The Copyright Alliance Blog http://blog.copyrightalliance.org Copyright Information Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:04:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Meet Songwriter & Musician Steve Cox http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/09/meet-songwriter-musician-steve-cox/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/09/meet-songwriter-musician-steve-cox/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:04:21 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=732 Writing about Steve Cox, the Voice of Golden Eagle, doesn’t really do him justice. You need to watch our video and hear him speak and hear him play. A lot didn’t make that video, however, such as the fact that Steve was an early pioneer in the technology known as sampling. He assisted with tours of major artists such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller tour as well as Journey and Cindi Lauper. Keep in mind that long before urban musicians began sampling sound recordings in original works, bands used sampling technology to help “fill in” their live sound; Steve says he helped provide the King of Pop his high notes on stage on nights when the notes just weren’t there for the artist.

So he’s a techie and an artist, a not uncommon combination. But he’s also a reflective and spiritual person, as I believe is clear in the video. I’ll let you hear him tell for himself how he came to have the name “Voice of Golden Eagle.”

We met in the offices of the Memphis Music Foundation, a stone’s throw from Beale Street and the Mississippi River. Steve created the web site for the Foundation and also makes use of its equipment and classes. One thing the Foundation — an independent nonprofit – does for its members is provide access to affordable health care. Steve likes to give back to his listeners and those around him, and the Foundation does likewise.

Follow along each stop of my cross country road trip here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/09/meet-songwriter-musician-steve-cox/feed/ Meet Painter & Photographer Amy Evans Streeter http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/09/meet-painter-photographer-amy-evans-streeter/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/09/meet-painter-photographer-amy-evans-streeter/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:12:42 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=731 Besides being talented and reflective, Amy Evans Streeter is whimsical. It comes through in her art and in her blog, and I think I captured some of it in the video. She’s also pretty busy, preparing for a September show, working a day job photographing and documenting food-related cultural treasures throughout the South, and working with her husband Kurt to raise their 10-month-old daughter. Like many artists, she told me about the challenges of managing her time; I’m not surprised, but I am surprised she took the time to meet with me.

Amy studied printmaking as an undergraduate, but never acquired a press. She took her love for illustration and her familiarity with wood and now she paints directly to wood. She likes the combination of fragility (paper) and solidity (wood), and views her art as objects. To her surprise, she’s learned that someone who recently bought one of her works intends to frame it. Amy told me she had never considered framing her art.

Like Sabra Field, Colleen Doran and Paul Babelay, I had to do a bit of off-roading to reach Amy, and you can see in the video how secluded her studio is in a lush forest landscape. If I were a painter I can’t imagine a place I’d rather be. Her dog Jackson seemed pretty happy there too (watch for his cameo in the video).

Follow along each stop of my road trip across the country here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/09/meet-painter-photographer-amy-evans-streeter/feed/ Meet Photographer Marc Bondarenko http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-photographer-marc-bondarenko/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-photographer-marc-bondarenko/#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:23:14 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=730 Marc Bondarenko has a jones for motorcycles and cars. He also has a passion for photography. So Marc has found a way to make a living taking photographs of motorcycles and cars.

He photographs a lot of other stuff as well, including interesting people. As Marc told me, Birmingham isn’t a large enough town where an independent photographer can easily specialize. That said, he has seen his photographs of motorcyles featured in a catalogue for the Guggenheim.

It isn’t really in the video, but Marc talked to me at length about how he likes to make his photography subjects comfortable before photographing them. He asks them questions, gets to know them, helps them relax. While he was saying this before the camera, I thought back to when I had arrived at his studio, to the questions he asked me, to the efforts he took to get to know me. Was the interviewee prepping the interviewer, even though I wasn’t on the camera? No matter, it was great to get to know Marc, who is a thoughtful and creative talent.

Follow along my entire road trip across the country here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-photographer-marc-bondarenko/feed/ Meet SCAD Professor of Interior Design Meghan Woodcock http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-scad-professor-of-industrial-design-meghan-woodcock/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-scad-professor-of-industrial-design-meghan-woodcock/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:59:32 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=729 My daughter Marisa and I were given hours of time with Meghan Woodcock, who took us all over the Savannah College of Art and Design, which goes by the acronym SCAD. We saw the impressive modern-style building just for the study of photography, a renovated antebellum home dedicated to illustration, and a converted waterfront warehouse now used for painting and printmaking. We also talked with some of the printmaking students, although they were on deadline so we tried not to be too distracting. By the end of our visit, my artist daughter texted her friends: “I’m going to get straight A’s so I can go to SCAD!” It was a nice end for the leg of the trip in which Marisa accompanied me, a leg that began with a visit to Colleen Doran.

