THROUGH THE LENS: Brandi Carlile, Ringo Starr, and More Photos of the Week

Whenever it’s time to do a photos of the week theme for the column it’s like opening presents on Christmas morning, and unlike Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates I know exactly what I’m going to get: the finest photos of roots musicians by ND’s outstanding photographers.

While the recent work of three photographers covering Brandi Carlile, Ringo Starr, Roxy Music, Brittany Howard, and Yola are highlighted below, also included are superb individual photos by C. Elliott, Steve Ford, Jim Brock, Kelly Shipe, and Tom Bush. You will not be disappointed.

Anthony Mulcahy: Brandi Carlile at Madison Square Garden  

Madison Square Garden is usually reserved for big-name pop acts like Billy Joel, but last month Brandi Carlile brought her Beyond These Silent Days tour to the Garden, and it sold out. Just think of that, a roots artist who’s able to garner an audience that would make many commercial artists envious. That’s what I want to see: roots music on the world’s largest stages, as ubiquitous as Elton John, Pink Floyd, and Beyoncé. I want Rhiannon Giddens to have more followers on Instagram than Kim Kardashian. I want Allison Russell to sell more records than Taylor Swift and Adele combined.

Anthony hit a home run worthy of Aaron Judge when he was able to photograph Carlile at the largest indoor venue in the country’s largest city, New York. A real coup. While he was not able to take photos of Allison Russell, who joined Carlile during the six-song encore for their duet “You Are Not Alone,” his photos of Carlile, the Hanseroth twins, and Brittany Howard, who opened the show, are nothing short of fantastic. He caught all of them as I have never seen before.

By all accounts Carlile’s performance was one for the ages. With a a full band that also included SistaStrings, she played her own songs as well as covers of David Bowie, Radiohead, and Joni Mitchell. With Howard, she also performed a knockout version of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” She closed the show with a solo acoustic version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The full set list can be found here.

Kirk Stauffer: The Pacific Northwest 

We last heard from Kirk this past spring when he traveled to Austin to attend SXSW, but he’s been keeping busy since then. Photographing primarily at Seattle’s Tractor Cavern and Marymoor Park in nearby Redmond, he has been able to capture a superb selection of roots musicians.

This time he photographed one of the most underappreciated singer-songwriters going, Whitney Rose. Rose has not only made a string of wonderful albums, but her live shows are always marvelous. Talent-wise she’s in my top tier. He also captured Erin Rae, Brittney Spencer, Waxahatchee, Esther Rose, and Lera Lynn, who was the only good thing about the second season of HBO’s True Detective series. 

Eric Ring: Ringo Starr, Roxy Music and More

Eric’s photos were last featured in the column’s coverage of the Philadelphia Folk Festival, along with those of Mark J. Smith. He also attended the FreshGrass Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts, which was covered by ND managing editor Hilary Saunders. However, Eric’s photos are so outstanding, I wanted to share a few of those as well.

Eric also photographed three shows that were certainly to die for: Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band, St. Vincent, and Roxy Music. When was the last time you saw photos of Roxy Music in ND? Like never.

Click on any photo below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.