Thursday, May 1, 2014
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
10 Questions with Charlie Daniels
By Rock Legends Photographer Isaac Rodriguez
Photos by Isaac Rodriguez
(These are edited excerpts from the interview)
Q: The fans from the Rock Legends Cruise have been asking to see you play. Is that something you would consider?
A: We did a cruise one time, and (laughs) we had kind of a bad experience due to weather. It was a rough cruise. I just don’t know, we have to see about that.
Q: What artist past or present that you never played with would you just to get on stage and jam with?
A: BB King, hands down. I’d love to get up and jam with BB.
Q: The inspirational postings that appear on Facebook, do you do that personally?
A: Actually I do it on twitter, it comes up on Facebook. I do one every day, usually some bible scripture and I hope it’s something inspirational that will be encouraging to the people.
Photos by Isaac Rodriguez
(These are edited excerpts from the interview)
Q: The fans from the Rock Legends Cruise have been asking to see you play. Is that something you would consider?
A: We did a cruise one time, and (laughs) we had kind of a bad experience due to weather. It was a rough cruise. I just don’t know, we have to see about that.
Q: What artist past or present that you never played with would you just to get on stage and jam with?
A: BB King, hands down. I’d love to get up and jam with BB.
Q: The inspirational postings that appear on Facebook, do you do that personally?
A: Actually I do it on twitter, it comes up on Facebook. I do one every day, usually some bible scripture and I hope it’s something inspirational that will be encouraging to the people.
Interview With Phil Ehart of Kansas
By Michael and Rina Marie Yanko
for Rock Legends Photographers
and Concert Photos Magazine
Hosted in December by the Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida, the Classic Rock Legends Festival was a huge success and one of the best-run festivals we have ever been to.
Special thanks to J.R., both Daves, and Kansas management and Phil Ehart for making time for a fun interview.
Q: You’ve been touring for about 40 years, who is your favorite band to tour with?
A: Well, that’s a good question. The band that we enjoyed the most touring with was Queen. That was the “Sheer Heart Attack” tour and we did 40 gigs with them, and then we came back and toured with them a year or so later and toured with them again. That was really enjoyable because our band was just starting to come into its own as far as being able to play with a headliner, and Queen was just starting to explode, and it was really exciting to watch them. It really helped us a lot because of the exposure that they were bringing in. Every night we would stand on the side of the stage and watch them play. That was really cool.
Q: What musician past or present would you like to jam with?
A: Hmmm. I don’t know why I’ve thought this in the past, but I’ve always wanted to play drums on a Foreigner song. I really like Foreigner and I really thought it would be cool to play drums on one of their songs. I’m not much or a jam guy, but Foreigner has great drumming songs, and they’ve always — out of their plethora of a million drummers — had great drummers, and the drum parts are always cool and the songs really rock. I always thought it would be fun to play with Foreigner.
Q: What was your funniest or most embarrassing moment on stage?
A: Wow, there’s a number of them (laughs), I think without a doubt at the end of song called “Miracles Out of Nowhere” I would reach around for my drum tech and a beater — a mallet for a gong – and swing it around and try and hit this gong and this bomb would go off behind the gong. Ya’ know, a real dramatic thing. This was back in the heyday with 20,000 people or whatever, and I reached around and grabbed it and as I turned the beater got caught in a glockenspiel that I had. It got caught, and I thought he was still holding on to it. I didn’t know it got caught, so I’m yankin’ on this thing as hard as I can thinking he’s holding on to it. The glockenspiel is going back and forth, and of course the song ended and I looked over and Steve Walsh, he was on his back from laughing so hard and I didn’t know what it had gotten caught on. Of course I’ve got like 6 super-troopers on me, every light in the house is on me and I’m sittin’ there jerkin’ on this thing. That was very very embarrassing. (laughs again)
Q: I understand you guys have a new album?
A: We do not. We have a documentary coming out. We have our 40th anniversary documentary that Sony is doing, but nothing new.
Q: Do you have a favorite band or artist that has come out in the last 10 years?
A: Foo Fighters! Love them!
Q: You guys were a big hit on the Rock Legends Cruise, did the band enjoy playing on the boat and mingling with the fans and everything?
A: (nods head) Yeah, we didn’t know what to expect. I’m not sure anybody did, but we really enjoyed it, we really enjoyed it, it was great! The way it was organized blew us away. It was so organized and so together. It was really windy so it was tough playing on the outside deck but other than that it was excellent! I’d recommend that to any band out there!
Q: Other than yourself, who’s your favorite drummer?