Meghan also took time to be interviewed. She’s a graphic artist who left a boutique firm in Richmond to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design at SCAD, and is now a full-time professor there. She comes to interior design with the eye of an artist, but her passion is for sustainable design and her left brain is at work just as much as her right.

Creativity comes in many forms, and art comes in many manifestations. My visit with Meghan made me realize that art can not just touch the soul, it can actually change the way we live and work for the better. Her award-winning project of modular educational facilities for natural disaster recovery for children is but one example, but an inspiring one.

Meghan has embraced the life of an educator, and is doing her part to help her students master interior design while embracing their own creativity and respecting that of others.

Follow each stop of my road trip across the country here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-scad-professor-of-industrial-design-meghan-woodcock/feed/ Meet Photographer John Smoak http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-photographer-john-smoak/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-photographer-john-smoak/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:30:05 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=728 John Smoak didn’t discover a passion for photography until he was a college art student; the low country of Charleston, South Carolina, lost a potential pottery maker but gained a professional photographer. John keeps busy doing all sorts of photography, including a lot of architectural work, and is in the process of building his own studio. He’s doing this at the same time he’s preparing to get married. Wow.

John gets the fact that technology has made all of us capable of taking a few decent photos, but he knows that there is such a thing as an artist’s eye, and he knows he needs to convey that to his clients. He also is concerned for the future of not just photography but all arts, when people devalue the experience, talent and effort that go into art creation merely because the art can be distributed digitally at little or no cost.

The background on the video is the view that John will have from his studio, the marshland of James Island in Charleston harbor. It was low tide, so the grass is tall. We were unable to film at high tide, due to a tremendous rainstorm. (You can see some photos of the resulting flooding of Charleston’s streets in my South Carolina video.)

The video also doesn’t reveal how humid it was; when I set up my camera, I couldn’t see a thing through it because of the moisture that formed on the lens. John, being a professional, knew not to panic, and convinced me not to as well. It turns out we just had to wait about ten minutes for the camera to acclimate to the humidity. It took me a bit longer to acclimate.

Follow each stop of my road trip across America here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-photographer-john-smoak/feed/ Meet Percussionist and Songwriter Paul Babelay http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-percussionist-and-songwriter-paul-babelay/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-percussionist-and-songwriter-paul-babelay/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:08:43 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=727 It’s safe to say Paul Babelay is great company, which is good, because my rental hybrid had to endure a gravel road at a very steep grade to find him. Paul told me when I arrived that I missed seeing a bear on his property by twenty minutes. I was glad I hadn’t arrived twenty minutes early.

Paul has done the traveling band scene and the stable life of a theater percussionist. He says every week is a different mix, playing different instruments, different genres of music, different groups and performances in and around Asheville, NC. It’s a testament to the creative community there that he has access to such variety.

Paul has spent a lot of time thinking about the changes in music resulting from the Internet. He sees real value in being able to watch great artists perform, and has personally benefited that way. But he also feels instant access to music is devaluing the craft of musicmaking in many people’s eyes. A mentor to songwriters and musicians, he also worries about the slippery slope of giving recordings away, which could easily lead to musicians being expected to keep giving other revenue streams away as well.

I think you’ll enjoy spending time with Paul in this video, and you’ll learn about the vibraphone (well, I learned about it anyway).

Also be sure to follow along my entire cross country road trip on our road trip blog!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-percussionist-and-songwriter-paul-babelay/feed/ Meet Music Producer Elliot Mazer http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-music-producer-elliot-mazer/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-music-producer-elliot-mazer/#comments Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:38:17 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=726 It’s fair to say that Elliot Mazer has been there and done that. He’s produced multi-platinum albums with artists such as Janis Joplin, Linda Rondstat, and Neil Young. He and Neil seem tied at the hip, and in the video he hints at a future project with the music legend in the future. He has also been there from the beginning of the digital transition, and has worked on digitization projects as well as technologies to track music on broadcast and online.

