one month later . . . more ROCKIN' automotive-themed concert posters and an invite to the May 17th Marin-Sonoma Concours

(above) Jackie Greene, poster by Randy Tuten

(above) poster by Daymon Greulich

(above) poster by Tobias Geye

(above) poster by Scrojo

(above) poster by SteWo (Germany)

(above) poster by Jason McElweenie

(above) poster by Chris Hopewell /Jacknife Studios (England)

(above) poster by Art Chantry

(above) poster by Billy Perkins

(above) poster by Hugh D'Andrade

(above) poster by Victor Marco (Bordeaux, France)

(above) poster by Print Mafia

(above) poster by Craig Horky

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In the midst of all my 24/7 prep for the MARIN ROCKS exhibition, opening in the Fall in downtown San Rafael, I confess to have neglected my blog responsibilities . . . until I found a few spare moments to once again reflect on the abundance of talent contemporary artists bring to the automotive-themed concert-poster arena.

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First up is a masterpiece by Randy Tuten, for a Jackie Greene show at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. No one does concert poster lettering better than Tuten, in my opinion. And that's Tuten's own shoebox Ford! Now run, go check out www.rtuten.com.

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I post the Black Keys piece in honor of my new book-production editor-partner, Jason Eisinger. Jason and I are doing collaborative editing on Blair Jackson's new book, THE OFFICIAL BOOK OF THE FILLMORES--about the original San Francisco Fillmore, the Fillmore West, the Fillmore East, the new/old SF Fillmore brought back to life after the '89 earthquake, and all the Live Nation Fillmores (Detroit, Denver, Miami, NYC). The book will be published this Fall by Signatures Network (a div. of Live Nation) in partnership with IDW Publishing.

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FYI, the Black Keys used to rehearse in Jason's basement when he lived in Ohio.

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I don't know much about Tobias Geye, but he sure nailed the Hootenanny '02 poster shown here. Wonderful rhythm and what a lineup!!!

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The Scrojo piece is unusual for him . . . he doesn't traffic in automotive-themes usually. But this one should come with its own pair of 3-D glasses. You'll remember Scrojo did the front and back devil-girl / angel-girl cover illustrations for Dennis King's and my ART OF MODERN ROCK. Scrojo is probably the most prolific rock concert poster artist on the planet.

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Jason McElweenie recently appeared for the first time at www.gigposters.com. The conception for the old timey wagon-based illo is really right on for Old Crow, in my opinion.

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There is nobody rockin' the UK quite like Chris Hopewell and his Jacknife Studio. This is one of three pieces advertising the Eagles of Death Metal. You should check 'em out--powerful and seductive artworks all. Remember the series for Queens of the Stone Age which I showed you here several months ago? Yummy.

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Art Chantry is a most distinguished art director, postermaker, poster historian, and gadfly. We met during the production of my ART OF ROCK, back in the mid-1980s. Art suffers no fools, as I learned only too well. This piece is typical of his sense of humor, which often involves turning classic American advertising art on its head.

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Some artists need no introduction. Several of Billy Perkins' pieces appeared in ART OF MODERN ROCK and then in ROCKIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY. Ol' Perkins continues to be the soul of Austin, TX.

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I'ved admired many a Hugh D'Andrade piece done for the SF Fillmore under the art direction of Arlene Owseichik. This one, for Calexico, is emblematic of his style--colorful and spooky in all the right ways.

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Who is Victor Marco? What is he doing hot-rodding in Bordeaux, France?

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I've shown you many, many Print Mafia posters over the years. Sometimes they hit you over the head with a lead pipe, sometimes they speak with rueful amusement. I liked their entire series for Lucinda Williams, an iconoclastic musician if there ever was one.

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Finally, there's Craig Horky, associated with the print/design studio of Burlesque of North America, which is one of modern rock's cutting-edge shops. He's another whose body of work merits a good long look at www.gigposters.com.

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HERE'S AN EVENT YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS: the May 17th Marin-Sonoma Concours D'Elegance, to be held at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael (for which Frank Lloyd Wright designed the buildings). Charlie Goodman is heading up the event--his collection is known all over the world. And among the exhibitors, Sammy Hagar and James Hetfield (Metallica), who are passionate car guys. Charlie and I are working on getting Neil Young's Linc-Volt to the show, along with the '57 Cadillac Biarritz that was the inspiration for Darell Mayabb's cover-art illo for ROCKIN'.

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The Concours is the first major car show in Marin in perhaps 25 years. I'll be there autographing copies of ROCKIN' at a special booth, so do stop by and say hello.

