New Portraits

Quinner

In December, Sam Quinn and Japan Ten played a show in Greensboro and then did a wonderful, spirited holiday style Harvey's Kitchen session at our house.  I've just come across these photos today of Sam and his 110 year old Forest Spitting Cobra and they made me laugh on a rather dreary March day.  This man and his music have brought us great joy.  If you've never listened to the Everybodyfields or heard his newest solo album then I suggest you haven't really lived.  Click away and hear the beauty.

Say "Cheese"

Portraits, baby, portraits! Some commissioned, some forced upon friends. All fun, all educational, all a reminder that being able to document a moment in someone's life is an honor. Thank you Heather Moore, Kristen Leigh, and the Martha Bassett Band for trusting me to do you right. More from these shoots on flickr.

Find Joy Wherever You Can

Martha Bassett

Martha Bassett is one fine lady. I've admired her music and her mega-watt smile since I first heard her play with Bruce Piephoff a couple of years ago. Martha's doing all sorts of touring and collaborating and is in the midst of releasing two albums. When she called me last June to see if I would take some photos of her, I jumped at the chance.

Martha admitted to me that she hates having her picture taken and was sort of dreading the whole experience. I was surprised to hear this considering her obvious beauty and ability to stand in front of large crowds of people and perform every night, but it is a feeling I am very well acquainted with myself. So, I did my best to make it relatively painless and Martha was as gracious and good-humored as that smile conveys.

I should add that Martha was one of the first musicians to brave Harvey's Kitchen and we are very thankful for artists like her who trusted us before anyone had any clue what we might be up to! The Martha Bassett Band will be playing on October 2nd in Greensboro as part of the first ever Save the Monkeywhale Festival! Come on down for lots o' fun and great music.

Sam Quinn and Sam Crain

These photos have been a long time coming. It's been a very busy summer full of shooting and assisting and all sorts of endeavors which resulted in a very neglected blog. So here's part 1 of summer photos with several more posts coming right up.

In July we were lucky enough to catch Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers and Sam Quinn and Japan Ten (yes, Sam from the Everybodyfields) at Local 506 in Chapel Hill. It was a really, really wonderful show. The kind of show that makes you feel like crying when you think about the amount of talent in the room. Both of these bands have played in our Kitchen and we hope they'll come back to town very soon. Thanks to the Sams and their respective crews for big time inspiration.

Photos of Samantha Crain's Kitchen session can be seen here. Sadly, I was not in town for Sam Quinn's session. He'll just have to come back. :)

Holy GHOST, the Ladies Love These Guys!

Holy Ghost Tent Revival is a pretty big deal around here. We've had the good fortune of seeing these guys numerous times live (as well as hearing them play in our Kitchen) and I can honestly say, with complete confidence, they're gonna be big. Huge, perhaps.

Insanely talented, fun-loving, inspired, easy on the eyes, Holy Ghost puts on a live show that has more energy than you can begin to fathom. Even if you are 20. And the ladies (young and old) love them something fierce. Within minutes of them starting their set there is always dancing. A lot of it. Singles, couples, kids, anyone within ear shot feels the need to dance it on out.

It's important to add that these are all genuinely nice guys. Friendly, down to earth and willing to do things like record a score for free for our most recent 48 Hour Film. So it is with great excitement that I post some pictures of them that I think finally do them justice. I've shot these guys in a lot of dark, smoky bars and it took this outdoor show with these beautiful women (and a train) to really bring out the Holy spirit. If you know what I mean. Rock it out, fellas.