June 2010 | Blog Archives
Going to the River
Last week, Dr. Lauren Onkey, Vice President of Education here at the Museum, and I traveled to New Orleans to meet with the mythical “Dr. Ike” to discuss this year’s Ponderosa Stomp. This outrageous series of shows will take place in late September at the House of Blues. Once again, this line-up is a music lover’s fantasy featuring Hall of Famer, Duane Eddy. I urge everyone to go to www.ponderosastomp.com and see the incredible list of who will be there. The Museum is proud of its long sponsorship and involvement with this unique celebration of the “lost history” of this music we call rock and roll.
Ira Padnos, a.k.a. Dr. Ike, is the architect of this extravaganza and is my kind of fanatic. Towards that end, Lauren and I were lucky enough to cap off an evening listening to some of Ike’s incredibly rare blues 78s in an unparalleled New Orleans environment surrounded by Sam Padnos’ fabulous art (Ira’s wife) and a lot of wacky Mardi Gras paraphernalia.
I should add that this night started with a wonderful dinner with Hall of Fame Inductee Dave Bartholomew, and his son, Ron. Like so ...
Crossroads Guitar Festival brings guitar legends and their contemporaries together
I was fortunate to spend this past weekend in Chicago, where Eric Clapton held his third Crossroads Guitar Festival on Saturday. The shows benefit Clapton’s Crossroads Centre, a rehab facility in Antigua, and they are a virtual who’s who of great guitar players. This year’s festival, at Toyota Park, featured performances by everyone from B.B. King and Buddy Guy, to Ron Wood, ZZ Top, Jeff Beck and Johnny Winter, to such relative newcomers as John Mayer, Johnny Lang and Citizen Cope.
Terry Stewart, the Rock Hall’s President and CEO, was also there, and we were able to spend time with some of our inductees, as well as with Larry Yellen, a filmmaker who works on our annual induction videos, and other folks from the music business.
The show always features one-of-a-kind performances, and some of my favorites this year included Robert Cray’s set with Jimmie Vaughan and Hubert Sumlin, ZZ Top’s take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” and Buddy Guy’s performances with Ron Wood and Johnny Lang. John Mayer once again displayed his virtuosity on the guitar, backed by Pino Palladino on bass and Steve Jordan on drums, and Derek Truck ...
ACL-TV photographer Scott Newton discusses his images in the Museum's Austin City Limits exhibit
I’ve been asked to write about some of my images on display in the Rock Hall’s ACL exhibit. It is a pleasure to do so; photographing performing musicians, it appears, has become my life’s work, and I have a lot to say. This is my 32nd year as ACL’s official staff photographer, and the performers I’ve seen are many, the types of music various and varied.
But always, to my way of seeing, the task is the same: to convey the spirit that motivates the performing artist; to slice away the extraneous and come up with an image that conveys as much as possible of what the experience was like, who the performer was, and what the energy and essence were like, on our stage, during the performance. All of this with one final image, rendered into two dimensions of height and breadth, and unlike video, without the benefit of time and moving images. Oh, and most importantly, to come up with a good likeness that the artist and his management will approve of.
This is how I approach my job: first, Music is the sound the Muses make. My belief is that there’s ...
