A lot of night music

Drummer Tim Dickerson with the Brian Austin Band offers some drumstick gymnastics as additional entertainment to his rhythmic skills as a percussionist. The band is playing at the August 2, 2013 “Music on Main” concert on Main Street in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Click the pic to see more of the band and event

A group of enterprising downtown business and property owners in my home town of Pine Bluff, Arkansas decided that music just might be a good draw to bring folks downtown that had either lost the habit, or never developed the habit of “going downtown.”

The result of this line of thinking was “Music on Main,” a monthly free concert featuring quality musicians and entertainment. The events are always on a Friday evening and are always free. Speaking of free, you can see more “FREE” pictures of the band and event on the Photo of the Week Page at Corndander dot-com. Go forth and see. We will wait here.

The boys in the band. The Brian Austin Band, set up and ready to rock, awaits the nod from the event producer to begin their performance. From left: Ronny Dickerson, bass; John Good, guitar; Hisself, Brian Austin, and Tim Dickerson, drums.

On this night, Friday, August 2, 2013, the humidity was high and the blues from the Brian Austin Band were as thick as Delta “buckshot.” (A word of explanation here for non-Delta readers, “buckshot” is a favored nickname for the thick, gummy, sticky, gumbo soils that are prevalent in some areas of the Delta).

The program included three bands. The Brian Austin Band was first up and is the source of the pictures and comment here. This is not the first time we have photographed the band. They are performers at Blues for a Cause, an event we are always pleased to attend and shoot.

John Good on guitar and Ronny Dickerson on bass are in snyc and grooving as they belt out the blues on a humid Delta evening.

The darker side of Brian Austin.

Brian Austin, a multi-purpose musician wails away on the harp.

See more pictures from this event in our Music on Main gallery.

Drummin’ after dark. Tim Dickerson gets on down with the blues.

After a while, one can no longer stay seated when the tunes are right. This was one of those times, so this couple got up and started jukin.’ And rightly so.

During the performance, one of Brian Austin’s youngest fans wanted an audience with the leader. Austin, being a man of understanding, granted that request.

As should be expected, music fans of all stripes brought their lawn chairs and thirst for good, live musical entertainment. The audience was a good slice across the demographic grain of our community — which as I understand it — was the whole idea in the first place.

Music is the universal language. You either enjoy it, or you don’t. If you seek out or discover a venue favorable to your tastes and preferences and show up — in all likelihood you will enjoy what you see and hear — and have reasonable expectations that those who attend with you have the same uncontaminated intentions.

Click the pic to see our Music on Main gallery

But wait — there’s more!

We’ve created a gallery of 21 pictures from this fun event. See our Music on Main gallery and feel the sweat and music from the comfort of your own screen in air-conditioned comfort. It’s not quite as good as being there yourself, but it’s close.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey

Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind.

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

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Getting there is half the fun

Our trip this week was to photograph this old sharecropper house near Lake View, Arkansas. The trip was two hours each way so there were plenty of photo-ops along the way.

See more pix of the old house at Corndancer dot-com

Long and winding road

After receiving a timely tip as to the existence and location of this old sharecropper house, I set out to shoot it early Saturday afternoon. Well, not too early, it was nearly 3:00 p.m. The route from the Dempsey domicile to the target is far less than direct due to non-negotiable wetlands, at several junctures, betwixt and between the starting and ending points.

The trip figured at two hours each way, not counting stops for shooting. Not a bad thing considering the mother lode of photo-fodder one normally encounters in the Delta. See some more pictures and read astute observations of this rare old sharecropper house on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot com where this story started. We’ll wait here.

See more pictures of the old sharecropper house in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

At more than 100° in the shade, it’s hard to image ice-encrusted tree limbs, but that’s why this tree is trimmed the way it is. Falling limbs zap the lights. Note the burned lower trunk. (My apologies, this picture has some bad faults).

 This old tree like many in these environs has been trimmed to prevent it dropping limbs during the ice storms we endure occasionally in rough winters. One does simply does not want the TV to falter at the crux of a serious football game or pickup truck commercial. Regarding the tree, to add injury to insult, its lower trunk has sustained fire damage.

Despite fire damage, the old tree seems to be holding its own. The fire which charred the truck killed some foliage, but the old oak seems to be oblivious to the damage. Good luck tree!

You will see all sorts of things on a swing through the Delta and abandoned houses may lead the charge. As farming becomes more automated and less labor intensive, people are moving into more populated areas for employment. If it lasts that long, the house below will eventually be in the same condition as the one above.

“Will the person who knocked the front porch off the house please report to Mama!”

 It’s same song, second verse here in the Delta. In 2010 it rained like a monsoon, then turned as dry as the Gobi Desert. Welcome to 2011. The only difference is the extra 1. The good news is, the farmers are cranking up the center pivot irrigation systems and that always makes for good pictures. These mechanical quarter-mile-long monsters crawl in half-mile circles refreshing thirsty cotton and beans as they go. I must add that my farmer friends will castigate me for saying cranking up center pivots is good news, but they do make for some cool pix.

This huge center pivot irrigation system is providing life-sustaining water to a growing cotton crop a few miles from the old share cropper house you saw above.

 As you cruise through the Delta, you will cross hundreds of creeks, “brainches,” and irrigation ditches. Some are civilized and some are about as inviting as an equatorial swamp. The one below fits that category. The critters in and around it will strenuously object to your presence. Some will manifest their displeasure by departing the scene. Others will come at you with malice. Enjoy these wild snippets of nature at a comfortable distance.

See more pictures of this trip in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

Observe and enjoy this sanctuary for untoward critters from a respectable distance.

 I was burning daylight and rushing to get home before dark, but saw another center pivot with back-lighting from a setting sun. It was worth the stop. Things have to be just right for images like that, so it was voluntary delay.

The sun behind the spray gives a gossamer look to an industrial application. Not bad for a bunch of good ol’ boys.

When I rolled in the dogs were waiting, to administer a slobbery welcome. It’s nice to have friends who jump for joy every time they see you.

Click on the truck for our Weekly Grist Gallery

SEE MORE OF THIS TRIP IN
OUR WEEKLY GRIST GALLERY

Take a gander at more shots of the old sharecropper house, some vehicles garaged in a weed bed, another center pivot shot, and a eatery with great personally unfulfilled promise in our Weekly Grist Gallery, this week with 25, count ’em 25 pictures.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html