Kim Taylor Take 2

Kim Taylor was my first act that I covered for CityBeat back in July and it was not my best work in the dimly lit Southgate House. I wanted another chance so I decided to cover her Indie Summer Concert Series on Fountain Square on Friday night. She had a full band for this show and I was able to get much better shots.

Kim is an awesome Cincinnati artist who’s latest work is featured as the theme for Oceanic 11 on Lost.

Langhorne Slim

On Monday, the night before leaving for Asia Pacific I was able to catch Langhorne Slim at Southgate House in Newport, KY. He and his band The War Eagles were straight off the Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago but came to Southgate House early for a portrait photo shoot with me in the green room.

Langhorne Slim is an American folk artist who’s music has been featured in the movie Waitress and has been a Rolling Stone Editor’s top pick.

His latest album Be Set Free was released September 29, 2009.

Check him out on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/langhorneslim

Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker & Dierks Bentley

On Saturday night, I shot my first show at the Columbus Crew Stadium. It was a strong lineup of some of the top country artists around. I was thrilled and a little overwhelmed to be shooting in a venue that holds over 22000 people in a sold out show.

The show started strong with Dierks Bentley singing songs like “Long Trip Alone” & “Come a Little Closer.” I was a little alarmed that there was no barrier or pit between the crowd and the stage. For the first few acts I did not anticipate a problem, but I never underestimate girls as they try to get near their favorite bands.

Darius Rucker came on stage next and sang all the hits on his country album as well as some of my old Hootie & the Blowfish favorites. Truly a happy moment for me to hear “Only Wanna Be With You” again live after so many years. I saw Hootie 4 times one summer while in college and it brought back good memories of very fun times. My only disappointment was that Darius sang without his trademark acoustic guitar which was a photograph that I wanted to capture.

By the time Rascal Flatts took the stage, it was very dark and the stadium was packed. We went down a few minutes before the set and I was frustrated from the moment we arrived near the stage. There was no space for photographers because fans were already right up next to the stage. The stage also extended about 200 ft out into the crowd. The band spent most of one of the first three songs out in the crowd so that limited photo options significantly. Overall, the session was very disappointing and I was only able to get a few photos after trying to push my way through the crowd to the stage.

Collective Soul, SAFETYSUIT & Ryan Star

I had extreme 90’s flashbacks over the weekend as I shot Collective Soul at Bogarts. I’m sure everyone remembers “Shine”, “Breathe” & “The World I Know” from college in 1994-95…hello. Collective Soul brings back other fond memories for me when they performed at the first New Year’s Eve’s party that Bryan and I attended together. Check out their new “Rabbit” album being released on August 25, 2009 with the single called “Staring Down” that is headed up the VH1 Top 20 countdown.

My reason for shooting the show in addition to the 90’s college memories was to photograph SAFETYSUIT, an up and coming band from Tulsa, OK currently residing in Nashville. I love the single “Stay” off their new record Life Left to Go and I was not dissapointed in the band’s set with songs off the album. The band members: Douglas Brown, Dave Garofolo, Jeremy Henshaw & Tate Cunningham are coming on strong with radio ready tunes.

Ryan Star (RStar), a runner up on the TV show Rockstar: Supernova, opened for the acts at Bogarts. His new album 11:59 is scheduled to be released on September 15th, 2009. Ryan has had songs appear on NBC’s show, The Philanthropist, and his “Last Train Home” was featured on the P.S. I Love You movie soundtrack.

Jimmy Buffet SummerzCool Tour

Jimmy Buffett rolled into town last night with the SummerzCool tour at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati. Parrotheads from all across the country camped out onsite before the show. This show has been sold out in Cincinnati each year for over 20 years in a row which is kind of crazy and amazing.

I shot the show and the fans for CityBeat and was so happy to get access to this legend and witness the spectacle in person for the first time. Jimmy’s management and publicity team was laid back and easygoing to work with to get access to the show for CityBeat.

We had to shoot the show from the side of the stage but I was still able to get some great images of him with my 18-200 mm zoom lens.

I have decided this must become a yearly tradition to see him in concert. So fun and laid back for summertime. All I kept thinking was now I know why Chris Bagby has does this every year since I have known him and I must frame a picture for him for Christmas.