R. Patryce Bryant - I'll Trust

Last Saturday I had the very unexpected (last minute) opportunity to cover Miss Bryant's CD release party. She literally called me Friday and I happened to have a cancellation, so I was there on Sat.

I wanted to spend a good 15-20 minutes prior to her sound check to get some decent portrait shots outside, but I was only able to squeeze 7 or so minutes of her time! What a 7 minutes it was too!!! Bam Bam Bam - felt like Emeril there for a bit!

I was absolutely blown away by her voice and her lungs, I mean the sound check gave me goosebumps even if it was the same 8 bars over and over, but, she is obviously a perfectionist and when she went on later that evening - she nailed it as did the band.

Patryce I wish you all the luck with your new CD and stay grounded as you are and I think all of your hard work and devotion will definitely pay off...

This image was one of the first I took that evening, I just saw that reserved row sign and had to do something with it!



Here are some of the images from our 7-minute-shoot-out! This image just shows how peaceful this wonderfully talented woman is.. I didn't know her personality all that well at this point, so was being on my best professional behavior!



I saw this fence, and had to use it as a prop, in several images actually. The look on her face here had me confused at first (she's giving me that "what in the world is wrong with this guy look")



But that look only lasted a minute when she made some silly comment and cracked herself up!



Of course, without a doubt I needed to shoot her through the fence as well!



Patryce it was a pleasure working with you!!!

-Rick O

Groove Time at J'Roos

Well Saturday night I ventured out to North Haven (J'Roos) to see one of my favorite bands and to hang out with a bunch of friends. J'Roos always packs them in and I would have to say it has something to do with GTB as well! Sal (owner) told me he was getting reservations all afternoon, that's a great business he's got going on there!





Karen getting a little funky here :)



Katie and her beau! Kate is just striking a pose!



Marcia and Pete showed up - they were there for about an hour! After working with Peter for nearly 6 years and hearing so much about his wife, it was nice to finally meet her!



Phil baby! This was the first time I met Phil he is Georgina's other half! She's always talking about Phil and it was nice to finally meet him to!



Georgina and Phil getting a little close!



Pat steppin in on Drums as the Duke had rotator cuff surgery!





Phil talking to Maria! From the expression on her face, either she is looking at something odd or she can't hear him over the sound of the music!



Nice bar shot!



Phil actually does resemble some sort of mass criminal here!



Miss Patty having a moment!



I was really diggin this shot of George.



I'm not sure who this is, but he was brightly dressed!







Maureen and her husband also showed up!



Doug just doing what he does best!





Maureen's husband got caught up in the moment of the music and forgot he wasn't alone!



It was a great time as always guys, hope to see you again soon.

-Rick O

GTB @ J'Roos Tonight (02/28)

I'm not too crazy about promoting various bands and such unless I know they would appeal to a mass audience. Groove Time does just this. If you like Motown combined with some up-beat Jazz with a little 80's Disco style music, then you have to check out Groove Time.

I'll be at J'Roos tonight in North Haven with the band, it's an awesome night out with your significant other, the band has a huge following and is very well established. J'Roos also has some incredible food (from what I hear). So find a baby sitter and join me tonight at J'Roos!



-Rick O

Tall Horses @ Augurs Pub

I got a call a couple months back from Ted, formerly of the Johnny Law Band asking if I would come down to Augurs Pub in Guilford on the 24th of January to take some shots of his new band Tall Horses.

It's a cute little Irish Pub tucked away in Guilford on Water street. Tall Horses is an acoustic trio cover band and they have a few songs of their own as well, much in the style of Stones, Clapton, Black Crowes, Neil Young and the Allman Brothers just to name a few, be sure to check out their website for more information.

Here are some of my personal favorites from Sat night starting from the outside looking in!



















I know Ted said they have only played out for 6 months or so, but they sounded pretty tight to me already :)

Jam' On Guys...

-Rick O

Groove Time @ 313 (West Haven)

Okay, so I decided, sort of last minute to get out of the house last night... For those who know me, I hope you did not just have any sort of myocardial infarction! Hope I didn't miss anything good on the Biography channel :o)

My favorite band GTB was down the street last night in West Haven at 313 and I've known for some time now, that their former drummer retired (dang ole fart!) and they added a new keyboard player as well, so I thought I'd head down there with my camera for a couple hours and check them out!

Here are a few of my fav's - starting out with the wildest bass player I've ever seen - he's got more energy than [insert your own thought here - I don't wanna offend anyone]



The lovely Miss Patti just keeps getting better and better each and every time I hear her!



Well well well here is the one and only "T.W." in the flesh - cheesin it up! Go Tony, Go Tony!



Timing was just so perfect with this next shot - I swear I heard this guy singing as he was walking around the restaurant - think I may have caught a glimpse of him in action or he is serenading one of the Dukester's lady folk - (don't mess with the Duke!)



This gentleman had so much character, he was a pip and definitely a player - the women were just flocking to him - must have been the suit!



Alas the new drummer Duke! See you don't wanna mess with the "D" he looks like a total bad a** - he actually intimidated the heck outta me - until I aimed the camera from up and under his toms - then he gave me a cheesy smile!! Note - this wasn't that shot!!



The retired drummer "Pat" sharing a moment with his lady "Karen"



What a great time guys - see ya soon!

-Rick O

Vision at Daniel Street

Saturday night I had another request to shoot "Vision" down at "Daniel Street Cafe" in Milford. I arrived around 8:30 or so and the band went on around 10:00. As usual Vision drew its regular following plus there were some new faces.

I wanted to get a nice outside shot of Daniel Street, but it was pretty dark and I had to hand-hold the camera for an 1/8 of a second - the shot looked really good but passer-bys and cars left their streaks, so I had to crop the crap out of the original image - :o)

Here are a few of my favorites







Another great show guys...

-Rick O

Groove Time at JRoo's

This past Saturday I finally found some time to get out of the house, studio, etc. I headed up to JRoo's in North Haven to hear one of my favorite local bands play. "Groove Time" - their MySpace page is "here" is awesome if you like Motown, 70's and 80's disco and more. Doug (singer), Patti (singer), George (guitar), Mark (sax), Dominic (bass), Carl (keys) and Pat (drums) are simply awesome.

Here are a couple of my favs that evening...





You guys are always right on - if you're interested in seeing GTB play, they are at JRoo's every month and 313 in West Haven every month.

-Rick O

Vision's CD Release Party

It seems everyone and their brother is blogging and thought I ought to jump on the blog-wagon :o) Friday night I had the opportunity to shoot an original band "Vision" at "Cooks Cafe" in Naugatuck. It was their CD release party, they had a ton of CD's and t-shirts and it seemed that the entire front row was lined with people and their cam-corders!!!

We took some shots outside of the bar, the area was awesome and had a grungy feel to it, fire escpapes, brick walls, old signs, huge empty rolls of wire. It was the perfect setting..





One of my favorite shots of the drummer - she was so cool :o)



Great job guys and wish you lots of success..

-Rick