Backstage and Beyond

Unguarded Moments, Backstage and Beyond

2011-09-07T13:12:00.001-04:00

To many people, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, Belinda Carlisle and Billy Idol were always pop superstars with gold and platinum albums, Grammy nominations and inductions to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders, 1980
first published by UK zine Zig Zag

The truth is, in 1977, they were all gritty punk rockers hanging out in night club backrooms with their friends. They wore vintage or home-made clothes and did their own hair and make-up. They partied with each other and punk rockers from other cities, as inadvertent good-will ambassadors for the new music. Those parties, backstage rooms and unguarded moments are presented here, in the UNGUARDED MOMENTS: BACKSTAGE AND BEYOND touring exhibit of photos from the Golden Age of Punk Rock.

Debbie Harry of Blondie and Pleasant Gehman, 1978

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE

The velvet rope, the locked door, the secret password – it is human nature to want to sneak a peak into the hidden world of the “beautiful people” – celebrities, rock stars and their companions living the life reported in gossip columns and on tabloid television shows. Unguarded Moments give you that glimpse.

Joan Jett and Billy Idol, 1978

Unguarded Moments satisfies our human curiosity about “the other” – “the renown” - celebrities and the infamous.

While this collection showcases a most famous and enigmatic superstar at his peak, Bob Dylan in an Unguarded Moment, some of the then-unknown punk rockers have become bonafide international stars in the 30 years that have elapsed since their ground-breaking punk days. Deborah Harry of Blondie, Joan Jett of the Runaways, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go’s, Billy Idol, then of Generation X and three of the original members of the Ramones – Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee are all bold-faced names. Others, like Stiv Bators (also deceased) of the Dead Boys have influenced legions of musicians who became more well-known than their idol.

Dee Dee Ramone and Stiv Bators, 1979

While most of the celebrities and rock stars seen Backstage and Beyond reign supreme in the underground world of punk rock in the 70s, a few more highly recognizable mainstream and iconographic stars are featured in this exhibit (e.g.: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, James Garner, TV's "Maverick" and "Rockford").

Photographer Theresa K., Keith Richards and Punk Magazine mascot, the late John Spacely

Punk rock has been embraced by the mainstream. All media is once again responding to the Sex Pistols marketing genius on the 30th Anniversary of the release of their only album. More venerable institutions such as the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and colleges and universities are offering courses of study, seminars and lectures on the topic! More and more consumers, ranging from fans to the simply curious are joining alongside cultural scholars to dig deep for evidence from the early days of this movement looking for a story behind how and why rock n roll’s rebellious nature continues to be a dominant force in contemporary culture. This exhibit is a MUST-SEE EVENT!

Unguarded Moments is a visual record of the life, times and trajectory of punk rock pioneers, their friends, fans and the celebrities, who like the beautiful people of Andy Warhol’s ‘60s, came to revitalize their “street cred” by slumming with the “stars of tomorrow” in the gritty backstage environs of the Sunset Strip. The images provide a taste of punk rock history as it was being made, and as seen from the inside.

Every picture does indeed tell a story.

Belinda Carlisle, 1977

Punk rock music, style and fashion brewed up as a zeitgeist around the world. It grew up in the public eye in New York City. It exploded in London, and the kids in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the world over heartily embraced it.

While punk rock developed as a simultaneous culture clash everywhere, it was in Theresa K's native California where she captured the ultimate in punk rock's most identifying character trait - nihilism, and at the same time, its exact opposite: promise and exaltation.

The Germs play with toy guns in their first ever rehearsal, 1977

California punks were anti-hippie – a movement born in their own San Francisco; they were definitely anti-disco and like most kids, they were also anti-parent and anti-social. West Coast punk attitude was powerful and shocking in comparison to the laid-back, easy-going California style that gave to pop culture rock n roll's biggest selling band of all time (The Eagles).

Patricia Morrison of The Bags, 1978
defining style for future Goth chicks everywhere

Many of Theresa's photos taken in various Unguarded Moments, Backstage and Beyond have already laid the visual foundation of our collective punk rock memory. In addition to shooting the photos that adorned some of LA's seminal punk singles picture sleeves such as The Germs Forming, scores of Theresa's photos have been seen in magazines such as Creem, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Trouser Press and Music Life, in various fanzines from LA's Lobotomy, of which she was part, to the UK's Zig Zag.

Cynthia Ross (The B-Girls), Stiv Bators and Joan Jett, 1979
First seen in Creem Magazine, now featured in two books on Joan Jett!

Her vintage work is currently featured in various recently published books, including PUNK365 by Holly George Warren and BOMP! by Suzy Shaw and Mick Farren. She was also one of the many punk rock veterans who contributed to Amy Wallace and Handsome Dick Manitoba's The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists.
(October 07 publication dates for all three titles.)

Two books on Joan Jett also feature her works (Joan Jett by Todd Oldham and Joan herself, and Bad Reputation, by Dave Thompson).

Before he was Darby Crash, the Germs singer called himself Bobby Pyn, 1977

The photo above, of an introspective pre-Darby Crash Bobby Pyn is one of the earliest photographs taken of him. None of the band members had their punk hair cuts and punk clothes yet! They were playing together as a band for the first time in this ad-hoc rehearsal room fashioned from Pat Smear's mother's West Los Angeles garage. The images gathered on this early 1977 day represent the tone and calibre of the Unguarded Moments collection.

This moment of introspection reveals neither Bobby Pyn nor Darby Crash, but the inner Paul Beahm, the young man who would take his own life on December 7, 1980, just a little more than three years after he decided he would take music and the world by storm. Ironically, Darby's punk rock suicide was overshadowed even in the local news by the international tragedy of Beatle John Lennon's murder on December 8, 1980.

The Germs "forming" outtake, 1977

This image, renown to the punk rock and record collecting communities since early 1977, is an alternate frame from the first ever photo sessions the Germs did. That day's shoot yielded the cover of their single "Forming." It was a session they asked for; a favor from their friend, photographer Theresa K., then a student at UCLA, living in the dormitory Hedrick Hall. Paul Beahm, the man who would become Darby Crash often sought refuge in the Hedrick 3rd Floor North Lounge from a school and home life that didn't understand him.

The Unguarded Moments collection within the Punk Turns 30 archive is the only one anywhere that truly shows The Germs as they were Forming.

Mostly, Unguarded Moments joyfully illustrates a phenomenon unique to the bi-coastal Los Angeles/New York culture: the intersection of punk rock with the Rock Elite and other boldface names.

Blondie, Sabel Starr and Rodney Bingenheimer visit The B-Girls Backstage, 1979

In her travels to San Francisco, New York and London from her native Los Angeles, photographer Theresa Kereakes gained the trust and confidence of many interesting punk rock personalities who willingly submitted to her camera. Kereakes captured intimate and unguarded moments of punk legends Debbie Harry, super groupie Sabel Starr, Mayor of the Sunset Strip Rodney Bingenheimer, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Darby Crash, Dee Dee Ramone, Stiv Bators, Belinda Carlisle, “It Girl” Pleasant Gehman, members of the Sex Pistols, The Cramps, The Avengers, and many more.

Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, 1978

In addition to the Germs Forming photo, many other Theresa K images have achieved icon status and wide exposure, such as the “Joan Jett and Billy Idol party at Joan’s Place” which has been published in 47 rock magazines around the world since 1978. Other images such as a “Rockford Files”-era James Garner posing with a scion of rock n roll roots, Billy Burnette, will be seen for the first time in this exhibit (and you'll have to go to a show to see it!)

Joan Jett and Billy Idol party at Joan's Place, 1978
published worldwide

Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond is nothing short of an illustrated history lesson about a time where music evolved from predictable pop to chaotic experimentation. Full of dates and times and places, Unguarded Moments presents the people who, intentionally or not, revolutionized the popular culture of the late 20th Century.

Rodney Bingenheimer and Go Go's guitarist, Charlotte Caffey, 1980

During summers off from college, and after graduation, while working as tour manager and publicist for mainstream, “alternative” and punk bands, Kereakes took her camera on the road to clubs and recording studios and returned with images of all the emotional, spiritual and cultural shifts that changed the course of popular music.

Billy Idol, 1978

Ultimately, Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond is that rare backstage-pass, an elite VIP invite to the after-show party and every rock 'n' roll fan's dream. Layered beneath the gloss and the grit is the truth behind fame: everybody has an unguarded moment where their innate humanity is revealed.

Dave Parsons of Sham 69, JFK Airport Lounge, 1981

Theresa has been exhibiting her Vintage Punk Pictures since September 2004 on a never-ending tour of United States rock festivals, night clubs, art galleries and indie record stores. The exhibit, Punk Turns 30 has met with rave reviews, celebrity endorsements and has landed in Cleveland, Chicago, Nashville, New York City, Memphis, Tampa, Tallahassee, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The associated website of photos and behind the scenes stories, www.punkturns30.com has logged over 750,000 unique visitors, with more taking a peek every day .

Tour graphics, poster/handbills by faggotybackpack design

We Want To Be A Book When We Grow Up

2011-02-22T20:13:00.003-05:00

Sadly, all the handmade, hand-bound collector edition books of the handbills and Tropicana Motel images have sold out and are out of print.

I am, however, putting together the comprehensive coffee table version of this exhibit, plus my tour diaries and photos I took on the road with this show.

Right now, I'm looking for ways to raise money to make that happen.

Selling prints helps - so if you want to buy anything from the Unguarded Moments collection or from the Punk Turns 30 archive, please email me

Thanks for your continued support!

Collectors LOVE Belinda

2009-07-10T15:42:00.003-04:00

NEWS from the Christie's Pop Culture Auction... collectors LOVE Belinda!

We are proud to have been a part of this and are astonished at how valuable our work is deemed... or perceived to be.

Once again - a heartfelt thank-you to all the punk rock and photography fans who have attended our exhibits since 2005.

Finally, we are in the business of putting pictures in your hands - or rather on your walls.

Please contact us directly with your inquiries for direct sales of any Punk Turns 30 and other rock n roll images. Don't forget that Metropolis Gallery can also sell you images from the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond exhibit. Visit their site and have a look around. If you have inquiries about purchasing any of the Unguarded Moments images, please contact Metropolis by email - they can hook you up!

Unguarded Moments IN THE NEWS!

2009-06-14T14:26:00.004-04:00

Several images from the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond collection are part of the Christie's Pop Culture Auction, to be held on June 23, 2009.

You can view the eCatalog RIGHT HERE or simply visit Christies.com and peruse their site. The Unguarded Moments images of The Germs and Belinda Carlisle comprise lots 49 and 50 in Christies Pop Culture Auction - check them out!

In 2008, Christie's, the venerable auction house, held two wildly successful, highly regarded and heralded auctions of Pop Culture artifacts. The November 2008 auction focused largely on memorabilia from the punk rock era. (Visit the NYTimes for pictoral coverage! or read their comprehensive coverage)

Now, in June 2009, punk rock once again comprises a healthy chunk of the items on the auction block.

The Germs - this image is one of the prints in Lot 49

We at Punk Turns 30 (which would be me, speaking as the Royal "We," god save the queen...) are both proud and perplexed about this phenomena.

On the one hand, we think, HELL YEAH! at the thought of being deemed collectible by an institution such as Christie's. It helps to bolster the notion we have held for our lifetime that photography IS fine art.

On the other hand, we simply feel like "Forrest Gump." Who'da thunk that our misspent youth would become noteworthy rather than notorious? Maybe it is notoriously noteworthy.

At the end of the day, we have YOU to thank: the fans, the followers, the collectors, friends, family and supporters.

Now... please tell your rich friends about this auction!

Tour Diary - Lancaster, December 5, 2009 A Good Hair Day, among other things...

2008-12-13T02:31:00.007-05:00

On the morning of December 5, my second morning in Lancaster, I went to the adorable and highly recommended Chestnut Street Cafe to get some coffee (and a red velvet cupcake) for breakfast... I brought with me some flyers for the exhibit's opening night, which coincided with the town's monthly First Friday art crawl.

I had a nice chat with the barista about which particular coffee they were serving that morning was the darkest, smokiest brew, and casually asked what that nice young man was doing after work. I handed him a couple of flyers and asked him to share with his co-workers, when one of them asked me "Are you the photographer?" And she said that she had read about me in the morning paper. At that time, I had yet to see the morning paper, which would be waiting for me at Metropolis. I knew I was going to be in it, but to what extent remained a mystery. The previous day, both a photographer and reporter spent time with me and overnight WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM... a photo of me "in action" was not just above the fold - it was under the banner!!! This is as noticeable a placement as the headlines... only better... because its a color picture. Move over Kennedy's... my publicist can kick your publicist's butt.

Punk Rock as a headline in Amish country. Whoo Hoo! Hey Stiv - we did it. I sorta feel like Obama... yes we can; yes WE DID.

All day long, when I was finally doing my little site-seeing in Lancaster, and handing people flyers, they were saying "I read about you in the paper." Wow. Almost famous. Infamous, I know. Celebrated? Who knew?

Lancaster is an interesting town. Its a college town and it is the heart of Amish country. A great and wonderful thing about Lancaster's downtown -- there are almost NO CHAIN retailers! Yes, yes, Goodyear is a chain, but this is on the outside perimeter of the renovated downtown. There is a Dunkin Donuts, but their storefront fits in perfectly with the rest of the storefronts, and of course, there are banks such as Wachovia, Bank of America... but there's no landscape of garish neon making this town look like any other. I applaud that!

Additionally, it is fair and accurate to say that the revitalization of Lancaster's downtown scene can be attributed to Gallery Row. We know it is true, when the economy cannot support industry, both service and culture become the revenue stream. I'm hoping that the economy rebounds, but gets steered more by culture and service than say.... the war industry.

President James Buchanan is from Pennsylvania and died in Lancaster and the Masonic Lodge (#43 to be exact) where he and his fellow cabal of Masons did their thing is basically behind Metropolis Gallery. Fourteen US Presidents have admitted to being Masons - even the Skull & Bones men. Then I hear that ALL the Presidents have been Masons. Makes me wonder about Obama.

Can we get a punk rock secret society going? I'm not talking about the cult of the Germs burn... I'm talking about wielding power at "leader of the free world" level. Kind of. Really.

