quantumfish.com

Archive for Music

Pretty Good Year

// June 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Food, Music, Photography, Travel

My last vacation back to Missouri was for Thanksgiving last year. Here is a short video composed of snippets of footage I shot while spending time with the family. Everything was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II outfitted with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens and then edited together with Final Cut Pro on a MacBook Pro.

Thanksgiving 2009 from Josh Farr on Vimeo.

Also – the Flickr Set from the trip.

Concert Roundup

// April 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music

The greatest shows are often put on by those bands that most of your friends have never heard of playing in small dives. Jason Webley started busking on the streets of Seattle with his distinctive brand of accordion music. He now tours venues around the world on his own and as part of his Monsters of Accordion tour, which showcases a number of other talented accordion musicians. He recently headlined a show with Sxip Shirey of the gypsy-folk-punk band Luminescent Orchestrii at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco.

Jason Webley

A few weeks later and across town at the Hemlock Tavern, Schaffer the Darklord put on his own show. At the back end of a long, narrow room at the back of an otherwise average bar, a small group of fans gathered to listen to a curious flavor of live nerdcore rap performances. In this intimate setting, the New York-based Schaffer covered a range of topics including clones, social networking and zombies.

Schaffer the Darklord

The Big Damn Lie

// January 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music

Vermillion Lies with Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

The Great American Music Hall

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

Established in 1907, The Great American Music Hall is San Francisco’s oldest nightclub. It is located on O’Farrell Street in the Tenderloin district. Getting to the venue is a simple matter – just take any Market Street bus to Van Ness and then any Van Ness bus to O’Farrell Street. It is a short walk further and just down the street from the also famous Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre. Almost immediately upon stepping inside the club you begin to notice the ornate woodwork of the columns and balconies along the edge of the main floor.

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band was the first of the two co-headlining acts of the evening to take the stage. The big damn band consists of a trio hailing from Indiana – the reverend on guitar and harmonica, his wife on the washboard and brother on drums. The act is full of energy and engages the audience between songs.

Reverend Peyton

The reverend serves up a rowdy mix of blues evocative of 1930′s depression era for the modern day. The songs cover a variety of subjects such as “Your Cousin’s On Cops”, “Wal-Mart Killed The Country Store”, “DT’s Or The Devil”, and “Mama’s Fried Potatoes”. Audience participation is encouraged with instruction given during the breaks to provide the appropriate training of the crowd provided backing vocals or clapping percussion for the upcoming song.

Big Damn Finish

After a fiery finish to the big damn band’s act, it’s time for a short break while the stage is set for the next act. This also a great time to make the circle and hit the restroom, merch tables, bar for a fresh drink, and look around a bit more. For most shows, the stairs are open and additional seating is available upstairs in the balconies. However, with only a small crowd the upstairs area remained closed. Also for most shows at this venue, dinner tickets can be purchased as an alternative to the basic show tickets. For an additional fee you can get a seat at one of the tables surrounding the main floor and get a dinner choice served from the limited nightly menu.

Zoe Boekbinder of Vermillion Lies

The house lights dim and Vermillion Lies open their act. An environmentally conscious act, these sisters from Oakland travel in a bio-diesel powered tour van. Adorned with flair fashioned from bills and encouraging crowd donations on account of their birthdays they delivered a range of clever folk ballads, silly circus marches, and sultry southern tunes. Instrumentally, the sisters rely on a host of makeshift instruments recovered from the local dump. The instruments range from an old barbecue grill, typewriter, toy piano, kazoo depending on the particular song. Between songs, a trunk is opened to produce the instrument for the upcoming song. This becomes a game between the sisters and the audience. The crowd is prompted to ask the question “What’s In The Box?” each time before the box is opened to reveal the next new item.