Night stalking again – ghost posers

May 19, 2013 Posted in Asheville No comments

© John Gellman

This is the latest in a series of photos I’m working on, some of which I have previously posted here. I’m posting this to show the evolution of an idea. The first of these was from over a year ago, when I took a picture of a chocolate shop with a line of people outside. Since these images involve merging of shots with exposures as long as 30 seconds, any people who do not stand motionless for the two or three minutes it takes to make these appear ghostly. I didn’t plan it that way, it just turned out looking cool by dumb luck. As time passed, I shot some more in other locations with people moving randomly. Finally, it occurred to me that I could use the same technique while having people pose for me and have them move a little or stay still at my direction. I’m a little slow, but I eventually recognize a good thing right in front of me. Now that I know what to do, I would like to produce a series of these in different locations. My thanks to the very nice folks who posed for me.

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Leotards, tutus and Rhoda Weaver

May 12, 2013 Posted in Asheville, Buskers show hide 1 comment

© John Gellman

Rhoda Weaver is one of my favorite buskers. She has a great voice and always adds a little class to the evenings in Asheville. I’ve been wanting to get her picture for a couple years, but she always sang in a spot that had terrible light. That spot is now the entrance to the very successful Farm Burger restaurant, so Rhoda has moved one door down Patton Avenue to the nicely lit doorway of Bloch, a store for dancers’ clothing. You can catch Rhoda singing there after hours most weekends. That’s her daughter, Shari, writing in front of her.

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Backstage with the Marshall Tucker Band

May 8, 2013 Posted in Marshall Tucker Band No comments

© John Gellman

Here’s a never before published shot of the Marshall Tucker Band in 1975. The guys posed for me backstage at a concert in San Diego. L to R: Jerry Eubanks, Toy Caldwell, Tommy Caldwell, Paul Riddle, George McCorkle, and Doug Gray. They were smiling at Hughie Thomasson, who was standing to my left, making funny faces at them, or possibly giving me rabbit ears (or worse). The MTB were the nicest and friendliest bunch of good ole boys ever to come out of South Carolina.

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Random Rock Shots – The Band

May 7, 2013 Posted in Music No comments

© John Gellman

I’ve posted eleven new shots since I last highlighted one of my old black and whites, so it’s time. Here’s an oldie of Rick Danko and Robbie Robertson performing with the Band in July 1974 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. This was the same day that began with the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I’ve already posted shots of both those bands taken earlier in the day. Leon Russell followed the Band, but I don’t have a single shot from his set. Maybe I ran out of film. I just don’t remember. Regardless, it was a good day in Miami.

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Making music – Step 1

May 4, 2013 Posted in Luthiers show hide 2 comments

© John Gellman

What comes first – the music or the instrument? If you are a songwriter, a guitarist, and a luthier, it’s a fair question. Mark Yoder, of Yoder Guitars (formerly Hominy Custom Guitars) is all three. This morning he was in luthier mode, and invited me to his workshop to take some pics of his latest work in progress, a beautiful arch-top hollow body guitar. Today’s main project was to glue the back plate of the guitar to the body. The final sanding and chiseling was in progress when I arrived at Mark’s shop in Chandler, NC, just outside of Asheville. Twenty-four clamps later, the guitar was glued and ready to set for a day before the final work can begin. Scroll down for several more pics and a link to Mark’s website.

© John Gellman

 

© John Gellman

 

© John Gellman

 

© John Gellman

 

© John Gellman

You can see some of Marks guitars at his website, www.hominycustomguitars.net.

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Midnight at Eagle and Market

April 27, 2013 Posted in Asheville No comments

© John Gellman

I’ve been night stalking around Asheville again. Caught this scene outside Apothecary late Friday night. After two Apothecary shots in a row, I promise to stalk for victims elsewhere. As the weather is warming, there is no shortage of street performers. So all you buskers playing late keep an eye out for me.

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Apothecary electronica

April 24, 2013 Posted in Asheville, Music show hide 1 comment

© John Gellman

I am starting to spend a lot more time in Asheville lately working on a new project I’ll write about later. I have realized that man can’t live on the Orange Peel and Firestorm alone, so I have been searching for alternate places to hang out at night. I was fortunate to find Apothecary in downtown Asheville. Apothecary is a performance and meeting place not limited to music or the performing arts. I don’t know how exactly to describe it other than to say it’s a very chill spot that seems home to a very friendly group of people. I should have said young people. I can drastically raise the median age of the crowd simply by setting foot in the room.

On Tuesday night I was exposed to electronic music that is completely new to me, if not to the young crowd. I loved it. Without a single guitar, keyboard, or drum kit, I heard performances by a group of very talented New York City based musicians including Isa Christ, Penny Royale, and KHF that were thrilling in their power, complexity, subtlety, and scope. Unfortunately, the music started so late that by the time headliner Isa Christ performed, many of the weeknight crowd had left. Of course, that was no problem for a night owl like me. Above is a shot of Isa Christ taken close to 1 AM in a room that was so dark, it is a marvel of modern digital technology to even get an image. The electronic equipment the musicians used is also a technological marvel, though I am at a loss to be able to describe it for you. Such are the perils of being largely ignorant about this kind of music. I have some catching up to do.

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A moment on the bus, before the show

April 16, 2013 Posted in Blackberry Smoke, Music show hide 9 comments

© John Gellman

Every once in a while I am reminded how lucky and privileged I am to be able to do what I do. Before the Blackberry Smoke show in Winston-Salem last Friday night, I was on the bus talking with Charlie Starr. Suddenly an acoustic Gibson guitar appeared and Charlie began singing some of my favorite songs. He started with a Grateful Dead tune and segued into The Weight. I was mesmerized for a few minutes until I told myself, “Self, pick up your damn camera.” Before long, Paul Jackson walked in and started singing high harmonies. (He’s standing just out of the frame on the right.) What an incredible acoustic duo! Special intense moments like this don’t happen every day. At least not to me. I can remember Henry Paul and Hughie Thomasson singing Stephen Stills songs late into the night on the deck behind Henry’s house in Nashville. Or BlackHawk singing Paul Simon’s Homeward Bound in a hotel room somewhere in Alberta. And now this. I am one lucky sonofabitch.

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