2009 Recap: Interesting Shots

These are just interesting shots I took this year...some have no point to them other than I thought they looked cool. Enjoy! I think this shot looks like it was taken straight out of a bar scene in Deadwood in 1862. It's actually from The Lodge in Red River, NM...close enough. It's rare there are fancy mirrors in the green rooms at gigs, so Susan took advantage of it to prep for the show, and I took advantage of this neat shot. Beyond the Evil Cisum sign lies downtown Dallas, in all it's skyscraper glory. This was from a show at Opening Bell, where I opened for Susan and Dana Cooper in April. It's weird but just about all of the people I spend copious amounts of time with have iPhones, so I'm used to a rectangle being held up to whatever is going on to record/video/photograph it. Here Emily shows off her tech skills on the set of Good Day Austin on FOX. I opened a show at the Luminarte Gallery in Dallas this summer...it was in an industrial part of town, but when you walked in the door you were surrounded with neat and wonderful things. Sculptures, lights, paintings. We parked right in front. My Martin OM-15. I love this guitar. I bought it when I was 18 and just graduated from high school. It's simple, it has a simple pickup sysem in it, but everyone comments on how good the tone is. Simple is best sometimes. I took quite a few rearview shots this year because the van windows are so dang reflective, and this is one of my favorites. We were driving to a show in Winter Park, CO in June...and I was amazed at the amount of snow. I took about 250 shots of the sky outside San Angelo, TX on our way there for a show and got exactly 2 shots of the awesome lightning storm lighting up the sky. It was worth it. Outside the Old Blinking Light in Taos, which has become one of my favorite towns to land in when we travel. It's homey and inspiring and smells like only New Mexico can...chile and sage and pinion. We played a sunset show at the Old Blinking Light in August, and out behind the venue even the dumpsters are marked "OBL." Susan songswapped with Beth Wood at a house concert on Possum Kingdom Lake in September, in a gorgeous house that had, I swear to you, a BILLIARD ROOM. I felt like I was in a game of Clue, and that Professor Plum would show up any minute wielding a candle stick. I climbed the ornate staircase for this shot...look at all the feet and hands in this photo. We had some time to kill at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, PA...so I took this shot of the stoic columns outside the building while we waited. I was itching to go see some of the historical sites in the city, but alas...no time for the gigging musicians to get educated. We did see some cool buildings just by picking up our busses and trains, though. That's my buddy, Luther...he lives with my folks in Albuquerque, but whenever I return home with a guitar case he's eager to jump in.

2009 Photo Recap: July - Now

We played at the South Fork Music Festival in Colorado in August...there were a bunch of big jam bands playing and Susan played and then there was me, sandwiched between groups that had 6 or 7 band members in them. I did my best to hold my own, and the scenery and people were awesome. Every Susan show at the White Elephant Saloon in Fort Worth is a complete and utter blast...the band is always hoppin' and our friends show up in droves. I enjoy every gig, and each has its different nuances to appreciate, but for the hyperactive loud raucous music fan in me, the White Elephant gigs are it. I got to experience New York City in a tourist and work capacity in October. It was my job to get us from gig to gig in NY, NJ, PA, and MA all week, which kept our schedule full...but one of my favorite moments was waking up early to trek down to Times Square and see the sights and gawk like a tourist. Our annual house concert in Albuquerque went off without a hitch, and our special guest was (surprise!) Susan. It was very fitting, because we try to have this show catch up all my New Mexico peoples on what's going on in my life and music, and who better to be Exhibit A than one of my most important mentors? It was funny, it was poignant, we should all win Grammys and Oscars for that night. I have had a blast recording EP 2 with Daniel Barrett this fall. We've had to chunk our recording days and spread them out due to our travel and work schedules, but we made some heft progress in November and we are getting there. Dan is one of my favorite people, but he's also one of my favorite musicians and guitarists, which is great because I get some of my favorite guitar solos ever on my own album. That's a wonderful thing to be able to say. We have had a working relationship for over 2.5 years and it just keeps getting easier and more fun. Plus we eat a lot of Vietnamese food and drink lots of caffeine on recording days. Win!

