The writer Pete Brook posed a question last year at Pickathon for a Wired.com story: What makes a good music photograph? I’m quoted in the story, and yet, a year later and another Pickathon in the books, I still don’t know the answer. But last weekend, as I scurried around and split my time making pictures, managing… Continue reading Post Pickathon 2013
Tag: music
T-Model Ford
My boys call each other Chicken Head sometimes when they’re arguing. I don’t really know if it’s an insult or not, so I let it slide. It could be worse. Their choice of words always reminds me of seeing blues man T-Model Ford work the crowd into a trance as he howled an extended version… Continue reading T-Model Ford
On pianos, organs and singing a song
We bought a piano a couple of years ago from a little shop in Southeast Portland called Immortal Piano. It was not for me, nor for Sara, but for our boys. We simply want them to enjoy having a piano in the house, to learn to read music and be able to pull out a… Continue reading On pianos, organs and singing a song
Post Pickathon Post 2012
The Barr Brothers on the Starlight Stage Here we are again. It’s been more than a week since Pickathon and I haven’t quite figured out what to say about the whole thing. It happens to me every year. But time passes and moments emerge. I was at some dear friends’ wedding the other night at… Continue reading Post Pickathon Post 2012
Pickathon 2012 – Now it begins
I’ve been watching and photographing the build up to Pickathon for the past two weeks, but it really only hit me last night that it’s about to happen. This amazing collaboration of talent will explode into action tomorrow. And though I’ve been saying “I can’t wait” for months, it’s only now that I really mean… Continue reading Pickathon 2012 – Now it begins
Heartbroken twice, years apart, same night
Frank Fairfield at Pickathon 2009 Frank Fairfield sat alone on stage this past Sunday night. There were three monitors and a microphone, but none of that gear was plugged in. His quiet voice was sincere as it drifted over the banjo. His right foot kept time, his left leg swung freely. He sang of poor… Continue reading Heartbroken twice, years apart, same night
Pickathon: Influence and Inspiration
Pokey LaFarge on the Mountain View Stage A couple of nights ago, the boys and I were listening to a live John Hartford album before dinner. “Papa, do you think these guys will ever come to Pickathon?” Leo, 6, asked. “No, that’s not possible,” I said, hoping the conversation would shift. “Why not?” said Jack,… Continue reading Pickathon: Influence and Inspiration
Pickathon: It’s On!
Multiple times this week, I set out to put up a post about some of the awesome assignments and projects I’ve been working on. It’s been a great summer. But this is the peak right here…today Pickathon starts and I guess I can’t really think about anything else. Pickathonography is here, and people are saying… Continue reading Pickathon: It’s On!
Pickathon Book To Arrive Soon
We were out camping over the weekend and I asked my friend for a section of her New York Times she’d been reading in her tent so I could light the fire. She smiled and said that she’d been reading it on her Kindle. We’re living in a time when bookstores are being shuttered by… Continue reading Pickathon Book To Arrive Soon
Pickathon book on Kickstarter
Pickathonography Volume One click on the image to go to the Kickstarter page This is five years in the making and forty-five days in the search for funding. My friend Patrick Barber and I are weaving together a bunch of images, stories from music writers and essays from past Pickathon musicians and making a book.… Continue reading Pickathon book on Kickstarter