Musicians and Bands

I’ve been such a bad blogger this year! So much has happened, that I haven’t mentioned. It’s partially due to the fact that when you’re working with musicians and record companies there can be a delay between shooting an artist, and then seeing the final CD debut. But I also have to admit that I’m just behind… So I’ll try to rectify that a bit now – with another CD that debuted this year, with one of my images on the cover!

Marty Casey released the CD single, Crime of Fashion in the late Spring, and it’s only available with a purchase from his Silver Elements Jewelry line – available at silverelementscollection.com. You can hear a clip of the song at Silver Elements Collection: Music – just click on the song title on that page, and then in the popup window, click on the sound icon!

We actually shot the cover last summer, in an elevator in a swanky hotel on the Sunset Strip – can you guess which one? The shiny textured metallic wall may offer a bit of a clue!

My images have appeared on four CDs in the last two years – and of those images this one is definitely the closest to my fine art work. I’ve always been attracted to multiple and long exposures! And I love that Marty is brave enough as an artist to go a little wild with me, and make an image like this happen – and I love it even more that he chose it for his CD cover. Says a lot about him as an artist!

related posts

>> Marty Casey – I See Stars
>> LA Guns – Shrinking Violet
>> Lukas Rossi – So This Is Christmas

Seriously! I found myself on eBay! I was trying to find a magazine article that came out in June, so that I could finally blog it, and while searching I also found a reference to a CD cover I shot – on eBay – and as silly as it sounds, it made me super happy! I haven’t seen the actual physical CD myself yet, so even though I knew my images were used on the liner, it doesn’t really feel real until I can hold it in my hands – you know? But somehow, seeing my name listed in the credits for the CD, on this eBay listing, just made it all feel a little more real. Besides, have you really arrived as a photographer if you’ve never found yourself on eBay?

So here’s the article – it’s from All Access Magazine, the June issue – and they used some of my images of LA Guns in the article – which is very cool! And it’s a real printed magazine, not just online, which is doubly cool in my world.
Music, Musicians and Myths: by Kim Thore for All Access Magazine – June 3, 2010

And while we’re at it, here’s a link to an Italian music site called SpazioRock, that also has an interview with Tracii Guns – and uses one of my images.
Interview with Tracii Guns: by Daniele Carlucci for SpazioRock – May 27, 2010

I can’t wait to get a copy of the actual Shrinking Violet CD and see my images in person! But until then, it’s cool to stumble across my credit in a listing anywhere – even eBay – I’ll take it!



Shrinking Violet by LA Guns, was released by Favored Nations, and is available now on iTunes and at Amazon.com!

I’ve blogged in the past about how few artists are creating art that references the housing crisis – and that’s still the case – but a musician I love has just released a video that shows another current crisis – unemployment.

I was at a private VIP event with Ryan Star last December – I was there shooting, and dropped a piece of equipment during the space between two songs, and so of course everyone in the very small room had to turn to see who the dork was who was making noise during his set! Well Ryan made the most of it, and made a joke at my expense and then dedicated the next song to me, and it was this song, Breathe, and it was the first time I’d heard it, and I fell instantly in love.

Real love, truly madly deeply. It’s a great song! And the video is moving. It’s so moving it debuted on CNN this week – way to go Ryan!

Watch the video!

If I made music, it would sound like this, and if I made music videos, they would look like this… It’s Pearl Jam’s latest video, shot at a secret show in Seattle by Cameron Crowe last May.

The Fixer
Pearl Jam
2009

YouTube – Pearl Jam – The Fixer
Rolling Stone on The Fixer video

Last week online pop culture magazine, Icon vs Icon published a great new interview with Marty Casey – and with it they debuted some images of mine that have never been seen before.

http://www.iconvsicon.com/2009/08/08/marty-casey-talks-lovehammers-explosive-new-album-heavy-crown/

Shot last fall in San Juan Capistrano, the session yielded one truly iconic image – and of course Icon vs Icon chose that one for their headline image! It’s also the primary image on myspace.com/martycasey and it’s the very first image in my portfolio at cherylspelts.com. Iconic is an understatement – of all the images I’ve shot of Marty, it’s the one in my opinion, that best encapsulates who he is – if any one image can do that… It’s pretty and gritty, and complex, and mysterious and yet still wide open.

But that image, as great as it is, has been seen before… The fun part this week is the new stuff! Icon vs Icon used four never-before-seen images, but there are even more in the slideshow!



I’d like to thank Jason Price at Icon vs Icon… Jason, you rock!

