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.

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.

The best $7 show I've ever seen: Black Milk

This past Tuesday I jumped on Jambase to check out if anything was coming to Chicago. To my surprise, I saw that Detroit rapper Black Milk was going to be at Reggies Rock Club premoting his new CD, Album of the Year. Being a former Detroiter, I have a soft spot for Motor City musicians. Especially when it's one of the hottest young Hip-Hop acts on the scene. Black Milk, one of J Dillas proteges, is a producer rapper who happens to turn out some of the smoothest beats around. Milks beats bring in that Motown sound that made Detroit famous, while driving them forward with fast paced hard hitting drums. In Chicago on this cold Tuesday night, Milk brought along some friends to back him in a live band consisting of Drums, Bass, and some incredibly soulful keys. I love Hip-Hop, but even more, I love Hip-Hop with a live band. During the show Milk gave a toast to his friend and mentor J Dilla. The crowd raised their glasses and cheered, and Milk went back to owning the mic. The show wasn't very long, but it was full of energy , it was full of talented musicians, and it was $7. Don't miss this guy while he's in small clubs. Check out the rest of the pics here, and enjoy this video.

Black Milk, Live in Chicago from Chris Monaghan on Vimeo.

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.

The Projects Gets Down to Business

Last night I was invited into the practice space of Chicago Band, The Projects. For as much as I love music, and have seen it live, I have never been to an "Official Practice." It was really interesting to see the creative process that goes into each song. Whether its tightening up an original or twisting around tempos and verses making classic soul or jazz tune their own The Projects did it all with a sense of pride and professionalism. The creative juice was flowing "Beer", and the guys were all psyched about their debut EP which is in its final stages of production. The five song disk is due out next month and is sure to be a hit with four different singers bringing different elements to each of the records songs. Stay tuned and I will provide links to the disk as soon as they are made available. In the meantime enjoy a few photos from the evening, and look forward to photos from the Macpodz and Ali Babas Tahini which I will be taking tomorrow night.

Da Weekend 9/10,11&12

This past weekend was productive. An amazing shoot with Pete Carey of dmTNT with a little help from Peggy Pliscott and Samantha of Ford Models, Xavier Rudd at the Vic Theater (which was amazing, unfortunately no photos to show) the Bears game (a wins a win), and a roof top party with non other than the great Erwin Helfer, and Kathrine Davis.


The weekend started proptley with the Pete Carey/Samantha shoot. My good friend and talented hair and makeup artist Peggy Pliscott did her magic making this an amazing shoot. Here are a few images, the rest can be found on facebook.


The next night i got to see one of my consistently favorite acts Xavier Rudd, at the Vic Theater. Rudd is Australian native and is currently touring with an aboriginal rhythm section who also have some of the best backup vocals I have seen live. Sunday morning was spent with Bloody Marys and the Bears Lions game. The two worst teams in football. This time the Lions made more mistakes....kind of.......and the Bears won. Following the game we went over to a rooftop party, hosted by our friend Henry honering the great blues pianist Erwin Helfer.



There was great food, great friends, and great music, preformed by Erwin Helfer, and Katrine Davis. Here are a few shots from the night. I forgot my flash so I jacked up the iso and made the best of it. Stay tuned for my next post about The Project, their upcoming CD and a peek into their practice space.

North Coast Music Festival

This weekend I got a full dose of amazing live music with the North Coast Music Festival in Union Park. It was a three day fest showcasing music of multiple genres, from Electronic, Hip Hop, and Rock, to New Orleans Jazz. There was no shortage of variety over the long holiday weekend.


Day one featured Paul VanDyke, Pretty Lights, and Chemical Brothers. It was my first time seeing the Chemical Brothers and I have to say they fucking ruled. It was both audibly and visually one of the most stimulating shows I have ever seen. I took a short video, which I should post in a day or so.

Day two was long. We started early with Chicago Band Strange Arrangement. These guys can really play, and do, all over Chicago, so catch them if you can. One of the weekend highlights was Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. Every time I see these guys it blows me away how much energy they have, and how much fun it looks like their having on stage.

It then went onto back to back Electro-Rock with The New Deal and Future Rock. Two three piece groups that know how to make a LOT of sound and work the crowd. Way too much fun.


The night wrapped up with performances by Jay Elecronica, and Umphreys McGee. Both of which were amazing. Umphreys brought the heat as they usually do, to a packed Union Park audience.


Following the Festival I headed over to Kingston Mines for just a little more music, by a little I was there until about 4 watching some of Chicagos best, including Joanna Connor tear up the Blues.


Sunday was rough. This was my first "real" Festival in my home city and I always thought how nice it would be to sleep in my own bed and shower. It just makes it harder though. After a crazy night when your camping you really have no choice but to say fuck it, lets do it again. It's a lot harder to get up out of a comfortable bed take public transportation and do it. So kudos to all of you who made it all three days!


My Sunday was spent hanging back in lawn chairs and re-hydrating when I wasn't shooting more photos for www.livemusicblog.com. We started our Sunday shows with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans. They turned out one of my favorite shows of the weekend. I then caught Benny Benassi who had the entire crowd at his fingertips. I had never seen him or really heard him, but was really impressed by the energy he brought to the show.


Next was Mayer Hawthorne...I'm not gonna lie I was a little skeptical going into his show. A white kid from Ann Arbor singing old soul music, but he did it. And he did it really good too! Vocal harmonies were right on, band was tight. I was impressed and will be sure to catch him next time he comes through.


The night closed with two amazing Hip Hop acts, Lupe Fiasco, and Nas and Damien Marley. Lupe's set was insane! He had a killer band backing him and probably lost 10 pounds running back and forth on the stage.


Nas and Damien Marley closed out the weekend with an awesome set and lots of people. The had an official Jamaican flag waver. How do I get that job? All in all great weekend. Check my flickr for all the photos. I will be uploading in the next day or so.