“If you believe in forever then life is just a one night stand. If there’s a rock and roll heaven, well, you know they got a hell of a band.”
- The Righteous Brothers
It has been said that music is a connection. Music is a memory. Music connects us to a memory. Anyway, I’m sure you’re like me and can remember what you were doing when a particular song was released, or possibly you remember a special girl you were with or party you attended. Songs do bring back memories and so there is a definite connection.
Music does connect us to friends, lovers, wars, celebrations and sadness. It is the language of a generation, the harmony of emotions told in stories and poems by the troubadours and minstrels whose amplified hi-fidelity touched us like nothing before or sense. And we are connected to these memories.
When we were young, we believed in forever. We believed that we could solve the world’s problems. We believed we could end war, and we did. We believed we could all live together in harmony and we were wrong. But more than anything we believed anything was possible.
The music came to my generation on vinyl, eight track car players and over the airwaves played on FM radio stations that we played in muscle cars or just the family Buick. The British bands invaded America singing songs with riffs and melodies borrowed from Black gospel and blues of the smoke-filled juke joints of the Mississippi Delta. Songs of love lost and found gave way to lyrics of protest and questions of a thousand dreams. Songs that challenged the very core of our democracy and asked why we killed the finest of a generation. And we’re still asking the questions.
What does this have to do with photography. Well, I happen to like both and I enjoy the fun and challenges of concert photography. The mix of action and lights on stage creates unique situations to photograph. The collection of photos here includes shots of musicians from Bluegrass to Blues, Rock to Country and simply street musicians. This mix is varying, and my hope is my photography will connect you to a memory like the music of our time. And when that note is struck, and the shutter is pushed the music and the photography will become the melody of forever. Kind of like that special girl from so many years ago…