Page: http://www.ameriblues.com/

NEW YORK BLUES: The Beat Goes On

Posted on 5/12/2009 by Nelson Onofre

And now...a word from the lensman...

Greetings and salutations fans of the Blues! Welcome to American Blues News. My role here is photographer and I'm excited about being able to contribute to this blog.
A little something about me...I started playing drums about 30 years ago and was the drummer in various New York rock bands, none of which reached the heights I had hoped. A familiar story, no doubt! I grew up loving hard rock bands like Grand Funk, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc. It eventually dawned on me that a lot of the guitarists I admired like Ritchie Blackmore, Gary Moore, Dave Meniketti, Hendrix, were blues-based players. Even the great Scott Henderson, who is mostly known for his fusion work, has blues blood running thru his veins.

In the 70's I discovered the fusion band Return To Forever and musically speaking I was never the same. I remain a fusion head to this day but hard rock is still near and dear to my heart. And of course there's the Blues! Some of my favorites in the blues department are guys like Stevie Ray, Coco Montoya, Albert Collins, Chris Duarte, Tab Benoit, Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa, etc. I tend to lean more towards electric blues but no matter what style they fall under there are some mighty fine blues players out there. My last band was an electric blues-rock band and we called ourselves Motel Soap. The good old guitar-bass-drums format!

I got into photography in the mid 80's and worked as a photographer while stationed in Berlin, Germany with the Army. Photography was not supposed to be my Army job but it's funny how things work out sometimes. I've been photographing live bands since the 80's, mostly for my own personal pleasure. I did take a photography course when I first started out but most of what I know was learned thru the old trial and error method and from just shooting a lot. Needless to say digital photography has made shooting somewhat easier. While harder to do I prefer shooting musicians onstage without flash because I think it captures the atmosphere and mood more accurately.

I attend quite a few live shows regularly because I love hearing
and watching a band perform onstage. If you want to know if a band can deliver the goods, see them onstage. Nothing beats live music played by a smokin' band.

I'd like to thank American Blues News for letting me contribute my images to the blog and I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoy shooting them. The fine writers here will say it with words and I'll say it with images. Whenever possible I will try to include a link to the artist's website so you can get more info on them and possibly hear some of their music. Let's keep supporting this beautiful musical art form known as the Blues.
Support the music and support the artists.

THANK YOU to the BB King Blues Club, Richard Lee and James Dalton at Terra Blues for allowing me to do my thing

I'm also at www.electriceyes.us where you can see some of my other photography and hear some mp3 tracks of me and my various bands. Cheers!
Nelson G. Onofre
e-mail: nelson@electriceyes.us

Eric Sardinas at BB King's Club, 2008
http://www.myspace.com/ericsardinasband
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Johnny Jones at BB King's Club, 2009
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Johnny Jones at BB King's Club, 2009
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Lucky Peterson at Central Park, New York
http://www.myspace.com/luckypetersonmusic
photo: Nelson G. Onofre
Junior Mack at Terra Blues, 2009
http://www.jrmack.com/
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

SaRon Crenshaw at Terra Blues, 2009
http://www.myspace.com/saroncrenshaw
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

SaRon Crenshaw at Terra Blues, 2009
http://www.myspace.com/saroncrenshaw
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Chris Duarte at BB King's Club, 2009
http://www.myspace.com/chrisduartegroup
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Chris Duarte at BB King's Club, 2009
http://www.myspace.com/chrisduartegroup
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Lance Lopez at BB King's Club, 2009
http://www.myspace.com/lancelopez
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Mato Nanji of INDIGENOUS
BB King's Club, 2008
http://www.myspace.com/indigenousrocks
photo: Nelson G. Onofre

Joe Bonamassa at BB King's Club, 2006
http://www.myspace.com/jbonamassa
photo: Nelson G. Onofre






American Blues News Staff

What makes American Blues News unique is our coverage across America. Here is our lineup:

Mon: Memphis Correspondent - Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms
Nighthawk is our resident globetrotter and man behind the scenes, as he tours with the Reba Russell Band.

Tues: New York Correspondent - J. Blake
Blake is the American Blues News review and interview guru. You may catch him out and about in NY playing the blues.

Wed: National Correspondent - Monica Yasher
Monica is our executive director and artist interview specialist. You can catch Monica singing the blues around Pittsburgh or working on some country music songs in Nashville.

Thurs: Washington, DC Correspondent - Virginiabluesman
Geraldo offers inteviews and reviews. You may have seen him at an Ana Popovic concert or conversed with him on her websites, as he offers administrative support with her music.

Fri: Northeast Photographer - Nelson Onofre
Nelson offers a Friday column of blues photography and pictorial support for the interviews covered by the team.

Jim Stick in Colorado
Jim will be focusing on the Blues Festivals in the beautiful state of Colorado, and the artists that live and visit there.

Maureen Elizabeth, our resident art correspondent, will be focusing on blues art as she explores the creation of CD covers, or speaking with artists who also have a love of creating pictorial art in addition to their music! She may also feature some of her good friends in the Pittsburgh area. In her love of art, you may find Maureen's photography accompanying writer's articles on our pages. Maureen is also our marketing director.

Pittsburgh correspondent and photographer, CR Bennett, will share the Pittsburgh scene with all of you. You may also see CR's pictures accompanying other writer's articles.

We head to the big state of Texas! Abby Owen, our Texas correspondent.

Another big area to cover, the West Coast with Casey Reagan, Casey will feature many artists and events on this ocean's shores.

Lastly, we have our roving blues entertainment writer,
Chef Jimi.

And of course, we will surprise you sometimes!

 
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