Gene Smith’s Sink: A Wide-Angle View. By Sam Stephenson. Epigraph: I was once present at a lecture that Eugene Smith gave to some students at a school of photography. At the end, they protested because he had made no mention of photography, but had spoken the whole time about music. He calmed them by […]
Sam Stephenson’s 2017 Book Previewed by FSG
Farrar, Straus and Giroux has completed text for their Spring 2017 catalog (to be published in September) and here’s how they describe Gene Smith’s Sink by Sam Stephenson, Rock Fish Stew founder and partner. In an interview with Philippe Halsman, W. Eugene Smith remarked: “I didn’t write the rules—why should I follow them?” Famously unabashed, Smith is […]
The Big Ears Film: Rock Fish Stew to Document Knoxville Festival for 3rd Year (view trailer)
The Big Ears Documentary Project www.thebigearsfilm.org Rock Fish Stew to Document Big Ears for Third Consecutive Year A New Website for the Project is Live Watch the Big Ears Film Trailer HERE Installation of work-in-progress in Knoxville this week at Zach Searcy Projects The Durham, N.C.-based Rock Fish Stew (www.rockfishstew.org) will immerse a team of […]
Rock Fish Stew Seeks Spring Interns
Rock Fish Stew, a Durham-based documentary production company, seeks two self-starting interns for Spring 2016 who can contribute 12-hours per week from the end of January through early May. Interns will help support our current documentary project on the Big Ears music festival in Knoxville, TN. Big Ears, called last week by The Guardian of London “surely […]
The Last Kissa: John Darnielle’s Setlist
It was a great night of listening. Among many, one of my takeaways is that Zoot Sims played saxophone on Phoebe Snow’s 1974 tune, “Poetry Man.” I’ve been researching Sims off and on for more than fifteen years and when I learned this last night I almost toppled over with surprise and delight. That’s why […]
John Darnielle Ramps Down 2015 Big, Bent Ears Kissa Series Thursday Night
Tonight at CAM Raleigh, John Darnielle, the musician (Mountain Goats) and novelist (“Wolf in White Van)”, closes out our 2015 Big, Bent Ears kissa series with a set he describes this way: “I’m calling it RAMPING DOWN and I’ll start with intense metal stuff and move into mellower stuff. So I think the image should […]
Sam Stephenson Wins Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Award
This week Sam Stephenson was in NYC to receive his 2015 Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Award from the ASCAP Foundation for his piece on John Coltrane’s biographer, Dr. Cuthbert Simpkins, for The Paris Review. The esteemed pianist and composer Matthew Shipp presented the award with a few much appreciated words. Courtesy of ASCAP, with […]
Art of Cool Back at the CAM Kissa Thursday
We’re looking forward to Cicely Mitchell and Art of Cool‘s third appearance playing tunes in the underground kissa at CAM Raleigh. Cicely will be playing music from the AOC 2016 lineup, which soars. See images below. This Thursday night. 8-10pm. Beer/wine.
Notes from an Evening of 78’s with Marshall Wyatt
On Thursday, October 22, our underground kissa at CAM Raleigh presented one of the most unique nights during the project: “Don’t Call It Vinyl” – An Evening of 78s with Marshall Wyatt. Marshall brought in his own equipment (cited below) and played rare 78’s (setlist below), including at least one of which is the only known […]
Big Ears & Sonny Clark in Kissa this Thursday Night
There’s been a late change in the kissa schedule for this week. Tomorrow night, Sam Stephenson will be spinning records in place of Grayson Haver Currin, who has a conflict and is looking to fill a new date in the future. Stephenson will be playing music from the Big Ears Festival, which Rock Fish Stew […]