What's New - Daniel Coston

chrlyndbx@mindspring.com

Wow, what an amazing, insane year it has been. Overall, it has been one of my best years as a photographer, and one of the better years of my life, period. Thank you all very much for being a part of it. Here's a recap of some of my recent highlights.

The book "House Of Cash," which features four of my photos of Johnny Cash, has gotten a lot of interest, and is a book I highly recommend. Pam Kelley of the Charlotte Observer recently did a short piece on my involvement with the book, which you can read here-http://readinglifeobs.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-johnny-cash-book-features-charlotte.html

The new issue of Southern Cultures Magazine (www.southerncultures.org) is out, and features a 12 page piece on my photos, focusing on the backstage area at shows. I will be interviewed about this issue sometime in January on the State Of Things show, on WUNC public radio.

I'm also proud to announce that I will have ten photos in a book about the history of country music, which will be out this summer from Oxford University Press, in Alabama. Along with a few other book contributions in the pipeline (more on these soon), I am also currently editing my book about the NC rock scene in the 1960s, and I'm talking with a publisher about finally putting together my coffee table book on NC musicians. More on this soon!

1960s pop legends Chad & Jeremy have a new record out, "Reflection," which I shot in Shelby, NC last year. Check out the album here, and look for a piece I wrote about shooting this album, on their website soon. http://www.chadandjeremy.net/ep/rmusic.htm

My Guided by Voices pics are everywhere, at the moment, including four photos in a huge feature for Magnet Magazine. Look for them in the coming weeks. The new issue of the Big Takeover is also out, and features two new feature article from me, as well as photos.

I recently taped several episodes of What It Is, on WNCW radio. You can check them out here-www.whatitisradio.org

Lots of cool recent shoots, including shooting Scott Avett again, as he made a donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank (www.secondharvest.org ). New pics with Chatham County Line, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Maurice Williams, NC Music Hall of Fame ceremony, Jorma Koukonen and Stefan Grossman, David Childers and Jim Avett, and others. Other great live shows I shot recently include Ray Davies, Jayhawks, Peter Yarrow, Andy Irvine, Rosanne Cash and others. I have also started doing all of UNCC's arts photography, which has kept me busy, along with shoots for the Observer, Charlotte Magazine, Charlotte Post, Mint Museum, Women Executives of Charlotte, Charlotte City Gov't, and others.

You may have also heard that I have a blog now, for all my various writings, and (occasionally) photographs. New articles up every week, so please stop by danielcoston.blogpsot.com.

My thanks to everyone that came out to my show in Raleigh. Be on the lookout for shows in Charlotte, and Marshall, NC in the coming year, as well as continued displays in Raleigh, Asheboro, two cities in Ohio, and other places.

Lastly, I want to send my best wishes to the friends and family of Rodney Lanier, a great friend and musician that passed away recently. On the spur of the moment, I spoke at Rodney's memorial, and I meant every word I said. Rodney, you will always be missed, and never forgotten. My love also goes out to Hubert Sumlin, Willie Smith, and others that will be missed.

Merry Christmas to everyone out there, and I look forward to seeing you all soon,
-Daniel
Dec. 22, 2011

It's fall, which means that photos are falling like leaves from the sky. There's lots to tell you about, so let's start with my new show in Raleigh.

" From The Song, To The Show," is a new show of my photos, documenting the creative process of musicians. Many of these photos have never been seen, or exhibited before. The opening night event will be this Friday, Oct. 7th, at Amplified Gallery in Raleigh (www.amplifiedgallery.com), at their new location at 325 Blake Street. Check out the flyer for the show, and the opening night event here- http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=279719062053408&ref=nf

" House Of Cash," the new book by John Carter Cash about his famous parents, is out this month from Insight Editions. I have four photos in this book, and I'm really honored to have my photos alongside many of my own photographer heroes. My thanks to everyone involved with this project. In the meantime, I've been digging through my archives recently for three different book projects, all of which are in various stages. More on this soon. There'll also be some CD reissue projects in the coming year that I've been working on.

Southern Cultures Magazine (www.southerncultures.org), a fantastic quarterly magazine produced by UNC, will feature my photos in a 12 page spread in their November issue. The magazine also comes with a free CD, with all of the bands on the CD based around the photos in my article. It's a cool thing!

