The Green Pages - The Official Mark Greenawalt Newsletter
VOL 14 ISSUE 6  

June 2019

 

Paul McCartney's Timeless Music In Phoenix
by Mark Greenawalt

Concert photography of Sir Paul McCartney at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.

The opportunity of a lifetime came along and I rose to the occasion. When I started doing some concert photography for the online magazine Burning Hot Events, I couldn't have imagined being invited and approved to photograph a legendary icon. Paul McCartney brought his Freshen Up tour to Talking Stick Resort Arena in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and performed a 3-hour marathon of songs from his solo career, Wings, and of course, The Beatles. I was also enlisted to be the journalist and write the review of the concert. There was so much that I wanted to say about each of the 30+ songs and it ended up being tough to keep the word count down and not share more about how the songs personally affected me and my love of music. My top moments of the show was the explosive "Live And Let Die" that just blew me away with the pyrotechnics and theatrical mayhem and "Let It Be" was some kind of spiritual connection that words can't explain.

The photography release that I had to sign only allowed me to shoot the first two songs so I didn't get any shots of McCartney at the piano. The release also restricts me from using the images for almost anything except for the article. So if you'd like to see my images and read the article, I encourage you to see it online at this address http://bit.ly/2NluhLu . This was such a wonderful show and it was an honor just to be in the same room with arguably the greatest songwriter of all time. Now I'm hoping that I get the opportunity to photograph Ringo, the other remaining Beatle, when he comes to town this fall! Fingers crossed.

 

New Life For An Old Original Song - Mr. Bar Owner
by Mark Greenawalt

Singer songwriter original song and music video by Mark Greenawalt on Youtube.

A lot of the songs that I wrote while I lived in Nashville are really rough guitar/vocal recordings played into a cheap portable cassette player. Some got a full studio demo with layered instrumentation and production. This song falls somewhere between these extremes with a rough studio recording of stripped down acoustic instruments and a first pass vocal. I had recently bought a mandolin and was still learing it while I played on this song. I also played my acoustic 12-string, bass, a shaker for percussion, and then sang the lead and harmony vocal. The playing was far from perfect, but I kinda' liked the authenticity. Unfortunately, this song has been in hiding for about 20 years as an overlooked MP3 file on a backup hard drive. The original title of the song was "The Story of My Life", but the Mr. Bar Owner line is what seems to resonate with people.

On Memorial Day, I decided that it was time to "blow the dust off" and reintroduce this song to the world. I recruited my filmmaking sons to help make a video version of the song so that it could be uploaded to YouTube. My youngest son, Zane, helped with the performance part of the video and went with me to Scorpion Gulch, a run down stone pueblo at the base of South Mountain in Phoenix. Then, my oldest son, Sage, filmed the slow motion shot of the Cuervo tequila and the lime drops into the shot glass. The behind the scenes truth is that the liquid was actually tea so there was no alchol harmed in the making of this video. Please check out the song and video on YouTube and let me know what you think in the comments. The link is - https://youtu.be/mJgyjq7NyHQ .

 

Photoshoot For New Book Cover
by Mark Greenawalt

Book cover photoshoot for Sharon Skinner with model Lindsey Lockwood.

Several years ago I donated a book cover illustration to a charity auction at Geeks for Good, benefiting Oakwood Creative Care. The winning bid was for $320 by Sharon Skinner, the author of the popular Healer's Legacy. She and I recently brainstormed on some ideas for the cover. I came up with a concept images and we honed in on the design that she liked best. During the development, we came to the conclusion that a photographic cover might have the most impact. I reached out to model Lindsey Lockwood, a model that I felt best represented the concept and I was so glad when she was willing and available to do it. I don't want to give away too much of the final book cover imagery, but here is a photo that was taken during the photoshoot with a different outfit and alternate location. More to come on this project.

 

E-ya later,
Mark Greenawalt
mark@futureclassx.com

Upcoming events:
September 14, 2019 - Spark Jack Daddy - Copper Blues at Desert Ridge, Scottsdale, Arizona
October 13, 2019 - Spark Jack Daddy - 2pm - Oktoberfest at Tempe Town Lake, Tempe, Arizona

copyright Mark Greenawalt, Future-Class X Publishing - Phoenix, AZ 85044

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