Missing the Sun

"We need the rain". I hear that almost every time it comes down. But I think I need a little break from the clouds and fog and drizzle and rain. It's doing a number on my seasonal depression.

I have the weekend off but if the sky doesn't clear up I may find myself inside all weekend. The only thing I know about here in the Charlotte area that I'd like to get out for is "Unknown Hinson" at the Visualite on Saturday. The Redneck Vampire of Rockabilly.

Rockabilly Music in Charlotte

Last weekend I was out Friday and Saturday night for ROCKABILLY Music in Charlotte.

Friday (3/13), Jem Crossland played at Puckett's Farm Equipment in Charlotte without the Hypertonics (Chipps Baker & John Marlow). He had a friend Jason from Spindale playing bass for him. No drummer. It was a good show. Jem played to the crowd. Sometimes with the band he seems more...reserved(?) but always gives a good night of singin' and guitarin'. He has an excellent voice and his memory for lyrics makes him seem like a walking JUKEBOX. Jason has improved greatly since I last heard him play. Jason's confidence level has quadrupled. He's been playing with Kitty King.
There wasn't much, if any advertisement about the show because Jem was stepping in to play for a band that canceled at the last minute. I think everyone that showed up got their money's worth times four!

Saturday (3/14) I was at Tremont Music Hall. Kelly and The Cowboys opened the night. She is a a real cutie with a voice that rivals the one she emulates: Patsy Cline.


The Straight 8's followed. Robert is a good singer. He writes excellent songs that capture that rockabilly rawness. Their bassist and drummer do a great job as back up singers. Bernie bangs the drum like a lunatic and is great to watch.


The Tremors finished the night. Jimmy belted out their tunes with his hiccup lilt,... a sound I've grown to like. Slim on bass and Stretch on drums.


Unfortunately the crowd was not much from the start to finish throughout the night. Blame it on the rain, blame it on the St Patricks celebration in uptown Charlotte, blame it on the economy but a lot of good music was missed by far too many people this past weekend.

Jem Crossland will be playing Saturday (3/21) at Puckett's. He and Jason on bass. The Defilers are the HEADLINER that night! Be there or be square!

Spring

"Mother's Love" by Brian K. Raynor



"Angel With Heart" by Brian K Raynor


Today is the first day of Spring. The two paintings above were done recently and are in colors I associate with Spring. Unfortunately, I do not really care for either one. Anyway, it's supposed to reach the low 60s today. I can hardly wait for the cold to be gone! Ready for life to spring into the faded lawns and bare limbed trees to fill with greenery, flora and fauna.

"# 8" by Brian K. Raynor

I painted "#8" a few years ago, after The Great American Race came through Concord, NC. I was inspired to paint a vintage race rod after seeing the beautiful cars of yesteryear that took part in the cross country race. This was before the 2007 Great American Race that kicked off in Concord. Longtime friends/neighbors took part in the race that year, in a 1957 Studebaker.

I sold "#8" to a hot rod enthusiast and "model citizen" named Shane at the Rockabilly BBQ in 2006 I think.

"Elvision" by Brian K Raynor

I painted "Elvision" in 2008. I haven't sold it yet. I did sell "TCB" and "Elvis Pomp" at the 2008 Rockabilly BBQ. All 3 were Elvis paintings and I was surprised that the other two sold but that "Elvision" did not. Go figure.

GREEN DAY

Happy St Patrick's Day! Not sure what that really means to me as I am neither Irish nor Catholic. I did receive a pinch today because I have no GREEN on. What's that all about anyway? I remember we did the pinch for no GREEN as children but I never knew why. St Patrick was a missionary to Ireland and I've never understood what modern day partying has to do with celebrating a "saint". All part of secularising religious holidays for pagan and nonreligious enjoyment, I suppose. Not celebrating the "saint" but instead indulging in the Irish culture. I have nothing against Catholicism, the Irish nor am I opposed to indulging, especially in good food,... ask anyone who knows me,... Irish, Jamaican, Chinese, Polish, Greek, American, Thai, German, Italian,... it's all good. :) But I'm not wearing GREEN! No more pinches, please.

"The Cadaver" by Brian K. Raynor

I painted "The Cadaver" years ago as part of a 3 part set. "The Cadaver", "The Attendant" (the funeral home attendant) and "The Mourner" make up this acrylic trilogy. I experienced a lot of loss at an early age. I suppose I have a preoccupation with and a fear of death.

First I painted "The Attendant", which was the 1st painting I ever sold. I don't have pictures of it that I know of and I don't remember the ladies name who bought it. She bought it when I had art hanging at "On Common Grounds". It is my favorite paintings to date. It was part of an exhibit in Charlotte as well. Perhaps someday I will find a snapshot of it.

