The Story So Far Rocketown Nashville, TN 11/14/15

The Story So Far performing at Rocketown in Nashville, TN on 11/14/15

Warped Tour Nashville July 1st, 2015

Enjoy these photos from the Nashville stop of the 2015 Vans Warped Tour!

Will Hoge Small Town Dreams Album Review

On his ninth studio album, Small Town Dreams, listeners hear Will Hoge tell stories about growing up in a Southern town.

The first song, Growing Up Around Here tells of spending time trying to leave his hometown, swearing he'd never come back. But then after reminiscing about "kissing his first girl under the Texaco sign" and playing football he realizes he will never live far from where he began. He feels a sense of pride and contentment where he is now.

Track 2, They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To, tells the story of the traditional southern working class. Someone much older than the narrator would always say whether it be "cars, fences, houses, or family names, they don't make them like they used to. This line is repeated throughout, my favorite instance being "Solid as the gospel truth, they don't make 'em like they used to."

As the album progresses, Better Than You and Little Bitty Dreams show his love for a girl and their lives together. LBD was written for his wife. It is comforting to hear songs of people who still have love for each other even through all of their dreams. The song is a tale of sacrifice and hardship, but love wins through everything.

Guitar or a Gun is one of the best "story" songs I've heard in a long time. Dad says one of these will last forever and the other's just for fun and he knows which is which. Narrator did not know which to choose, since they could both last forever and both be for fun. "I can learn to shoot like Jesse James out there on the run. Play guitar and be a Rolling Stone. Well, that just sounds like fun. A rockstar or an outlaw, either way, I've won when I walk out this door with a guitar or a gun." The choice he makes is crucial to he will become, but whichever he chooses, he will leave the pawn shop "feeling like a king." This is a song that, to me, is Will Hoge through and through. The song has remnants of Rock and Roll Star from Hoge's first album Carousel, which shows he can stay true to his roots.

Middle of America is the perfect small-town anthem. Fitting, given the name of the album and the reference to it in the song. "Tomorrow there's gonna be talk, but it'll be alright. It's just another night in the middle of America." I grew up in a small town and this song is remnant of that. Can we say nostalgia?

All I Want Is Us Tonight gives the listener a break before the best (and most emotional) song on this whole damn album comes on.

That leads me to Just Up The Road. The first time I listened to the album, this was the song I kept going back to. Being a person that loves words, I adored the imagery of "chasing white lines" and "taking the fast lane" in relation to the title of the song "Just Up The Road." That is poetry at its finest. This song reminds me of It's A Shame from Blackbird on a Lonely Wire. This song is a Will Hoge song. Of course, it's his song, but in this sense, I'm talking about when I describe Will's sound to people, this is my reference. 

Desperate Times, The Last Thing I Needed, and Til I Do It Again wrap up the album with hand claps, the blues, and Rock and Roll, in that order. If you pay attention to the linear notes of the album, the hand claps in DT included Will's sons which I thought was precious.

Overall, this album ultimately set out what it was supposed to do: give you the small town feel. I feel that it shows how artists can learn to stay true to their roots, just like Will always does. Rock and Roll is not dead. It just comes in different forms. 

Linkin Park The Hunting Party Tour Nashville, TN 1/17/15

Getting to photograph your favorite band is always a privilege. The fact that I have been able to do so for several of my bands makes me so happy. In November, when I was making my annual Christmas list, I found out Linkin Park was doing a winter tour. Thanks, Santa! So, with my ticket in hand, I was off to Nashville to shoot my favorite band.

Of Mice & Men was the first band of the evening. They always bring it live, regardless of whether they are headlining or opening. I always admire that about bands. They played

Feels Like Forever

Bones Exposed

Would You Still Be There

Another You

Identity Disorder

The Depths

You're Not Alone

Rise Against is also amazing. I wish I could follow them around on tour for a few days and just take pictures. The played

Ready to Fall

Give It All

Re-Education (Through Labor)

Behind Closed Doors

The Good Left Undone

Help Is on the Way

Chamber the Cartridge

Tragedy + Time

Prayer of the Refugee

Swing Life Away 

I Don't Want to Be Here Anymore

Satellite

Savior

I was so excited for Linkin Park. I have been following them since 2007. I was 11 years old. I hoped and prayed that I would finally hear my favorite song: Place For My Head. I had no idea the treat that I was about have with this show. They played

Mashup Intro #2 (w/ Session, 1stp Klosr, The Requiem, The Summoning, The Catalyst)

Guilty All the Same

Given Up

From the Inside

One Step Closer

Blackout (Shortened (Intro and Partial Outro Instrumental Only)

Papercut (Shortened (No Second Verse or Second Chorus)

Runaway (Shortened (Intro/First Verse/Chorus Only)

Wastelands

Castle of Glass (Experience Version; Wisdom Justice And Love Bridge; The Radiance Outro)

Leave Out All the Rest / Shadow of the Day / Iridescent (w/ Aaron Pauley from Of Mice & Men)

Robot Boy

Joe Hahn Solo (w/ Wretches And Kings, Victimized Remix, Buy Myself, Cure For The Itch, Session, Plc.4 Mie Hæd)

Numb (Numb/Encore Outro)

Waiting for the End (Apaches Intro w/ Until It Breaks Verse 2)

Final Masquerade

Wretches and Kings / Remember the Name / Skin to Bone

Dirt Off Your Shoulder / Lying From You

In the End

A Place for My Head (FINALLY. FINALLY. FINALLY!!!)

Faint (With Austin Carlile from Of Mice & Men)

Encore:

Burn It Down (No Second Verse or Second Chorus)

Lost in the Echo (Intro/First Verse/First Chorus/Outro Only)

New Divide (Shortened, No First Chorus or Second Verse)

What I've Done

Bleed It Out

I FINALLY got to hear Place For My Head. Oh my God. Thank you, Linkin Park. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Wait a minute, did Chester hurt himself tonight...?