Among my recent shoots was photographing Guided by Voices' "final" show in Raleigh last month, at the Hopscotch festival. Mojo Magazine soon picked up one of my photos for an article about GBV's forthcoming new album. Check out the article here- http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2011/09/guided_by_voices_classic_line.html

Along with being able to see more of my pics at GBV's site (www.gbv.com), the band will also be using several of the Hopscotch photos to promote the new album. Be on the lookout for them in the coming months.

Recent shoots include work with the Mint Museum, Charlotte Post, Charlotte Magazine, Goodwill, Blues & Burritos festival, and a host of other clients. I'm also happy to announce that I have also started a companion to this site, dedicated to just my interviews, essays, and other musings and ramblings. This site will always be my photographic home, but check out over 15 years worth of my "other" work at- danielcoston.blogspot.com

Tangents Magazine (www.tangentsmag.com) is also back up and running, and new articles from me will be up there soon. The December issue of the Big Takeover (www.bigtakeover.com) will also feature two new articles from me.

Best wishes to you all, and take care,
-Daniel
October 2, 2011

How is everyone? I've got some big news items to pass along to you.

I will be debuting a new show of photos at Amplified Gallery in Raleigh on Friday, Oct. 7th. (www.amplifiedgallery.com) Entitled "From The Song, To The Show," this collection highlights the creative process, from songwriting, to recording and playing live. All through many never-before-seen photos from yours truly. The show will be up throughout the month of October, but please come by and say hello on October 7th. I will also be giving you more information soon about a huge retrospective of my work coming next year.

Along with Amplified gallery, I have a couple of new galleries selling my work. River House Arts in Perrysburg, Ohio is now selling my photos, as well as their sister store in Grand Rapids, Ohio. You can also still pick up my photos in Circa Gallery in Asheboro, NC, and Walnut St. Gallery in Colorado. Go buy some photos, and tell 'em who sent you.

On August 3rd, I had the great honor of doing photos with Brian Wilson before his show in Atlanta. This was a huge thrill for me, and you'll soon get to see my photos from this shoot in Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine. (www.esquarterly.com). Their new issue features my photos from the shoot I did with Mike Love of the Beach Boys this past June.

Some cool recent shoots to report recently, from several days at the Swannanoa Gathering, to pics with the Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Carter Fold. I got to meet Lenny Kravitz while photographing the Sade/ John Legend show in Charlotte. There's also been continued work with the Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Post, and others. I will also tell you more soon about a large photo essay that will be published later this year.

And yes, it's finally happening. I will soon have a bunch of new pics on this site shortly, as soon as I can get a CD over to my webmaster. (Thanks, Laurie!) Hang on to check out the new stuff.

I hope you're all doing well. Godspeed to Marshall Grant, and take care,
-Daniel
August 14, 2011

P.S. For my fellow Left Banke fans, go to the band's official Facebook page, and check out a video entitled "Left Banke Memories." The entire second half of the video features my photos of the band's reunion shows this past March.

How are you? Some new, and very cool things have been going on lately.
Let's get right to them.

John Carter Cash recently featured one of my 2003 photos of his father in a feature for the London Telegraph. John Carter is also currently working on a book on his father, which will also feature some of my photos. Check out the Telegraph article here-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/8541212/Johnny-Cashs-penultimate-performance.html

In March, John Carter invited me to photograph the release party for the Bear Family Records boxset of the fabled Bristol Sessions recordings from 1927 and 1928. Bear Family now has a page dedicated to my photos of the event, and an article by Dr. Ted Olson about the event. Check it out here-http://www.bear-family.de/index.php?sid=9fee4c030dc96c155e6bc6069ba7ba0e&cl=tcnews&item=lcm4de6380a827839.33341436&tcnewscategory=0

Last month, I got to do some new pics of Sean Lennon, and Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger. Check them out on Sean's website here-http://chimeramusic.tumblr.com/page/2

The legendary dbs released a new 45rpm single on Record Store Day, which features a photo of mine on the back cover. Find out more at www.thedbs.com . Be on the lookout for their new album, later this year. I also got the do posed and live shots of Mike Love and the each Boys last week. Go to Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine, www.esquarterly.com, for more info on these photos. Guided by Voices will be on tour again this summer, and many of my photos are being used to promote these shows. Check out my photos, them check out the show. Other recent projects include work with the Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Post, Charlotte Magazine, Mint Museum, Charlotte Symphony, Neil Allen and the Virginia Reel, and others.

