Click to hear CSN Live Audio (from inside my pocket)

David Crosby performs for the ICEF Foundation at the Skirball Ctr., Los Angeles, CA

What do you think of when you hear the names Jackson Browne, CSN, Keb’ Mo’ and Ben Harper? And then throw them in an intimate room with inner city school kids, foi gras, and fancy guests?

Last night these legendary musicians raised just over $472,000 for one of the largest private entrepreneurial foundations that brings success in the arts to schools in areas with some of the highest dropout rates. Teenagers who would otherwise never make it to the end of their high school term, let alone move onto college, are now mentored and encouraged by this organization, and are accepted into top schools like Dartmouth, Berkeley, even IVY leagues like Yale and Harvard.

Jackson Browne © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Success Through the Arts Foundation, co-founded by Jackson Browne, focuses its efforts on using the arts to help young people realize their full potential by creating an environment where students of all ages who have been traditionally underserved by the public schools, can learn to appreciate and produce music and art.

Last night these kids brought out their musical talents and covered songs by Jackson Browne, a formal tribute to a longtime mentor. They played on the same stage as CSN, Ben Harper, Jackson Browne, and Keb’ Mo’ – a bone chilling room to be in. Usually to see that kind of talent as a westsider, that means a drive to the Hollywood Bowl or Staples Center. Last night, we got them intimately in our own backyard.

Stephen Stills © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Graham Nash © ANNA WEBBER 2010

David Crosby © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Keb' Mo' © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Ben Harper © ANNA WEBBER 2010

David Crosby and Monty Python's Eric Idle © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Fernando Pullum, Keb' Mo', David Crosby, and guest © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Highlight 1. Getting through TSA.

Here was one of three suitcases that looked very similar. Two involving a gross amount of amps, watts, volts and hard wires, another full of lightstands, hardware, tools (and a curling iron.) And then there was my personal bag… batteries, dresses, shoes, and more shoes. My backpack, which had a Wacom airbrush tablet, a mini-hard drive, a laptop, The Rum Diary, and some cords, wires, and Southwest drink tickets.

Of course I checked all 337 lbs of luggage at Skycap (a pricey necessity), but what would happen in the TSA check? Two backpacks and a purse. I (my person + baggage) must have weighed 200 pounds that day, all loaded on top of some old cowboy boots.

They took everything out of my backpacks, while the moaning, groaning security line  self-loathed for a minute or two. Shaking the Wacom like it was supposed to open, I found myself again considering their intelligence.

My hard drive. “Whoa, is this a kindle?!” No, moron. I was getting thirsty and impatient. Slightly nervous. My veins contracted and said, “it’s time for a beer.”

The arsenal, all set for take off.

Highlight #2: Austin Airport

Back on the dirt. Waiting at the baggage claim, my brother James approaches from behind, looking Classy with two Tecates stuffed into his pockets. He’d cut his hair a bit, though it still reached his shoulder blades, establishing himself as something of a likeable music maker. We grabbed the bags, and dragged them across the airport until we reached, his van. Not pictured here.

My Brother/Assistant/Chauffeur

Highlight #3 – The Ride In.

Once we reached the van, we loaded up, while loading up:

Highlight #4: My Business trip went on vacation.

The zombies were out early on night one – there was little I could do to fein zombility, so I joined in. Into the night James and I went, and found ourselves at the Scoot in, and evidently 2 hotels and a house party later, we were scooting our way back to the homestead. Our buddy Gian Ortiz from the loudest Austin band there is (Amplified Heat) found us attempting a few games of ski-ball in the middle of the room. It was a miraculous game… in fact, I picked up some taxodermy in-between the two lanes, and much to our surprise, the stuffed thing was sitting on three $1 dollar bills. The games continued.

That night I accidentally punched a girl in the face with a full glass of Cazadores. Since neither of us expected it to happen – a mere accident – we were able to laugh it off and cut our losses. Her hairdo, my refined thirst-quencher.

Gian insisted we remove ourselves and follow him to a friend’s houseparty. I caught some laughing bug, and the rest, all history.

Oniracom, a Santa Barbara based new media collective/record label, has interviewed yours truly, doing a pretty good job at getting inside the head of a music industry photographer

You’ll even get to see me in action, and read about what it’s like being a “rock music photographer” today.

It wound up on their Solutions for Dreamers blog. Check it out here!

Solutions for Dreamers: INTERVIEW with Anna Webber

Anna Webber

Abimaro performs with Zero 7 at the Orpheum Theater

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The full band played the sold-out multi-leveled Orpheum Theater, performing a two hour set complete with a four-song acid jazz encore sure to make the seated crowd cross eyes, if not lose sensitivity in their backsides, during the louder-than-loud what-should-have-been techno trip-hop dance party earlier in the night.

Anna Webber

Zero 7 at the Orpheum Theater

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Never before have I seen a seated techno dance hall not dancing, but better they start sitting than pass out shoegazing or free-form seizing to the bursts of downtempo remixes. While harmoniums are not particularly catchy (about as much as a theremin or Eigenharp) last night Chaney’s instrument was completely dizzying, a sound that didn’t seem to be of this earth.

