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on a rainy sunday afternoon....the city got an earful of great music by two of bamboo music's
uber talented young singer/songwriters......takin it to the people.



nikayla olson and hannah james are chamber operatic.



nikayla has grown into a serious talent with a super smooth voice.

....and hannah has all the tools to make this a career.

peace....love.....keep the faith....the musical future is in good hands.



recordings are set to begin this summer.....stay tuned for more.

john brown is a cool dude with cool chops and very cool peeps.

john has serious jazz history.....serious friends....and a great new cd out.

they performed while watching a storm roll in from the left of this shot....had to swing fast.



brian miller......major dude.....

ray codrington......history.....chops....a million storys

dan davis.....we call him dan the man.  all business....all day.

gabe evans.......super accomplished piano man



check out johns website and follow this jazz mans carrer....the past, present, future.

what happens when you put a bunch of 20-40 somethings, with talent, on a stage....and let
them show off their stuff...........it's easy......great music....great songwriting....a great time.
photos by mr paul cooper.

this past april david bultman debuted as a songwriter and changed his path in life.

dave has a cool thing and a very observant eye and ear for songwriting.

shannon alexandra debuted her songwriting and charm on stage for the first time.

she's a beautiful singer....has a cool sense of humor....and proved to be a highlight of the evening.

the crowd was diggin it and was super supportive.

lee mulleady and elly sato both debuted as serious musicians, players, and singers.

lee has an awesome voice....loves country music.

elly has the vibe, talent, and feel of a real performer/musician.



then we did a couple of blues tunes.......

12 bar.........



with everyone taking a solo.

dave moretto wowed the crowd with some fingerstyle guitar music.

he's got great skill......a steady hand.....and some super cool guitars.

watch and listen to this guy.....vocals are next.....all of it good.

brian kirk was a special guest.  he's a lot younger than the other performers but long on talent.

most of the people there had not seen a teen showcase....so i wanted them to get a glimpse
of where these shows started......with teens doing amazing things.

multi-talented.  songwriter/singer/bass/guitar/keys.....the young man is loaded.

brian has a stellar future ahead.

paul davis was/is the reason these shows started several years ago.

his songwriting ability inspired many people.....and me to get him out in public to be heard.

captivating.....sincere.....honest....awesome.

mike pitts ran sound and kept it all between the lines....thanks mike!

second wind closed out the show with some classic rock and roll.

skip dyer sang and played and entertained like a pro.

tom jazwa proved to be formidable on lead guitar.

alex delara on bass....and vocals.

chuck olexik...drums...vocals.

second wind......ready for the party circut.  love all the vocal stuff.
many thanks to all the performers and supporters.  come fall....... we'll do it again.

alexander nichol.....bright young man with a bright future.

a chatter-box.......fast learner.....a new student growing fast.

it's cowboy chords and scales for now.....big stuff down the road.

carly stiver rocks....can rock.....will rock.

super smart......sings......is a new student working with caroline.

talented and a fast learner......charming....big future.....keep and ear out for this one.

cannon king.......new.....way cool.....way smart.

pays for his own lessons by mowing lawns.........need yours cut?  i got the man for the job.

give us a few years and keep the rain coming....he said it increases his bottom line.

maura johnson is one fine singer.....

she just turned 13 and we're working on some recordings.

and a performance.

she's a very determined cat......driven...motivated...poised.....
..and fun.  she'll be performing with her older sister breanna.

breanna is a piano player and serious dancer who's done stints in nyc and is headed for seattle.
talent runs in the family and everyone will get to enjoy maura and breanna in due time.

bradley stiver...new...already rocks...massive talent.

fired up?

this young man is someone to watch....stay tuned.

heck....ya gotta practice showmanship right?

meagan celli......new artist.....super smooth voice....big talent.

she's a new songwriter who's about to record with mark mckee.



can't you see the dazzle........a winner with a serious future.

funk meets groovy city.  children of the horn perform at shikori hills.

the dance tent was groovin on a cool night in april.



the super star line-up was settin the tone and set a bunch of feet in motion.

jim crew

ed....bam-bam butler.







wayne leechford fronting the band and sporting a giant horn.





bernie petteway grinnin like the cheshire cat he truly is.

the place has a real cool vibe....some cool stages....and there was much to look at and cool music.









at night the place is very inviting.....and having an 11:45pm start time got me drinking coffee.
i was there to play with dave dyer and the cooked smile band and got to wonder around before hand.



food.......chilled peeps......some of them.

i hope to get to play there again.....and i'll sure go back to shoot pics.

gonzo guitars.....a real super group.

some of the areas best line up for charity at the cats cradle.

danny gotham.....a well heeled....player.

jason barker...

scott sawyer....

tommy hartley.....

armand lenchek.....

will mcfarlane....

i tried to get a shot up the kilt....but will wasn't flashing that night....

there was so much firepower and history on that stage it was a bit overwhelming to
take it all in.  i also went out the next day and purchased a better lens for low light.

showcase at mr toads

in march we threw a party and everybody came.  students showed off their chops
and libby anderson showed off her poise and talent.

peeps peeped and listened.....to nikayla olson.

dynamic dudes brian kirk, alec sturgis, and nic scavo warmed up outside.







ally smith waiting to go on.

mark mckee and one rockin young man started it all off.



a ton of talent and charm in this performer...abby schull.



the show must go on......the night before she tore a hamstring at a dance performance.

no pain...no gain.  this one has success written all over her.

libby rocks....sang better than ever.....shows poise and how it's done in the bigtime.

meagan celii.........powerhouse.

alex you......dynamic talent.

nikaylas first show....not the last......

she's got a can-do attitude and a super future.

mr automatic........alec sturgis played some tunes from his new ep.

new super star nic scavo wowed 'em.

nic brings a large brain and a super creative edge to his music.

shooting through the window....i managed to capture brian kirk doing his thing.

brian is one super smart young man with a super future.

i told him....on the best day of my life i couldn't play with the passion he does.

when you can get serious talent to stand still and pay attention.....you're on the right track.

thanks to mark mckee...in the middle...and chris rafetto...for running the show.

mum fest.....down in new bern, nc last fall i got to gig with dave dyer and
the crooked smile band for two days.  i got a lot of shutter time as well.

it's a lazy town......in a good way.  there was music, food, peeps...





extremely tall people.....

old......beautiful buildings and homes....



water........



...and a riding demonstration.....i tried to shoot and improve my skills.













eye candy













birds from the balcony.....







the shot......

cropped....

a bird.......

cropped...it looks hungry.

here's a series of cropped shots i took using the rapid fire aspect of the camera...

















lotza flyin things....













even a gloomy day at the beach is a good day.