Back in the saddle again as they say....

2010-08-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, Volume 2 has officially begun. After a good 10 months off (give or take the first few photo shoots) the researching and interviewing of musicians, photo shoots, potential publishers, re-designing and lots of travel has once again returned as a priority in my work.

That old familiar feeling of excitement mixed with pangs of craziness has returned in full force.

Welcome back old friend. Oddly enough you have been missed.

I'm banking some major air miles on this round as the focus of Volume 2 is heavily on East Coast based musicians with a sprinkling of West Coast ones. If I could some how have a portable darkroom to travel with I'd never have to take a break.

As of now, all that I can say is that it's going to be even more diverse then Volume 1. I can definitely promise that. The music base on the East Coast is so vastly different from what's out West and I'm excited to show it to the public and faithful supporters of this project.

This project will still continue on in film format. The current debate is whether to stay with the Yashica setup or to switch over to the new (very old) Hasselblad setup that has now become my workhorse. We'll be doing exhibitions of Volume 2 (and Volume 1 for that matter) in multiple states when it's release. We're also currently in talks to produce a documentary on the project for release with Volume 3 (2015). It's in continual forward motion which, for those of you who know me well, know that this is normal speed for me.

Volume 1 was developed, shot, and completely put together in a short six months in 2009. Not a hell of a lot of time considering most exhibitions take years to put together. This time around I have roughly two years to produce Volume 2 which in comparison is quite a lot. I'm very grateful for this.

This past October while on a red-eye out to Rochester New York to shoot the first musician for Volume 2 I had a lot of time to think about why I started this project in the first place. When you get right into the middle of something so big and all consuming of your life you can easily loose sight of why you started it in the first place. In between months of sleepless nights, crazy deadlines and stress levels so high you need a ladder to see above them I admit that I had a few moments of "Why the hell did I get myself into this?". And, after all of that WHY would I want to put myself right back into that two years later?

Well, in between Ginger Ales and that screaming toddler that even the White Stripes couldn't drown out the conclusion I came to was this:

This will always be a life long project for me. I've come too far and believe in it too much to ever stop. For whatever reason my job in this life was to photograph music, to document it and show it.

No matter where you are in life, how much money you make, or your social "status" in this world music is a common thread that everyone can relate to....whether you do it for a living, play it just for fun, or just listen to it to make sense of it all.

These musicians all come from different places but they have one common love: music.

Call it my crusade if you will.

And, onward we go.......

November 9th guest on the Frankie & Johnny Music Hour

2009-10-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

On Monday, November 9th I will be a guest on the Frankie & Johnny Music Hour radio show to talk about the Musicians|Volume 1 project and independent music and art! MV1 participants/musicians Heather Fay and Patrick Dunn will be joining me.

You can call in to chat with us during the program as well as join the chat room to ask questions if you're too shy to come on air!

Call in number: +1 (646) 378 - 0358

Time of a show: 8:00 PM EST, 7:00 CST, 6:00 MST, 5:00 PST

Please tune in, ask questions and enjoy the three of us chatting it up!

For more information please go here.

Musicians | Volume 1 Participants

2009-07-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Patrick Dunn | Santa Monica, California

Hugh Hamilton | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dick Aven | Los Angeles, California

Don’t Bore Nina | Encinitas, California

Picus Maximus | San Diego, California

Zombie Surf Camp | Carlsbad, California

Alex Esther | Escondido, California

Daniel Boling | Albuquerque, New Mexico

Tornado Magnet | La Mesa, California

Gurtrudestein | Plütoidoquadria, California

Heather Fay | Bridgeport, Connecticut

Shawn Rohlf | San Diego, California

SunInWinter | San Diego, California

Sara Petite | San Diego, California

Sea Pansy | San Diego, California

Bloody Hollies | San Diego, California

Steph Johnson | San Diego, California

Stripes And Lines | San Diego, California

Dropjoy | San Diego, California

musiciansvolume1.com Now Up!!

2009-07-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

The official website for Musicians|Volume 1 is now up!