A post to send me off....

So I am heading out again. This time on a real vacation (snaps for 6 days of putting my ass on the beach and in the ocean!), sprinkled with some shows.
I am sure I will have plenty of fodder for this little blog of mine when I return, or even while I am there.

But for now, I want to leave you all with a graph my friend sent me today.
It's kind of funny, and at the same time a little sad. I will let you all discuss this:




Do we all think this is an accurate pie chart? Or is the pie a little more, ahem, evenly distributed?

I plan to get some "on the job" input into this little piece of research this week...I will report back my results. And I will hopefully have some of it on tape...since that is, in fact, what I do.

Ciao for now.

one more favorite

Taped this of one of the last performances of my brother's last band.
Gave him this "music video" as a Christmas gift this year.

Love it. And I cannot wait to tape, promote, maybe manage his new band.

It's personal, not business...

There are a couple videos/stories I want to talk about that I had no intention of using as part of my business "portfolio", so to speak.
Videos that are more like souvenirs of really great times.

One of those was this summer, at the end of June, when I was fortunate enough to WIN tickets to see JTNL's first show opening for Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd in West Palm Beach, FL.
That week was the beginning of what I call, (affectionately at first and it has since stuck) my "Rock & a Hard Place Tour". It is my nickname for this spring/summer/fall....whatever.

So I get there, get my tickets at the BAND will-call (seriously a huge thrill for me! lol!) and take me and my friend into the show. Get our seats and wait for JTNL to come on. And I was hoping I could sneak in a video...and I did.

It ain't great, but it is one of my favorite video possessions. I am so proud of them, and was super honored to be there.



Another one came a few weeks ago.
One of the things I love about music, is that it opens you to more music. And one of the best things I have gotten out of these past several months is essentially a musical "cupid".
This guy introduced me to this band, called Silversun Pickups and from quite literally the 1st second I heard them in that Jeep in High Point, NC, I was stunned. And hooked.
And later, I found out they were coming to Virginia.
And come hell or high water, I was going to that.
I had no earthly idea that I would end up with 4 videos from it, and be able to meet most of the band. It was a great night.

This is a "prized possession" of mine:



Switching to business though, from here on out - August till whenever....mission is this (and you guys can help me if you want!)

Tape one new band/artist a month. As I have found, new bands lead me to new bands....so this should not be hard. But since I have already accomplished my business mission for 2009 (which was having one paying client...), I decided to amend it a little.

I can't wait.

By the way....

My favorite band.
My favorite song.
My motto and my musical heartbeat.

And one of the primary reasons for me being interested in filming music to begin with, is this performance, on this DVD. And it was, of course, a gift from my brother. It all comes full circle at some point..

"Standing in line to see the show tonight and there's a light on, heavy glow, by the way, I tried to say, I'll be there, waiting for..."



To know me at all is to know the importance of this "silly piece of music".

That is all.

Up to speed

I have decided that the best way to get up to speed is to speed up that process.

I am in a "mood" today. Don't know why, I just am. And I that mood is telling me to get up to the present so that I can keep moving forward.
So we need to cover March, April, May, June and July in the briefest way possible.

March. JTNL came to me. In Roanoke. It was a big deal. And there was some personal drama going on too. But remember, I don't talk about that here (yet...)

Here is a video from that night:



An important point here is that I did not tape this, I just edited it and put it online. Regardless, it was an interesting night. I was really glad JTNL made it to my home turf and really glad they had a decent turn out for it.

During March and April I was also stage managing a local musical, which kept me pretty damn busy. And my "real job" is basically hell during March and April. My life was in personal craziness during March and April.

So. This is the part where I talk about and NOT talk about things at the same time. My personal life took a drastic shift around this time, which is all I am saying. And my outlet that was hovering at about 60% of my preoccupation at the time became about 95% very quickly.

One weekend in particular.

