This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to play at the Ballroom lounge at an antique hotel in Atlanta called the Highland Inn. It was a very good experience as it was the first show that I really felt like a performer: My name was uniquely written in chalk on the sign in front of the hotel, they provided free beer for the performers, they even gave me some money ($10) at the end of the night and I didn’t even expect it! This was also my first show having a drummer, which thankfully, Jack Preston, a friend of a friend, agreed to do. The people who were over the show were super cool and the sound engineer even gave me some tips on my sound and helped me configure my new Vocal effects pedal. All in all, I walked away with a very good experience.

This show was definitely a lot different than my other shows especially with the aid of a drummer. I was able to be a lot more flexible musically and was able to even have a jam session on stage. For the show, I featured a new song that I made called “Selfish” which is a song that I had been working on for months, trying to figure the arrangement of the music . I told myself that i wasn’t going to ever perform the song unless I had a drummer and thankfully the time came. It’s a song that’s heavily influenced by blues music as I sing about doing what I have to do to survive in this world and not allowing anything else to falter that. With Jack on the drums, the song turned out to be better than I thought.

I also performed two songs from my Melodic Monster EP, “Wasted” and “Isabella” which gave more impact than before with the inclusion of the drums. It actually turned out better with the way Jack played the drums, giving them more excitement than usual. After performing these songs, we proceeded to rock out on stage with a 12 minute jam session that could’ve gone on for hours.

I’ve always wanted a drummer to assist me and this has definitely proven why. This performance has also given me insight on what my future shows should be like. Hopefully I can have a drummer for future shows so that they will be just as exciting as this one and enable me to be just as flexible with the music. If I could just get a good bassist with a drummer then that would definitely enhance the sound and bring the sound of my music to its full potential.

Later Days…

Go here for more pictures from the show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdaye/sets/72157624466743981/

Go here for videos of the show: http://www.an-mag.com/ben-carson-live-at-highland-inn-ballroom-in-atlanta-ga/

“Super Pop!” is the third art show I’ve curated. The first was “All Together Now” two years back and the second was Creative Loafing’s 2009 Best Art Exhibit “Extraordinary Machine.” As curator of the group show “Super Pop!” my role as artist/curator finds me painting, sculpting, and photographing my own pieces as well as hand-selecting my favorite works by some really amazing artists. Here are some photos of where my head is at right now. All pop everything.

Super Pop! opening reception
Aug 5th at Wm Turner Gallery
7pm – 10 pm

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Ralph Lauren Rugby skull head socks for the sale price of $6. Can’t beat that! I happen to come across the sale a few weeks ago by accident. RL rugby’s sales are always fair and decent. If you’re looking for a relax and classic prep look, definitely check out a rugby store near you.

Your brain is Magic City–Your nose is Atlanta! I recently shot part-time socialites, full-time twin celeb accessory designers Coco & Breezy. We had a blast chopping it up with the 19 year old designers. They made me that much more anxious to make that move to New York/Los Angeles/Miami. The shoot was for the upcoming SocialTV from Art Nouveau Media Groups’ lifestyle blog The-Socials.com. Check out some behind the scenes snap shots from the shoot and make sure you check out The-Socials.com.

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Just wanted to fill everyone in on the art I’m creating. Atlanta, there are a couple of amazing art shows coming up. Get ready. The first is Super Pop! opening Aug 5, and the second is Extraordinary Machine Two opening Aug 26 at Wm Turner Gallery. Look at what I’ve been working on.

Courtney Love has been the center of attention ever since her marriage to Kurt Cobain and definitely since his untimely death and the suspicions about how it came to happen. She is known for her off the wall antics both on stage and off, even to the point of shocking pop icon Madonna. It got worst for Love when she was accused of using drugs while being pregnant with her child Frances Bean. If you’re a Nirvana fan, you might hate her for the fact that she took all of the rights to the name Nirvana, and has exploited and manipulated the name for her own devices, even giving consent to allowing Kurt Cobain to be used as a character in the popular Rock Band series. There are a lot of things Courtney has done that has pissed a lot of people off and majority have good reason to.

