Bruce Robison’s You and Me – The Butler Bros | The Butler Bros

Posts Tagged ‘music’

Bruce Robison’s You and Me

I met with Bruce Robison early one morning at Epoch coffee to talk about his new record and what sort of art might make sense for the packaging. We talked about a lot of things… politics, our kids and the continued rapid disintegration the music industry. At some point in the conversation I asked him if he had noticed the large color prints hanging on the wall in the back of the space. There were 4 or 5 oversized prints from Autumn Spadaro, a photographer I’d never heard of, hanging casually in front of some vintage furniture. One of them caught my eye immediately as a candidate for the cover image. They were obviously shot on medium format film, and had a simple graphic quality. The subject matter was very Bruce: small town Texas, decaying structures and 1970′s automobiles. The images had a touch of Eggleston, too. I took an iPhone pic of the print I liked, typeset the title over it, and emailed it to Bruce. He loved it. I called Autumn the next day and she agreed to license the image. We licensed another one of her images for the back cover too. Austin is a town where talent is everywhere, especially at coffee shops. Lindsay Braun was the studio artist on the piece. She helped with typesetting and photo-retouching. The record is currently being sold only at live performances. Go see Bruce and buy one.

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Live like Ed.

Friday, October 29th, 2010

This perfect Fall weather begged me to walk the neighborhood today. I ended up in Ed Schaefer‘s guitar shop. I was blown away by what I found.

Austin is place with authenticity to spare. It’s what we at The Butler Bros search for every day. When we stumble on such a rich vein, it’s always fun. Ed is a humble and talented craftsman. He doesn’t love his work; he is his work. He is obviously patient and meticulous and his reward is creating fine guitars for some of the best jazz guitarists in the world, or anyone else who wants one. He says each one is like a child, unique, with it’s own character and tone of voice. What would the world look like if we were all craftsman?

Here’s a bit of Ed’s story:

Throughout my playing career I always wanted a fine archtop, but could never afford one. My interest in building archtops thus began! I view the archtop guitar as a pianist would view a Steinway. I believe any style of music can be performed on an archtop guitar, however, tradition tells us that most of them are played by jazz players. Being from Texas, I have focused on another group of players, the western swing players. Every detail from nut width to choice of wood involves the customer’s input. I welcome visitors to my shop anytime so if you are in the area please give me a call and come by for a visit!

Schaefer Guitar Shop (map)

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Ghost of Electricity

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. There are a host of stories and myths surrounding this controversial move to use an electric instrument at this famous folk festival. The audience booed and heckled Dylan and his band… the gentle Peter Seeger tried to cut the electricity. It seems to me that Dylan’s move to bring electricity to a folk-purist crowd was another battle in Tesla and Edison’s ‘War of Currents‘.

This piece will be for sale this weekend at The Tesla Project event.

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BYOC 5 Moves to Sunday, MARCH 21

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Join us and our partner Shiny Object for our 5th Annual Bring Your Own Chair party on Sunday, March 21th from 11:30 till 5:30. Enjoy our super eclectic lineup and sip beer out on the back lawn of the Pedernales Lofts all day. This year we’re proud to partner with Wandering River Recycling so that all our waste will be properly disposed of (thanks to Keen for stepping up to help offset these additional costs). As always, this is a family friendly event – the big idea is to bring the kids out to experience a proper SX live music showcase. We’ll provide the music, beer, bouncy houses and a giant green lawn. Bring your chairs, sunscreen, family and pack a picnic if you like. Hot Mama’s will also be on site with a $5 lunch menu. Parking available on the street only. Pedi-cab service will be provided by Keen up and down 6th street. And finally, please remember that we are all guests of those who live and work at the Pedernales Lofts – keep it real.

The Lineup (stay tuned to the Facebook BYOC5 fan page for real time updates)

Gates open at 11:30 am

12:30pm Natalia Mallo & Sinamantes – Sao Paulo

1:30pm Peelander-Z – NY

3:30pm Elk Ctiy – NYC (member formerly of Luna)

The Woes – NYC TBD

Little Stolen Moments – Austin TBD

5:30 Shiny Ribs – ATX (Kev Russell from Gourds)

 

MORE DETAILS TO COME ON CURRENT SCHEDULE, KEEP CHECKIN’ BACK!

Special Thanks to this Year’s Sponsors

Keen Allison Hughes Photo Retouching Mac & Cheez Dave Mead Photography Your Beyond Brett Stiles Design Tequila Mockingbird Association of Music Producers Bud Light Hot Mama’s Rogue Running

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Ponderosa Stomp Brand Film

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The Ponderosa Stomp is a cultural warehouse. A rock-and-roll defibrillator. A creaky wooden ship helmed by Ira Padnos (Dr. Ike) that sails through the seas of music history and smashes cannon balls through the cliches of American Rock understanding. Stomp founder Dr. Ike is an anesthesiologist by day and and a vinyl hoarding musicologist by night. (more…)

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Bring Your Own Chair Vol. 4

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Between sets at BYOC Vol 4, The Butler Bros. and Shiny Objects‘ annual SXSW lamprey event that ends up being epic. Dear Lord it was good. Thanks to the bands, the sponsors, and the people that came and took advantage of the bands, sponsors and perfect weather. We love you all. See you at Vol. 5. You have 364 days to buy sunscreen.

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Ponderosa Stomp Brand Film. Plug in.

Friday, February 27th, 2009

The first conference call is almost over but the project is just getting started. Brian Gourley (executive producer and passion player) + The Butler Bros. + Jeff Nichols + Scott Bomar + some of the most amazing musicians on the planet are getting together to make a movie. The piece will help tell the story of the Ponderosa Stomp before it’s too late…

Thanks to Jacob Blickenstaff for the shot.

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