The New Addition

The Brother-in-law, the newest addition to the family and Ledbury. Loving everything about this photo….

Great Music, Right Price

So I thought Sunday afternoon was as good a time as any to share a couple of good sources of music. As an added bonus, both are free, which as a struggling shirtmaker I have always appreciated.

1. Truth and Soul Podcast (itunes): http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/truth-soul-radio/id263417896 .

Truth and Soul Records has been around for since 2004 and much like Daptone Records (of Sharon Jones fame) they put out soul/funk music that sounds like the greats from 60s. (Lee Fields, one of the artists on the label, could easily share the stage with James Brown).

The podcasts are around an hour long and consists mostly of rare funk and the occasional Latin gem from the 1960s. It’s an impressive collection. Download the Latin Workout, get about 4 minutes in and you will know exactly what I am talking about.…

2. Holiday Records (www.holidayrecords.net):

Stumbled on these guys a couple of months ago. The way it works is each Friday (this can vary), one of the members of the nuvo-surf band The Drums puts up a few songs for free download. Its fairly obscure stuff. There’s a Russian band, Palms on Fire (http://www.myspace.com/palmsonfire ) that makes 60s surf music, a French band that sounds like The Cure http://www.myspace.com/youngmichelin , and a group out of London called the Notes (http://www.myspace.com/wearethenotes ) which I think have huge potential. Some great finds and an interesting concept.

Enjoy..

Summer Shoot

We’re a young business and the idea of paying top dollar for models is not necessarily appealing. So you will have to forgive us for the shots of with cut off heads/faces, which are all of our friends/wives/etc.. But, in all honesty, with photography I prefer to focus on the product. The shots of Mathew McConaughey, shirt off, staring at you from the pages of GQ has always prompted me to put down the magazine rather than pick up the product.

That being said, we needed some photography and someone to wear the shirts. So about a month ago I was at an engagement party for a good friend and struck up a conversation with his father who is old neighbor of mine. Halfway through a casual conversation, it stuck me that he would be a great fit for the shoot. A fact, that I quietly mentioned to my girlfriend, who then proceed to tell him that “I wanted to take his photo”…. a comment that prompted a defense that its not as creepy as she made it sound….a point that was followed by awkward silence and another trip to the bar.

But, he had such a great look that I followed up a couple of weeks later and he agreed to give it a try. And I could not be more pleased with the result. We spent the afternoon in Jackson Ward (see below) and he was a natural. At the end of the shoot our photographer basically asked if he could represent him...

Thanks to Mr. Banks of Banks Coin Laundry and Chris from Comfort for letting us their space. The shoot was followed by dinner at the latter, which is quite possibly the best restaurant in Richmond.

Broad Street/Jackson Ward/Pop-up Shops

One of my favorite areas of Richmond is called Jackson Ward.. It‘s just North of Broad street, which at one point was the epicenter of Richmond retail and commerce. It’s about 10-block area that following the civil war became an epicenter of entrepreneurism/music/culture. I spoke to someone recently compared it to the Harlem during the renaissance of the 1920s/30s. One of the most interesting aspects of Jackson ward is the architecture that is a mixture of residential and retail from the 1850s-1920s. It has fallen on hard times over the last quarter of a century, but over the last 5 years and group of art galleries/developers/restaurateurs have moved in and have managed to stimulate a small revival. A First Friday’s Art Walk now brings thousands of residents to the area the first Friday of the month.

So we decided to get involved and throw together a pop-up store a couple of Friday’s back. We had a couple of coolers of Urbock Stout (Bacon Beer) left over from a beer tasting a few of weeks back and set up shop for the evening. We teamed up with Eurotrash, which in my opinion is the best woman’s boutique in the city, and threw a party. We had an open bar and appreciated the chance to put some volume behind the new Black Keys album and some early Elmore James that’s been on repeat for the better part of a year. About 200 people come through door. A good night….