Another olde time tradition I experienced in Lancaster was their Farmers Market - the oldest continually running Farmers Market in the nation. Those of you who know me know that I'm all about buying directly from growers and supporting local farmers and businesses. This market obviously has a lot of Amish and Mennonite vendors, and I bought a $2 Amish cookbook. Then there's the Pennsylvania Dutch thing (they're Germans... Dutch for "Deutschland")-- if you saw the movie "Witness" (Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis), you'll know I really can't explain it - you have to be there. Suffice it to say, its a lifestyle that's the polar opposite of all I know.

But that's what is so wonderful about being able to travel - to experience lifestyles and places different from what you know and are familiar with.

The opening itself was amazing. Throughout the day, there was a steady stream of people stopping into the Gallery... it was about as cold as cold gets, and windy too... yet people were getting their culture on! I met a group of people who were not just punk fans but bonafide record collecting aficionados. Its pretty exciting to learn that all the trials and tribulations of your attempts to get on the map actually put you there.

At the opening, I autographed copies of The Germs "Forming" single and also a couple copies of Stiv Bators solo album "Disconnected." Someone even had a Pandoras "Hot Generation" single with autographs of all the band members. A completist, this man now has even the photographer's signature!

Frank Secich, Stiv Bators, Greg Shaw

Of the three men pictured above, two are from these parts (Frank, from PA and Stiv from Ohio) and one is from liberal, artsy, hipper than thou San Francisco (Greg). They are, however, three of the most important men in my punk rock life and career. Greg Shaw threw a lot of work my way, and Stiv the big brother I never had was the best photo subject you could dream of. Frank was then and continues to be the voice of reason.

In closing, there are many people to thank for this wonderful time... it all starts with Gregg Kostelich of Get Hip and The Cynics (Pittsburgh) who introduced me to the Gallery - Angelo and Lisa Madrigale. Fabulous people... and Angelo's brother Mike, who owns the record store (all vinyl!!) around the corner, Mr Suit, and Angelo & Mike's dad, Jerry, who lent me his apartment during my stay. Then there's the Jeffs - Breil and Royer. Without them... and without Debra Anderson, I'd be anonymous. Mike's girlfriend Amy pulled a favor and got me into the salon where she gets her hair cut so I could look good for my opening. She saved the day!

Next Tour Date - December 5, 2008 - LANCASTER, PA

2008-11-03T01:03:00.004-05:00

We open for a 2-month stint at Metropolis Gallery and Store in Lancaster, PA.
The opening night party is Friday, December 5. I hope to see some 717 punk rock fans that night!

Yes, that is indeed the heart of Amish country. I love the juxtaposition.

Metropolis Gallery
154 N. Prince St. Lancaster, PA 17603
Phone: 717 572 9961
Mon-Thur:11-6, Fri-Sat:10-6
www.metropolis-store.com
www.myspace.com/metropolis_gallery

Tour Diary - Halloween in Harrisburg

2008-11-01T23:18:00.003-04:00

I have wanted to do a party with husband & wife DJ's, The Thing With Two Heads for quite a while. Back in 2005 or so, the moment I walked into Magnetic Field, where he was spinning, Bazooka Joe's very next record to play was by the Oblivians, called No Reason To Live. That was my favorite punk rock song of the 90s, and most of my friends know that. So, I gotta give props to a DJ who knows my fave song and plays it when I walk in the room. That sealed the deal for me and TTWTH...we'd do a party together sometime somewhere.

I have written at length about how I believe the Oblivians restored my faith in a post punk rock kind of punk rock, devoid of new wave stupidity and the fashion applications of grunge. No Reason To Live was a song that also hearkened back to real 1970s punk rock - all nihilistic and noisy. No Reason To Live completely connected the dots between Bob Dylan's Queen Jane Approximately and punk rock. Weird to you, but a completely and perfectly normal association and correspondence for me. If you are still confused, I suggest you pick up a copy of EMW Tillyard's slim volume entitled, The Elizabethan World Picture and many things will become clear to you, Shakespeare included. Would I steer your wrongly?

Pictured here are Bazooka Joe Diddley, Billy Synth, Christine Sixteene and Sarah Bellum - not any of their real last names, of course... as is the punk rock / underground hipster way. On my first night in Harrisburg, October 30, Joe, Christine, Sarah and I paid a visit to Billy Synth, an 80s punk rock underground icon from Harrisburg. He lives in a tiny record-and-CD-filled apartment near the Susquehanna River. The neighborhood is a quaint collection of colonial style row houses and blocks, probably there since the Colonial days. The scale of the rooms is small, as is the scale of the buildings and their narrow entry ways. I just don't see a bigger than life size flat screen TV fitting in here... but I digress.

Seeing that I started with this tale in mid-point progress, let me re-digress and take you to the beginning of the journey.

My journey began at 6 AM Thursday morning, October 30. The taxi I called was coming to get me at 7 am for my 8:30 AM flight. As usual, I worked on all number of things til about 3 in the morning, as I do every day. Basically, I took a nap and then jumped in a cab. I brought only a carry on bag, filled with smaller size prints. In a separate art box, I had a 20x24 poster and a framed 16x20 print. You know these art boxes - they're basically flat and measure what your print measures - this was a 21 x 25 x 2 inch box - not heavy, but completely unwieldy, so, I used a luggage trolley to cart the art box and my carry on bag in one simple space/time continuum. However, the airport and the airlines saw things differently.

I am not a morning person to begin with and the alternatingly chipper and cranky airport personnel, from greeters to Transportation Safety Association people pretty much made sure that I continue to be not a morning person. I learn in ways both nice and nasty that my little trolley is considered a whole piece of luggage! WTF? Who made up that rule? Its wrong, I tell ya! One airlines "customer service" lady snappped that I had 4 carry on items - the trolley (give me a f***ing break!), my art box, my carry-on and my purse. Well, I shoved my purse into the carry on, taking out just my money and iPod. I had to ditch the trolley and this was the most difficult task of the morning. Airport people suggested a wild goose chase path... but I took that trolley all the way up to the boarding gate. A nice gate agent offered to tag the trolley and take it to the luggage office and I could reclaim it on my return trip. That was the nicest thing to happen to me all morning.

You see, prior to my getting to the gate, I was turned inside out at security, where my carry on bag was unpacked by a bitchy white trash lady and well groomed Black man. Yes, yours truly was singled out and given the full-on terrorist screening. The rivets on the corners of the pockets of my jeans made the metal detecting wand go off, and that prompted the bitchy white trash lady to have to pat me down. Just to enhance the level of discomfort, I said "good thing I'm not wearing my regular bra. The underwire always made the metal detector at the IRS go off." I don't know why, but that statement just unnerves people. Its just an undergarment with metal in it!

I think that bitchy white trash lady saw it as a form of assholery on my part, and well, it was. But what's a gal to do when she's getting electronically frisked and then felt up by a TSA bitch? When the TSA lady and man started rifling through the carry-on bag, I got concerned that they'd manhandle my photos to the point of damaging them. Luckily, I've been singled out as a potential terrorist before! I brought with me the copy of the MODE, Harrisburg's version of the Village Voice / LA Weekly / Nashville Scene / Memphis Flyer / Chicago Reader... you get the point --- there was a big full page article about me and my show and one of the photos in the paper was a photo I was carting around with me. I was able to prove to them that some people like and even buy my pictures and they should take care not to fuck my shit up.

