(I was wandering through the wasteland of my painfully neglected photography blog and saw this post, which I thought I should bring out where someone might actually…read it. So it's a bit dated. But always relevant…)
Okay, I know I have another blog for my band work, but to not
mention it on this one would be leaving out the very thing I love most
and am most known for. Now, lest you think I'm some young, tattooed
hipster, I'm a chubby 42 year old woman. I look so not rock and
roll. Nor do I dress like a teenager — I've already told people if I
ever become one of those women who try to dress and act half her age,
to shoot me. Please.
So imagine how odd I look at these shows.
And how odd I often feel. Or used to…I've gotten pretty comfortable
with being the old fart in the crowd.
So, anyway, part of what I do involves getting in the pit. I get my ass kicked. A lot.
And
one thing I've learned out in Arizona, is those kids from the Rez are
crazy in the pit. For reals. So I knew when I went up to Window Rock,
NM with my boys The Koffin Kats, it was going to be rough. An audience
entirely of Rez kids, on their own turf (at Day's Customs, an auto body
shop.)
This is what the boys had to work with — a flatbed trailer for a "stage."
I
love behind the scenes shots and catching candids of guys offstage.
Especially the Kats. They're great guys and have three very different
— and QUITE interesting — personalities.
The Chop Tops are one of my favorite psychobilly bands and if you get the chance to see them live, do not miss them! They are coming out with a new cd April 2, "Deadly Love." Never fear, I'm already touching bases to give you a preview a little closer to release date, but this is one of those bands you get giddy over when you hear there's a new record coming out, so I couldn't wait to put some buzz in your ear.
And I haven't even seen them since Brett (Three Bad Jacks
) took over on bass for The Chop Tops
. I'm hoping he still sets that thing on fire…literally.
PS. For those who don't know my photography work, psychobilly is near and dear to me. You can check out my portfolio here:
I recently became a HUGE Gun Club fan, thanks to my friend Nick Feratu of The Limit Club introducing me to them a few years back. He had made a bunch of compilation cds for me, and when I got to the Gun Club’s “Mother Of Earth,” it stopped me dead in my tracks.
The song absolutely haunted me, and struck a nerve on a level I can’t really explain, with it’s bleak loneliness. I was convinced whoever wrote it must have committed suicide, and I suppose in a way I was right, even if it took him years to finish the job. He may have died many years later, but “Mother Of Earth” is his suicide note. He knew he was never going to make it in this world.
I have to tell you, I have become quite obsessed with JLP.
Welcome to one of the bleakest songs ever written…the sound quality is poor, but the performance is poignant.
Jeffrey Lee Pierce
died way too young, after battling the bottle and the needle for so many years, becoming yet another rock and roll tragedy. And almost equally as tragic, he was on the verge of fading into obscurity, despite influencing bands from the Circle Jerks (Keith Morris was his roommate and named the band) to even the White Stripes, who covered “For the Love of Ivy
.”
But now several of his lost, unfinished tracks have been dusted off and finished in his name by many of those close to him. And what a lineup it is.
01. Nick Cave – “Ramblin’ Mind”
02. Mark Lanegan – “Constant Waiting”
03. The Raveonettes – “Free To Walk”
04. Debbie Harry – “Lucky Jim”
05. Lydia Lunch – “My Cadillac”
06. David Eugene Edwards – “Ramblin’ Mind”
07. The Sadies – “Constant Waiting”
08. Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell – “Free To Walk”
09. Lydia Lunch – “St. Marks Place”
10. Crippled Black Phoenix – “Bells On The River”
11. Cypress Grove – “Ramblin’ Mind”
12. Johnny Dowd – “Constant Waiting”
13. Nick Cave & Debbie Harry – “Free To Walk”
14. Mick Harvey – “The Snow Country”
15. David Eugene Edwards & Crippled Black Phoenix – “Like A Mexican Love” 16. Lydia Lunch, Dave Alvin, And The JLP Sessions Project – “Walkin’ Down
The Street (Doin’ My Thing)”
This is an import cd, and hence, a bit pricey, but I highly recommend the investment.
We Are Only Riders is more than just a “various artists” compilation.It’s a
musical collective of artists who have come together to interpret (and in
some cases, complete) unfinished skeletal works by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, an
artist they were friends with or whose work they admired. Artists featured
on the album include Nick Cave, who has done his own solo track, as well as
duetting with Debbie Harry, and playing piano on Debbie’s solo track. Mick Harvey contributed to
two of the Nick Cave tracks and has recorded a solo track. Barry Adamson
plays bass on the Nick Cave solo track and also on the Mark Lanegan solo
track, who has also recorded a duet with Isobel Campbell. Kid Congo Powers
contributed to Nick Cave and Lydia Lunch tracks.
About three years ago while clearing out his attic, Cypress Grove
came across a bag of dusty old cassettes. He started to sort through them and found one
marked “JLP Songs”. As soon as he put it on he remembered what it was; Cypress
& Jeffrey rehearsing material for the album they made together (Ramblin’
Jeffrey Lee and Cypress Grove with Willie love”). The album was initially
going to contain country songs, but it gradually evolved into a full blown
blues album. It was recorded on an old boombox in Cypress Grove’s bedroom, just the
two of them on acoustic guitars. The sound quality was terrible, but was
good enough to make out the songs, which were excellent. The three country
songs were ‘Ramblin’ Mind’, ‘Constant Waiting’ and ‘Free To Walk’. In
addition to the terrible audio quality, there was also no level of
performance on these recordings, as Jeffrey was merely showing Cypress the
material. Releasing these songs from the cassette was therefore out of the
question. But if Cypress could get them properly recorded, that would be
different. Also, because there were no definitive versions of these songs,
and there was no idea how Jeffrey himself would have envisaged the completed
work, then why stop at one version? It would be fascinating to hear how
different artists might interpret these songs from this most basic and crude
of templates – the cassette
I make no secret that The Gun Club is not only the inspiration for naming my desert landscape series, “Ghost on the Highway,” but “Mother of Earth” is the song on heavy rotation when working on it.
Well, not really, but yeah, some of you may recognize the dork shooting photos in this interview clip of Dez Fafara. And those who don't will now know why I work on the other side of the camera. Haha.
Anyway, more important than that, this is a great interview of DevilDriver's Fafara by my new media pal, James R. Chesna, and really illustrates what a great work ethic this band has. I admit I'm getting back into the metal scene after MANY years away (I last listened to Ozzy's "Blizzard of Oz"…when it first came out) so I'm still getting to know the new metal bands musically, but really like this band on a personal level. Hard working guys with none of the ego bullshit, living their dream on the road and not in a five-star-hotel-glamorous way.
This is what's it's all about kids. People who do it for the love of it and not to become famous or have a gazillion dollar house.
"Since first forming in 2003, the Santa Barbara metal quintet has
stuck resolutely to this mission, even though it's often meant
traveling a rougher, less glamorous road than most musicians would
prefer to endure. Rather than cashing in on the popularity of his
previous successes, frontman Dez Fafarainsisted from
the get-go that DevilDriver should not only forge their own unique
sound, but should also start at the proverbial bottom of the bill and
work their way up through endless touring, earning the music world's
respect one fan at a time.
"I get that hard-working attitude from my father," says Dez. "I
believe in gnawing at the bit, you know? It's taken its toll on us,
sure – but hard work, road work and belief in ourselves is what we're
based on."
,” it stopped me dead in my tracks.