I have an admission to make. As much as I love music – and I really really love it – I don’t pay much attention to the lyrics, and I almost never fall in love with a song on first listen. A musician once told me that he’d been the same way, once upon a time, but he grew out of it. I never have, so I guess that makes me a bit unsophisticated, and I guess I can live with that!

It doesn’t mean I don’t listen to the singer – I do! In fact, it’s the voice that draws me in – I never quite connect to pure instrumentals – I want a singer! It’s just that while I may be able to sing along to every word, if you ask me the name of the song, or what the song is about, or to repeat even one line of lyrics, I won’t be able to. I can love the voice, but the words won’t always register with me.

As for almost never falling in love with a song on first listen, I think that’s more common. And when I do fall in love the first time I hear a song, I know I’ll love it forever and it’s bound to become one of my all-time favorites.

I’m telling you all that to set up this – I fell in love this week on first listen – to three songs! And I actually know some of the lyrics…

Lovehammers released their latest CD yesterday, Heavy Crown, and yes I was really looking forward to it – and I knew I’d love it. How could I not? Especially since it has several songs on it that I already knew and loved – Driving Blind and That’s Life are fairly new, but Eyes Can’t See and Velvet are acoustic versions of songs that appeared on previous Lovehammers’ CDs and Guns was released a couple of weeks ago – so I already knew five out of the thirteen songs. Plus, this is a band that I fell in love with before Rock Star: INXS even started. I was doing research on the singers on the show, for ROCKBAND.COM, and found clips of all their songs – and I fell hard.

But even with that kind of love built up for years, you never know? And even though I’d been hearing through the grapevine that it was their best work yet, still, you never know. New music, new direction, maybe I’ll love it, but not REALLY love it?

Then I heard it! And the first time through Neverfall, Oh My Baby, and Honest I’ll Wait just nestled into my heart and head, blissfully…

Honest I’ll Wait soars, beautifully. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard from this band. It’s a new direction for sure, but it feels so right, it feels meant to be.

Oh My Baby is hot! The lyrics are a total turn on! Yes, the lyrics! Plus it’s fun to sing along with. My favorite line, “Oh my baby’s so extreme. She’s exactly…. just like me.” Love that moment! And the guitars on the chorus are beautiful – so beautiful.

But my big initial love was and is Neverfall. It makes me want to put down the top on my car, blow a kiss and slam a door, and take off. I haven’t quite figured out the lyrics yet – and I may never – it’s one of those songs that makes me feel. It’s an anthem, for sure and I have a feeling the song will always remind me of summer, of right now. At least I hope so!

And one last song I have to mention – Black Angel didn’t hit me initially, but it’s hitting me now, big time. It has a really retro feel to it. Makes me want to go to a concert and see it done live. And the bridge? Hypnotic, for sure!

And the best part? Falling in love at first listen is only stage one. I have so much more to discover in these songs. Good music is like that…

Lovehammers released their latest single today on iTunes – it’s the first single off their upcoming CD, Heavy Crown. It’s been so long since we’ve had new Lovehammers’ music, I’m very very happy to have something new from them!

And Ryan Star released his long awaited EP, Last Train Home, earlier this month – you can hear a snippet of one of my favorite of his songs, Right Now, during commercials for the new NBC show, The Philanthropist. The full EP is only $3.99 on iTunes and features four songs and two videos.

And finally, I’m linking to Tamar Kaprelian‘s A New Day, just because it’s been my favorite song this summer and she deserves more exposure, so pass it on!



PS: Happy birthday and happy traveling to my brother Michael today!

ETA on 7/7/2009: Guess this should be PSS maybe? But Dino from the Lovehammers posted on RockBandLounge.com over the weekend about the single… http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=1&topic_id=11274

I seem to have a thing for female voices lately – and these two songs are the two that I keep looping, over and over. I do that when I really love a song, listen to it again and again…

A New Day
Tamar Kaprelian
2008
the lyrics…

.

Let Go
Frou Frou
2004
the lyrics…

Merry Christmas Everyone! One of my favorite musicians, JD Fortune, just posted an acoustic version of Silent Night that is simple and honest and really beautiful. It’s the perfect thing to listen to on this Christmas Eve!

The coming year should be fabulous for JD – he has a solo album coming out in early 2009 – and there are rumors that he may tour. I hope so! But I absolutely love that with all that going on, he made a simple recording with just him and a guitar and a favorite Christmas carol, and posted it today. Just very, very cool!

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!