I do believe I have "Troublemaker" invisibly tattoo'd on my head - either that or there's a neon sign over my head that I can't see. This happened to me in 1978 when I was returning to the States from Tijuana in my very own car with Pleasant, who had switchblades, fireworks, valium and who knows what else. The border patrol disconnected the horn in my car when they turned it inside out. Pleasant and I tried our best to make the border patrol matrons uncomfortable with us. Just because I was a smart ass punk, I opted to speak French to the border patrol. You know - because I could... and because it was illegally crossing Mexicans they were concerned with - not French school girls.

Thirty years later, and I'm still getting stopped by security people. Since I'm on the soapbox, I do want to say that I'm fairly certain that none of the people who get pulled aside and searched with full terrorist treatment is anything near a terrorist. In fact, one of the hallmarks of a successful terrorist is that they can evade detection. I think the TSA is going about it all wrong. Just because I look like a deadbeat doesn't mean I'm going to blow up a plane or hijack it. I also don't see how taking away my bottle of Clarins moisturizer and my Chanel lipstick are going to make the world safer. The TSA at Nashville airport made me $80 poorer before I event left town. For the record - the moisturizer came in a bottle that was 0.6 ounces more than the limit - but since it was half-empty, I really really don't see why it was even an issue. And I think the white trash TSA bitch just wanted my lipstick. Its Chanel - even the white trash knows that is a fashion name of some renown.

Eventually, I get out of there and on the plane for the first leg of the journey which takes me to Detroit. I know the airport very well. Its got a Taco Bell! Also, because its a hub for Northwest, there's a lot of Japanese influence - two sushi places to eat, announcements in Japanese and this fabulous disco walkway through a tunnel in between the concourses.

The plane from Detroit to Harrisburg is a tiny tiny plane. I'm 5'2" and conked my head twice on the overhead bins. Other than that, it was an uneventful flight. I manage to find a poorly marked bus stop at Harrisburg's airport, board a bus, and for $2.05, ride to the center of town where Joe and Christine Almeida - aka The Thing With Two Heads - pick me up.

Joe's prepared machaca for our dinner. And the city of Harrisburg has declared that Thursday night - October 30 is the night that children will go trick or treating. Weird, but the Almeida's are prepared. And when trick or treating and our dinner of machaca tacos is over, we go off to visit Billy Synth with our friend Sarah.

Billy Synth is a local legend and mostly unsung hero, but not to Bazooka Joe. Joe pointed out that in the early 80s, no punk bands were covering the kind of neo-garage obscurities that Billy was... and that Billy, as a collector and expert was responsible for suggesting many chestnuts that ended up on many of the garage compilation records you love so much (on the Norton or Get Hip labels, to name but two... I think Billy worked with Bomp a bit as well).

Joe, an avid record collector himself, pretty much makes Billy show us everything he owns, and plays a lot of it too. We girls are all extremely tired and ready to go to bed, but Joe could stay up all night... eventually we leave.

Halloween Night itself is a blast. Spent the morning scouring Good Will and Salvation Army stores for funky picture frames, then we installed the exhibit and before we knew it, the party began. People showed up in costume, Joe & Christine were throwing down an eclectic set of jams ranging from punk to garage and a little bit of soul and roots rock. People who came to the party left with The Ramones and Stiv Bators....

And then began the return home...

For all my own airport hassle getting to Harrisburg, going home was flawless, except that I had a 3-hour layover in Detroit, and that's just too much time to be waiting for a plane. I was surprised in Harrisburg that the people in the security x-ray checkpoint ahead of me had BULLETS (a big ole box of em) in their carry-on and were allowed to keep them.

Needless to say, had I attempted something like that, I'd be in jail.....

If you haven't already done so, GO VOTE TOMORROW

Tour Diary, October 4, 2008Punk Rock Autumn Almanac

2008-10-04T00:51:00.005-04:00

If it's September, then its Autumn... yes yes yes... beautiful weather and a sense of actually working and getting things done. Summer is play time, and Autumn is the harvest, its back to school and back to work.... that's the Almanac part of this. The rest of the title means you should invest in Kinks records.

Almost exactly a year ago I was getting ready to head out on the tour you've read about in these very pages. Last year, I was torn between my Day of the Dead special show in Memphis and possibly jetting over to Paris for a one-nighter with the Andy Warhol Factory crew in an homage to the Factory's famous photographer, Billy Name, with whom I share an agent... the lovely and talented Kevin Kushel, who organized a Billy Name / Andy Warhol appreciation show during the Paris Photo event. However, I got an once-in-a-lifetime command performance by Jack Oblivian and Tyler Keith as punk rock mariachis.... and I spent several days in Mississippi, a place that I hold dear because of William Faulkner, Elvis Presley and Jimmie Rodgers.

Just like last year, I am busy making exhibition prints.

There are three shows coming up for the rest of this year...

October 11 in East Nashville at Creative Space (400 Davidson Street, near LP Field), a group show and fashion extravaganza called Kaleidoscope, where I will be hanging up Punk Turns 30's greatest hits.

On Halloween, I'm in Harrisburg, PA with my friends Joe & Christine on the DJ decks for Punk Rock Day of the Dead... a show that will be a perennial.

In December, opening on the 5th in Lancaster, PA at the Metropolis Gallery, Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond will have its final showing. The show will be up through January 31, so instead of a hazy shade of winter, we will make it kind of high contrast and neon for you.

During the course of the tour, I've met a great many wonderful people, and I have seen a great many wonderful places. A lot of great punk rock bands have entertained me and you. My sojourns in each city have been both one-night-stands and never-ending stays. I feel like Bob Dylan on his never-ending tour!

As I look out on the Nashville Skyline - the Bat Tower, the Shelby Bridge, the ridiculous scrap metal heap right by the interstate and the capitol in the shadows of downtown... I do think of three albums recorded here... three of my favorites - not punk rock albums, but Bob Dylan albums. Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline.

"All Along the Watchtower," a track from John Wesley Harding comes to mind more for me when I look out my window than even the term "Nashville Skyline."

We live in scary times. I just watched the honorable Joe Biden and the ridiculous Sarah Palin participate in a "debate" and in a couple days, this town will welcome Barack Obama and John McCain to debate at Belmont University. I shudder to think what may happen if things don't go as I want them to.

Weird times make for good art, though. Last time politics were this ridiculous, punk rock was born. Europe gave us the Theatre of the Absurd during political repression, and the Absurds playwright, Vaclav Havel ended up presiding over his country decades later. Perhaps someday we will elect Wayne Kramer President. He could kick out the jams, huh?

Wayne Kramer, MC5

Anyway - please vote. If you're not registered, you have til Monday to do so. I don't care who you vote for - although I would really like if it you voted for Obama/Biden. Just vote. If you don't vote, then you have no right nor reason to complain.

March 29, 2008 - THANK YOU Lansing!!

2008-03-29T19:38:00.002-04:00

Amy Gore and me at Mac's Bar

In a typical punk rock move, I drove up to Lansing, Michigan on the morning of March 28 for my exhibit that evening at Mac's Bar and the rock show with the Gore Gore Girls and Chrome Spiders. Its a 537 mile drive from Nashville,TN, my starting point to East Lansing, MI. Yes, that's a work day of driving.

