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i recently dropped in on a set where kevin van sant was playing guitar with his trio.
dan davis on drums and rick jones on bass.  they were/play at ruths chris steak house in cary.

in the lounge.....it's low key and mellow.

the music drifts all around the restaurant.



drum solo.....



now back to the action....



two local sax players sat in for a few tunes...brian miller could really, really crank it.

and....super star frank corbi added his wonderful interpretations to the mix.

kevin is da man......and frank....he's still da man.

nikki cook rocks.  she's also a new artist with bamboo music.

she performed/played guitar and sang at a recent showcase.

watch this face for more..

bass man nathan dickens

he's got growing chops and locks.

you'll be hearing more from him down the road.

another bass dude............stone alexander

has been wearing out his fingertips playing blues and now zeppelin.

bright.....maybe brilliant......and all about bass.  more soon.

another bass man gone wild.......karl hamlin is a new artist with bamboo.

karl switched to guitar awhile ago and is really taking off.

a golfer, a soon to be ivy-league buisiness major, and all around good guy.  i managed to get him
to cop a 'tude and not smile for two minutes....we laughed our gluts off right after this shot.  more soon.

singer pauline ro is trying out for a part as a 'laura croft' character and was working on her right hand.



i had to duck or take the blow.....'cause i'm old and she's strong.  pow...kablam..buuff!!

if you made it to our april showcase you saw/heard these two..aaron and brian.

i just recently managed to get these two in the same room to try out some ideas.



aaron is 8 going on 14 and brian is 14 going on 25.

honest......unless you heard what these dudes are capable of you're missing the point.

aaron dubiansky will be a real deal player we'll all know of....

and brian kirk.....he's already a real deal player.  there's just so much more coming....

what up......

just two more artists with bamboo music you should/will know.  click for a wallpaper.

paul davis started something several years ago and he's about to finish it.

he's a very insightful song writer who, way back when, played at the showcase and made the girls cry.

recently he stopped by to share some music and some stories with me.

he's been away...college, traveled the world, and now he's working his way back into the music scene.

he's an artist with bamboo music because he's a fantastic young man who needs to be heard.

watch and listen as pauls musical career takes off....stay tuned for more.

the motion recently played at the pour house and i managed to catch the last 2 tunes.
click on the image to see/hear a short video clip of the end of the final song.

the dudes are still working local.......

which means you should get off the couch and see them while you still can.

these dudes really have a great show, great music, and a winning combination of talent and charm.



try to see them local often.....before the ticket prices go outasight.



look for an acoustic set at the june showcase.

i did a recent gig with dave dyer, jim crew, fran dyer, and "dr. love"  allyn love on pedal steel.

dave writes 'em and we'z play 'em.  the cool part is i get to shoot a handful before we fire it up on stage.

fran ready to roll.  i played bass so we're the rhythm section.  the guts of the crooked smile band.

allyn loading up the chord voicing.

so goodby to the hideaway bbq and a great gig with the crooked smile band minus bernie petteway.

oh say can you see...a rare national wood tricone prototype.

it was designed and hand built by eric smith the head engineer at national resophonic. it was done as a cost
analysis and performance study for the feasibility of adding a wooden tricone to their standard production.

dave moretto was a recent owner of this super axe and the night we shot these photos was the last
night it was in his possession.  i just wish i had recorded these few moments...but trust me is sounded rich.

the cost to produce this model for sale made it a total bust....

the sound was right on the money.....a shame and a fact of life and manufacturing.



dave owns/owned several other tricones including a german silver body unit.  he currently owns a
national trojan vintage wood body resonator with an 11" resonator rather than three 4" tricones as usual.

so for you gear heads......and tricone fans.....i promise to record the next time.  keep at it dave.

cyril lance (guitar/vocals) and his cast of all-star side cats played an entire show
dedicated to the music of bob dylan.  the full house show was at the artscenter in carrboro
a few weeks ago and i spent the evening with a camera in my hands hanging out with some friends.

