(p.s Big thanks to Derek Mantle for making a logo for the festival at super short notice.)

Melanie Safka

I’m so glad my parents were hippies. Without that fact, my musical upbringing would not have been a diet of the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Melanie.

One of the first sounds I heard was needle on vinyl and my first memory was gazing out of the window of a Welsh farmhouse to see silhouettes dancing around a bonfire playing acoustic guitars and singing.

The day I was born Melanie was also celebrating her birthday and had already performed at the Isle of Wight Festival and at Glastonbury Fayre, before it was even called a festival.

I think it may have been the constant comparison to the singer Melanie that may have made my mother pick up the acoustic guitar. She was a big fan and although she didn’t have the greatest singing voice, it didn’t stop her joining in on all of Melanie’s songs word for word.

Last night my Brother and I took a trip into Leicester to a little venue called the Y Theatre to watch Melanie play. If my Mother, Liala was alive today, she would have been there too.

It’s a small intimate venue perfect for one woman with a guitar. As it happened she was also accompanied by her son, Beau Jarred Schekeryk, an incredibly competent guitarist himself.

Her Son opened with some fantastic gypsy style flamenco guitar. He certainly added something to the style and listening to him you would think he’d grown an extra two fingers on each hand.

He apologised for arriving jet lagged as they had just flown in from Korea. I didn’t notice. His  delivery was laid back and chatty, great guitar music.

After a little while Melanie herself came on in a flowing dress, a different lady to the album covers that decorated my childhood but the same incredible voice, uniquely hers with the power to reduce me to tears in a single song. A song that I love but that thankfully She left out of her set.

Two hours passed too quickly as old favorites once heard at classic moments in time like Woodstock were punctuated with new material that could have been written at the same time.

Too many artists grow out of the magic they encapsulated and evolve into tired crooners. This is one thing that amazed me more than anything else with Melanie. How could this rare surviver of the Summer Of Love still be writing truly great songs after 40 years in the music industry. These weren’t tired, rushed or trite. Her new material seemed written by the same passionate young girl of the 60’s, it’s just that now you believed she knew what she was singing about.

Two days ago I had been at the ‘Radio 1’s Big Weekend‘ and although a great day in the sun, I felt the music certainly lacked something. I felt the artists were delivering me a product. That none of them believed what they were saying. It was without soul. Some person, singing some song, about some thing.

Melanie’s music filled in all the gaps for me. She believed in these songs.. That she has written.. That she now was singing.. And i believed her.

I admit, this kind of heartfelt folk isn’t for everyone. Once it’s produced with accompaniment on an album you need to know the singer and their words to get the best out of it.

This kind of live performance though, should be seen by everyone. Just the bare bones of a singer/songwriter who has been there and done the work. An honest exposure of the soul through nothing but guitar and voice. With her Son by her side it had the intimacy of a family moment. Many of the people in the audience have known Melanie and her music since before I was born. I guess if you count my time in the womb, so have I.

I am sad that my Mother never lived long enough to see this gig, to see that it was still ok to be a ’sincere hippy’.

As Melanie sang the song ‘I Tried To Die Young‘.. I was so glad she didn’t.

Melanie’s Homepage  Melanie in the Times  Melanie in the Independent

A petition to induct Melanie into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Tour dates

Photoshoot with the band ~ Talc

I have just finished uploading a few of the photos of the band Talc to my Flickr stream.

For most of Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of hanging out with the two awesome funksters Dr. Fun and The Gift.

They had imaginatively arranged for us to visit their local beer making establishment so as we could take some photos for their up and coming concept album and at the same time not be too far away from tens of thousands of pints of beer. (Probably more).

I have photographed these guys before and every time we meet we have a great laugh, always managing to bag a few decent shots in the limited time we have.

The Fullers Brewery (London’s last remaining traditional family brewer) was an amazing place of historical pipes and brass, leading us into a sci-fi setting of ceramic and chrome. They are obviously proud of their history and bent over backwards to see we had the freedom to take our photos unhindered. We worked our way through the factory, stopping to snap when we thought the setting inspired.

Our shoot wound up underground in a little private bar where, given a sleeping bag and a few pies, I could quite easily have spent a good few weeks sheltering from the outside world and saturating my body and mind with the various ales made on site and piped into this curious bar with no till and no way to take your money.

Paradise?

Even when my camera was back in the bag and we headed to the local (attached) pub for a debrief, our friendly guide saw that the round was free and we were to order what we wanted.

It’s just a shame i was riding the bike and had to maintain some form of sobriety as otherwise I would have had to stay and help the guys with their debrief lubrication.

Besides.. I had had more than enough motoring action earlier in the day to risk any more altercations with angsty London road users.

Thanks Talc for a great days photography and thanks to Fullers for not only letting us take photos but for going all out to make us feel as welcome as we possibly could.

Talc’s new album ‘Licensed Premises Lifestyle’ is due for release in July and will be touring Japan in September.

..for more information on the band check out www.TalcOnline.com (soon to be updated).

And here is the band talking and moving..

Money for nothing or your pix for free.

I love music photography. It’s just not that easy to make a living from it unless you work for an agency or a glossy mag.

I have two rates normally, one for mates and unsigned bands (unless i am doing a trade for trade kind of deal) and then a more corporate rate for the big guns.

This may sound weird but musicians are always skint.. and i love the work, so it seems only right that if i can be flexible and it helps a band out on their way up.. then so be it.

You never know, they may just remember me for it too.

It’s only recently i have started to put my photos up on Flickr. This has been a help and a hinderance as i am inundated with people asking for copies of my photos for one reason or another. This would not be so bad if they were paying clients. But they are not. Everyone seems to think if you have pix on flickr you are a hobby snapper and that you would be more than happy with a little flattery and perhaps a link on some site as payment.

They don’t see the week spent in the mud, or the top spec camera broken through some fan throwing a beer, or the temporary loss of hearing, or he cost of a ticket (even with a photo pass at places like Glastonbury).

Yes music photography is fun and i really enjoy the adventure leading up to grabbing a selection of shots of a band that i either like or maybe even love.  But it would still be nice to get some kind of financial payback without churning out one of the thousands of yearly books or calenders that flood our bargain book shops.

Right that said. I am just about to upload a few pix of Lisa Hannigan (of Damien Rice fame) as some guy on a island somwhere has a music agency and would really really like to have one of my pictures on my wall.

Take a peek at my flickr music section by clicking HERE

I think i will ask for a donation..