Jeff and Tina's Wedding

Our vacation started with a trip to northern Ohio for the wedding of Mrs. Muse's brother, Jeff, to the lovely Tina. Once again it was good to NOT be the paid wedding photographer (not a job I would want), but I had fun pretending that I knew what I was doing...

The practice handoff at the rehearsal...

Dad and step-dad, equally important in Tina's life, head down the aisle...

Catching their eyes mid-ceremony...

Lighting the Unity Candle - in with the new, out with the old...

Flower girl making a grab for spiritual food...

Let the games begin!

First dance -- and last photo for today.

More Savannah...

I wanted to share a bit more of Savannah with you...

The photo above is the altar inside Saint John the Baptist Cathedral. I love church architecture for it's creativity and symbolism. This image is strait out of the camera, no post-processing. Sometimes you just get lucky... (you can click on any of these photos to see a larger, more detailed image).

Below is the road into the Wormsloe Plantation... truly an old southern plantation. So old, in fact that the old tabby plantation house is no longer standing; only a few remnants of the coquina and tabby covered walls remain.

The drive into the plantation is about three-quarters of a mile long tunnel of arched oaks above a crushed shell road.

Old Savannah is a city of squares (no, not the population -- but the street grid). Each square has it's own character and centerpiece...

This black and white of an open globe is in one of the squares about 4 blocks from the inn where we stayed (I forget the name of the square). Many have statues of famous people in Savannah history, others have sculptures, or simple sitting areas.

I mentioned in my previous post that I had shot quite a few Savannah doors to use in the cover art for my upcoming solo CD project, "1,000 Doors". Here is an example of why...

Finally -- every entrance has to have an exit. The image below is one of dozens taken in the old Boniventure Cemetery -- site of the voodoo scene from the movie version of "Midnight In The Garden of Good An Evil" (the entire film was shot in Savannah and is based on a true story). Until next time, here is an appropriate image for Halloween season...

Savannah, After Dark....

Mrs. Muse and I have just completed a brief automobile tour of the eastern United States... Florida to Ohio (for a family wedding) and back, with leisurely stops for a day or two or three at destinations in between. So we'll begin at the end -- three days in Savannah, Georgia. The historic southern city that was left unmolested during the US Civil War, and our favorite weekend getaway spot. We stayed at the McMillan Inn -- a 150 year old restored Bed and Breakfast that we have visited each year for the last five. Joe and Cindy Celento are wonderful hosts, the accommodations are superb -  at the edge of the historic district about two blocks from the famous Forsyth Park, and the breakfasts are the most decadent we have experienced...

Spanish moss hangs above a brick street

Savannah is a photographers delight -- a target-rich environment. These first few photos were taken during a nighttime stroll around a few of the streets north of the river, near our lodgings. No flash, just a basic 50mm f/1.8 lens, camera set up for black and white...

The United Methodist Church

Savannah is a church town -- 19th century houses of worship abound and steeples rule the skyline. After dark the religious facades produce a gothic effect -- especially in black and white, then smoothed a bit in post-processing...

I spent a good deal of time, both day and night, shooting Savannah doorways. Many of these will be used in the cover art for my new CD "1,000 Doors" (assuming I eventually finish the thing!).

An Arched Doorway

There is character at every turn in Savannah... the full set of our night walk photos are here. More photos in the days to come -- from Savannah (including Bonaventure Cemetery), Thomas Jefferson's Monticello (my political and philosophical hero), the mountains of West Virginia, and an Ohio storybook wedding... Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Back Soon...

The Muse is on vacation -- back in a week with interesting tales of of weddings and historical heroes. Lots of photos as well.

Be healthy.
Be safe.
Feed your brain.

Grant Peeples - Okra, Ecclesiastes, and Leftneck Honey

Grant Peeples

Grant Peeple's arrived at the European Street listening room in Jacksonville last night with the latest rendition of The Peeples Republik Band, and in his purely Grant Peeples' way, entertained the heck out of a pretty decent Thursday night audience. Every move, right down to his scripted sales pitch for Sopchoppy's own LeftNeck Tupelo Honey (attractively modeled by the lovely Susan Brown), was designed to exploit his audience's attention -- in order to instill his version of their own good. Grant doesn't just have a point of view, he IS a point of view. What you hear...and what you see... is exactly what you get. The evening was a nearly perfect mix of Grant standards (The Hanging) and new tunes (My People Come From The Dirt) for his planned third recording that he'll start working on in November.

Susan Brown

Grant takes his audience on an emotional roller coaster ride, slipping from the far side of musical humor  to the bottom of an emotional pit dug deep in the dirt of rural, impoverished Florida -- the significant bits of this state that they don't advertise to the tourists. And last night he was spot-on with a crew of talented musicians for support. Mike Legacy flat picked lightening fast lead guitar licks that were slick enough to impress, yet had just enough rough-around-the-edges necessary to the Peeples ambiance.

Mike Legacy

Eric Avlar, a music student at Florida State University, who was told he couldn't study the mandolin there, took up the bass instead. Eric supplied a sure steady, and often inventive foundation. How often to you get to hear a bass solo in a folk or americana tune? We got a great one last night. Eric also picked up the mandolin on short notice and tastefully filled in the blanks...