cyril roams the east coast and for one night brought a ton of dylan fans together.

he sang a few tunes with his daughter.......

you can tell it's in the blood...she rocked...he rocked..we all rocked.

emma davis also contributed her vocal magic as she was featured on several tunes during the night.


you can see/hear a video clip by clicking on the image below..

the crowd was really into the music and the band.

dave mccracken and his b-3 always adds the right touch to the music.



drummer dan davis also added his musical stamp to the vibe.



i was trying out shooting with a telephoto lens and shooting on all manual settings for the evening.
it was the first time i decided to just go for it and all-in-all i was super happy with the night.

adrian duke....basically the total package....normally a headliner...added some awesome keys and vocals.
click the image and check him out especially the info about playing for the queen and "the monkey".

bassist steve clarke runs with this crowd all the time.



meanwhile...back stage...roaming alone through the catacombs at artscenter...

all is well.....stay tuned for more back stage pass photos down the road.

i recently got to do a live radio program with dave dyer and allyn love

we got the call on a friday to do the morning show on sat.  here's a warm up in the lobby before air time.

wknc 88.1fm

it was an american roots show so allyn sported his dobro.

after a few shout-outs to our peeps we cranked out a few of daves tunes.

check out the video clips of the performance on the video page or click the image below.

click below to hear allyn wail on the dobro.

free super talent.  now and then natalia torres performs here.....the royal bean across from meredith.

coffee.....tea.....vibe.....and if you're lucky you get to hear natalia.

she's performing now and then while going to college.  she's doing the june, 9 showcase.  sweet.

this dude runs the open mic...is a good guy...good musician...loves natalia like a lot of us do.  more soon.

here's a few shots taken by bamboo music correspondent and cool cat johanna salo.

here she's out shooting pics of beach wildlife.







ack-ack-dweee-gurk-dwee-dwee....that means."ahh...people fingers"!





back on dry land.  more from johanna next time.

my home town, in ohio, is/has been/will be just like this forever.

farms, wheat, corn, horses and cows.

i started traveling in a band around 13 and every weekend i drove away and went somewhere new
i always returned to the simplicity of this......quiet, slow, bucolic lifestyle.  moo.  i grew bored.
i took all of these photos while driving using my right hand to shoot through glass or timed everything
to have rolled the window down or i shot through the windshield...dumb.  super dumb.  that's me sometimes.

for what it's worth...this type of hay bail always has fascinated me and someday i need to go back
just to shoot pics of hay bails.  the geometric form of the cylinder always looks cool to me.



i offically left town when i was 27 and moved to florida.  later, around 38, found myself in north carolina.

if you want to raise a family...or horses or cows....the area i grew up in is for you.  i felt that by the time i was 18...

that an ideal world would be to live in my home town on a farm and own a private jet/helicopter and..

be able to get out to major citys on a whim.  i knew things were too slow there for me and i needed to leave

and as a musician....well....you learn early on most of us will never own a private air-yacht.

these few shots of my home towns "airport" says it all........

hay bails.......line the airfield.......

you might have to dodge a deer when landing or a groundhog when taking off....

the little cemetery in the background started business in the early 1800s.

meanwhile...back in the big city...

a snoozer...low key...beautiful place to raise a family or hand feed deer and squirrels.

it's slow to change but it's there.  i'll go back sometime next year maybe and take the towns pulse.

the trips i made the last 6 months of last year were to tie up some loose ends, say good-bye to
someone close and dear to me, and for awhile good-bye to my home town.

i spent time seeking family history and discovered civil war history i never knew about.
i'll show you some of that and some of the big city life next time.  i feel like a piece of apple pie for some reason.

now.......back to reality.

it's flower power time....a visual jolt to the retina....work out those old cones and that optic nerve.















food is a great thing.  it can motivate people to practice more.....

it can set your senses on high alert....

get the juices flowing with anticipation.











food.......did someone mention food?