Anna Webber

Olivia Chaney and her harmonium

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Speaking of which, last night Zero 7 completely got pulled over by a UFO. The five male musicians — all clothed in white — began glowing hot pink, radioactive green and fiber-optic blue, raking in the industrial neon spotlights from above. They simulated what appeared to be a close-encounter 2010, and the piercing supernatural siren sounds pretty much sealed the deal: Those dudes are aliens.

Anna Webber

Are we watching Othello… Come on people! Where’s Lady Gaga.

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Then, suddenly, a lone mustached dancer popped up from the crowd rising – to bust out some hexed YMCA-like dance moves. Once the spazzing man with the short butt shorts in winter broke the ice, about ten more mind-warped antsy seaters joined in.

Anna Webber

Henry Binns onstage with Zero 7

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The whole thing was quite video-gamey. We weren’t sure how you even make some of those sounds, but a lot of the instruments probably don’t really even exist. Go to a Zero 7 show, and your ears will definitely hear some brand new racket they’ve never heard before. Sound refreshing? Don’t fall asleep slouching in your chair.

Anna Webber

Zero 7 at the Orpheum Theater

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Photos By Anna Webber

Dave Matthews was a little slow tonight. It was night one at the Greek theater, and whatever Dave Matthews usually melancholy self is like, this seemed to be a bit worse. There were times when it was easy to mistake whether or not he was actually sleeping, or if he was just – really tired.

His usual long drawn out folky folk songs lasted a regular 3 minutes, instead of the typical 10 – 15.

It was a good show. That’s all I have to say about that.

The Viper Room and Atlantic Records supplied the Open Bar and luncheon – however – it didn’t matter how drunk they got the guests, the music was phenomenal. By the first song, enough honest sweat was flowing out of his pores to mean he would not be letting up anytime soon – he’d done this before. Paolo has got the same Johnny Lang elated, scathing, rasp and quiver, mixed with Jeff Buckley moans and lingering “ooo’s” during the sultry ballads that were to die for. The timelessness of his music would throw a smile across anyone’s face and a chill down their spine as his boyish sincerity dabbled in motown and blues, reggae and barbershop bebop. As he picked up what appeared to be a watered down whiskey, smiling, he says “It’s the first one I’ve done of these things where everybody’s listening.” Not because he’s not extraordinary, but because he can be seen most often playing at big music halls, bigger concert venues, and music festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. And his giddy Scottish accent would sometimes sound more like a thick island one. It was adorable. In fact, all but one of the 6 piece band is from Scotland, and his 2007 record went platinum in the UK, and sold about 2 million copies. He played the single off of his last record, “New Shoes”, which Paolo is most notably known for. Keeping an eye on Paolo and awating the release of his next record out in June, he showed no deficit of talent Tuesday, no elevated ego.

Paolo Nutini @ Viper Room showcase (photo: anna webber)

[03:45] the prowl-dan auerbach

[06:18] Dan Auerbach live at SXSW 2009

(photos: anna webber)

Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys Live at SXSW’s Mojo Magazine Party at The Mean Eyed Cat

Danny boy Auerbach kills it again, slapping out the mean-eyed blues in the hot sun at Austin’s cherished Johnny Cash tribute bar. Hungover as we can so become after playing through a secret show till 5:00 the same morning, Auerbach still manages to thread together a thick dose of blues loud enough to stain any olfactory lobe within convincing reason. Chugging bottles of ice water, the globs of beard gum dripped quickly loose, hung, and at a moments notice landed if not on the high register, on one of us. He looses the tie fettered round his neck, and like mad, amounts to greatness. Though the delirium tremens clearly awoke the spins, he manages still to make good use of his loving arms (see below:)

It was an intimate gathering of saints, sinners, filthy blues and little or no upset. Backed by the San Antonio band Hacienda, Auerbach gave it as beautiful as always, his love for country and blues hardly unsurpassed. The girls were coming around serving ice cold Coronas, as if we looked like were lacking. They were happily accepted as we choked on our twelve bars of country twang, surely a day I had already concocted somewhere in dreams. It was the abrasions left on my psyche, applied by the unusual thing that is young Auerbach that convince me to remember it wasn’t just that.

Like a gentleman he took one of my photography postcards and stuffed it in between a few spent papers in his Moleskin. For a moment he had it rough and posed during a few photographs with the very tactile version of me, and, unsatisfied as they so become, he, along with Hacienda, had to bolt immediately for some tacos.

(Here are some photographs of the day. Click, they will become larger)

Looking forward now to Patrick Carney’s solo debut (drummer of The Black Keys duo), titled: Drummer. It  features Carney (on bass), Jon Finley from Beaten Awake (guitar/vox), Steve Clements from Houseguest (keys), Jamie Stillman from Party of Helicopters (guitar) and Greg Boyd from Ghostman and Sandman (drums). They are working on an album to be released in the fall on Carney’s label, Audio Eagle.