Featured Stories
"This is so awesome, you guys. We should just lock the door and have a sleepover in here for the next three weeks!" ...So implored Boulder singer-songwriter Stuart Davis at his final show at The B Side Lounge on 12/4.
Colorado is a lucky place to be for music lovers, but the unfortunate side-effect of so many good choices is that legions of super-talented artists go unnoticed. Case in point: every single member of The Mile High Sound Movement, a Denver-based music and arts collective spearheaded by Jerry Jay Jaramillo (aka Project Aspect) and Zach Karuzas (aka Kruza Kid).
History is doomed to repeat itself. Unless, of course, we are aware of our past indiscretions and crimes against the world of music.
Which is why I have taken it upon myself to research some of the more noteable dates in music history and present them to you on a month-to-month basis, so you may educate yourselves, and change the world.
December 1st
1982 - Michael Jackson's ``Thriller'' LP is released. It is the best-selling album of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 40 million copies. If only we knew then what we knew now. Michael, mixed with the disco hangover, would then usher in an era of pop music that would not die for at least 20 years. Thanks a lot, Michael, thanks a lot.
1972 - Martha & the Vandellas give their farewell performance in Detroit.
December 3rd
1986 - Judas Priest and CBS have a lawsuit filed against them claiming two fans shot themselves after listening to the band's music for six hours. I guess that's one way to come out of the closet . . .
1948 - Ozzy Osbourne is born in Birmingham, England. His biggest pop hit is ``Close My Eyes Forever.'' Yes, that's the song he did with Lita Ford. Reports have it that he is just as coherent today as he was 60 years ago.
December 4th
1980 - Led Zeppelin announces its decision to break up. Because, you know, replacing drummers is reeeaaalll difficult.
December 5th
2000 - R&B star Sisqo takes home six trophies at the 2000 Billboard Music Awards, while Destiny's Child and 'N Sync corral four each. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of THAT trophy shop.
December 6th
1969 The Rolling Stones' hold an ill-fated concert at California's Altamont Speedway, where a fan is stabbed to death near the stage.
December 8th
2000 Metallica sues perfume manufacturer Guerlain Inc. and the Neiman-Marcus stores, alleging that they have infringed on and diluted the rock band's trademarked name by creating and marketing a "Metallica" perfume brand. Their primary defense? "It smells to pretty to be called 'Metallica', doesn't have enough of that hangover-sweat stench to it."
1980 – John Lennon shot to death. Thankfully. Now Urban Outfitters has a slew of t-shirt options they can sell from and hipsters will create yet another reason they can call-in sick. .
December 9
1995 The Beatles' first new tune in 25 years, ``Free as a Bird,'' debuts on a six-hour ABC documentary about the Fab Four. That's right. SIX HOURS. Because the previous forty years of exposure wasn't enough.
December 14
1999 BMI names "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" as the number one song on the performing rights group's list of "Top 100 Songs Of The Century." This is largely due to the fact that frat boys in bars all over the country can sing it to their beloved sorority sisters without having to worry about the fact they are completely fucking tone deaf.
December 16
1770 - Composer Ludwig Van Beethoven was born. Know this because it may be the only thing worth knowing.
1983 - The Who officially disbanded. They will, however, be performing at this year's Super Bowl Halftime.
1993 - MTV aired Nirvana's New York "Unplugged" performance. Doc Martens and over-sized cardigans sell out nation-wide the following morning.
December 18
2003 - In Santa Maria, CA, Michael Jackson was charged with seven counts of molesting a child under 14 and two counts of supplying the child with "an intoxicating agent." Jackson's lawyer denounced the allegations and said they were driven by money and revenge. Don't worry, we will all forget about this five and a half years later.
December 24
1954 - Johnny Ace shot himself and died while playing Russian roulette backstage at a concert in Houston. What a shame, he wasn't even Russian.
December 25
1978 - Public Image Ltd. makes its debut performance at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Madchester gets a little more Rotten.
December 29
1994 - Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes pled guilty to arson charges for setting fire to and destroying boyfriend Andre Rison's Atlanta mansion. Funny thing I noticed while compiling this list: 90% of the music headlines in the last 20 years have been about music stars getting busted for guns, drugs, prostitution, rape, etc. Before the last 20 years? It was almost unheard of unless the death of that artist was directly related to drugs or weapons. Just sayin.
December 31
1971 - The Beatles break up, making plenty of room for the slew of disco and metal that will emerge later in the decade. Can't win 'em all.
1983 - MTV completes its first profitable quarter. Fiscally. Morally and Psychologically? That's questionable.
Last Wednesday at Boulder's B Side Lounge, some of Boulder's finest singer-songwriters gathered to honor the memory of legendary singer Jeff Buckley, whose tragic accidental drowning death in 1997 left the world with only one finished album and another on four-track demo tapes.
In the Front Range's increasingly populous live painting scene, John Bukaty is in a class of his own – a wise elder, a friendly and open-minded collaborator, and a community-minded event organizer. An admirable artist in his own right, he was also single-handedly responsible for gathering over a dozen live artists working both independently and together for Thunk! (Denver's first live art-centered event, which took place at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom in July 2009) and Dancin In The Streets (an urban music festival at Denver's Five Points, for which John helped coordinate an outdoor mural over 100 feet long). Although he lives in Crested Butte, he's currently traveling India, where documentarian JR Fleming is filming a movie, 100 Paintings Ago, about how international travel inspires his work.
What got you started painting at concerts? (And what KEEPS you painting at concerts?)
The energy, the feeling of inspiration all the time, when at a live show. What keeps me? The people and the constant new music to go see.
What are your media and methods?
I use acrylic on canvas, but have used oils before. I outline in black and then fill in the basic concept, at the end I create flow. The energy of the music in fast strokes synchronized to the music. These are the tempo of the particular band I am seeing. The palette usually is to the style of the band as well.
What are you trying to "capture" in your paintings?
I am trying to capture the band, sometimes that is an abstract form sometimes that is realism, it all depends. I think i always try to mix it up. And that is the style.
In what ways have you grown as an artist since you started painting live?
Many many ways, I think I broke off what I learned in college to choose my own path, and in ways I have come back to mastering what I learned in the basic classes. But, this is the person I have become in the last eight years based on the people I have met, the artists I have collaborated with and techniques I learned through trail and error.
What have been some of the most amazing moments for you, in the live painting environment?
So many. Thunk! was a night I always dreamed of, and couldn't savor the magic moments enough, Dancin In The Streets, stage performances with greats such as Steven Perkins, J.J. Cale, and Robert Randolph, and all the trips to the exotic places that my art took me.
What have been some unforeseen complications or challenges in live painting – both artistically and in terms of the business? How did/do you deal with them?
In the jam band scene you are surrounded by the best positve thinkers and vibe-givers in the world, you feel like you're in a enviroment where everyone thinks as artist. But it is also a place of little cash, cause the fans spend all their money on the shows, night after night. The tough part is to stay a head of the game on good supplies. The key is to keep the machine truckin', keep painting, keep trading and cut every deal you can so that you can do what is most important: paint live, and sell your work so you can paint more.
Do you consider live painting to be a single coherent movement or emergent art form? If not, do you think it'll EVER be?
Of course I think it is both. I am a believer. The more I look into it, the more I find it is all connected. This can only go up if we organize it by doing all the busy work that is necessary to get the right to call it a "movement."
Where can people find your work?
People can find my work the web at johnbukaty.com [personal site], 100paintingsago.com [the documentary site] and places such as Cervantes', Highland Pacific Restaurant, and Artbidz in KC.
More Articles...
Page 1 of 5
