They Got Me Singin’ the Blues 🎶
Volume 1, Number 2
Hey there, friends.
Music has always held an important place in my life. When I was around kindergarten age—maybe first grade—I began taking weekly piano lessons that continued until almost high school. I played trumpet in my junior high and high school bands, played keys in a really bad and short-lived garage band, and have enjoyed attending live musical concerts since seeing the Doobie Brothers perform in Indianapolis around 1979 or so.
The first time I had a chance to photograph a famous act was about 1980 when I saw country legends Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers Band perform a Fourth of July concert at a park near my hometown of Columbus, Indiana. Afterward, I handed my exposed film in to the local newspaper, as I’d been doing when I shot basketball games and chasing ambulances and fire trucks, and they published one of my pictures.
In 1981, I successfully snuck my camera into a Styx concert at Indianapolis’ Market Square Arena—but was then forced to take my camera back to the car at the same venue for a Pat Benatar concert.
Years later, while working at The Times-Tribune in Corbin, Kentucky, I regularly photographed country music performances at Tombstone Junction, a since-shuttered outdoor venue where I photographed acts such as Alan Jackson, Sawyer Brown, Charlie Daniels, Lorrie Morgan, Conway Twitty, and more.
Concert photography is a wonderful blend of two relatively unrelated artistic mediums. The challenge in shooting live music performances is similar to the challenge in sports photography—I have to focus myself on the entire experience and anticipate what’s about to happen, and then capture that moment without missing a beat.
In May 2019 I was introduced to the band that has since become my favorite to listen to, watch, and photograph. On that spring night, King Bee & The Stingers performed a ramped-up blues concert at Bloomington’s Buskirk-Chumley Theater that I photographed on behalf of the sponsoring organization. The energy that KBS brought to the stage—and the electricity that filled the crowd—was incredible. I immediately became a fan and have seen them perform countless times since.
Last week, that group—lead vocalist Sarah Menefee, bassist Jeff Shew, drummer Paul Karaffa, Mark Carnes on harmonica, guitarist Matt Boat, and Wes Schrimsher on keys, along with manager and band namesake Mark “The King” Menefee—traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to compete in the International Blues Challenge 2023.
Prior to leaving, they performed an album release and Memphis send-off concert at the Brown County Playhouse in neighboring Nashville, Indiana. We arranged for me to photograph the concert and to shoot backstage candids as they prepared to perform.
A couple of months earlier, I shot the front and back covers of their new album, Don’t Move So Fast, during a fun photo session at a chapel on the Indiana University campus. Afterward, we stopped by a local pub and then at my photo studio where we photographed the cover images for three Christmas singles they released prior to the holiday.
Other recent work I’ve done with them includes the cover photo for “Contrary to the Word,” the first single from their new album, and candids of the band hanging out at Orbit Room, a popular nightspot, following an outdoor concert one Friday night last October.
Writing this, I’m reminded of music’s importance through nearly every stage of my life. Suffice to say my musical tastes have broadened to include pop, rock, country, classical, jazz, blues, and even some hip-hop. Music, like photography, is at my core—the two exist harmoniously within me.
So tell me, what does music mean to you? What are some of your best music-related memories? Favorite concerts? Experiences? Who is on your bucket list to see perform live? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
Meanwhile, here are a few more pictures I’ve made of King Bee & The Stingers. Be sure to check them out on iTunes and Spotify, follow them on Facebook and Instagram, and visit them at kingbeestingers.com
Until next time,
Peace.
I became a KBS fan at your recommendation and have seen them live twice now. Great stuff.
My performance photography has been more theater oriented, but it IS fun to merge the two art forms and capture moments on stage. As an occasional performer myself, I know how valuable those images can be since we don't get to see ourselves when we are under the lights.