A: (laughs) I’m definitely not my favorite drummer. I have quite a few favorites, ya’ know, I really like Ian Paice of Deep Purple. I really Like Phil Collins. I like Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters, they’re great. I like Todd Sucherman from Styx; a lot of great drummers out there!
Q: What about back in the old days — the old drummers?
A: That was Ian Paice, he was “my guy”!
Q: We’ve been seeing a huge resurgence of the popularity of classic rock, and I’m sure that you guys have seen that too! How much of that would you attribute to social media?
A: Oh wow. I think the biggest resurgence of classic rock is classic rock radio. I think because until just a number of years ago that didn’t exist. It was kind
of
a time when bands like Kansas were fading out, then like MTV started
stuff like that and some of our bands started coming back. Us, and
Heart, and Foreigner, and Journey, and REO, ya’ know, Rush, and Styx.
All of us that came up at the same time kind of went quiet there for a
few years while radio tried to figure things out, then all the classic
rock radio came out and we had a place for our songs to go, and we have
been there ever since. YouTube has been great, that really helps us to
get our live show out there too! Then you have things like movies, video
games, commercials and stuff. That all helps, too.
Q: What is your favorite venue to play in?
A: Oh boy, good question, um, I don’t know. There’s so many that I like to play in, I don’t pay that much attention, um, Red Rocks, probably in Colorado, yeah, it’s an incredible place to play, but most of the time the audience is dark, the hall is dark, lit stage, so all I can see is the stage. As a matter-of-fact, many times I’ve gone to places we’ve played and sat out in the audience and said “wow, this is such a cool place” (laughs). We played Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. recently and that was a really cool place. Red Rocks is a natural amphitheater, it has two great big natural valley type things, ya’ know, red rock walls on either side and behind you, it’s just a natural amphitheater. It’s, it’s, it’s almost, um, it, it’s almost disconcerting to play there because you get so caught up in where you are that sometimes you forget what you’re actually doing. “Oh yeah, I’m playing!” God, for a second I was enjoying the sunset or something.
Q: And the last question I have is what advice would you give to a young drummer that wants a career in music?
A: Ehhhh. There really is no advice, it’s a, I would say, if you want to play any instrument and have a career in music, make sure you have fun. Make sure you have fun because there’s a pretty good chance you won’t be successful. And if you are not successful, that’s OK, you can always look back and say “I really had a good time, I really enjoyed playing in the band, and it was a lot of fun.” You don’t want to take it so seriously that, if by chance, you don’t make it that you become really bummed, and really disgruntled with the world, really down on yourself, you know, just have fun! If you make it, great, if not, you had fun!
Q: When did you know you were going to make it?
A: (smiles) I always knew. I always knew. Isn’t that weird? I, I, I knew! I knew! I don’t know why, but like, I wasn’t anything special. It’s not like we were in a music Mecca, we were out in the middle of nowhere. But I knew that if I could just get somebody to see this band, if I could just get somebody to see it, I knew that we’d have a chance.
This interview was reproduced as close as possible to the audio pulled from the video. Special thanks again to JR and Kansas management, Phil Ehart, and everybody else that made this interview and concert possible. You can see photos from the Kansas performance at here.
Coming soon our exclusive interview with Billy Greer!
for Rock Legends Photographers
and Concert Photos Magazine
Hosted in December by the Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida, the Classic Rock Legends Festival was a huge success and one of the best-run festivals we have ever been to.
Special thanks to J.R., both Daves, and Kansas management and Phil Ehart for making time for a fun interview.
Q: You’ve been touring for about 40 years, who is your favorite band to tour with?
A: Well, that’s a good question. The band that we enjoyed the most touring with was Queen. That was the “Sheer Heart Attack” tour and we did 40 gigs with them, and then we came back and toured with them a year or so later and toured with them again. That was really enjoyable because our band was just starting to come into its own as far as being able to play with a headliner, and Queen was just starting to explode, and it was really exciting to watch them. It really helped us a lot because of the exposure that they were bringing in. Every night we would stand on the side of the stage and watch them play. That was really cool.
Q: What musician past or present would you like to jam with?
A: Hmmm. I don’t know why I’ve thought this in the past, but I’ve always wanted to play drums on a Foreigner song. I really like Foreigner and I really thought it would be cool to play drums on one of their songs. I’m not much or a jam guy, but Foreigner has great drumming songs, and they’ve always — out of their plethora of a million drummers — had great drummers, and the drum parts are always cool and the songs really rock. I always thought it would be fun to play with Foreigner.
Q: What was your funniest or most embarrassing moment on stage?