The weather was working in my favor. It was grey and overcast but warm when I left Nashville in a brand new sparkly green Ford Focus, a rental from Hertz. There was a little bit of rain - sprinkles mostly - in Kentucky (appropriate because "Kentucky Rain" has got to be one of my favorite songs Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n Roll ever sang). The drive is a straight shot up Interstate 65, where I passed all kinds of farms, barns and their associated animals. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to stop and take pictures of what I saw... but I was on a mission and stopping was not on the schedule... that, and I intentionally left my camera in its bag in the trunk.

The moment I crossed the Michigan state line, there was snow on the ground and it was a bit colder. Good thing I brought my NYC winter jacket! Michigan did in fact have some snowfall the day before I arrived and I was surprised at how much snow remained on the ground.

Mac's Bar is typical of a college town dive. The walls are covered with neon beer logos and photos of the bands who have played there over the years as well as flyers for shows past, present and future.

Rich Tupica, a student in Lansing, and big fan of punk rock and all my favorite bands, set up the show and he brought a few friends with him to help me hang up the pictures.

As always, I finally got to meet in person several people I know only via email - guys like Mikey and Dutch Hercules and Stefan "White & Nerdy." Nice to meet you fellas! And as always, I get a chance to hang out with my friends who live far flung from me, like fellow rock n roll photographer and April Fool baby, Windy Mayes.

The highlight of the evening was the wild rock n roll sounds of The Chrome Spiders and Gore Gore Girls. I've seen the Gore Gore Girls plenty over the years; they never fail to pull out all the stops, go to 11 and then some... but it was my first time seeing Chrome Spiders. Tom Potter is high on my list of men I call musical geniuses. I hope this band will do some shows outside their home turf of Michigan. I'd like to run into them all over the place the way I do with the Gore Gore Girls.

No night of rock n roll is complete unless there is a late night lagniappe of greasy burgers. This night was no different. Across a parking lot there's a 24/7 diner, to which three out of four Chrome Spiders, Rich and I decamped for greasy burgers and ice cold Cokes.

And as usual, this whole shebang is over too soon. After a short night's sleep, I was back in the car, retracing my steps down the Interstate, bound for Nashville.

Thank you Lansing for one of the best one night stands I've had all year!

Next Exhibit: East Lansing, MI on March 28

2008-03-27T06:27:00.000-04:00

Mac's Bar in East Lansing, Michigan will host the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond exhibit on March 28. Gore Gore Girls and Tom Potter's Chrome Spiders are playing !!!

This special installation of the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond tour will be a Ladies Only affair... not to worry... the guys aren't left out - they're just not the focal point of the photos.

Think superstars: Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, Belinda Carlisle, and seminal punk ladies on the leading edge: Penelope Houston (Avengers), Lorna Doom, Patricia Morrison, Alley Cat Dianne Chai, Pleasant and more!

If you are a collector of photographs and want to buy something from this exhibit, the punkrockgiftshop.com is having a special during the month of March in honor of the Ladies Only exhibit.

Also during March, to help celebrate the release on DVD of the Gun Club documentary, Ghost on the Highway, we also have a Gun Club special - three 8x10 prints for $50! See below and click the pic!

Tour Merchandise in the form of picture booklets are once again available by mail order. Buy all 3 and save.

Details are HERE and here's a slide show of some of the images in those books.

Remembering New Orleans - Feb 18 - 25, 2008

2008-03-05T04:13:00.003-05:00

Thank you, New Orleans

Louie Fest is over, with the last of the live music hitting its final note sometime on Sunday night, Feb 24... The Royal Pendletons closedthe festivities with their particular brand of rock n roll marathon.

I departed New Orleans at 7 AM Sunday, missing out on the Pendletons extravaganza, but not before getting the most out of my week in the Crescent City.

Such a warm welcome awaited, and I found New Orleans to be a city of artists who support one another in a way that no other cities artist populations do. The support from art lovers, music fans and general public was overwhelming and I am truly moved by all the shows of kindness, generosity, hospitality and interest from the warm people and wacky souls of New Orleans.

In no particular order, big love and thanks go to:

King Louie, Dustin Crops, Daphne Loney, Sarah Smith and her man Chris, Mimi and the staff at her bar including the imaginative chef, Heathcliff, Dan Tague, Andy & Terri from St Roch via California, Black Rose Band, Die Rottz, Jared Swilley, Damien & Ramona, Mr Quintron, Melvin - "an important motherfucker to know in this town," certain wage slaves at Kinko's, Miss Conduct at WTUL, JPK for diversion when I needed it, Adrienne the art school drop out for inspiration, Larry the shithead, Sugar, and finally, Robert Mache and John "Papa" Gros ( although neither of them had anything to do with Louie Fest, they had plenty to do with my New Orleans sojourn)

Louie Fest is over, but my photo exhibit is still hanging up at Mimi's in the Marigny so if you missed a chance to see it, you still can - til about the 15th of March.

Mimi's in the Marigny
2601 Royal (at Franklin)
open every day from 4 PM until you can't stand up...
Photo Exhibit is UPSTAIRS

Next Stop: New Orleans and LOUIE FEST!

2008-02-05T01:43:00.003-05:00

King Louie is a latter day punk rock legend... he's got Louie Fest going on in New Orleans from February 20 - 24 and we will be there!! The opening party is on Tuesday, February 19 at Mimi's in the Marigny, Royal @ Franklin, from 6-8 pm with LIVE MUSIC from King Louie One Man Band - UNPLUGGED

In addition to the Vintage Punk Rock photos from backstage, off stage and beyond... I will be showing some special photos of some of the musicians performing at Louie Fest, like King Louie himself, Jack Oblivian and others... and there are some SPECIAL DEALS on prints of King Louie, Mr Quintron and others... click this and see!

Closing Party at Magnetic FieldFebruary 2, 6-8 PMHAPPY HOUR!!

2008-01-28T16:48:00.001-05:00

We have had a FANTASTIC TIME hanging up in Magnetic Field and we're gonna go out IN STYLE with a punk rock happy hour closing party celebration... one more time to take a gander at the big blow ups of Darby Crash, The Cramps, Belinda Carlisle and many other punk rockers captured in their Unguarded Moments.

And - there are some cool iterations of familiar photos hanging... and they are all for sale...

come to Magnetic Field to buy this special print!!

If you didn't know this... February 2 is the 126th anniversary of the birth of my favorite writer in the English language, James Joyce. For those out there reading this who do know me, you know that I traditionally throw a party on February 2 - because in addition to it being Joyce's birthday, it is also the anniversary of the publication of his masterpiece, Ulysses by Sylvia Beach in Paris in 1922... making 2008 the 86th anniversary of the book's birth.

What does this have to do with punk rock and my photo show? Well --- the music playlist will be Hiberno-heavy... featuring Irish artists and those of Irish descent, oh... like the Pogues, Elvis Costello, Undertones, Boomtown Rats and others... don't worry... I don't think we'll be spinning any U2 but I will be sneaking in some Thin Lizzy, because Phil Lynott was a big fan of the punk rock. Since it is happy hour anyway... its time to enjoy the best of Irish libation -- Jamesons (which they drink in Ulysses), Guinness and I will be bringing some munchies for our final photo show fling.

