Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Portraits from Bonnaroo 2009








Saturday, June 20, 2009

SWF Wrestling (Tullahoma) - Yukon Jack benefit












Another recent night of shooting for my series on independent wrestling in the South...this night was particularly inspired, as all proceeds from the night went towards helping out local wrestling icon Yukon Jack and his bum knees and ankles. Locals brought baked goods and other items for an auctioneer to sell off before the night's first match (the cakes were hard to pass up, but so were the homemade brownies). Probably because of the spirit in the air, the night had the most intense series of matches I've seen so far. The duo, Southern Justice, in particular, left me speechless. 

8th Annual Full Moon Tattoo & Horror Festival







Special thanks to Ben Dixon at Full Moon Tattoo for letting me come out to his recent festival and set up in a little side alley and loiter and ask a few brave souls to come sit for a portrait. Met a lot of new friends, heard a lot of great stories and saw some really beautiful art work. Also a special thanks to artist extraordinaire Sheila B for hooking me up with Ben and for coming out and lending a hand. Muchas gracias Senorita B. 

Friday, June 5, 2009

Sam Bush for Sugar Hill Records




Photographed today (Thursday, June 4) at the Belcourt Theatre, Nashville. 

The best storyteller I've ever met. Period. 

Who knew there were Bluegrass Groupies? That's not a band name (though it's not half bad), there were actual groupies that hung out backstage at bluegrass shows and festivals back in the day. Now THAT's a photo series I would like to have documented...maybe there's a film in there. Or at least a short documentary? The big swooped hair, the horn rimmed glasses, the flower print dresses. John Waters?

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Brad Paisley & Kevin Jonas for Rolling Stone

Had a great time today photographing Brad & Kevin for a story in Rolling Stone magazine. Both have new projects coming out and mega tours to follow. I had worked with Brad before, shooting a packaging photo shoot in Palmdale CA a couple of years ago, so I knew he would be a lot of fun to work with. Wasn't sure what to expect from Kevin, but he was a total pro from the minute he walked into the room.  

I always do research on the people I'm assigned to photograph so was curious what Kevin would be like. 

I knew he went by his middle name, that he was also called K2, that he played lead guitar in the band with his brothers, and that his weapon of choice was a Gibson Les Paul (Wikipedia). When it came time to do the photos, he whipped out a brand new guitar that Gibson had just given him for this new tour. Wish I could post some pics so you can check it out. Brad and he both took turns giving it a spin. Get a load of this, you can turn a knob on the guitar to adjust it to the type of music you'll be playing, and then like magic, you can watch as it tunes itself. 

Guitar techs beware. 

Photos to follow in a few weeks or so

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Mandy Barnett in Always...Patsy Cline







Taken backstage at the Ryman Auditorium and the upstairs lounge of Robert's Western World, between closing performances on Saturday, May 23, 2009.