Remember back in the February/Nashville part of this tale where I met The Movement fellas? And we discussed them being in my neck of the woods in April.
That was Easter weekend. I was taking a 72 hour hiatus from my life that weekend.
I took my camera and myself and a completely fucked up mind to their show in Salem....

I watched with a friend for a while, and then they left and I was alone. This is a trend folks. A trend that at times I love and other times I curse till I am blue in the face.

Regardless, I ended up with this, finally, a video of The Movement:



And after the show, chatted it up as usual and the short version is this - I ended up going to their show the next day in Columbia, SC. Outdoors, wings, beer and music all sounded perfect to me right then. And I was going to be able to help out a new friend in the process, which is always a bonus for me. I probably "help" to a fault, actually...

There is a long version. From about 1am on April 11 to 4am on April 13, is a really long version. And a fucking awesome story at that. But you won't get that version here. Sorry.

You will get to see the video from that day though:



This was show 3. April 11th. (And it actually just dawned on me that it was an 11...those bitches always pop up in my life. I am having a throwdown to the largest extent on 11/11/11. I am not kidding. Anyway...I digress...)

To say I got (am??) a little caught up is an understatement.

Let's just put it this way, and the important people already know this...I am not heavily medicated right now because of this band and the people I have met associated with this band.
I do this thing, when I am in transition from anything, where it all has to be NEW and different. Well, mission accomplished. And I will leave it at that.

I have been to 13 more shows since then. As of this past weekend, actually.
I can honestly say that each show has had a dual purpose - the first being the music.
It is always about the music.
And I am not going to talk about the other purposes.

Which is how I get to now. Leave that stuff in the past and move forward.
And I don't want you to gleam from this that it is (all) scandalous and negative. It isn't.
Actually, I can only think of 3 specific times where it was negative. Everything else was awesome and positive and I am exactly where I want to be right now because of it.

Sometimes it takes a shift in point of view. Sometimes everyone needs to do that, and I have found that we all help each other do that. We just have to be open to it. Things are not always what they seem, and sometimes they are exactly that.

This past weekend, I went to see The Movement and another band I have taken to since then (because of them...you are probably starting to see a pattern here...lol) called Villanova. They played together. I took the "day off" for Villanova, I had not seen them with their drummer, so I wanted to get the full effect before I started staring at them from Behind the Lens.

But I did tape The Movement.

I had seen some footage of Silversun Pickups recently (another blog topic, folks..stay tuned) where one of the camera angles was from behind the band - specifically behind the drummer. And it was cool as hell.
Well at this past show, I tried that out. I was able to get up on the stage and get about 20 minutes of footage, from great angles, that one included. I am using it all for the larger "Habit" project (Winter 2009 folks...)

But I did get this, which is a song called "Another Man's Shoes" and is essentially about perspective. Or at least, that is what it is about to me. I thought it was appropriate, seeing as I shot this show from a different perspective - physically and emotionally...
So this video is a little symbolic. Plus has a few "experimental" things in it, for my learning purposes. It is uncut, but touched up a bit.
And it is a favorite of mine now, for sure:

"So...what are you?"

You would not believe how many times I have been asked that question in doing this.

"Are you a sister?"
"Are you a girlfriend?"
"What are they to you?"
"Are you with the band?"
"Is this your real job?"

Etc., etc., etc.....

I will admit, 4 years ago or so, I would have been curious about a "me" too. As a fan.

But coming from this point of view, as special as it is to me to have a friendship (?) or whatever...with these people, I reference Lester Bangs to myself on a daily basis to keep it in check.



So the quick answer for me is "No."
(Except in the case of my brother's band...then a "Yes" to the sister question.)

But really, ladies, and sometimes guys, I am not your way "in".
Been there, done that, and know that using ME is not going to work.
Plus it is just tacky.

Back off. Or let's be friends. Or be a fan if you are a fan.

Listen, sing, dance, enjoy and be grateful you have some eye candy for a couple hours. Simple as that.

I will do my best to capture it permanently for you and everyone else who is interested.

