Ryan Miller, Drew Stafford with Robby and Klear @ Music is Art '08

So, it was raining. People were having a ton of fun (as you can see in this video), and stuck around until the very end. Now, Robby told us last weekend in our Buffaloroots interview that he would be playing with Ryan Miller and Drew Stafford, along with the band Klear. Carla kept watch of my tent while we went to the mainstage to see it. I had my camera out in the pouring rain (I'll be posting some pictures soon), and Jim Grimaldi took a great video, which is posted here.
More on this fantastic day later. Enjoy!

Mark Freeland at the Albright Knox Collectors Gallery

Robby and Carla did a fantastic job of curating Mark's work for the Albright Knox Collectors Gallery. Spoke with Robby at the opening last night (he was running around getting ready for Music is Art). He said at first he was overwhelmed at the amount of work Mark had done over the years, but started looking at his later work (the last 3 years). That choice made for a light, "happy" kind of show. Those who knew Mark know that the earlier years sometimes tended to have "darker" themes. He used a darker color palette, and a lot of collage, and the subject matter could sometimes be grim.
The later work utilized more of pastel color choices. A lot were works on canvas, and along with the 12x12" works on wood, have a great sense of humor. The subject was given room to breathe in the space it is in (the above painting is a fine example of this). Again, for those of us who knew him, it is a but reassuring to see that his work had a joyful feeling in the last years of his life.
Well, have a long day ahead- off to Music is Art. Hope to see you there!

Interview with Robby Takac

Lots to do today, mostly political. Please don't forget to go out and vote, any NYStaters reading this....
Before I get moving, though, I'd like to tell you about a story that Kevin wrote and I posted on Buffaloroots last night. It was our sort of annual interview with Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls about his excellent event, Music is Art. I know I've been mentioning MiA, because I'll have a tent there, full of photography goodness, but the interview holds some surprises that I wasn't aware of until yesterday. Put it this way, Buffalo hockey fans have a good reason to go down, if you weren't planning to already. Read the article, you'll see. I know I'm psyched. Just have to find someone to watch my tent during this part of the day. I need to get some pictures to share with all of you....

Getting Ready!

This Week on Music is Art

Good times...

Wow, I have to say, taping Music is Art was a ball! Big thanks to Katherine Trapanovski and the whole gang at UB that work tirelessly to get the show together. Everyone really treated the artists and musicians very well, right down to the food !
Now, I have always appreciated the energy that is created from a band doing live music- that's why I love taking pictures during a show (see www.buffaloroots.com). For a change, I got to work on art while a band is playing. Them Jazzbeards were doing their thing, and I was getting really inspired. It was an incredible feeling. I listen to music (rather loud at times) when I'm working, but the energy exchange when the band is playing right there (especially one I really like) was really different....
The show will be airing sometime in the spring- I'll keep you posted...

MIA Live

Hello, all-
Looks like there's some crazy Wi-Fi here on the Center for the Arts stage, so I thought I'd live blog a bit.
They are setting up a screen behind me, so I'd better be ready to work this whole time-big brother is right here....
The band is setting up- got Kane, Mike, Greg, Kent and company- been a while since I've seen Them Jazzbeards.
They are setting up the projector now, so I'd better start working....