look at some of the recent shots.





As far as live music has been going I caught Sexfist and Greensky Bluegrass together at the beginning of the month. The show came one night after the biggest snow storm/blizzard/thunder snow storm I have ever been through. The packed crowd at the Double Door put on their gloves, boots, and hats and trudged through about 4 feet of snow to get to the venue. Once we arrived the two amazing bluegrass bands picked there way through the cold and kept us dancing all night long. Go check them out if you can.



Another big win for Chicago Blues was Big Otis Blues representing Chicago in the International Blues Competition. The boys picked up a third place prize in the band competition and my boy Rob picked up the Albert King Award for best Guitarist. Damn! Way to go Rob! When the boys came back they were in need of some fresh press shots to appease their many new fans, so they stopped by the studio for a quick group shot.


The last bit of news I have is I was booked by wicked cool productions to shoot the Rock n' Roll Resort this April. I must say I love a good music festival, and when I can retire to a warm dry bed and shower in the morning its even better. Not to mention the Royal family will be representing hard along with Deep Banana Blackout, Max Creek and many more. I can't wait to be a part of this incredible young festival.

One final note/rant, to anyone who ever said I wasn't going to make this into my career, I am doing it. Your negative attitudes only make me work harder. To my currant and former places of employment, by keeping me in a position where I am not promoted or valued, thank you, it only makes me work harder, it make me focus on my goals. I document music for a very simple reason. I love it. I have had so many special moments in my life thanks to music. There are times when I hear a note or a word from a song and am instantly transported to a different time and place where that song played a part in my life. Throughout my life I've shared these moments with very special friends and family and its helped shape who I am. I take photos to give back to the music community, even if its only a sliver of what I get out of it. As I say in my mission statement, "I love documenting music. Each live show or portrait should tell a story, spark a memory, or inspire a fellow artist. I hope my photos do that for you" If they don't I'm going to work my ass of until they do. Thanks.

Happy Belated New Year!

Hey blog people! Sorry for all the silence, I have been all over the place in the last month. I don't plan on making my posts this infrequent for the rest of 2011, I promise. Let see, what have I been up to... Prior to the new year I was in Mexico, where I gladly did nothing. Literally. But eat sleep and be merry. The day after I got back, I caught my boys The Macpodz in my home town Detroit. They killed it to a full house as they always do.


Following the holidays, I made my way south again for the music festival all you festival goers should strive to attend. Jamcruise. I was lucky enough to be brought on as staff down there for Jamcruise 9, where I was one of 4 phtographers working for JCTV. There, I had the pleasure of working with Phish's touring photographer and all around good guy Dave Vann. The Baddest music photographer in Nashville Brad Hodge, and the fan favorite party photographer Chris Baldwin.



Also on the boat were two other amazing photographers, Chad Smith and Michael Weintrob. All in all, I was in good company. I won't go into detail about the festival, or our stops in Honduras and Mexico, simply because there's too much to say. For more go to jambase for an incredibly well written review with photos by Dave, Chad and myself.



Following the cruise I made my way back to Chicago to continue my Blues series with Dave Herrero and Fabrizio Rodio. Also, thanks to my good friend and brilliant writer Pietro Truba, I had the pleasure of shooting with the young and talented Alex Winston. A special thanks to Ryan Davis for art direction, Sharvin Pouladdej for styling, and Maris Fujiura for hair and makeup. That should bring you up to date...as always check my flickr for a full look at all the nonsense I have been getting into. Thanks and see you soon. I mean it this time.

Busy day, Busy week, Busy month.

I don't know about you all, but I have been crazy busy this month. Not only is it the Holidays, which I enjoy, but my "work work" at the studio had me involved in some more time consuming creative projects, and in between them, I squeezed in some final portraits for the year. I leave for sunny Mexico tomorrow then off to Detroit next week. There's going to be a bit of radio silence around here. When I come back rest assure there will be some music to talk about. After all, New Years in Chicago is a hell of a place to be for music. I will leave you with a couple shots from the weekend with Amazing Blues-man Pete Galinis aka "The Grim Reaper", and the young and talented singer, Ario Kimball, styled by my good friend, the best Asian stylist I know Aimee Joson :) Enjoy. Have a Great Holiday. Be good to each other. See you soon.

Guy King

I met Guy King just over a month ago, I saw him play with his Little Big Band up at Andys downtown. I was talking with him during his intermission and I told him about my Blues project. He seemed interested, we exchanged information and he went back on. This weekend Guy and I caught up at the studio for his portrait. We had a blast. When I first met Guy I noticed he had an accent. I couldn't pin point it though. A little New Orleans a little South Side, turns out hes from Israel. He was born and raised there and moved over to the states to play the Blues. He started down in Mississippi, moved to New Orleans, then ultimately up to Chicago. His accent, like his playing comes from all three places. Check out Guy all over town playing both Jazz and Blues.

Marques Carroll Chicago Blues Project

On Wednesday night I added Marques Carroll to the growing list of artists I'm featuring in my Chicago Blues Portrait project. Marques is an amazing trumpeter, composer, teacher and community organizer. After spending some time with him I realized not only did he truly love music, but he wants to help the community with it as well. Marques heads up an after school program in Chicago as well as teaching on the city's east side. It seems he was strongly influenced by his father and grandfather. His father an graphic designer and artist and his grandfather a trumpet player. He told me a great story about his grandfather starting a brass program for kids in St. Louis in the 50's. During that time racial tensions were high, gangs were a part of life and he lived in St. Louis, the gateway to the south. The after school program, like many today, helped get kids off the street, out of gangs and focused on something positive. When his grandfather passed away many of the kids from his program attended the funeral and credited him for saving their lives. I loved that story. It moved me and obviously Marquess too. You can check out Marques with Guy King the BMC (Booty Movement Coalition) and about 20 other bands around the city. Check out all the photos here.