Scott Newton Photo

Here’s a quick portrait of Slaid Cleaves, one of Austin’s finest singer/songwriters. His last album,” Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away” is one of the best to come out of here in years.

Haven’t posted for a whole; it seems to take a death to get me up and out. Here we go again; it’s getting old….Rusty Wier, the rocking soul of South Austin for so many decades has died. Only 65 years old. This ain’t right. Anyway, went looking for an essential Rusty shot and here it is. Rusty in mid trademark kick, 31 years ago.

Remember that name. Go see her before everyone hears of her and makes it so YOU have to see her in too big a venue…. Great new talent. Incredible bassist. Great vocalist. Beautiful woman. Yikes.

Here’s our new Mayor, just elected in May, seated at the entrance to City Hall. Constructed quickly as one of a series of portraits, it’s basic Rule of Thirds, (face at one of the power points), run a diagonal (the bench he’s seated on) at the camera, and try to get him to light up, which he readily did. Bang. Cover shot for a mailer.

I love this shot because she looks like she’s channeling from the Heavens straight to everyone’s heart. And she is. Dolly Parton deserves every good thing that happens to and for her. She’s a lovely human being.

We opened our 35th Season with a taping of Willie and the Wheel (Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel for those who don’t know, or care). Willie just turned 76, but you’d never know it. He just keeps getting better, at least on stage…

Here’s a little unpublished gem. I don’t believe this shot has been seen, as of yet. There have been movies made about their story, but the real deal was lots of fun to watch. They were a royalty of sorts. You could tell they really loved each other. Here, they were at the top of their game.

I’m finally getting the chance to have a book of my Austin City Limits images published. Not a text illustrated by photos, like in the past, but a photo book. I’ve already picked the shots; now we’re writing captions and generating minimal text that will include performers’ comments. I’m really jazzed about it. It’s going to have lots of shots that would never get used as publicity photos, like this one… I’ll be putting up lots of music shots in the immediate future. My research has churned up lots of unseen treasures…. Hope you enjoy. I love this shot.

Poodie, the central tent pole in the Willie Nelson Family circus, died unexpectedly just last week. He was an amazing man. He could be whatever the situation called for, using his huge heart as the grease that kept everybody happy and fairly under control. I’ve seen him deal with total chaos as if it were drizzle. Oh, his title was Road, then Stage Manager, but he was much more… He was good to me, getting me treasured access to special spots on crowded stages for years. He knew who belonged where. He was the center; a nexus and a vortex. In Austin, Texas the name Poodie is not a funny name, although he was a funny, wonderful man. Gonna miss him.

Well, spring has offically fully sprung. The Claret Cup has bloomed. Isn’t it just obscene with color, and over the top as only a blooming cactus can be? The shot is crude Rule of Thirds. Works for me.