Anyway -- see you at Magnetic Field on Saturday, February 2 from 6 - 8 PM... punk rock happy hour, some munchies and lots of sound and vision!!!

New York Shows Continue!Magnetic Field & Pass Out Still Hanging!

2008-01-15T03:15:00.001-05:00

If you missed the opening night party at Magnetic Field on Thursday, January 10 - don't fret... you will have a few more days in which to see these photos!

But I wouldn't wait too long.... Magnetic Field is a great place to hang out and there's always great music whether its special DJ nights or just one of the bartender's iPod playlists...

Another reason not to wait too long is that all the pictures on the wall are for sale at ridiculously reasonable prices. I sold a few off the wall on Thursday - but the big movers have been the wide selection of unframed 8x10's and 5x7's in a box behind the bar. If you collect this punk rock ephemera, best get yourself down to Magnetic Field and grab some collectibles!

Punk Rock Dead of Winter exhibit at Pass Out Record Shop is also still hanging - with the small framed pictures - the Punk Rock Memento Mori as I call them - simply flying off the walls. Hurry in and get your own precious Punk Rock Collectibles while they're still there.

For a sneak peak at some of the images you can find on the walls... scroll down on this page.... and DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT the punkrockgiftshop.com for some special deals on images that will be included in the Punk Rock Dead of Winter show. It's not too good to be true... its a deal too good to pass up! Images include: The Ramones, Johnny Thunders, Stiv Bators, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Darby Crash and many more.

Next Tour Date - January 10, 2008, BROOKLYN!!!!

2008-01-14T03:51:00.001-05:00

THIS COMING THURSDAY NIGHT!!! January 10
Photos will be available for sale including a few complete Cramps Portrait Packages in 8x10 sizes!

What a way to kick off 2008! We will be at Magnetic Field for a free show on Thursday, January 10, 2008. On the music decks, my LA punk rock homeboy, The Boogaloo Omnibus, the one and only Phast Phreddie a DJ extraordinaire and one cool dude who goes way back to the days when all these photos were taken!

There will be many surprises and MORE SHOWS for the great New York & New Jersey area in January - so keep your eyes on this site for updates!

POST SCRIPT...

As 2007 draws to a close, let me just say how proud I am of the great press & reviews these old punk rockers have been getting!

Rolling in from 2007
Memphis Flyer
Commercial Appeal
Punk 365 Book Launch in Los Angeles
Pine Magazine - ATLANTA
Rock Critics Dot Com
Bubblegum Slut Zine (UK) Issue #29!!
Found In Brooklyn

From the first tour
The Nashville Scene
FSView, Tallahassee, FL
The fans like it!
Interview With Alice Bag/Women of LA Punk

Tour Diary - Brooklyn, January 10, 2008

2008-01-12T03:31:00.000-05:00

Dave Parsons, Jan Berry, Stiv Bators

This photo, taken in the hallway of the Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC in 1981, is the only photo in the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond collection that's hanging up at Magnetic Field right now (and through the end of January) that was NOT shot in Los Angeles. New York is my second home town - the one I adopted in the mid 80s when I moved from LA via London/Paris and my last stint as Stiv Bators' roommate.

So as an LA Native with New York I decided to represent West Coast punk and Stiv both in this particular installation.

Imagine my surprise when friendly ghosts of punk rock days/LA and Stiv past came to celebrate the opening Thursday night!

The man hidden behind Sex Pistol Paul Cook and Slit Viv Albertine is Rory Johnston, back in those days known as the Pistols man in the USA... he's also worked in a managerial capacity with The Avengers, Blondie and others. Late last year, when my tour started, I spoke with Rory on our respective cel phones while I was in Memphis and he was in LA with a band. I had to tell him that the Taliesyn Ballroom, where the Sex Pistols played in Memphis is now a Taco Bell...

Sid's blurry because I was balancing (not well) on a chair at Winterland

Rory was one of the management angels behind the scenes who helped Pleasant, Randy and me make Lobotomy the zine it was... with cover stories that grew out of interviews with Blondie... the Avengers... he actually carved out time for us to spend with our friends that he was at the same time, grooming for success.

Rory in the center, Pleasant and Danny Avenger in the back, and Jimmy Wilsey on the left

When we took Lobotomy road trips up to San Francisco, we were usually going to see Blondie, Mumps or the Avengers...

Randy and Pleasant in San Francisco, 1978

It was like 1978 all over again as Rory and I took a walk down memory lane with some of the photos... These photos (which are in the show at Magnetic Field) could not have been taken without a little help from Rory.

And Lobotomy would not have had this cover without Rory's help either...

This was at a time where Blondie were a huge underground and cult favorite and had just recorded Parallel Lines. Little did any of us know that the silly "Disco Song," Heart of Glass would change the world for us.

Of all the punk rockers represented in the Magnetic Field installation, Stiv Bators has the most face time. One of my dearest friends, Stiv was the one with whom I spent my first solo adult sojourn in New York, as well as many other NY visits before I moved from LA to NY. The photo at the top of this post was taken in the Gramercy Park Hotel, where we all stayed in one suite during the Wanderers tour. Dave Parsons then and now, the guitarist for Sham 69 and Stiv met surf pop vocal icon Jan Berry there. Jan was the one in Jan & Dean who did come back from Dead Man's Curve (for those not in the know, that was their biggest hit song, about the dangers of drag racing).

But Jan Berry was not the only legendary musician we would run into...

When we (me & the Wanderers) arrived in New York City in the Summer of 1981, The Rolling Stones were getting ready to go on the road. They were just releasing Tattoo You and on our first day traipsing around the East Village, the band was shooting the video for Waiting on a Friend on St. Mark's Place.

Little known fact: Rolling Stone Keith Richards is a friend to the punk rocker. Punk Magazine mascot, the late John Spacely pictured below, was one of the group of us hanging around that particular August day. John Spacely and Keith Richards were friendly... and John had told us that afternoon of running into Keith "around the corner."

Me, Keith, John Spacely

Dave Parsons, as any guitar player should, had a healthy respect for Keith and wanted to know if we might meet up with him. Stiv said that was no problem... Keith would come by.

A man that Dave believed to be Keith Richards did come around and hang with us... only it was not Keith, but a friend of Stiv's who bears (still to this day) a striking resemblance to Keith... the video director/producer and photographic artist, Marty Abrahams. Stiv was always doing this to Marty... having him come by at a certain time... and Stiv would tell whomever he was playing the practical joke on that "Keith is here." Of course, if you drag the non-Keith on stage with you and you're playing "Tell Me," the Stones song... suggesting that this guest should know how the song goes... well, that was just Stiv... a practical joker of the highest order.

The biggest surprise for me this week from hearing from Marty Abrams... and he came to the show and we shared our memories of Stiv. Yes, we had a total laugh riot!

