I'll Play Some Blues For You . . . .

Taken from the archives of various Blues Artists I have seen through the years. Brian Lee, Studebaker John & the Hawks, Chris Duarte Group, Smokin' Joe Kubek and others.

Capturing the Emotion of the Blues

The essence of the Blues is raw emotion. Good Blues comes from the heart where all of our deep-seated emotions are. It is important in photographing blues musicians that you capture that emotion digitally or on film. The onlooker can observe the energy in your photographs and that is key. I suggest taking a burst of pictures in a continuous mode to get that desired effect. Or if you are patient and observant enough  you can anticipate the second in time that does that. . Here are a few examples:

More Mike Zito!

The Blues is alive and well as long as we have guys like Mike Zito. Although his music is roots based, he borrows from lots of musical genres. Only a guy like Zito could take a Prince classic and make it his own. "Little Red Corvette" is a great song to begin with, but Mike's version off of his "Today" album is stellar. However, he can turn things around on a dime and do a Muddy Waters classic; "She's Nineteen Years Old" next song down. Enjoy a few more photographs from last Saturday night.

Mike Zito

Dateline; Orlando, Florida April 9, 2011. Continuing on with the theme of Texas Blues, I was able to catch a show at one of our local venues: McWell's south of downtown Orlando. It is a rather small, quaint place with decent sound and a good ambiance. I have seen several national and local acts there and would rate the atmosphere a thumbs up. It was with much anticipation on my part as Mike Zito took the stage. Originally from St. Louis but now residing near Austin Texas, he began to immediately lay down great guitar chops which exceeded my expectations. The three piece band with him out front delivered the goods when it came to his own material from existing and an upcoming new recording called "Greyhound ". Of course I had my trusty Nikon with me to capture a bunch of photographs I will be sharing on this blog. Please enjoy. More to come.

Texas Blues

You do not necessarily have to be from the great state of Texas to play Texas Blues. Although the cities of Austin, Dallas / Fort Worth, Huston and the many musicians in them have pioneered the profound sound of the Texas Blues for years now, we have gladly accepted this style as one of the best. No doubt, modern Texas Blues players are some of the finest musicians in the world. -Anson Funderburgh, Doyle Bramhall Sr., Jimmy Vaughan & the Fabulous Thunderbird's, of course Stevie Ray Vaughan and the subject of our photo blog: Smokin' Joe Kubek, featuring Bnois King. These two guys are a wonder and amazement. They have been the core of this Texas based blues band for over 20 years. Bnois with his smooth vocals and unique guitar style compliment the tenacous guitar licks of Smokin' Joe perfectly. I have seen them several times through the years and encourage you to listen to their downloadable recordings or check them out in a town or festival near you. Enjoy the photos.