Your Custom Text Here
Best New Year's Eve ever? Possibly. I spent the night down on Lake Union surrounded by friends, witnessing the wedding of my boss and her partner, and running a sparkly, prop-filled photobooth (my wedding gift to them). To top it all off, we ran down to the water just as the clock struck midnight, all fireworks and KEXP blasting from the houseboats and kisses in the middle of the street.
I didn't have a camera for that last part, but here's a fraction of the photos from the booth I mentioned:
As a rule, around this time of the year I find myself laboring intensely over lists, specifically as they relate to cultural intake: best photos, favorite shows, albums that changed my life. This year, though, it was a bit more of a tangible experience than years previous -- I had a series of experiences in the forefront, through which I found myself assembling a soundtrack, as opposed to the soundtrack dictating the series of experiences. It sounds like one and the same, sort of. But for me, they're pretty different.
Almost ten years ago, when a friend first turned me on to KEXP, I discovered a soundtrack that not only narrated my life, but also caused actual motion -- I'd listen obsessively, make mixes, find bands that I loved and bands that those bands loved, spend hours poring over new releases at the record store, and drive great distances on weeknights for can't-miss kinds of shows, meeting scores of people along the way. The music, via KEXP, dictated the paths I chose and pulled me around into countless adventures that shaped the person I am today.
In a bit of a plot twist, for this year at least, the music in my life started to serve as more of an undercurrent than a motion-inducer, as 2014 saw me in the midst of major changes: I came into the year on the heels of a few explosions on my interpersonal landscape, got yanked out of my self-care cocoon by a trip to Maui, experienced reunion, changed my relationship status and moved in with my partner, abandoned a whole cache of personal 'rules' I'd set up for myself, took a big break from social media, and shifted the terms of my dayjob to allow for more (and a new variation on) freelance work. 2014 has been exhausting, exhilarating, unbearably sad, utterly joyful, scary and amazing -- all at once. It pushed me and pulled me and even now, in the waning dusk of the year these last few days bring, continues to refine almost every facet of my being.
The songs that went with these shifts are vast in their range, almost as vast as the experiences themselves, from playful to sorrowful and everything in-between. I'm in the midst of making both new music mixes and new-to-me mixes that cap it all off, but it's worth noting somewhere in the blog world that the only two records I actually wrote about at length (aside from the work I did for Barry's project) were Damien Jurado's Brothers and Sisters and Chad Van Gaalen's Shrink Dust. In a gentle blender, they touch most of what happened to me in the last twelve months, and served as the A- and B-sides to all those changes, embracings and abandonments.
Plenty of other things dot the landscape as well: favorite singalongs from that cover band I never started, old Todd Rundgren releases, Derby, UMO, revisiting the Anthology and taking on Living In the Material World, and old Richard Swift tracks. As soon as the mixes surface I'll post them here, as the goal is to have all of this tackled in the coming days, an effort to leave the year behind with as clean of a slate as possible.
Bon courage, last twelve months. I can't wait to see what happens next.
---
Update! Best of 2014's new releases playlist here, and best of new-to-me (non-2014 releases) playlist here. Happy listening!
Christmas Day, 2014.
It's been a wonderfully busy pre-winter season so far -- for the first time, I've had enough freelance work come up that I've had to turn down a few last-minute requests for holiday portraits, which is totally crazy! (And infinitely gratitude-inducing.) But busy as I was these last few weeks, I couldn't not make time for some of my favorite humans on the planet: the Drurys.
Not to get too emotional about it, but on the personal front, 2014 was pretty... well, let's just say it was tumultuous. And honestly, I don't know where I'd be today without my friends, specifically Stephanie and David, and the bright, unceasing lovelights they shine into my life. Getting to know them (and Judah, and Lolly, and Cap'n Waffles) this year has truly been nothing short of a blessing.
I'm honored to call the Drurys family, and so thrilled that I was able to document their family portrait this year! Here's a few of my favorite pictures from our afternoon together.
Cap'n Waffles approves this message.
Bullman Beach. Always such a stunner.
I'd been threatening to visit Detroit ever since one of my best friends moved out there a few years back, to be with the man who wound up being the absolute love of her life. I expected to spend most of the time gaping at what are now deemed modern-day ruins, but instead spent my time sightseeing, experiencing the personalities of different neighborhoods, eating out at incredible restaurants, and taking in the sights.
If I can say one thing about the trip, aside from an amazing reconnection with a bestie, it's that the sense of community that's driving the rebirth of this city is nothing short of amazing. Those ruins? I mean, we've all seen Detropia, but there's so much more to the city than that. History, art, and an honest-to-goodness sense of togetherness prevail to bring beauty to a place that, at times, is only showcased as a burned-out warzone.
(Image 1: Michigan Central Station; images 2-4: The Heidelberg Project; images 5-6: the best farmer's market EVER and some amazing graffiti; images 7-8: former site of Buick City, Flint, MI.)
It's always such an honor when fellow creative pals trust you with a photoshoot: my friend Jamie Aaron makes amazing music, and hired me to do some portraits for her upcoming project. It was an absolute honor and a pleasure to work with her, and we wound up getting some really great shots she used for her album's release and new website.
I took this image at the end of our shoot, after I'd fulfilled all the requirements -- I couldn't resist the natural light coming through the window of the loft, and it wound up being one of my personal favorites from the day. A good reminder to always trust my instincts, and to make the photos I see in my head whenever possible.