A: Wow, there’s a number of them (laughs), I think without a doubt at the end of song called “Miracles Out of Nowhere” I would reach around for my drum tech and a beater — a mallet for a gong – and swing it around and try and hit this gong and this bomb would go off behind the gong. Ya’ know, a real dramatic thing. This was back in the heyday with 20,000 people or whatever, and I reached around and grabbed it and as I turned the beater got caught in a glockenspiel that I had. It got caught, and I thought he was still holding on to it. I didn’t know it got caught, so I’m yankin’ on this thing as hard as I can thinking he’s holding on to it. The glockenspiel is going back and forth, and of course the song ended and I looked over and Steve Walsh, he was on his back from laughing so hard and I didn’t know what it had gotten caught on. Of course I’ve got like 6 super-troopers on me, every light in the house is on me and I’m sittin’ there jerkin’ on this thing. That was very very embarrassing. (laughs again)
Q: I understand you guys have a new album?
A: We do not. We have a documentary coming out. We have our 40th anniversary documentary that Sony is doing, but nothing new.
Q: Do you have a favorite band or artist that has come out in the last 10 years?
A: Foo Fighters! Love them!
Q: You guys were a big hit on the Rock Legends Cruise, did the band enjoy playing on the boat and mingling with the fans and everything?
A: (nods head) Yeah, we didn’t know what to expect. I’m not sure anybody did, but we really enjoyed it, we really enjoyed it, it was great! The way it was organized blew us away. It was so organized and so together. It was really windy so it was tough playing on the outside deck but other than that it was excellent! I’d recommend that to any band out there!
Q: Other than yourself, who’s your favorite drummer?
A: (laughs) I’m definitely not my favorite drummer. I have quite a few favorites, ya’ know, I really like Ian Paice of Deep Purple. I really Like Phil Collins. I like Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters, they’re great. I like Todd Sucherman from Styx; a lot of great drummers out there!
Q: What about back in the old days — the old drummers?
A: That was Ian Paice, he was “my guy”!
Q: We’ve been seeing a huge resurgence of the popularity of classic rock, and I’m sure that you guys have seen that too! How much of that would you attribute to social media?
A: Oh wow. I think the biggest resurgence of classic rock is classic rock radio. I think because until just a number of years ago that didn’t exist. It was kind
of
a time when bands like Kansas were fading out, then like MTV started
stuff like that and some of our bands started coming back. Us, and
Heart, and Foreigner, and Journey, and REO, ya’ know, Rush, and Styx.
All of us that came up at the same time kind of went quiet there for a
few years while radio tried to figure things out, then all the classic
rock radio came out and we had a place for our songs to go, and we have
been there ever since. YouTube has been great, that really helps us to
get our live show out there too! Then you have things like movies, video
games, commercials and stuff. That all helps, too.Q: What is your favorite venue to play in?
A: Oh boy, good question, um, I don’t know. There’s so many that I like to play in, I don’t pay that much attention, um, Red Rocks, probably in Colorado, yeah, it’s an incredible place to play, but most of the time the audience is dark, the hall is dark, lit stage, so all I can see is the stage. As a matter-of-fact, many times I’ve gone to places we’ve played and sat out in the audience and said “wow, this is such a cool place” (laughs). We played Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. recently and that was a really cool place. Red Rocks is a natural amphitheater, it has two great big natural valley type things, ya’ know, red rock walls on either side and behind you, it’s just a natural amphitheater. It’s, it’s, it’s almost, um, it, it’s almost disconcerting to play there because you get so caught up in where you are that sometimes you forget what you’re actually doing. “Oh yeah, I’m playing!” God, for a second I was enjoying the sunset or something.
Q: And the last question I have is what advice would you give to a young drummer that wants a career in music?
A: Ehhhh. There really is no advice, it’s a, I would say, if you want to play any instrument and have a career in music, make sure you have fun. Make sure you have fun because there’s a pretty good chance you won’t be successful. And if you are not successful, that’s OK, you can always look back and say “I really had a good time, I really enjoyed playing in the band, and it was a lot of fun.” You don’t want to take it so seriously that, if by chance, you don’t make it that you become really bummed, and really disgruntled with the world, really down on yourself, you know, just have fun! If you make it, great, if not, you had fun!
Q: When did you know you were going to make it?
A: (smiles) I always knew. I always knew. Isn’t that weird? I, I, I knew! I knew! I don’t know why, but like, I wasn’t anything special. It’s not like we were in a music Mecca, we were out in the middle of nowhere. But I knew that if I could just get somebody to see this band, if I could just get somebody to see it, I knew that we’d have a chance.
This interview was reproduced as close as possible to the audio pulled from the video. Special thanks again to JR and Kansas management, Phil Ehart, and everybody else that made this interview and concert possible. You can see photos from the Kansas performance at here.