Elliot is working now out of a studio he’s constructing in his home in Reidsville, NC, where he moved two years ago from New York. He and his wife Diana Haig live there; Diana’s an accomplished author and songwriter, and is our other featured video today. Listen on the video to how social networking is empowering Elliot’s work away from the big cities of New York, LA, and Nashville.

When Elliot and I finished our interview, I interviewed Diana while he retreated back to his studio to work on his latest project, a collaboration with an artist in Glascow. I appreciate the time he gave me to be in his home and learn from him.

Follow each stop of my cross country road trip here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-music-producer-elliot-mazer/feed/ Meet Author, Songwriter & Audio Producer Diana Haig http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-author-songwriter-audio-producer-diana-haig/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-author-songwriter-audio-producer-diana-haig/#comments Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:22:57 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=725 I frequently find when meeting artists that their talents and skills are not limited to one area of art. That is the case with Diana, who took a musical childhood into a professional career in the music business as a songwriter and producer, and who now has started a second career as an author. When you speak with her, though, you get the impression that she doesn’t really view those as distinct; they are all one in terms of expression and creativity.

Diana is hard at work on yet another book. Her books take you as a reader through history, particularly through the history of a colorful figure, and literally through the history, by allowing you to retrace the individual’s steps, such as Napoleon’s Josephine. Her newest book will allow you to accompany Jackie Kennedy through the New York City of her era.

Diana and her husband Elliot Mazer [see his video as well] were kind enough to invite me into their beautiful Reidsville home, which has been in Diana’s family for generations. I’d note her full name is Diana Reid Haig; I didn’t ask about the “Reid” in Reidsville, but I’m sure that’s not a coincidence. Diana was the perfect Southern host, even running out into the rain as I was leaving to deliver some blueberry muffins, which came in quite handy when I found myself very peckish the next morning. (Thank you, Diana!)

Watch my interview with Diana here. Also be sure to follow each stop of my road trip across the country on our road trip blog!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-author-songwriter-audio-producer-diana-haig/feed/ Meet Comic Book Illustrator and Writer Colleen Doran http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-comic-book-illustrator-and-writer-colleen-doran/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-comic-book-illustrator-and-writer-colleen-doran/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:55:31 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=723 Colleen Doran is a passionate artist. She’s passionate about illustrating and writing, working so hard her legs fall asleep and she has to drag herself away from her desk. Passionate about ensuring the fans of her own “Distant Soil” series as well as series she illustrates, such as The Sandman, receive the best she has to offer. Passionate about ensuring her rights are respected. She’s successful and accomplished, and a hoot.

Colleen owns and operates a large farm outside of Charlottesville. There are a lot of farms that meet that description, and despite my GPS I got lost finding her. She talks on video about working the land “look at all the farminess!” and how that labor doesn’t compare to the labor of creating. She also talks about the pros and cons of solitude.

This was the first interview my daughter Marisa joined me on. Marisa is 15 and an aspiring artist. She wasn’t scared away by the talk of how many hours Colleen works, or how hard she works. Marisa saw that if you love your work, you embrace the work. Marisa did want to make sure I included in my edits, however, that despite the fact that Colleen is giving away for free “A Distant Soil” on her blog, people are getting it through pirate sites, denying Colleen even a dime from an advertising view. Marisa owns the Distant Soil books and prefers reading them in that form, but couldn’t believe someone wouldn’t at least if they wanted it free give the author the courtesy of reading it on the author’s site.

Watch Colleen’s video here. Also be sure to follow along our road trip across the country here!

]]> http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-comic-book-illustrator-and-writer-colleen-doran/feed/ Meet Singer/Songwriter Margot MacDonald http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-singersongwriter-margot-macdonald/ http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/08/meet-singersongwriter-margot-macdonald/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:44:45 +0000 Patrick Ross http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/?p=722 Margot MacDonald has done a lot in her musical career, which is striking when you consider how young she is. But when you listen to her on this video, it becomes clear how poised and forward-thinking she is, and also how generous she is with her talent, to listeners and other creators.

We’ve been fortunate to know Margot, a rising BMI singer/songwriter, for some time now. Margot accompanied us last year to the White House when we delivered a letter to the President and Vice President from more than 11,000 artists and creators asking that their rights be respected, and she gave an impromptu performance at last year’s EXPOnential. She also accompanied us and performed at an assembly we held at West Potomac Academy last year.

Enjoy hearing Margot’s story, and getting a hint at what her next album will be like.

Follow along each stop of my road trip across the country here!

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