Orchid Highway interview Thursday, September 10, 2009

My interview with The Orchid Highway was published on Northwest CanCon today. It took a while to edit—we talked for nearly an hour, and I edited it down to about 15 minutes. Check it out here. There's also a slide show from their performance, here.

These photos are a couple of out-takes from the concert and portrait session. Below, from left: Scott Perry, Jamie MacDonald, Rory MacDonald, Adrian Buckley, Derek MacDonald.

The Orchid Highway photos, interview Monday, August 17, 2009

Last night I photographed and interviewed The Orchid Highway at the East End when they were in Portland for the International Pop Overthrow festival.

This was just my second visit to the East End. Almost exactly a year ago I went there to interview The Pack A.D. (listen to that here).

The basement bar is small and dark—which is cool for a bar, but hellish if you're trying to take pictures. Think 1/25 at ISO6400 (f/2.8) on the brightest part of the stage. Way less on Derek and Jamie MacDonald (keyboards and guitar, respectively) at the edges of the stage. So the pictures have lots of grain and quite a bit of motion blur, but I think they look pretty cool, especially in black and white.

After the concert, I interviewed Derek and Rory MacDonald (they and Jamie are brothers) outside the bar. We did a portrait shoot on the sidewalk, and they also wanted to do something with this photo booth inside the bar. Without some major preparations (and more gear than I had on hand) it was impossible to light properly, especially since the bar was so crowded, so I just stuck the flash on camera and hoped for the best. The mirror and a tired patron turned something bleh into something much more interesting.

Look for the interview and more photos on Northwest CanCon in a week or two.

RAA photos on Northwest CanCon Sunday, July 19, 2009

Nils Edenloff of the Rural Alberta Advantage belts out a tune July 7 at Backspace in Portland.

Today I posted a slide show of photos from the Rural Alberta Advantage concert on Northwest CanCon. You can check it out here. At left is one of the photos that didn't make the cut.

RAA rocks Rose City in record release recital Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Rural Alberta Advantage (from left, Amy Cole, Paul Banwatt and Nils Edenloff) perform July 7 at Backspace. The Toronto-based trio drew about 100 to the show, their first visit to Portland.

OK, so maybe "recital" isn't quite the right word, but the show wasn't exactly a "revue" nor a "rendezvous"—any better suggestions?

Anyway, I had the opportunity to interview and photograph the Rural Alberta Advantage (say that three times, quickly) last night at Backspace in Portland. It was really just a normal show for them, but it coincided with the official release of their debut full-length record, Hometowns, so they called it a record release party.

Look for the interview and concert photos on Northwest CanCon in a week or two.

At left is one of the outtakes from the quick portrait session we did. I'm not sure if I like it or not—Paul looks really cool with no fill light, but a lot different from the other two. What do you think?

Music and band photography Thursday, April 23, 2009

For the first time in a while, I added some new content to my MatthewGinn.com page.

I went through the concert photography and band/musician portraits I've made over the past year or so and compiled a new portfolio. For now, it includes images of Hayden, Great Big Sea, The Coast (right), and others. Click here to go directly to the new page.

Mother Mother & Sam Roberts Saturday, March 28, 2009

I had the opportunity to interview Mother Mother's Ryan Guldemond (below, left) last night before their show at Berbati's Pan in Portland, and then photographed the show. They were awesome. The interview and slide show will be up on Northwest CanCon in the near future.

Also shot a bit of Sam Roberts' excellent performance (below, right).

The Dears at Berbati's Pan Thursday, November 06, 2008

Montreal's The Dears rocked Berbati's Pan here in Portland last night (Nov. 5). Before the show I talked with band leader Murray Lightburn (below) about the near breakup of the band, the new lineup, and where the band goes from here. Look for the interview and concert photos in about a week in the next edition of Headliners on Northwest CanCon.

Great Big Sea pics online Wednesday, October 15, 2008

On the final show of the west coast leg of this tour, Great Big Sea played to a capacity crowd Oct. 12 at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland. I posted a photo slide show today on Northwest CanCon. Stay tuned for my interview with band member Bob Hallett (above, at right) which should be online in the next few days.

The band has about a week off with their families before resuming the tour in upstate New York.

Dan Mangan Saturday, August 16, 2008

Vancouver musician Dan Mangan performs at the Towne Lounge in Portland, Ore., Aug. 10, 2008.

I had the opportunity to interview and photograph Vancouver singer/songwriter Dan Mangan last weekend, and then take in his show at the Towne Lounge.

Dan was super cool and very accommodating, to the point of helping carry some of my light stands around when we were making some portraits of him.

[right] Dan's girlfriend, Kirsten, helps him plan out his set list before the show. She traveled with him for this tour which started in New York in late July.

His girlfriend has family in the Portland area, so this was a good stop for him at the end of his U.S. tour. Hopefully we'll see him back here again.

Look for the interview and more photos on Northwest CanCon later this month.