Coming soon our exclusive interview with Billy Greer! Biscuit Miller and the Mix Review, Interview, and Photos
Frannipalooza at Earl's Hideaway- Sebastian, Florida 4-6-14
By Michael and Rina Marie Yanko
for Rock Legends Photographers
and Concert Photos Magazine
Before we went to see them we had never heard of Biscuit Miller and the Mix. 8 hours later we had 5 great new friends for life and our socks properly rocked off and rolled up.
Fortunately for us this was the last stop on their tour so we got to spend some extra time with the band after the show.The band, made up of Biscuit Miller
and his million dollar smile,
(He actually went out into the crowd and danced while playing his wireless bass)
Dr. Love Bobby B
were accompanied on the tour by Biscuit's lifelong friend (and ours too now) Datrick. >>>These guys are one heck of a bunch of nice people and we immediately liked them and loved their music. By the time they were done we loved them too! They were the only band playing and they played two very long sets. They kept the crowd dancing and to a one I'm sure that they'll be watching Earl's schedule wondering when Biscuit will be back again.
Biscuit plays his bass like it's a lead guitar, Bobby and Southside take turns wowing the crowd with fabulous guitar work, Doc rocks the kit and keeps the beat, and Datrick just stood there off to the side with a smile that would melt butter.
Be sure to see the band whenever they are in a venue near you www.biscuitmiller.com
Biscuit Miller & The Mix Official Facebook Page
Our photos from the show at Earl's
Our exclusive interview with Biscuit Miller
Follow the schedule at Earl's Hideaway
On the Road again, a Story about Musicians from a Photographer’s Point of View
Story by Rina Marie Braley-Yanko
for Rock Legends Photographers
and Concert Photos Magazine
Disclaimer- this story is not about any one artist, but it is probably true of most!
Devon Allman goes backstage to try to cool off during a performance in the hot sun with no stage cover.
Every time I start to charge camera batteries and gather my gear to shoot a concert this song plays in my head. Sometimes I will even sing it out loud, sometimes it comes naturally, and sometimes I have to put it on my check list. Once I grab my camera bag the weight of the gear reminds me of the words written and sung by a great musician and artist. The artist I’m about to shoot may be living this song’s words. He may be missing a lover, numb from the amplifiers still ringing in his ears from the night before, or lack of sleep from nothing familiar for days except airport terminals or the smell of the diesel coming from the tour bus.
“Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
There I go
Playin’ the star again
There I go
Turn the page”
I have to be prepared that I might be photographing you on what may be your ‘Turn the Page” day. If it is, you will still greet me and the fans with an exuberant smile, allowing me to capture a few photos as you stop and shake hands just as you get off the bus. You will politely say no, you don’t have a sharpie to sign a cocktail napkin as you notice off to the side the your merchandise table sits with memorabilia to be sold and signed. You also notice that the person responsible for your pay to perform is nowhere to be found.
You keep smiling as you are lead to a six foot table with no chairs for an unorganized meet ‘n’ greet where folks pass right by your merchandise table full of shirts, 8×10 glossy’s and CD’s, but have the nerve to ask if you they can get a picture with you. They hand their cell phone to their friend that does not know how to work the picture process of that phone, so you wait while the line is getting longer. Finally a click, and there goes another blurry photo that will spread all over social media not capturing your best features. In the corner of your eye you see all kinds of food and beverages that you desperately need for fuel, but won’t get a chance to get until it’s probably too late… and you wonder , how did all these folks get back stage passes?
As a photographer that is supposed to photograph you with the fans during the meet and greets to promote the band and venue it is really difficult knowing that the page has turned for you. It’s hard to capture your genuine smile with your best features when they are covered with sweat in the shade and you are about to go on a stage with hot spotlights making the heat index 110 degrees… just like you did the day before in another town.
You do it, giving it all your best. Your best is what the fans get at a live show because you won’t let them see the exhaustion, but I do! I just patiently wait for that second wind, which is your passion that kicks in when all the attention is on you during your guitar jam, drum solo, or building your strength to get out that last high note. I saw one drummer rip off his shirt and pour a bottle of water over himself which was very sexy, and the fans were going nuts. What they didn’t know was that he had heat exhaustion and had to stop himself from throwing up. I was at another show where the performer was doing a duo with the lead guitar and sax and again the fans were going nuts, but the sax motioned for the guitar to take over as he went behind the stage to throw up from the heat. The Fans never notice, but I do. I keep my camera down or focus on the lead jam and the crowd response with their hands in the air having the time of their life at your concert.
