the dotmatrix project

A few months back, we (and by “we” I mean DMP sound engineers Don Ravon and Dan Bayer) were lucky enough to be able to record the 3rd Often Awesome Benefit Show, held at Greene Street in downtown Greensboro. Seven different acts performed, with many having no connection to Tim LaFollette prior to the evening.

While it’ll be bit longer until the compilation album is complete as a fundraising vehicle for both Tim and ALS awareness, Andy and Blake just released what I feel is so far the best episode of their Often Awesome web series.

Spread the word, people. This disease is too terrible to continue in existence.

An outpouring of heartfelt passion was seen Tuesday night as the Often Awesome Army assembled to raise money for Timothy LaFollette and his fight against ALS.

The event occurred at the Green Street Club in downtown Greensboro. Donations were collected, raffle tickets sold and seven local bands came and performed for a wall-to-wall crowd, showing their support for Tim and Kaylan. Halfway through the show, Tim gave a moving speech where he asked for one more favor: keep spreading awareness for ALS.

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

All Aces Media shot video and the dotmatrix project recorded the show to create a compilation album. Both the video and album will be available shortly. All Aces is also currently working on a web series about Tim called, Often Awesome The Series.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made this wonderful night possible, especially Michael Sileno, who organized the entire evening.

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Michael Sileno introducing Josh Neas

Photo by Mark Smith

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Chris Jackson of Citified joins Josh Neas for a song.

Photo by Mark Smith

Treason and DJ Royale

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

“if you love hip hop…”

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Social Life giving it their all.

Photo by Mark Smith

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Raffle ticket sales were through the roof!

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Mutant League

Photo by Mark Smith

Photo by Mark Smith

The Numbers

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Photo by Mark Smith

Jews and Catholics

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Come Hell or High Water

Photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Come Hell or High Water
Photo by Mark Smith

To see more photos from this show, check out our flickr site.

You know, words can’t express how much fun The Wigg Report are live.

Enjoy!

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Louis Bekoe
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Camera: Blake Faucette
Camera: Louis Bekoe
Sound: Danny Bayer
Sound: Don Ravon

Steve, Chuck and Tim rocked out & Louis Bekoe caught it in action.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Louis Bekoe
Camera: Mark Steinberg, Blake Faucette, Louis Bekoe
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

Local legend Bruce Piephoff pulled together an all-star ensemble for his DMP performance last February (sweet Jesus, it’s been that long?). With Renee Mendoza (Filthybird) on vocals, Scott Walker, Landon Walker & Jennie Walker Brunner on bass, cello and violin (Walker Family Band) and David “Driveway” Moore on harmonica (ETI & The Goodbye House), Bruce led the audience through a memorable set of narratives steeped in southern tales — stories of inequality and of politics and with bits of love splashed here and there.

Please enjoy this beautifully shot slice of that down home pie.

And remember, Bruce’s live album is currently available on Amie Street for only $1.82.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS

Director: Harvey K. Robinson
Editor: Zach Hadgraft
Camera: Mark Wagoner, Alex Maness, Blake Faucette
Gaffer: Jonathan Faw
Grips: Matty Sheets, Barry Staples
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon and Cesar Oviedo

Sometimes, when the band you’ve booked begins to play you instantly know the evening is going to be special. Other times, it happens when you get yelled at by everyone involved.

The Filthybird show, by all accounts, was special.

I had to run back to HQ as the sound check got underway and made it back to the show just prior to Renee starting up. As I heard her last warmup on the keys and vocals, I jumped out of my seat in the packed house and yelled over to Don to turn down the reverb.

NO!!! came from every direction on stage.

Trust your crew was the lesson I learned that night.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Blake Faucette
Camera: Andy Coon, Blake Faucette, Sean Coon
Sound: Don Ravon

The live album is available at Amie Street, with all proceeds going to the Filthybird crew.

IMHO, the coolest aspect of what we do here is our documentation of the music scene, specifically in Greensboro, where I call home. And not just individual shows, but the gestalt of the entire scene as it unfolds over different periods of time.

While some bands find a modicum of success and play for years to come, touring regionally at times, many more bands form, play out locally for a while and disappear into the ether without the notice of more than a handful of friends and family and only the most hardcore music lovers in town.

Albina Savoy falls into such a category.

And while that’s a shame on many levels — their sound was so unique, beautiful in ways that’s hard to describe — at least we have a few reminders of their sound to enjoy.

If you like what you hear in the video, be sure to check out the band’s live album on Last.fm and AmieStreet (all proceeds on AmieStreet go to Albina Savoy).

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Blake Faucette
Camera: Andy Coon
Camera: Blake Faucette
Camera: Sean Coon
Sound: Danny Bayer

To say it was a magical evening late last February when Jim Avett took to the stage for our little project, storytelling his way through a number of classic tunes, both covers and originals, would be an understatement at best. Even Jim’s kids, the skyrocketing Avett Brothers, sat in for a few tunes. Chills went through everyone as the script was flipped and the boys backed up their dad in the spotlight.

photo by Elizabeth Lemon

Eventually, the time came to bring Greensboro’s own musical legend, Scott Manring, to the stage. Harvey did an amazing job in the video of capturing the back story of how Signs was birthed between these two gentlemen. I particularly enjoyed watching their faces as they felt time slipping back to the days of its original recording some 30 years ago.