Last night's opening party was almost a high school reunion for me with Rory and Marty in attendance. Then of course, Phast Phreddie was spinning records and there were incoming "how's the party?" phone calls from 70s/80s punk rock era friends like Eddie Munoz of the Plimsouls and Kim Fowley. The 90s punk rock era was also in the house with New Bomb Turks frontman, Eric Davidson, whose latest credit is "scribe." But that's Eric's news to break... you can also read his writing in CMJ. I was happy to see new dad, Michael Galinsky who is one half of Rumur, a fine documentarian and co-director/producer with his wife, Suki Stetson Hawley of Half Cocked, Horns & Halos, Radiation and other fine filmed works. Click on the Rumur link to see the cool downloads Michael & Rumur have going (including Half Cocked!)

I realized at the end of the night that I forgot to send a personal invite to my neighbor from back in the day, Joan Jett, who is represented in the installation by this popular image:

I guess its time to start emailing....

Thanks Atlanta!

2007-12-17T01:01:00.000-05:00

Photos by Lorilee!
Had a GREAT time in Atlanta!

Thank you:
Bryan Malone
Star Bar
Gore Gore Girls
Burmese Crush
Michelle, Tom, Adrian
Adam Renshaw
Trey Lindsay
Eric Varner & Brad Lapin
Eric Holder and ISP-Music
The Howlies
Rosa Guerrero

Atlanta, GA - here we come - December 13 - 15

2007-12-15T13:24:00.001-05:00

WE JUST GOT THESE IN!!! If you're in the ATL - you can buy yours TONIGHT and SATURDAY at the STAR BAR - downstairs at Punk Turns 30's photo exhibit!!!

Get it in the ATL! Join me as an array of these Unguarded Moments images hang in the downstairs lounge at the Star Bar in Atlanta in the Little Five Points 'hood. Upstairs, on the 14 and 15th... its a Toys for Tots thing with proceeds going to the cause. $10 will get you in OR you're in free with an unwrapped new Xmas toy gift.

If you like these crazy posters and handbills... you can get yourself a little 5x7 booklet of all 17 designs... just visit this area of the Punk Rock Gift Shop!

.

December 10, 2007

2007-12-10T22:10:00.000-05:00

In ATLANTA, at last. I worked on an underground film for a few days in LA before flying out to Atlanta for my show here at the Star Bar (December 13 - 15). Because we are in the throes of winter and the unpredictable weather that with it comes, I chose to route my flight from LA to Dallas, and Dallas to Atlanta. I couldn't afford to buy the non-stop at the late date when my plans were confirmed. Dallas, I figured, would be one place where weather was not an issue on December 9. But I was wrong.

My flight from LA to DFW airport was not just on time - it was early! However, the flight departing DFW for Atlanta was delayed, and kept getting delayed throughout the course of the afternoon.... because it originated in the Plains state of Oklahoma, which was experiencing an ice storm. I was lucky, because a lot of the flights out of Oklahoma were cancelled.

Arriving at my friend Bryan's apartment in Atlanta three hours later than I expected to, I was out of luck on trying to get something to eat... bars close at midnight and most of the restaurants around here (in his neighborhood at any rate) stop serving around 10. It was 11 PM by the time I started foraging for food. I got a couple slices of really good pizza... but I had a hankering for a whole different kind of hot meal. Ah well.

Slept til 2 PM today, local time...made a few prints this afternoon... got a dinner invitation from old pals from LA who now live in Buckhead (one of them teaches at Emory), and some more printing to do tomorrow as well. Thankfully, I'm getting sleepy at 10:19 PM as I write this, so no more up-all-night stuff tonight...

If you are in the ATL.. come to the Star Bar at 8PM (downstairs) and check out the pictures --- Thursday - Saturday. Stick around for the rock n roll !

November 29, 2007

2007-11-29T23:59:00.000-05:00

its decided.... for NY - 3 shows or even 4
manhattan, brooklyn x2 and most likely jersey city
2 in brooklyn because i am going to reprise punk rock day of the dead!

its all good

November 18, 2007

2007-11-18T01:40:00.000-05:00

Last night was a big party in Houston, TX in the pouring rain - all hot and humid like a swamp - and Sound Exchange was packed, feeling like a steambath as 3 local bands pounded out the punk rock. LAWS, Sporatics and Welfare Mothers.

Houston was also a hit n run city on this tour... not like the leisurely 3 weeks I spent between Oxford and Memphis... however... in Houston I enjoyed:

Vietnamese lunch: Les Givral's
Most Brooklyn-like (ie: universally hip) bar: Poison Girl
Drinks and art in a fabulous converted department store: Notsuoh
Night-cap: Pimm's Cups at some secret speak-easy type bar with Rosa and Kurt... its all about the cucumber!!!

Camera Co-Op. This place RULES. I'm going back to Houston just to buy vintage cameras. I scored a fabulous gadget bag - vintage 1950s leather one in perfect condition for $20.

FINALLY: this is a LINK to some photos of the event on the Hands Up Houston message board that one of the attendees posted. You can see my BW photos on Sound Exchanges bright red wall. I couldn't have requested a better situation!

Earlier this evening in Silverlake... the hipster capital of Los Angeles... Punk 365 and Creem celebrated the publication of those books with a signing / art show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery... a few of us photographers who are California-based are showing some pieces there, and they'll be hanging til December 30. Please check it out and see stuff that's not necessarily in PUNK 365... you can buy lots of the photos also... mine are for sale, as are Chuck Krall's, Dawn Wirth's and others'

For me, there were three distinct highlights:

Seeing a beautiful installation of my 7 pieces of art. Billy Shire is a genius. he made me look good!
Los Trendy - the new band featuring Tony Kinman
Seeing my friends - Bob Matheu with his wife and two lovely daughters!!! Gail Zone, Pooch Flipside, Eddie Munoz, Tony Kinman & Kristie, Chip Kinman & Lisa, Bill Heiden and Erin Austen Abbot.

Congratulations to Holly George Warren for such a nice turn out for her beautiful book. I am so proud to be part of it.

A sojourn in Los Angeles is made all the better because I get to spend quality time with Jackie Sharp in her beautiful home.

Next Show - HOUSTON, TX - November 17

2007-11-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

We will be rocking an after hours party at Sound Exchange on November 17 starting at 7 PM. There will be live music from L.A.W.S., The Sporatics and The Welfare Mothers.

Sound Exchange is located at 1864 Richmond in Houston, TX, telephone: 713.666.5555
They're open 7 days, 11:00 to 7:00 and I guarantee you that they stock the records that feature my photos on the covers and inner sleeves!

November 10, 2007 - Memphis

2007-11-11T03:04:00.000-05:00

That was more fun than anything I've done or been involved with in as long as I can remember.

Could be because its Memphis; could be because this group of musicians are just in it for the music and the fun... they are great players and great people...

Please see regular old Punk Turns 30 for why I think Memphis is the punk rock capital of the USA...

In Memphis, they just think I'm the last of the International Playgirls (hats off to Morrissey...) but, let me break it to you all...

at 2:30 in the morning, after coming back from a rock show where a couple of my favorite musicians have made guest appearances, redeeming an ordinary night's entertainment... I return not to a party house full of champagne and beautiful people... but to my computer.