"The Cadaver" was painted shortly after "The Attendant", as I recall. When I would come home from college and stay at my sister's for the summer I would hang these works in the spare bedroom. My sister told me later that she couldn't wait for summer to end and for the paintings to come down as they were too eerie for her liking.

"The Mourner" was painted after college. I like it least of the 3. It doesn't have the texture nor the style that the 1st two share. Perhaps I'll get a pic of "the Mourner" up soon.

"Little Red Hen" by Brian K. Raynor

I painted this, "Little Red Hen" last month and then I received this email
and have copied it here for your reading pleasure or disdain:

The Little Red Hen

"Who will help me grow my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
"Not I," said the cow.
"Not I," said the duck.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Not I," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did. She planted her crop, and the wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

"Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
"Not I," said the duck..
"Out of my classification," said the pig.
"I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
"I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.
"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake the bread?" asked the little red hen.

"That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
"I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
"I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.
"If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.
"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen.

She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.
They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I shall eat all five loaves."

"Excess profits!" cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)
"Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)
"I demand equal eating rights!" yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)
The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)

And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, "You must not be so greedy."
"But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.

"Exactly," said Barack the farmer. "That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle."

And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly understand."

But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the 'free bread from the government party' and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled. 'Fairness' had been established.

Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich' were paying for.

EPILOGUE
Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.
Hillary got $8 million for hers.
That's $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years
repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything.

IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD WE LIVE IN OR WHAT?

"Heart Of A Prince" by Brian K Raynor

The warm weather we've had the past few days has woken the tree frogs from their hibernation. It's obvious when they have come out of hiding because of their loud chirping in the evening. In all the years I've lived in NC I'd never seen one until 2 years ago. It was not at all colorful as my painting. In fact when I first saw it I thought it was a mud daubers start of a nest. So it freaked me out a little when it jumped from the porch column toward me.
I painted "Heart Of A Prince" as a gift for Sherry Baker. She collects froggy things and I thought she'd appreciate it. She has all sorts of croaker knickknacks and even has a little frog pond built in front of her house.

Spring Forward

Tonight we SPRING FORWARD an hour and lose an hours sleep. How will I manage the time change?!! :( Getting up an hour earlier is torture! I don't understand why ,as a state or country, we don't just do away with DAYLIGHT SAVINGS and let everyone enjoy the extra hour of sleep. I heard on NPR that in the 1950s and 1960s states decided rather arbitrarily when to start or even if to start DAYLIGHT SAVINGS and that on a certain bus route from WV to OH one would need to change their time on their watch 7 times over a 30 minute ride to keep up with the varied regulations. We don't need to be as inconsistent as they were back then and thank GOD we're not but I don't see the need for it anymore. Maybe we could all just SPRING AHEAD 30 minutes and leave it alone.

The Fall

Last night I enjoyed a beautiful film, directed by Tarsem Singh, called "The Fall". Set in a Los Angeles hospital, circa 1920s. A stuntman crippled by injuries he received from an accident while filming, has given up on life. He meets a patient with a broken arm; a little girl who is from a migrant family. Roy, the stuntman befriends the little girl, Alexandria. He uses her innocence and her need for attention to get her to steal Morphine from the pharmacy. He plans to commit suicide with the pills. Roy makes up and tells Alexandria stories of 5 heroic figures and their adventures. As he tells the tale we see the story unfold through Alexandria's imagination. As Roy's depression deepens and his story darkens there is a struggle with the outcome of the tale as the teller wants it and the way an innocent child expects it. The imagery is brilliant! The cinematography and settings are so vivid that they are surreal. *****

CashBash 7

CashBash 7 was this past weekend in Winston-Salem, NC at The Garage. I made it out Saturday night and had intended on playing the part of "rockabilly tourist" ; taking pictures and so forth but I came unprepared. Batteries were dead in the camera. I walked down to a CVS but they closed at 6pm. Whoa! That's right 6pm and the sidewalks are all but rolled up in downtown Winston-Salem. Anyway so I got no good pics to share. Maybe I can find some that others may have posted here or there.
Hickry Hawkins was singing when I got there. I dare say but I think he may have been sober. He was doing a solo set and sounded pretty good.
Jem Crossland and the Hypertonics did a good set. Much of their usual tunes. All 3 band members were actually there!
Hearts & Daggers follwed. I'd never heard them before that night and will not go out of my way to hear them again. Their sound is just not for me. It's like a West Coast Southern Rock sound.
Tommy Ray & the Rayguns are getting a little more punkish (?) as they evolve. Unfortunately, they had some technical difficulties in the beginning of their set.
I wimped out and headed home before the last 3 bands played: Gojira X (never heard of em), Rev D'ray and the Shockers (sorry I missed em) and the Defilers (probably shoulda hung around).

More snow!

We had a good snow storm overnight. Made a snowman or snowwoman as it is. It's amazing that so many people call in "sick" simply because of snow! Are they allergic or is there something viral in the flakes?