With all of these reasons to not like Courtney, I still find some sentiment to actually like her. I am above all a die hard Nirvana fan owning every album ever put out including the Unplugged session, but what Nirvana has done cannot be tainted whatever Courtney Love has done. Nirvana will always be the best band ever to have been around, plus Kurt was already fucked up from the beginning, Courtney was just there to be his companion in his demons. Whether she killed him or not is to be determined although if it was anyone who could’ve saved him, it could have been her. I say all of this to say that I actually like Courtney Love. Before you hate me, here’s why…

Part of the reason why I like Courtney Love is the same reason why I like Kurt Cobain… they both just don’t give a fuck. Kurt Cobain used to go on stage and mess up his lyrics, wear a dress in interviews, or fuck up his own equipment just like Courtney would throw something at Madonna, scream at the audience or say some random shit. They both personified the whole dirty rock star image and while Kurt did it for the guys, Courtney Love did it for the girls. She is even one of the first to rock the “kinderwhore” look where she would dress up in ripped up baby doll dresses with her make up smeared all over her face. I honestly dig people who do their own thing despite what others think and Courtney Love is one of those people.

Another reason why I dig Courtney Love is because she actually makes good music. I will admit to having my reservations about it at first, but when I heard the first Hole album Live Through This, I was convinced that she and Cobain were a great musical match and that Cobain had some influence on her style. I can listen to that album all the way through and unless someone else wrote the songs (???) and made the music, it was pretty darn good. Even some of her solo stuff isn’t too bad. Like Cobain, her music is pretty grungy which makes me like her more because she’s dabbling in the genre ruled mainly by males and she has the look to verify herself in that genre. She touches on subjects about feminism and conformism and does it to some really great and catchy riffs.

My final reason I’m going to give for liking Courtney Love is that regardless of what people have said or what she has done, she has lasted a very long time and still performs to this day. People can hate you all of your life but it’s up to you how you want to handle it and Courtney seems to let it roll off her shoulder and continue doing what she wants to do, even though she is stepping and crushing a lot of people’s toes. Even the situation with the Hole reunion where she went on with the band without the aid of Eric Erlandson whom she originally started the band with. Anyone who can go through fire, brimstone and whatever else and still keep moving on has my vote in the persistence category. People will always tell you what you can or can’t do and Love has my respect in that manner.

Like I said, I recognize the fucked up things that Courtney Love has done, but when I add up the fact that she makes good music and doesn’t give a fuck, she gets at least 4 stars from me in the rock star zone. I’m sure there are a lot of male and even female artists who do the same. Plus, if you look at the background of Love, you can see where a lot of this is coming from. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of Courtney Love but I like surprises so I’ll just keep on watching and seeing what she does. I hate I missed her Atlanta show though.

Later Days…

Keep in mind I’m an artist and I’m Sensitive about my shit. Home is where your heart is so I welcome you to a place that pulsates with creativity, beats with the sound of tomorrow, and carry the love for artistic expressions. The Art Nouveau headquarters. Wait to you get a load of this, well my mouth is closed, can’t tell you much but August will reveal what these four walls have been keeping in.

The best thing about having a particular skill in the arts is being able to share it with the world. It’s even better when you have the opportunity to work with someone else who may or may not have the same skill, but can contribute greatly to what you’re already doing. These kind of collaborations usually have the greatest results as it may generate a much bigger impact than what the collaborators could have imagined. Some great examples of this is Cristo & Jeanne Claude, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Mos Def & Talib Kweli.

These collaborations have produced the most enjoyable and creative inspirations that the world has ever seen. The team work that these individuals have portrayed has shown the world that with a little help and cooperation from all persons, that anything is possible. I see this as a marriage, if both partners are in it for each other then the marriage will run strong and healthy, but if one person in the marriage has a different outlook then it can result in an unfitting relationship.

Unfortunately, sometimes when people collaborate, individuals might have a different mind set about the power of collaboration. As one person may do a collaboration for all of its powerful aspects, another person may do it for personal gain whether in popularity, artistic value or just to be seen. Although collaborations are a way for a person to amplify their art to another level, it should never be a situation where a person takes credit for the collaboration or uses it solely for their own purpose. Art should come first and egos should come last.

Later Days…

I stay in the lab with the pen and the pad. Grinding is not an option. Check out my latest illustration, this time I immortalize Philly rap artist Freeway.