philly

I was invited out by the people at Paper Garden Records to check out the CD release party of a wonderful musician from Doylestown, Peasant. His newest release Shady Retreat is just about to hit the streets. He's currently on his way to SXSW to where he'll be performing on the 18th and 20th. Opening up at World Cafe Live for Peasant was Sisters 3. While Emanuel and the Fear was also supposed to be at the release party, their van broke down and they couldn't make the trip down from NY. Hopefully their van woes are sorted out before they ship off to Austin for SXSW as well.

Sisters 3, an actual trio of sisters (Cassandra, Anna Christie and Beatrice) have a great soulful, harmonious sound to them. An easy mix of keys, vocals/guitar and percussion give them a clean sound.

Anna Christie.

Sisters 3 will be playing at the Johnny Brenda's charity event for the Mural Arts Program on the 22nd.

In contrast, Peasant, Damien Nicholas DeRose, is a one-man show. He played the guitar, sat at the piano and strapped on a harmonica, named Frank for a few songs.

He seems not fully at ease on stage which was okay. He was comfortable being uncomfortable. He was particularly happy to be at a piano at World Cafe Live. He noted that in so many venues there are horribly tuned pianos in horrible condition if there even was one. It was a joy for him to be at the keys in front of people who would appreciate it.

Simply put, DeRose has soul in his voice. It's hard for me to explain exactly what it means, but you know it when you hear it. There's a certain amount of pain and anguish along with perseverance and happiness in his sound.

He was really happy to see so many people come out for his release party. He thanked them numerous times throughout the show which was nice. The crowd yelled their support up at the mic throughout the show. There was a lot of love in the room. Anna Christie noted that they had known DeRose for many years too and that they were incredibly proud of where he'd come to.

DeRose spoke briefly about some of the songs he wrote. They were mostly about his friends and people he'd met along the way. One in particular was about a guy who had wronged him. It sounds like a particularly wonderful literal form of poetic justice.

The crowd forced him to stay on stage for two or three encores. He obliged noting that the crowd had paid for 3 bands worth of music and took request from the crowd. The crowd knew his stuff and were more than happy to shout out their favorites. With a little help from the crowd to remember the older songs, he left the stage all smiles.

Peasant will be at SXSW on the 18th playing at The Hidehout Theater at Noon and Tap Room at 6p; the 20th at Howl Interiors Studio at 2p and Grime's Photography Studio at 8p.

More photos from the evening in this slideshow. Click on the slideshow for a much, much larger version of the photos:

I buy one pair of Carhartt dungaree double knee jeans every year and change or so. I wear them just about every single day. Above and below are some shots depicting the wear patterns I put them through. Note: these all started out as the same exact jeans! Left to right: oldest to brand new and unworn.

It's like the selection one might find in a store with lots of different 'distressed' or 'washed' jeans styles. Bottom to top: oldest to brand new.

I've just started to break in the new jeans. I hate breaking in new jeans. So rough and uncomfortable for a good long while. But at some point, you stop noticing them and they're all good once again.

My friend Pat is quite the Renaissance man. I can talk to him about food, sports, art, cars… Our better halves have a ton in common to so we're well suited to hang out in groups and eventually split off to do our own things as well. One newly acquired skill for Pat is his touch at a potter's wheel. He started to take it up just a few years ago and he's got it down pretty well. We're very fortunate to have a bunch of his lovely ceramic bowls, pots and mugs in our house offsetting some of the not so nice stuff we've accumulated over the years. I tagged along as Pat went to the University City Arts League over at 4226 Spruce St in West Philly as he threw three vases. It was my first time in a pottery studio since Lauren Rossi's or Amanda Mittman's 2nd grade birthday party. I remember making a mold of a Mets logo and coloring it blue and orange. I wonder where that thing is now… Ceramics artists out there reading this post, please forgive me about the terminology, this is clearly not my field and Pat was throwing a lot of info at me while I was snapping photos for several hours. Above is Pat kneading the clay into the wheel. Centering the wet clay is crucial.

I set up a SB600 flash + Lumiquest Softbox III using a Manfrotto Super Clamp and Magic Armbehind Pat. I set up a SB800 flash + Lumiquest Softbox III using a Justin Clamp on a pipe running the length of the studio in front of Pat. I had a SB800 flash mounted on my camera as the trigger and offering some fill light. I used a D700 as my body and a bunch of lenses throughout the afternoon. I started off with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF and switched over to a Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 MF lens. Then I had my Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 MF and Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED AF for tighter shots.

Here's Pat starting to form the shape of the vase. This part is funny to watch. He stuck one finger into the clay and the hole just grew until he could fit his whole hand inside to feel out the shape. The wheel is mesmerizing to watch.

Here he's forming the lip of the vase. Even pressure has to be applied so things don't get lopsided and then they clay just goes flying off of the wheel. forces.

I backed off a bit with the 20mm in this shot to get more of the very cool studio into the frame. I like this environmental portrait with Pat at work. You can see the tools Pat uses to form his various pots, mugs, bowls, vases and other items. Sticks, rods, sponges… All different textures giving him a different feel digging into the wet red clay.

Here's Pat starting up another vase. The textures of hands pressing into the clay – picking up the excess, the water dripping through… It was poetic to watch.

And here's a final shot of Pat with a vase ready to dry. For this shot, I moved the SB600 to a lightstand and put it directly behind his body. The SB800 is on a lightstand just to camera left and shooting down at his face from about 5'. SB800 on camera is pointed to the shelves at right leaving the rest of the studio in a warmish color cast from the fluorescent lights being balanced by the camera (damn you 60hertz lights!). I'm currently helping Pat pup up a website to sell his lovely wares. I've been taking photos of some of his finished pieces and will continue to do so. I'll be posting some images of those finished pieces soon so keep your eyes out. If you see something you like, lemme know and I'll tell Pat.

Below is a slideshow of more images I put up on flickr. Click on the set to see it fullscreen (at 1200px on the long side!).