[left] Dan says he's given the "thumbs up" pose at every picture stop on this trip across the country.

The Pack A.D. Friday, August 08, 2008

Becky Black of The Pack A.D. unleashes the lion Aug. 7 at The East End in Portland. The duo from Vancouver, B.C., is nearing the end of a six-week U.S. tour. Their second album, Funeral Mixtape, will be released Aug. 12.

Here's a sneak preview of something that will appear on Northwest CanCon in the next couple of days. I caught The Pack A.D.'s show at The East End tonight, and talked to them afterward. It was a short set for them, the second of the day after driving from Bozeman, Mont., and there were only a handful of fans there to see them.

This is a terribly cliche thing to say, but let me tell you, these girls know how to rock, and rock hard. It's been said elsewhere, but this is a band you ought to see now while it's still pretty cheap.

[right] Maya Miller bashes the skins as Becky growls.

Hayden rocks Portland Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Canadian rocker Hayden played to a small but enthusiastic crowd tonight at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. A couple of hundred Hayden fans showed up to see him and opening act Haley Bonar.

It was a fun show to see—with only a couple hundred die-hards to play to, Hayden was able to interact pretty intimately with the audience (although I've heard that he's usually that way), and I like that: it makes each show a unique experience that you can't get by throwing the CD in your player.

These are a couple of bonus pictures. You can see full coverage on Northwest CanCon.

NW CanCon Monday, May 26, 2008

Announcing: NW CanCon, the ultimate resource for Canadian Music in the Pacific Northwest.

I just wanted to let you know about a new project I've been working on for a couple of weeks, called NW CanCon. It's technically a blog, but it will play more like a website. Maybe someday I'll give it its own domain, but for now it's hosted over on Wordpress for two reasons: mostly so I can try it out, and also because they make it easy to do web pages.

Anyhow, the main point of the site is to keep tabs on upcoming concerts and appearances by Canadian bands and musicians in Oregon and Washington. Hopefully we'll be able to put some photos and interviews up there too. As a side benefit, I've compiled a list of all the current Canadian acts I can come up with, including links to their official websites. I have a list of defunct acts as well, which will be up there eventually.

If you know of an upcoming show in the area, or a band that I haven't listed please let me know.

Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Monday, August 13, 2007

Christian McBride (left) and Ron Blake cast a shadow in the spotlight Aug. 4 at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Gresham.

I haven't posted much recently, so here is a big posting.

A little over a week ago, I had the opportunity to photograph the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Gresham. The festival ran two days, but I was only there for the final evening. What I saw was pretty cool, though, and the weather was nice for the outdoor venue.

You can read more about the festival here.

I spotted the image at left while I was standing in the wings of the stage. It could have been super-cool, but there was so much clutter on- and off-stage that things got in the way—mic stands, sound equipment, lighting equipment, etc. Oh well.

Here are some other images from the evening.

Christian McBride (right) cracks a smile as he plays with Geoffrey Keezer (left), Terreon Gully, and Ron Blake (not pictured) at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Gresham.

Of the three bands I saw, I liked the Christian McBride Band the best. Christian himself was awesome, and I was particularly impressed by Geoffrey Keezer on keyboards.

(right) Paula West performs on the main stage Aug. 4 at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival.

Paula West was on stage when I arrived at the event. Photographing singers is always difficult because when they're doing their thing they always have a big microphone in front of their face. This was the best angle I could find, but Paula still has a big pole going through her head.

(left) At 10 months old, Jackson Kultala of Gresham was one of the youngest in attendance at the Festival.

(And they say the festival is having trouble attracting a younger audience!)


(right) Dorado Schmitt wowed the audience with his brand of gypsy jazz. He appeared with the Django Reinhardt Festival All-Stars. (below) One of the band members, Ludovic Beier, plays the accordina. He also performed on accordion.

Before seeing Beier play, I had heard of an accordina, but never seen one in person. It's kind of a cross between a button-accordion and a harmonica. It was pretty cool.

(right) Renowned French violinist Pierre Blanchard plays with the Django Reinhardt Festival All-Stars.

The picture of Blanchard is probably my favorite image of the evening. I tried something similar with Ron Blake (saxophonist with the Christian McBride Band) but it didn't work as well.

Troutdale Bite & Bluegrass Festival Sunday, July 22, 2007

Rick Weitzel, Kathleen Tyau, and Paul Drews jam upstairs at the Troutdale General Store July 14 during the Bite & Bluegrass Festival.

I've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks, as regular readers might have deduced from the irregularity of my postings. Because I've been so busy, though, I do have a bit of a backlog of photos to blog about. I'm still pretty busy this week, but I'll try to get caught back up as we move along.

Meanwhile, here is something from the second annual Bite & Bluegrass Festival held in Troutdale last weekend. You can see another one of my images in the weekend edition of The Outlook. I think they used a few in the print edition, so check it out if you are in the Gresham area.