Continuum.

So I have learned that I communicate best in 140 characters or less. Thanks Twitter.

But this blog requires a little more than that, I guess. And I hear I have some people waiting for this story to be done already. And "in this great future, you can't forget your past", as Bob Marley says, right?

Odd that I bring up that lyric for this aspect of the story...anyway...

February 2009.
Let's just say that after the January whirlwind, drunken craziness...I felt a little weird.
And I had a weird Valentines Day weekend - but I don't get personal in this blog, so that is all you're getting there - but regardless, here is what happened:

Sunday, Feb. 15th...I woke up at like 5am. Couldn't sleep, had something on my mind - I don't really know what, to be honest, it was like some kind of intuition sort of thing. I couldn't pinpoint it.
This happens to me a LOT. Most of the time I shove it away, don't ask me why, I guess I don't always trust my intuition completely. Maybe I should. Oh well.
I went out to the couch, and turned on the TV and flipped channels. Landed on a movie channel where "The Pursuit of Happyness" was coming on.

Sidebar - I have this weird thing with "emotional" movies. I don't watch them right away, most of the time. I let them come to me at the right time.
This was the right time for this movie, clearly.
I fucking cried my eyes out and was like "This is SO right on!! I have to work hard to get where I want and just DO things sometimes!"

So, I look at the JTNL schedule and see that they are playing in Nashville the next night. Yes.
Really quickly (over that Sunday...) I get together my camera, some tapes and put together some business cards for the business. And wake up on Monday and drive to Nashville.

Crazy. I know. But we have all had those times we just feel driven, or called to something.
That was it for me. The strongest I had ever had that feeling, to be honest.

I got to Nashvegas, got my place to stay (which turns out, was a hot spot for some classic country musicians who happen to roll through town. Who knew?)

I gather my crap, and head to the bar - alone.

Now. Some background, sort of. There were 3 bands at this thing. A showcase, from what I understand, for this booking agency. All three had the same agency.
Seabird, The Movement & JTNL.

That's right...The Movement.

Keep in mind at this point I HAD heard The Movement - from the downstairs bar of Awful Arthur's in Blacksburg...I had not seen them.
Keep in mind what drew me to JTNL - which would be Jason Castro...do your research, I did mine.

So I am getting my requisite rum and Diet to "properly" film. LOL. I am getting backhanded compliments from a couple of locals ("That shirt really leaves a lot to the imagination." Fuck off.)

I see a few of the JTNL guys, say hello, notice a little distress...see Mr. Tyler himself, and it turns out his amp was busted.
He goes to the table behind me, which is where one of "the other bands" was sitting to ask if he can borrow their amp for his set. Cool.

I just casually look around at the table, to see who he was talking to... (people, I am at heart such a band chick...this is a natural curiosity. Give me a break here! We all have our "things"...)

I turn back around as quickly. At that table were more dreadlocks than I had seen in quite a while.

THUD.

Promptly order another rum and Diet. I am going to need this.

This was my first glimpse at The Movement. I had sort of heard them, but not really...I am not going to actually get into detail here...but quite a few "Holy shit!" texts were sent to girlfriends about that point.

I compose myself, somewhat. Go to the back of the bar and get my shit together (somehow) to film JTNL.

I sit on my knees on a stool for the whole set. Yes, ow. I am chatting it up with the bus driver for Stoney LaRue, who tells me that they are playing again the next night...and would I be there.
Um. Wasn't part of the plan. But never say never in my world...I have learned that by that point.

So I get this:



I get a lot of that set, but the lighting is weird.
This, at that time, is my "justification" for trying to go the next night.

So then, I wait around to chat with JTNL, who essentially peace out.
But my ass is sticking around...hello. The Movement is next.

And boy are they.

I sit my lonely ass down on a bar stool about 3 feet from the stage. Three feet from J-Smiles, the bassist, who basically does his best Flea/Anthony Keidis impression right in front of about maybe 30 of us.
And that isn't even talking about the rest of the band....I am not going there yet, if ever.
Just the idea is this: I am smitten as of about 10pm on Feb. 16, 2009.