I am making posters for the shows I have lined up through December and emailing them to the promoters in Houston and Atlanta. I'm making handbills for the shows too. I'm responding to interviews via email, and I'm searching the interweb for bargain airfares during the peak of holiday travel. Yesterday, I packed up all my art for the next two shows (Houston and Los Angeles) and mailed the prints off to their respective destinations. I can't tell you how thrilled I am with the help I got from Eric Friedl and his magic postage meter, saving me a trip to the post office

Sorry to shatter your fantasy projections... but my life isn't all that different from yours. I WORK 24/7 it seems... I usually have a cat or a dog at my side, and they are the best company. I love pets more than people sometimes. They are the best companions. They will give you undying love and devotion in exchange for food and a pat on the head. And except for the occasional request to throw a ball or toy for them to catch or fetch... they keep to themselves and leave you alone... and yet, you're together, keeping each other company... but respecting each other's boundaries. Ain't nothing like a pet! So if I ever tell you that I love you like I love my dog... that's a good thing. It means you have made a favorable impression and we could probably be friends for life

On Tour Whirlwind!

2007-11-03T17:34:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Oxford, MS and Memphis, TN for two astounding nights of punk rock music and good times. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page for the Tour Diary Blog entry for links to photos from the event!

A DOWNLOADABLE Version of the Tour Booklet, some New Articles AND Tour Dates are linked on the right - just scroll down and look for the appropriate sections

November 2, 2007 - Memphis, Tennessee

2007-11-03T00:33:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by Alisa in Memphis

This afternoon I ran out of the adrenaline that has powered me for the past 10 days. It has been an incredible 10 days as well!

There is no way I can even begin to articulate just how grateful, happy, amazed, incredulous and overwhelmed I am at the outpouring of support, good wishes and shows of friendship...

The attendance at both shows so far - the One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel and also the Punk Rock Day of the Dead - was brilliant. And they were great parties that will live forever in memory and isn't that why we take pictures? Alisa, who made the gorgeous collage that served as the picture platter for the photos in our show poster took these photos here with a camera she just got from her son that very day.

My dear friends and musical heroes - Jack Yarber and Tyler Keith absolutely went beyond the call of duty in the favors one does for friends department. Each of them wrangled their respective band mates and played as an ad hoc punk rock mariachi house band last night, with the lovely and dear Twinkle Van Winkle showing everyone how singing is done when her turn at the mic came up.

Thanks to local journalists (and damn fine writers) Andria Lisle and Bob Mehr, the show got a respectable 1-2 punch coverage in the Memphis Flyer and Commercial Appeal which helped to bring out some folks I actually KNEW but didn't realize were living in Memphis... and as a result of that, I am writing this from the guest room of dear punk rock veteran Robert Mache (Swingin Madisons, Continental Drifters... and a Cramps roadie from the early days) who now lives in Memphis in a post-Katrina relocation for himself & his family. We had a great catch-up & reminiscence day today and I joined the Maches and their daughter in the park for a hayride and bonfire. Viva Autumn... Memphis can boast that it has a spectacular swath of virgin forest last. It was a beautiful site and a perfect "Sleepy Hollow" backdrop for this ride in a donkey-drawn carriage through this forest, and even more delightful to watch Robert's beautiful little girl excitedly ride shot-gun on her second donkey ride go-round.

But I still cannot get over the bands! Again, I'm overwhelmed and speechless. I have always but always wanted to hear Jack play "Flashcube" live but he'd always tell me that it couldn't be done without John Whittemore on guitar. Well, last night, John was in the house and they played it for me. I'm one step closer to dying happy! Adam Woodward has always been a secret weapon on the keys and last night, the keys were on an accordion, which lent the authentic Mexican music sound... of course the sombreros and frilly shirts helped out in the appearance department. In a word, I LOVE these guys and I owe them from the bottom of my heart.

Live music and musicians changed my life way back in the 60s... and while you can frequently catch me saying - just like your own grumpy parents do - how much better it was in the old days... for my money - there isn't a soul out there playing live these days who can touch Jack Oblivian or Tyler Keith.

October 26, 2007 - Water Valley, Mississippi

2007-10-26T05:10:00.000-04:00

The Motel Art Show - One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel - was last night (although it is STILL that night for me) and it was a SMASHING SUCCESS. There was a drizzle all day long in Oxford, but people turned out and we had a great time.

I'm so happy that every one who came into my shabby motel room gallery enjoyed the Punk Rock Junkie Motel Death theme/installation with the unmade bed and dead junkie punks propped up against the headboard within their shabby motel room frames. That was quite a lot of fun to take a room that had seen much better days and play up its torn & frayed edges.

I was especially thrilled that another artist who showed, Paul Goggins (who also fronts a couple punk rock bands that played later in the evening at Jubilee) totally shared my sentiments on my favorite shot of Darby Crash (its the one above, in the main part of this site). And I thank him for trading me his Ramones painting for the Darby photo.

There's so much more to talk about - but its after 4 AM and I MUST GO TO SLEEP.

October 21, 2007 - Toluca Lake, California

2007-10-21T03:54:00.000-04:00

Its barely Sunday... tomorrow seems like 2 days from now, but technically speaking, tomorrow, I begin the eastward journey to the first 2 stops on this tour! I say "technically speaking" because I don't consider a day new until I've woken up on that day....

Anyway, I've got 2 bulging suitcases which are awkward. One is full of the small format photos and frames, all boxed up... clunky and heavy. I'm building a couple of Day of the Dead shrines, and I've got decorations too. Couple of snow globes I found at the 99 cent store with skeletons were perfect for the shrines! That's the kind of thing I'm carrying.

The Punk Rock Day of the Dead show - which is the second show on this tour (the first is the Motel Art Show - One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel) and its been declared by Kim Fowley to be THE punk rock cultural event of 2007! I am supposed to take pictures of Eric & Zac Goner, Jack O, bands, friends & cool Memphians in front of the Goner Store so Kim can see who my Memphis peeps are. Kim has also declared Alisa godhead for her photo collage talents. He's right about Alisa.

BUT....

I've barely slept in the last 2 weeks... this is my last chance for a long night's sleep... so I'm going to take it.

Good night

Octber 12, 2007 - Home in California

2007-10-12T04:18:00.000-04:00

its 1:18 AM. i'm just now getting started on today's workload on organizing the tour. i've got a panicked client - he's concerned that i will not be at his beck and call 24/7 for a month. goodness, what do people expect???

the other day, i received an email interview request from bubblegum slut zine from the UK. pretty excited about this! received the questions today and i am impressed at how thoughtful they are. this will give me an opportunity to think quality thoughts during the day rather than worry about film festival deadlines for other people's needs.

yesterday, i ventured out of the house to buy a portable external hard drive for my laptop, which has been running at over-capacity due to all the music and image files i have stored on it. this should have been a straight-forward errand. but it was not. bus driver negligence caused me to lose 2 1/2 hours of prime work time. time waits for no one. this kind of thing distresses me more than anything; most things you can make up somehow/somewhere. not time.

what am i/have i been missing while trying to get this show on the road? i missed my good friend dawn wirth's opening in LA last weekend - its called destroy all music and its pictures from LA punk rock days... this coming weekend, i will miss sham 69 play two shows in long beach on their way back to europe. and i really wanted to see ian's tattoo... the where it is and what it is.

but it isn't like i don't have tons to do. i say the following things out loud (well, figuratively) so i don't forget to do them: make jeffrey lee piece photo for dee pop; make paul cook photo for bruce of the dranks in memphis....

memphis... man, i count the moments til i arrive there....