Sheer exuberance.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS

Director: Harvey K. Robinson, monkeywhale productions
Director Photography:: Harvey K. Robinson
Editor: Zach Hadgraft
Camera: Mark Wagoner, Alex Maness, Blake Faucette
Gaffer: Jonathan Faw
Grips: Matty Sheets, Barry Staples, David Moore
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

We’re still working on Jim’s live album, but it’ll come out soon enough. Patience…

Photo by Stephen Charles

The exhibit… is up.

That was only a few months in the making.

This Friday night @ The Green Bean is the exhibit’s opening, featuring the music of past DMP performers: Laurelyn Dossett, Mr. Rozzi and Eating The Invaders. We’re also going to screen a slew of DMP music videos created by the ever talented All Aces Media, Ioannis Batsios, Jason Marc Pierce, Jennifer Graves, Bret Jones and Michael McQueen.

As far as the exhibit goes, we have 29 large format photographs on display, shot by 9 local photographers across 8 monthly shows, which will stay on the walls until September 27th.

Friday night, the entire month… it’s our way of both celebrating and promoting the talent found within our own community.

We do hope you can come out and enjoy it with us.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t introduce our featured photographers, so here they are:

DMP PHOTOGRAPHERS (These are the folk who signed up with us to shoot specific shows and then uploaded their high-res shots to the DMP flickr photostream under a Creative Commons license, which in turn furthers our mission)
		Kevin Belton flickr account Email | Voice: 336.816.8571 Kevin is a professional product photographer for the High Point furniture industry, second camera for John Leonard Photography for weddings and special events. He has been shooting themed based ideas in the last year or so featuring addiction, fashion, and music. Art is his passion and the camera is his medium.
		Stephen Charles CharlesMedia Photography Email | Voice: 336.682.9517 Stephen Charles began taking photographs in 1983 with a 35mm Canon Sure Shot. With the advent of Digital SLRs he has pursued photography as a growing passion, with a desire for letting candid captured moments tell the story.
		Jessi Hagood Jessi Hagood Photography Email Jessi Hagood is a native of Eden, NC and works primarily in the Greensboro area as a Wedding and Portrait Photographer. Recently her work has involved photographing Bodybuilding and Figure Competitions, soon to be featured in Muscle and Fitness Magazine and in an upcoming episode of MTV Made.
		Doug Klesch Doug Klesch Photography Email | Voice: 336.542.3071 Doug is a refugee from the cubicle farms of corporate America. Failing to have sapped all creative energy from him over more than a decade, his overlords released him back to the world. He gratefully returns wielding a camera.
		Elizabeth Lemon Elizabeth Lemon Photography Email | Voice: 719.244.3518 A recent graduate from the photography program at Randolph Community College, Elizabeth is adjusting to life outside a classroom. She is pursuing fine art and documentary photography with rediscovered inspiration and a tool box of new knowledge.
		Alex Maness Alex Maness Photography Email | Voice: 336.707.6121 Alex Maness, local boy done good, likes to travel and explore, but keeps Greensboro, NC as his center of gravity. He runs a photography business shooting for magazines and advertisers, as well as his own documentary projects.
		Mark Smith flickr account Email | Voice: 336.414.4721 Mark’s first inkling that photography could be fun was when his parents brought out the dreaded slides of their jaunts overseas. Once Mark could afford it, he bought a Pentax ME Super and “that was that.” These days, Mark happily takes sports and beach pictures as well as the live music events at DMP.
COMMUNITY PHOTOGRAPHERS (Talented, local photogs who came out to shows and documented the evening)
		Carolyn de Berry Carolyn de Berry Photography | Email Monkeywhale Productions | Email A Connecticut native and graduate of Guilford College and the Commercial Photography Program at Randolph Community College, Carolyn is a freelance photographer and assistant living in Greensboro, NC. She is also the production photographer and studio manager for Monkeywhale Productions.
		Allen Martin MartiniVision Email | Voice: 917.687.1912 Greensboro native Allen Martin is a photographer and designer who has recently relocated back to his home town after 18 years in NYC. A camera owner since adolescence, for the last several years Allen has focused on fashion, fine art and entertainment photography.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

• Katie Southard, Owner of The Green Bean
• Elizabeth Lemon, for matting, framing and curating the show
• Laurelyn Dossett, Mr. Rozzi and Eating The Invaders, for generously donating their talent at the exhibit opening
• Don Ravon for running sound at the exhibit opening
• Don Ravon & Dan Bayer for mixing the music video tracks
• Ioannis Batsios, Blake Faucette, Michael McQueen and Bret Jones for scrambling to produce their music videos on time
• Andy Coon for helping prep the music video DVD
• Allen Martin for the beautiful show poster
• All of our talented photographers, many of whom aren’t represented in this show. You can see their all of their work at our flickr spot

A SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FRAME SPONSORS:

• Mark Wagoner Productions
  Email | Voice: 888.854.0406
• 243 Framing
  243 E. Salisbury St., Asheboro, NC. 27203
  336.629.5101
• Martin’s Frame and Art
  336.274.2426

The Tremors have been a staple in the Greensboro music scene much longer than the four years I’ve been in town. It isn’t too hard to see why, huh?

Rock and roll, baby.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Blake Faucette
Camera: Blake Faucette
Camera: Micah Moore
Camera: David Bradley
Sound: Danny Bayer
Sound: Don Ravon

Look for the album to drop soon on both Last.fm and Amie Street.