This is a weird feeling folks, to "fall for" a band. If you have never done it, I am sorry. But "we all have something that digs in us", according to Incubus.

So what is the next step, in the pattern of me? Introduce myself, of course.
Which is where Gary and Josh come in. They were the ones sitting around after the show.

An added bonus for me in the "falling for a band" thing (in addition to music that hooks me, stage presence, at least one hot band member ((don't judge me...)) is approachability.

These guys have that coming out of their pores. I think God (or whoever) has some kind of role in this shit...I fall for the nicest bands ever. Both JTNL, who will talk to fans old, new, pretty, ugly for way longer than they should after shows...and The Movement, are the definition of approachable bands.

Considering I had to drive back to my hotel, and I had acquired at least 2 beers post rum & Diets...I had to take a rain check for the beer offer from the fellas. I just said who I was, that I dug the set big time and that I would definitely see them next time there were in driving distance.

And that was that. No video of their set, because, honestly...I would have dropped the camera. Kind of like my first experience with JTNL...this was going to take some, um, tolerance.

I go back to the hotel, get on myspace, as I do...and add these guys as friends right then and there. Decide to work out staying another day, and do.
Sleep in.
The next day, I go and buy a tripod. LOL! Live and learn, people...save those knees.

The show the next night is at Exit In. Great venue. I get a primo spot up on the balcony, and get the whole set again. I usually pick my favorite or best one to put online from any given show. In this case...



So I tape the thing, street team a little (hand out cards, give out the web address, generally talk till I am blue in the face to some folks about the band) and then head down to the merch area where I generally go say hello after any set.
And JTNL have a long ass drive back to Dallas that night, so they are leaving. Bummer.
But I am chatting with bus driver guy again, and just people in general, and looking forward to seeing Stoney play, so I hang out.

I look around to the side bar, just to check it out...and who do I see but Gary and Josh from The Movement wander in! Holy crap!

End up chatting for quite a while, and find out they are heading to VA in April. Cool deal. Exchange cards/numbers...and I head out. Long drive myself the next day. Not a party night for me.

What is that line in Casablanca? You know the one I am talking about....

Stillwater continued....

I am only half kidding about that title, folks.
I call JTNL "Stillwater", another "Almost Famous" reference, of course.

This is it, more of the JTNL story...so far.

Here is the first part

This part picks up in January of 2009. A nice, way too long break between "viewings", so to speak. It started out as a little "girlfriends" trip to Florida, travel with and see some friends and take in 2 JTNL shows while at it. Innocent enough.

And because I was flying, and not checking any luggage, I decided NOT to bring my camera. I was going to be a fan.

Gasp! Dun, dun, dun....

Now there are a couple of important details here, and I will not get too into it - but let's just say that the evening before I left for this trip, some already frayed nerves were irritated further.
So I went to Florida with some very raw nerves, and a need to really live it up with some friends and see some music.

First stop - Gainesville at Common Grounds, as the band opened for J.J. Grey and Mofro.
Met up with 3 girlfriends, I hadn't even told the band I was planning on going. That is how focused I was on just being a fan, being there "for the music".

Here is the thing - and if you can relate to this at all, please comment and back me up, cause sometimes this makes me feel a little weird....

Live music is healing in the weirdest way for me.
I could have drama coming out of every orifice, have a world of worry and stress on my shoulders and in the most honest way I can put this, the first note of a song - be it a guitar chord, a drumstick click, a word...any kind of sound - all of that goes away.
Instantly.

That is what happened. I absorbed into their music, and I truly get off (almost literally sometimes...) on seeing other people enjoy the music and performance. It is passion at the most heightened state I have ever felt. Really.

I didn't even take a single picture that night. My girl Faith did it all for me.

