The Photographs of "Backstage Pass" (p1)

Today I thought it be interesting to give a little background behind the photos in the CD booklet of "Backstage Pass." The cover photo was taken in front of an old sewage pipe off of high street in Clintonville, OH. Leading up to the pipe (which is the black tunnel behind my face) are two cement enbankments. This is what I and other skateboarders once lovingly referred to as the "blood bowl." I haven't skateboarded in years, but I was a serious "boarder" in middle school and high school. Fittingly, my nickname used to be "Skater." I still have intentions of getting back into the sport one of these days, although I don't know that I could pull off the stunts I once executed so gracefully as a teenager. Anyway, Jeremy Slagle (photographer) and I thought it would be an appropriate location to take photos for an album entitled "Backstage Pass," as skateboarding used to be such a big part of my life. The title "Backstage Pass" has a double meaning...for one, the album is a more intimate look into my emotions and thoughts and two, it's a cry to be home with God, a "Backstage Pass" to the "meeting after the show" (heaven). I will give more details later when I cover the background of the song "Backstage Pass."

As you open the booklet (under the song "Pull Through"), you see a picture of me as a boy decked out in furry boots and a red starred cowboy hat. Yep, I was stylin'...that's fo sho'. This photograph was taken in France, as I lived there from age 1 1/2 to about 4. My parents were missionaries for many years...we returned to the states in 1980. I, unlike my brother and sister, was born in the states during furlow. In this picture, you will notice a number of small trucks...as a boy, I was fascinated with vehicles.

If you turn the page, you come to the tune "Hurricane." This photo was taken in my basement and is an image of a zip disk which I used for transferring some files between the Mac in the basement and the PC on the second floor of my apartment. I use a Macintosh for recording and composing purposes, and I use a PC for web design.

Beside the lyrics to "Making of a Rock Star" is a photograph of my brother Joel and I, in our apartment in France. Notice the bullcuts...my mom used to cut our hair. We were hipsters, real trend setters. My brother is holding a yellow race track. As kids, my brother and I used to perfectly line cars bumper to bumper along the molding of the long wooden hallway. So began my perfectionism. =) The caption to the lower right reads "Joel plays cars with me or helps me build things. The long hall is our race way." This is my mom's handwriting, a quote pulled from an old family photo album. Behind the words to "Making of a Rock Star" are some technical diagrams, taken from one of my synthesizer manuals.

Stay tuned for more background on the photos of "Backstage Pass." Also, a background on the song "Fooled" (track #7) is coming soon.