Category: Blog series

Continued from My years photographing the local music scene, part 2

Not counting open mic performances, I only attended 42 shows in 2010, down dramatically from my peak of 76 in 2008. My responsibilities with the Lost Art Open Mic were a factor in this, but they weren't the whole story. Over time, I had shifted my focus to shows featuring bands and performers with whom I had forged personal relationships. This would become more and more the norm for me in the months and years ahead, with exceptions becoming increasingly rare and eventually almost nonexistent. The closure of the Skillman Street Pub in 2011 played no role in this recalibration, as I had long since ceased to regularly frequent the venue by the time of its demise. Rather, I had reached the point of burn out with the parade of cookie monster metal bands and dollar store Pantera knockoffs which seemed to make up the bulk of its nightly offerings. The way forward – for a while, at least – was in the direction of smaller, more intimate settings with increasingly limited outings to the bigger clubs.

Continue reading "My years photographing the local music scene, part 3"

Continued from My years photographing the local music scene, part 1

I kicked off 2009 with a truly incendiary show at the Vampire Lounge. Two nights later, I was back for a night featuring Severed Sol. I honestly don't remember why I went to that show, as the name Severed Sol conjures up absolutely nothing in my memory, and my only notable photos from that night were a few throwaway shots of model/photographer Amber DeVille posing with a lit candle. I continued to hit up the Skillman Street Pub fairly regularly, and I began to slowly broaden my circle of venues a bit. I had a new sometimes-companion to some of the shows now, the two of us spending quite a bit of time together. That person was the Cassie B. from my 2008 birthday party and the December 20th show at Lola's. Despite certain acquaintances' insinuations to the contrary, Cassie and I were never more than just best friends – I wasn't her type, and as for me, my affections definitely lay elsewhere, with a lovely lady in the scene who shall remain unnamed. Cassie accompanied me to performances by bands such as Red Pyramid, Sidekick Mafia, and the Opus Flux, and in March we made a weekend trip down to Austin during the SXSW festival. During the Austin trip we stopped in at Headhunters and saw a performance of the Blue Flames, a band which, I was pleased to learn, hailed originally from Dallas.

Continue reading "My years photographing the local music scene, part 2"

With the recent heavily researched, long gestating content I've put up recently (and with more still on the way), it's time to take a step back from high effort material. I've been thinking for some time that I should get around to recounting my days in the local music scene, specifically my nine-ish years spent as a photographer of local bands. There are references to those days all over this website, and curated examples of my work from that time period are easily accessible via my Live Photography galleries. But I've never taken the time to tell the tale in full and to discuss how I got into the scene, who my principal collaborators were while I was in it, and why I eventually ended up leaving it. I've decided that now is the time for that story to be told.

Continue reading "My years photographing the local music scene, part 1"