Chad & Jeremy's new live album, photographed by yours truly, will be out later this year. I also recently found a best-of Ted Nugent CD, Motor City Madness, released by Sony in 2002, that features a cover photo that I took in 1999. Yes, it did exist!

More news soon. I hope you all have a great summer. Best wishes and take care,
-Daniel
June 12, 2011

Just a quick note to let you know that I'll be speaking at the Columbia Museum of Art, in downtown Columbia, SC at 2pm on May 21st. The museum has put together a cool panel discussion about their current gallery exhibition, Who Shot The Rock. On the panel will be
music writers John Schacht and Mark Kemp, my friend and fellow photographer Sandlin Gaither, and your truly. Sandlin and I will also give folks a tour of our photos, which are currently being exhibited at the Free Times Gallery, across the street from the Museum. For more
information, check the Columbia Museum's website here- http://www.columbiamuseum.org/events/talksandtours

I hope to see you all soon. More news coming shortly,
-Daniel
May 8, 2011

It's been a busy past few weeks. Let's get right to what's going on.

I have been chosen to have six photos in "We Shoot Rock," a companion exhibition to the Columbia Museum's excellent Who Shot The Rock exhibit of rock photography. My photos will be hanging at the Free Times gallery, which is directly across the street from the Columbia
Museum, on Main Street in downtown Columbia, SC. Come on out and join me and several other photographers for the opening night party on April 7th from 5:30 to 10pm. It's gonna be a party!

My thanks to all of you that have come out to my retrospective in Asheboro, NC. The show just has a few days left, so please go by Circa Gallery (www.circagallerync.com) and check it out.

Many of you know that I am longtime fan of the super '60s pop group Left Banke. (You can even check out my 2003 interview with the band at www.leftbanke.nu .) So when the band recently reformed to play their first shows in 43 years, I jumped at the chance to work with them. Seeing the band play two sold out shows at Joe's Pub on March 6th and 7th was a dream come true for me. Check out my photos from that weekend on the band's Facebook fan page, and look for them in the May issue of the Big Takeover, accompanied by a new interview with the band.

Another great gig the following weekend was doing photos at an open house for Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's house in Hiltons, VA, just down the street from where I photographed Mr. Cash in 2003. The home had originally belonged to Maybelle Carter, and my deep thanks goes out to the Cash and Carter families for being so gracious to me. I also tagged along with both families that night to the release party for the Bear Family records collection of the 1927 and 1928 Bristol sessions.

Radio shows! I was recently interviewed by Bea Thompson for her show on WBAV FM, here in Charlotte. You may have also heard me on WNCW's What It Is this week, talking about the Columbia Museum show. I'll also be on the next couple of weeks, so check it out at
whatitisradio.org.

If you're in the UK and Ireland this summer, you'll see my posed pics of the legendary Patrick Street, helping to promote the band's upcoming tour. You'll also see my photos in an upcoming episode of Army Wives (more on this soon). Along with some new publications of my
GBV pics, you can also see my photos in this week's Village Voice, in a great article about the Big Star Third tribute shows. Check them out at http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-03-16/music/big-star-s-third-onstage-in-new-york-at-last/ . I also have some photos in the new CD by the Lucky Five.

Many other things to tell you about, but that will wait for another posting. Spring is here, and I hope to see you all somewhere soon.
Best wishes and take care,
-Daniel

Happy belated new year! I wanted to let you know that my first ever career (to date) retrospective, "Moments In Music And Life," will open this week at the Sunset Gallery, 150 Sunset Avenue in Asheboro, NC. I'll be there this Friday, February 18th, from 5 to 8pm for the show's
opening night party. Please come by, say hello and check out the photos. You can get directions to the gallery from their website, www.circagallerync.com.

Things have been busy here. Continued publications of my Guided by Voices across the US, and elsewhere. I also did recent work with Chimera Records (Sean Lennon's label), Robin Trower, Bruce Joyner & The Reconstruction, Posies, Clyde Wright of the Golden Gate Quartet,
Carolina Chocolate Drops, Chatham County Line, and others. I hope you got to see my Chatham County Line in the January issue of Our State Magazine. You may also have seen my photos connected to the recent Big Star Third tribute shows in Chapel Hill, NC. Be on the lookout for more pics from this project.

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm going to New York City the first weekend of March to do photos for the legendary Left Banke, who are doing their first shows in 42 years. Work is continuing on the book of the NC rock scene of the 1960s. Check back soon for more updates.
Here's to the oncoming spring season,
-Daniel
February 13, 2011