While there was not very much snow in the Metro Detroit area over the winter, there certainly was no lack of music! I got the chance to see my one of my favorites, Mr. Gregory Porter, at the Detroit Music Hall. Thank you to photo diva Karen Fox for this lovely photo after the show at the merch table. The winter season was filled with emotional music performances- which were fed from the political climate we now live in today. Music is an art form that can make cultural change. So this Spring & Summer- get out there and "HEAR THE MUSIC!"  

The 2017 Ann Arbor Folk Fest was one to remember. Two days of Hill Auditorium filled to the brim with kindred spirits! #Bliss #FindYourFolk #FolkinAwesome

Day one included the songwriting and MC'ing of the very astute Susan Werner, the guitar ramblings of Zack Heckendorf, the energized stage of Rainbow Kitten Surprise, the authenticity of Valerie June, the indigenous beats of Nahko & the Medicine for the People, a very colorful Jenny Lewis and the Texas born wonder woman Kacey Musgraves. The performances were filled with political commentary sometimes suggested and sometimes just flat out handed to the audience on a plate. I am so honored to have been witness to the power of music.

Day two equally dished out the musical flavors with Corn Potato String Band, Davina & the Vagabonds, the Irish antics of WeBanjo3, the moody writing of Over the Rhine, to the whiskey influenced riffs of Kiefer Sutherland, the down home writing of badass jailbird Margo Price and a grand finale with the Indigo Girls. 

I was really pleased to be able to design and submit a photo essay for the Ferndale Friends local newspaper on the Detroit Blues Society's Annual Anti-Freeze Blues Festival. The festival occurs every year Jan-Feb and hosts a lot of amazing local Blues talent and also a few national headliners. The festival helps raise funds for the Detroit Blues Society.

Special congrats to the Queen of the Detroit Blues Thornetta Davis for her nomination in the Blues Awards for her new CD Honest Woman. We wish her the best and it's great to see the success of a local artist. The festival was also listed in the Spring edition of the paper in a festival calendar for the year. For more on the DBS go to this link.

I am truly honored to be a part of the 6th Annual Sound Image music photography exhibition at Analogue Gallery in Toronto this year.

This year is the first year the exhibition will be included in the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival. The photo festival is one of the largest photo festivals in North America. The gallery is a music photography gallery that specializes in the exhibition of the art of classic music photography and has been host to events with the likes of Ethan Russel, Lynn Goldsmith and many more rock photography icons. 

This year's opening is April 27th and the show runs on every Saturday in May from 12-6 PM. Be sure to check it out as the photos will cover all genres and formats and feature some epic shots of Gord Downy from what I hear. I hope to see you all visiting the gallery! Support your local arts venues! 

The Edmonton Blues Festival is now featuring an image of Colin Linden on all of it's new promotional materials for the upcoming festival. The image is a photo I took of Colin while he played at the ARK in Ann Arbor, Michigan with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

It was a privilege to have been able to work with the graphic artist and festival planners on this collaboration.

Thank you to graphic designer Karen Clouston for reaching out to me and using the photo as a derivative base for her beautiful graphic design artworks which now grace the t-shirts, posters, passes, postcards  and digital web pages for the festival. The festival is in late August and features some top blues acts.

For more info on this festival you can go to this link.