Behind the Music Lens
'All bets are off' with some performers. Sometimes, in photos, that's a good thing.
In the summer of 2018, a music writer friend offered me a photo pass to Ry Cooder’s show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va.
But the pass came with a catch: Cooder — for reasons unknown — had a no-photo policy.
Knowing I could only shoot the opener — Cooder’s son Joachim —I took the pass anyway. I had long wanted to see the elder Cooder live and didn’t know how many times he would pass through the Greater Washington, D.C. area. And The Birchmere, a listening room with a 500-person capacity, was the perfect intimate venue to see this great slide guitarist and multi-instrumentalist.
The show did not disappoint, and my photos were good enough that I was able to get a freelance gig shooting and writing for Americana Highways, a website that chronicles the vast umbrella of genre-less music that no one knows how to classify.
Over the past decade, I’ve shot more than 90 shows and almost 150 acts. In the five-plus years since I started working with AH — minus 17 months lost due to the pandemic — I’ve photographed more than 120 artists and bands at 70 shows and festivals.
I’ve managed to shoot several artists who are among or have become favorites on multiple occasions, a list that includes Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, American Aquarium, The Avett Brothers, Drive-By Truckers, Los Lobos, Dave Alvin, Steve Earle, Patti Griffin, Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Robert Earl Keen, Lori McKenna, Scott Miller. Allison Moorer (solo and with her sister, Shelby Lynne), Amanda Shires, Chris Stapleton, and Lucinda Williams.
During this time, I’ve captured hitmakers and classic rock stalwarts — The Chicks, Sheryl Crow, the Goo-Goo Dolls, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Amos Lee, Maroon 5, The National, Liz Phair, Steven Tyler and Joe Walsh — as well as up and comers (Ashley McBryde, Morgan Wade, Waxahatchee) opening or playing in small venues that no longer can hold their audience. I’ve also been able to shoot two bucket list bands — X and The Replacements.
Now in a typical year, I shoot one to two shows a month, with brief periods of music gluttony during the summer and early fall. Fortunately, I’m able to mostly pick and choose the shows I want to attend; unfortunately, getting access to the larger, better-known acts is at best a hit and miss proposition.
In probably 90 percent of the shows, you get only the first three songs before you have to put the camera away. And every artist, show, and venue are different, which presents its own set of challenges. In cases where I’ve photographed a performer more than once, I generally have a good idea of what will happen during that 10- to 15-minute period.
But when you’re shooting performers for the first time, as I did this past weekend with Grace Potter and Brittney Spencer, “all bets are off.”
The Potter-Spencer Show
Potter uses that term to describe her approach to each show. To her, a set list is the “pilot” that makes room for “detours” that ensure she never delivers the same performance twice.
Last Saturday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., Potter blasted through a 17-song mix of rock, blues, jam band, and acoustic tracks that drew from her two-decade career, both with her former band The Nocturnals and as a Grammy nominated solo act. Wearing skintight black leather pants that she called an homage to “Grease,” Potter led the crowd in an impromptu version of “You’re the One That I Want,” was joined by Brittney Spencer on two lovely acoustic tracks, and made references to “The Little Mermaid” during the almost two-hour show.
Spencer, a Baltimore native whose terrific debut LP “My Stupid Life” was released this month, opened the night in front of a late arriving crowd with a nine-song set. Highlights included the tracks “Bigger Than the Song,” “New to This Town,” “I Got Time,” and her 2021 breakthrough single “Sober and Skinny.” After her set in front of approximately 3,000 people, Spencer went to the merch area to greet fans — a sweet gesture that won’t be necessary for long. She is a future star.
Potter is an extremely popular touring act, and the D.C. show was her first here since 2020, which meant that The Anthem’s photography pit — the best among area venues — was crowded with nine people.
With a road-trip themed stage featuring neon signs and a vintage gas pump, Potter and her four-piece band brought the fireworks from the start as she kicked off the set with “Lady Vagabond,” a highlight from her new album “Mother Road.” Picking up her Gibson Flying V guitar, she then roared through “Medicine” before moving onto “Ah Mary,” two of the eight Nocturnals-era tracks she played.
The pace was controlled but frenetic. The Anthem’s lighting — which was unfortunately dim during Spencer’s set — became straightened out during the second song of Potter’s set. The photographers were kind in letting each other move around, allowing each person time to compose and get our shots before moving away. I opted to use a 70-200 Zoom — sometimes I opt for a wide angle — and fortunately had room to maneuver.
Three songs in, we left the pit and moved into the audience, allowing me to take notes and drink a beverage while looking through what I got. As Potter played on, delivering an outstanding set, I realized my photos of both performers had captured the mood and spirit of the night.
Having the opportunity to catch those moments in time, never to be repeated, is why I love to do this. I hope I can continue to do so.
Here are some more photos from Potter’s show. You can see the rest, as well as more photos of Spencer, by visiting my Flickr site here.
A portion of this essay is adapted from my review for Americana Highways that you can read here.