Category Archives: Friends

Gabba Gabba Hey Hey Hey

November 15, 2011 8:57 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

You know how I have been going on and on lately about local music? Well here is another little tidbit on that subject. As I have lamented several times this past year (via this blog) I have been out of the local music loop for the past couple of years. So many responsibilities, so little time for attending shows…

At any rate, Wicker was one of the local bands I hadn’t seen in a loooooong time. Srsly. A long time. This past weekend I decided it was high time I remedy that situation. I couldn’t be more glad that I did! I had forgotten how fun seeing Wicker could be. It was actually a great reminder for me that fun is sorta the whole point of this band. I mean, you’re pretty much guaranteed that at least some members of the band will be in costume during their set and, more often than not, some type of hijinks will occur. And boy, do the kids (as I like to call them) have a good time at Wicker shows! Anyone who saw me while they were playing would have seen that I was feeling pretty dancey as I watched the band. That’s right. I could be seen dancing in my place as I took pictures. Told ya I had a good time…

 

Wicker. Nov. 12 ’11 @ The Smithseven House. Cordova, TN.

Posted in: band photography, friends

Summer Past {One More for the Road}

October 26, 2011 11:07 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Nikon FE • Kodak C-41 B&W film

My long-time BEF Meredith moved to Portland, Oregon at in August. We in Memphis didn’t see her often because she’d been in Bowling Green, Kentucky for four years (or so.) I was so glad she breezed through town before heading off to the Pacific Northwest, asking me to join her for lunch at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant. It was lovely to catch up and over some lemongrass tofu. And, boy, did we laugh.

Posted in: film photography, friends, personal

{Discovery} Looking for Alaska

August 16, 2011 9:00 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Here is a fact about my life: almost every friend I have is a musician. Music and bands are the reason I know 95% of the people I’ve met in the past decade. That’s how I ended up doing band photography in the first place: going to my friends gigs. Then I met more people in bands and befriended them, too. And if it’s not someone who is directly in a band, most of my other friends were met through musicians who are mutual friends or just by being at the same shows for so many years. And so forth and so on! And, yes, I do have a point with all this…

My point is: I’ve been out of the circulation from local shows for a bit now, due mostly to work scheduling conflicts. I’m discovering that I’ve missed that part of my life and those people and probably new people I could discover at those shows. Since that whole work scheduling thingy isn’t an issue right now, I’m trying my darndest to get out and see my friends play more often! I did so this past weekend, in fact, by heading out to the far east {Cordova, TN!} to see my friends’ band, Looking for Alaska. After I finally got to hear their music, I was kicking myself that it had taken me this long!

I have to say: I really, truly, genuinely think these guys are one of the best local bands I’ve heard in some time. They’re my cuppa tea. I may even be getting a sense of excitement over local music again! You see, in recent years, I have felt like there was a hole in my heart left by some of the local bands I used to love but aren’t together any more. Looking for Alaska just might be able to plug up that hole. AND they’ve just recorded an album, a fact which makes me both excited for them and eager for its release so I can get my hands on it!


Click on through for pictures of Looking for Alaska. Aug. 12 ’11. Smithseven House.

Posted in: band photography, friends ⋅ Tagged:

While I Breathe, I Say “Goodbye”

March 30, 2011 12:15 am ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅


Photos of While I Breathe, I Hope & Pezz @ The Hi-Tone. Mar. 25 ’11.

When I got word some months back that While I Breathe, I Hope (WIBIH) was “getting the band back together” and playing a reunion show, I was so unbelievably happy. These guys are friends of mine, and watching them play, taking their photos, and singing along with them had been a staple in my life for years! I couldn’t wait for this reunion show because I knew I and all of our friends connected to WIBIH would have SO much fun. I was not wrong about this. We had a blast! The band sounded great, they were enjoying themselves, and, as one of my friends so aptly put it, “It was like 2005 again!”

Now, even though I knew it was their last show, it didn’t actually occur to me until the very end that this was not just a reunion show, it was a final show. While I Breathe played their final song, one called “I’d Be a Liar to Feel That Way.” There is a break in the music, where the band stops for a second, Drew comes back in on the drums, then they start playing again and Jeremy sings the outro “It’s gotta go, so much deeper than they have/for me to make a move that way.” But on the night of this show, the band stopped playing, Jeremy stepped off the stage, the band started playing the outro, and Adam started singing those words. And, I don’t mean to get all emotional on ya’ll, but I suddenly felt a sense of finality. Because I don’t really know if WIBIH will ever play a show together again. I got unexpectedly sad!

Then we went outside and took “kids pics” (a feature on the old version of Shoot With Personality) and it really did feel like 2005 all over again.

It truly was a bittersweet sort of night, and while there were some friends missing from the crowd who I wish would have been there with us, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

So, my friends in While I Breathe, I Hope, I want to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVakOQzd6A

Posted in: band photography, friends