Turn the page
End of part 1
Stay tuned for part 2
For over 300,000 concert photos visit www.rocklegendsphotographers.com
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Tampa Bay Blues Festival 2014
From Michael and Rina Marie Yanko
for Rock Legends Photographers
and Concert Photos Magazine
for Rock Legends Photographers
and Concert Photos Magazine
This year the Tampa Bay Blues Fest celebrated its 20th year! Day 1
Chuck and Tracy Ross along with a slew of loyal sponsors have been putting on this wonderful festival for 20 years http://tampabaybluesfest.com/ and the proceeds have gone to PARC, a non profit non-profit organization whose mission is to provide opportunities for children and adults with developmental disabilities to exercise their independence and experience life to the fullest. http://www.parc-fl.org/
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Elephant Revival packs Old Rock House in St. Louis
I was lucky enough to see Elephant Revival with special guests, Smokey & The Mirror on April 4 at the Old Rock House in St. Louis, MO.
And what a night it was!
I’ve seen numerous husband and wife duos in my time, especially in the folk scene. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this duo. Bernice and Bryan Hembree have so much chemistry and musical talent it’s ridiculous. It’s the perfect complement of a female and male vocal. She has the soothing, higher pitched voice and his, is that of a weary traveler. His vocals really nail that americana, folky, “I’ve been traveling this long road for a while” style voice. Much of their music made me imagine days of the past, when people still got around by horseback. Not entirely like an old west image, but just that weary traveler, wherever he is roaming. Their set was solid and just really, really good!
Elephant Revival needs no explanation. Their following is continually growing more and more. The first time I saw this wonderful band, was at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion in Bristol, TN/VA. I was photographing the festival and just heard this amazing female vocalist. I had never heard a voice like this and had to track them down. I found them and was just mesmerized. They truly are an amazing band. The chemistry these five share is unprecedented. The band is made up of Sage Cook, Bridget Law, Bonnie Paine, Daniel Rodriguez and Dango Rose. Each share in singing and writing songs. Which makes it even more better to be a fan of the music. You can see them play off of each other and it just works. On this night in St. Louis, I was surprised to see how much better they were than the last time I saw them in Bristol. I mean, holy smokes, these musicians are extremely tight. The best description would be, they just mesh together. All their sound intertwine with one another and produce this beautiful sound. It’s haunting, it’s exciting, it’s just absolutely beautiful. I’m still torn on what genre you’d put them in. There are hints of alt-country, folk, rock and this crazy vibe of gypsies. If you were lucky enough to see them this past time at the Old Rock House, you realize how great this show was. If you missed it, I really hope you can catch them next time. This is the band you don’t want to miss. Even if you don’t like any of those genres I just mentioned, their music will entrap you and make you feel at ease with yourself and the world surrounding you.
www.elephantrevival.com
www.smokeyandthemirror.com
Adam
And what a night it was!
I’ve seen numerous husband and wife duos in my time, especially in the folk scene. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this duo. Bernice and Bryan Hembree have so much chemistry and musical talent it’s ridiculous. It’s the perfect complement of a female and male vocal. She has the soothing, higher pitched voice and his, is that of a weary traveler. His vocals really nail that americana, folky, “I’ve been traveling this long road for a while” style voice. Much of their music made me imagine days of the past, when people still got around by horseback. Not entirely like an old west image, but just that weary traveler, wherever he is roaming. Their set was solid and just really, really good!
Elephant Revival needs no explanation. Their following is continually growing more and more. The first time I saw this wonderful band, was at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion in Bristol, TN/VA. I was photographing the festival and just heard this amazing female vocalist. I had never heard a voice like this and had to track them down. I found them and was just mesmerized. They truly are an amazing band. The chemistry these five share is unprecedented. The band is made up of Sage Cook, Bridget Law, Bonnie Paine, Daniel Rodriguez and Dango Rose. Each share in singing and writing songs. Which makes it even more better to be a fan of the music. You can see them play off of each other and it just works. On this night in St. Louis, I was surprised to see how much better they were than the last time I saw them in Bristol. I mean, holy smokes, these musicians are extremely tight. The best description would be, they just mesh together. All their sound intertwine with one another and produce this beautiful sound. It’s haunting, it’s exciting, it’s just absolutely beautiful. I’m still torn on what genre you’d put them in. There are hints of alt-country, folk, rock and this crazy vibe of gypsies. If you were lucky enough to see them this past time at the Old Rock House, you realize how great this show was. If you missed it, I really hope you can catch them next time. This is the band you don’t want to miss. Even if you don’t like any of those genres I just mentioned, their music will entrap you and make you feel at ease with yourself and the world surrounding you.
www.elephantrevival.com
www.smokeyandthemirror.com
Adam
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