26 January 2009

James Burton - the man who played with Elvis Presley

Sometimes a crazy day turns into a great evening. So was last friday, when a true living legend came to Graz, Austria. James Burton, a name that might not be widely known to non-mucisians, but a living legend. He was the guitar player of Elvis Presley for many many years, played with musicians like Johhny Cash, John Denver, Jerry Lee Lewis, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison and many many others. His biggest fan Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, gave a speech on his introduction to Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, he has been nominated for a gremmy this year too.

James Burton is also known by his unique style of playing called chicken picking, which is otherwise known and used in country music scene. Take a look at his guitar lesson here. It is very interesting and you'll see how familiar this sounds and how hard it is to play :) We were lucky to have met him backstage for a little interview, which happened in between the concert (yes, they actually had a 20 minute break and we were let into backstage to do it, something new for me too, as usually this things happen before or after the gig), where he played with two other ex-Elvis Presley famous TCB band..Jerry Scheff and Glen Hardin. So cool, again :)


James Burton with his famous Fender Telecaster shining gold ...

Altough he is always very calm and quiet, he sometimes rocks too :)

At the end, he even gestured to throw his guitar to the fans below :)

And a special in-between backstage shot of the band and legends in there...
from left, Jerry Scheff - bass, Paul Leim - drums, Glen D Hardin - keyboards and James Burton with his typical hat and a bit of smile too...

18 January 2009

Psycho Path - the last gig

Slovenian band Psycho Path had their last gig. No more Psycho Path. I never was their biggest fan, but loved their music (they describe themself as Sexy, heavy, sonic indie rock band from Slovenia) when i had a chance to hear it and take pictures. Their singer Melée is usually in another world when on stage and her performance is cool to listen and watch. It was the same in SubSub club last week during their gig where all former band members joined them too. I never shot the last gig of one band before, but i don't think this is the last gig, they'll be back, fans want it. Here are some moments and their last group shot after stage was empty. So long PP!




07 January 2009

How do i refill my batteries?

There are concerts. There are concerts that are very cool, there are concerts that you enjoy, there are concerts where you work and enjoy(well most of them are like this), there are concerts that you work and wish you could enjoy more and there are concerts where the performer gives you so much energy that the word "enjoy" is not the correct selection anymore. One of those performers is Salomon Burke, a soul legend from USA. I saw him first back in 2005, this time he came to Graz and played in my favourite Orpheum theatre. Mr. Burke can't walk anymore, but his voice walks all over the place, with big steps and leaves you with open mouth for some time. Salomon Burke lives with 21 children and 98 grandchildren and tours all the time. He says he'll continue doing it while he can. And to answer my question on top, this is how i refill my batteries, completely, for a long time :) Of course, holiday season was excellent too and few days off during New Year and Xmass break felt really good.

I wish everyone a great 2009 and thank you for reading this blog lines and coming back :)