2009 Photo Recap: January - June

Some of my favorite moments in photo form from this year...January through June. I got to open for Susan at Casbeer's a the Church twice this year, and this first gig was a "surprise" Valentine's Day show (in that it got booked but Susan wasn't informed of it until the day before)...so we hauled about 20 of our closest friends to San Antonio and had a great time, and I got to play on this much revered stage. (Tiny note: this was before I was doing the booking so um, the surprise wasn't my fault). I started playing music with these two lovely ladies, Melissa and Emily. They are fantastic singers and musicians and people. I snag Emily for her bass skills as often as I can. We have plans for a project down the line, when all our lives settle down. Ha. But we'll do it! Katie is also involved in the aforementioned project, and also volunteers to sing my songs for me at my gigs that involve wood carvings of Native Americans. Here she is doing a bang up job on "Ritalin." It was my first real experience hearing a song I wrote being sung by someone else, and now when I sing it myself, I hear Katie's version in my head. That's cool. I had the chance to play with Kate Hearne a few times this year, and you mark my words she'll be backing up Dylan or someone sooner than later. She's an amazing guitarist. We kidnapped her and took her to Albuquerque in November. I've added about 50 new tags to my job description over at Susan Gibson Inc., but one of my favorites is still Merch Girl. Yes, it's nice to add to the gig income overall, but I truly do believe everyone should own these albums. And therefore I have no problems telling people about them. This is Dub, the new dog. We picked him up in April in Winnsboro, and I claim aunthood because I'm not that disciplined at...disciplining. But I am learning by watching Suz the Dog Whisperer at work, and I have picked up a lot. Dub is a sweetheart and likes to lean on people. He also likes to dig through trash cans. Hm. I was selected as a featured regional performer at the Ballad Tree by the Kerrville Folk Festival in May, which has been the highlight of my songwriting career up to now. The next step up is New Folk...one day! We got to hang out at a cabin on the shore of Flathead Lake in Montana in June. I wore a hoodie a bunch of the time, and it was divine knowing that it was 106 back in Texas. It was my first time in Montana and it's just as scenic as all the calendars and coffee table books say it is.

Austin City Flippin' Limits!!!!

Ok. So I grew up on PBS and after I got into playing guitar at age 11 I grew up on Austin City Limits. One of the draws of working at PBS/KNME-TV in college was that they aired ACL, even though our station had nothing to do at all with the filming of it. Something about the mystique of that show stuck with me. Mary Chapin Carpenter has been on it quite a bit, which was my big harbinger of coolness back in the day...and of course everyone from Johnny Cash to The Dixie Chicks to Bonnie Raitt to John Prine to Alison Krauss etc. etc. has graced that stage. I own a coffee table book about ACL for crying out loud. Some people came prepped with chairs and reading material. So I was pretty stoked when we got the chance to see a taping yesterday for Band of Heathens. There's a process you go through to get in, and since I work 8 jobs but none of them have a precise schedule I was free to stand in the 106 degree heat outside KLRU at 4 PM to snag a couple of numbers for Katie and I. The numbers allowed us to come back that night and they let us in the studio until they ran out of room. We made it in no problem and I spent the night gaping at that famous stage. In line! Happy! It is pretty much exactly like it looks on TV. There's the skyline backdrop, the trees (are those fake? I always assumed), the piano on right side of the stage. During the taping they named just a few of the people who have played that piano...Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino...crazy the amount of history. The ACL studio will be moving to a new location downtown soon, so I'm thrilled I got in to see this stage before it shifts locations. I'm sure the new one will be awesome, but I'm a little stuck on nostalgia with things like this. The most amusing part of the evening was that we were to turn off our phones for the taping, and in fact have them off in the building completely. But of course I can't stop Twittering things, especially things as cool as this, so I tweeted a photo of the stage before anything started and then turned my phone off. Afterward I checked my replies and the producer of Austin City Limits had tweeted, "You are so busted." Hehheh! Of course they have a search set up for ACL stuff. Too funny. I told her when I play their show I will tweet from the stage. She said no one had done that yet, so I hope no one does until...you know...2020, when I might get my shot. Anyway, the power of social media at work: proven. Famous skyline! MCC with the same famous skyline! Wee!

Rear Views III

Idaho River Lots of construction on the drive to Boise. A little rock with our usual green. Crossing a bridge in Idaho. Somewhere in Wyoming. Rainy Colorado drive. Sunset outside Denver!

Rear View II

Wyoming sunny day. Wyoming grey morning. Driver's side flip in Montana. Flathead Lake in Montana Downtown Missoula, MT

So far so good. We've logged some miles, from Lubbock to Red River to Winter Park. We wound our way through a mountain pass and I shivered the whole way, but when we loaded in to the venue tonight it was lovely out. My flip flops remain on. We're chilling before the show tonight in a rare bit of hang time. I've been filming a bit and wanted a driving backwards shot. Of course that requires duct tape. Murphy's in Lubbock was fun -- the West Texas winds picked up a little but just enough to make it comfortable. It was great to be back in New Mexico even if I was nowhere near Albuquerque. The air smells fresh in that state. Susan played at The Lodge bar, and she and Marian were joined on a tiny stage by some great musicians...but it made the stage even tinier. Kinda crazy how in one day you can go from this view... To this view! I'm having a good time. I've had allergies or something, so I haven't been singing much. Luckily I can still play guitar for the big banjo finales. Tonight I'm going to give it a go and play a set. Mucinex is a wonderful thing. Tomorrow we have the shortest drive so far...4ish hours to Centennial, Wyoming. More scenery! Gotta keep sticking my camera out the window...