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Keep rockin' in the free world y'all.

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yer ROCKIN' author returns, with the latest automotive-themed rock posters

above and below: artist: Ken Taylor (Melbourne, Australia)
(below) artist: 8Ball (Austin, TX)

(below) artist Crosshair aka Dan MacAdam

(below) artist Jay Ryan - The Bird Machine Studio (Chicago, IL)

(below) artist Lindsey Kuhn (SWAMP, Denver, CO)

(below) artist Willem Koolvoort for Club Vera (the Netherlands)

(below) artist Mike Martin, Enginehouse13 Studio (Columbus, OH)

(below) artist Jeremy Wilson (Canada)

(below) artist Jim Phillips (Santa Cruz, CA)

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Yes, I've been away for several months, taking a brief break from the ROCKIN' blog while other projects matured. And hats off to President Obama. It's all about hope, change, and commitment to making a difference in peoples' lives. U rock, B. My son Jordan (a freshman at Georgetown) was in front of the White House on election night.

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I've just completed my sixth book, ART OF CLASSIC ROCK, about the Rob Roth collection of rock music promo posters focusing on the Rolling Stones, Elton John, The Who, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Queen. The publisher is Carlton Books, based in the U.K., and it should be out in time for Xmas '09.

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I've also been researching and writing the exhibition MARIN ROCKS for the Marin History Museum. This will open in September, 2009 in downtown San Rafael, CA. It's the first-ever exhibition focusing on the history of rock thru the Marin County lens. Because of Marin's proximity to San Francisco (just across the Golden Gate Bridge), many extraordinary musicians have made Marin their home for decades (or were visitors of note, or recorded major albums there). That would include the Otis Redding ("Dock of the Bay"), Grateful Dead, Carlos Santana, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Steve Miller, members of the Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Co. with Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Narada Michael Walden, Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield from Metallica, Dan Hicks, Huey Lewis and the News, the Sons of Champlin . . . the list goes on. More on MARIN ROCKS shortly.

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So I thought to reopen the blog by showcasing some of the car-themed rock posters which were produced in the last several months. These ain't all; many more to share with you in the next blogs.

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Atop, the work of Ken Taylor from Melbourne, Australia, widely considered rock's top illustrator now. The first poster is of course of Neil Young's Linc-Volt, about which many of you have read stories in your local newspapers. You can see more of Ken's work at http://www.gigposters.com/ and also make purchases from the linked Beyond the Pale, his poster-publishing company. I gather Neil himself was very pleased.

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Next, one of my personal heroes, 8Ball from Austin, TX. A true punk, a real renegade.

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Dan MacAdam (Crosshair Studios) did the Conor Oberst poster. You should check out all of Crosshair's work at http://www.gigposters.com/, as Dan does spectacular work involving re-purposed decaying uban architecture. This was his first use of a vehicle, and when I bought my copy I could hardly believe his attention to detail. Simply outstanding! One of my top 10 of the past five years.

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Jay Ryan, head of The Bird Machine Studio in Chicago, did the latest in his Flatstock series, this time using a classic racer. Flatstock is "Woodstock for postermakers," and happens twice each year, first at SXSW in Austin, TX (later this month - the 20th such show), and later in the year at Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle.

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I met artist Lindsey Kuhn, who runs SWAMP in Denver, while authoring ART OF MODERN ROCK (Chronicle Books, 2004). Lindsey is an accomplished skateboarder and printer. Nothing is too wild for Lindsey to tackle.

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Willem Koolvoort's poster for the Dirtbombs at Club Vera in the Netherlands once again emphasizes that automotive-themed rock poster art is not at all confined to the U.S. Club Vera, as a youth organization, dates back well over a hundred years, and for the past fifty years has been one of the Netherland's premiere clubs.

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I don't know anyone more hard-core-rock than Mike Martin (with the possible exception of our buddy, rock poster artist Stainboy Greg Reinel from Orlando), and everytime I visit Mike's home in Columbus, OH I remember why I got started in this car-rock thang. Because . . . it rolls.

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Canada's young Jeremy Wilson is one to watch. Just sayin'.

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Finally, Jim Phillips may be known to many of you because he's synonomous with the skateboarding industry. He drew the famous screaming hand logo. Jim's been a close friend ever since the days of ART OF ROCK, and it's always a pleasure to acknowledge his work. This particular piece, for Zero, at the famous Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, is quite exemplary of his automotive style.

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Lots to update you about in the weeks ahead. As Neil tells us, keep on rockin' in the free world.

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