So, basically what ends up happening is that even though I absorbed into the music, I kick into "help" mode almost instantly afterwards.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this mode lately...why it happens, and what is my motivation. And I don't know. I have done this numerous times, in this stage of life, and in general.

After this particular show, I basically just offer up a "night off" for the folks that usually man the merch, and generally do the meet and greet stuff after the set. Nothing formal, and maybe I was in the way...I don't know...and what this is NOT, and I feel like I need to make this clear, it is not some excuse to be "with the band". I have the hardest time explaining that.

I want to help, I want to spread the positivity that I am feeling to others...I want my passion for this music to be contagious.

So this night was not dramatic, it was great to see JTNL, and I think they may have been happy for the help...I don't know. I was happy to do it.

And we managed to secure passes for the show the next night - and once again, this is never my intention - in Orlando.

I am going to keep the Orlando show story brief. No camera that night either, because the House of Blues is kind of an asshole venue about that.
I wasn't feeling well, one of my girlfriends wasn't feeling well, the day started out weird - strange vibes. I had some kind of "Oh no, this is the last show!" nervous stomach thing going on. Hard to explain, but there were also some personal "issues" all wrapped into this...

But once again, the second they hit the stage and started playing (killer set too...one of my favorites so far), I didn't feel anything bad. At all.

But the vibe of this night was different.

And here is a lesson I have since learned - I should have just let it go.

But instead, I planned to go completely out of my way to make up for it by hitting the show the next night - in Tallahassee.

No one to come with me, no hotel, had a really early flight I had to change. All of this shit to make up for some "bad vibes".

I am about 98% certain that with a do-over on this one, I could have saved some money and some face. But I am a silver lining kind of girl, I have taken that lesson and saved both of those things many times since then.

I get to Tallahassee. Basically what happens is this - I offer up the rest of my hotel room to the band, no sense in wasting that space and wasting the money. I had a couch and a huge king bed. Plenty of room for a few starving artists...
End up with Mo Brown, which was awesome - from what I hear it was a "break from testosterone". We chilled, got some food, and she got me into the sold out show. Nice. I think I still owe her for that night....

Here is another thing I have learned - but not to the point where I have done anything about it - whiskey is a catalyst for me. Big time. Whatever is going on in my brain is amplified when whiskey is involved.

Now, this venue is a beer only joint. So I had beer. Enough of it that my drunken picture taking, street teaming, general schoozing about and for the band was going at full tilt. I love this mode....this is a fun mode. No one gets hurt, they all get my full attention and passion, etc.

Enter the whiskey. A full plastic cup of Maker's Mark...after about 4 beers.

For some reason, being a total weirdo was what was amplified that night. I said and did inappropriate things, acted a damn fool, and still, to this minute, feel like I totally took advantage of my situation. I hate doing that. Hate it.

I did get some footage though...lol...and a ton of pictures.



But what I really got was schooled....in the art of doing this shit the right way.

And I learned that I am really at my best in this environment when I can hide behind the lens. This is not an avoidance tactic...it is just the best way for me to do this.

Stayed tuned...because February 2009 is a doozy...and a little cosmic.

You will find....

...that there are considerable "breaks" between posts.

Sorry.

Not my intention, but this blog wouldn't even exist if I didn't have those breaks, considering 9 times out of 10, they are a product of some kind of concert jaunt.

Most recently, a three show Movement "tag-along"

And, as usual, there are stories. And there is another piece of evidence supporting the fact that I really should not put my camera down and take a night off. There is always drama. Or maybe there is always drama anyway, but it looks different from Behind the Lens....

Whatever.

I am going to work on finishing/updating the JTNL story....especially since they are IN THE STUDIO right now, recording their first album with Atlantic. Yeah.

Plus, my little project for The Movement is coming right along AND tonight I get to see one of my favorites...and hopefully I will have at least some photographic evidence of that this time tomorrow.

And a shirt. Or sticker. I am going to be a merch nerd at this one, folks. And I can't wait....