Eric Avlar

Susan Brown, who has been featured on these pages previously for her ever refined performances with partner Jamie DeFrates, added the feminine counterpoint essential to the Peeples' music. Harmonies and solo passages beautifully sung also point to the versatility of Grant's writing. Not many tough guys can write well for a woman's point of view. He does that really well.

Behind the band and generally out of camera range sat Randy Judy, providing percussion accents with a set of bongo drums, an inverted cardboard box, and a set of drummer brushes.

Overall it was Grant Peeples entertaining his people at his philosophical and musical best. Not to mention that song "Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns". You'll need to buy the new CD -- or track Grant down in performance before he hits the studio in November to hear that one. It can be a struggle to be a niche musician in a country with a 15 second attention span and an addiction to dance music. Grant Peeples is capitalizing pretty well in that situation. His fans, including me, hope that he can raise enough capital to continue raging against the machine for a long, long time to come.

Gamble Rogers Folk Festival Benefit Concert -- Good Stuff!

This past Saturday evening, the fine folks who run the Gamble Rogers Folk Music Festival in Saint Augustine each spring were kind enough to put together a show to benefit that incredible event. The Festival honors local musician-hero James Gamble Rogers, who died in 1991 attempting to save a drowning tourist off of Flagler Beach. The benefit featured acts native to Saint Augustine -- some of the finest around -- and was hosted by Gamble's protege, Bob Patterson, who kept us laughing and crying with his tales of Gamble and assorted personal misadventures...

Bob

The show was opened by the Morse Family Band -- mom and her five talented kids who combined have that special sonic blend that can only be attributed to DNA. A sweet blend of old-time and gospel tunes, spiced with a bit of bluegrass for good measure. Look for their first recording, which should be available by the end of the year...

The Morse Family Band

Next to take the stage were Jamie DeFrates and Susan Brown -- two of my favorite people on the planet. Original songs sung by voices that soar to impossibly beautiful places and land dead in the center of your heart. Guitar wizardry that compliments the melodies and lyrics perfectly. Their version of Jamie's "Gravity" ends with Susan and Jamie vocally playing off of each other as if Newton discovered the physical concept specifically for them -- and for our enjoyment...

Jamie and Susan

Describing Charlie Robertson and his music is like trying to explain calculus in ten words or less. A complicated man with an intellect as broad as the sky, the use of derivatives might well be necessary to calculate the number of words - meaningful words - Charlie can fit into a song. Dealing with mental health damages and the Dalai Llama's birthday in the same breath. Or a chain saw wielding retired priest. Or the unfortunate and unknown demise of a mutual friend... Charlie is one of Saint Augustine's great gifts to my philosophical experience.

Charlie

Last, and certainly not least, we were treated to Men Of The House -- a father, his two sons (both classically trained violinists turned hard core fiddlers), and one of those Morse boys on banjo. The guys don't play music -- they attack it with a spirit and passion that is both rough and resounding. Irish bar tunes, foot stomping medleys of celtic fiddle tunes, a sweet Jay Ungar waltz. Speed and caution, foot slamming and tip toes. Broken fiddle bridges and audience rocking speed-burner strumming that left bow hair strewn around the stage like so much straw.  That's what happens when you treat your violin like a rip saw. Cool.

Men Of The House

Great music for a great cause among great friends. Can't ask for much more than that....

Grant Peeples -- One Unique Individual

Grant Peeples calls himself an "Americana" musician / singer-songwriter. The first time I met Grant he scared the $#!t out of me... and that's a good thing -- or a SWEEEEEEEET deal... a bit scruffy around the edges, shaved head, tatoo or three. His music rises from the dirt. Gut level, feel the pain, been there, got the rash pureness that you don't hear much. Truthiness. He'd hate that. Maybe not.

Next time I met Grant we hugged like long lost brothers. With different mothers AND fathers. But this man gets to me. He has the guts that I don't have -- to take the chance with the contents of your heart and soul, expose it to the world, and just hope it pays you back enough to make the next gig. Here's a bit of Grant's ruminating about the recent Americana Music Conference in Nashville:

What the hell is Americana Music?

It’s sort of a running joke at the annual Americana Conference:    What IS Americana Music?  

 The definition I myself came up with this year was:    “Americana music is the music you don’t hear when you are scanning the radio dial.”    Cute, huh?

I had almost compartmentalized the proverbial  “conference experience” and moved on.   But then, in the USA Today this past Tuesday, there was a huge story about Robert Plant. (Yeah, the Lead Zepplin dude.)    Robert Plant and Alison Krauss had THE biggest record on the Americana charts last year, “Raising Sand”.   

And now,  this year,  Mr. Plant has assembled an All-Star cast of band members to form, “Band Of Joy,” which is sure to be the #1 Americana touring act between now and the NEXT Americana Conference.

So…I have to ask:   Was I the only one that noticed that the USA Today story never ONCE said “Americana” music?    They called it “American” music.    Damn. Every time I think this Americana thing might be getting some traction, I realize the truth is....the wheels are still spinning.   

Can anybody say:   “Mar-ke-ting-con-sul-tant?”

Grant will be making an in-person live appearance in Jacksonville next Thursday night (September 23), 8:30 at the European Street Listening Room on San Marco in Jacksonville. I'll be there annoying the crap out of him with my camera. You'll find photos and a review here. In the meanwhile... check this out.