I took these photos almost a year ago. I didn't want to post them because I wanted the imagery to be new when their next record came out. Unfortunately they've announced they'll be playing a last show. All of the guys involved have other projects that are excellent, so that's a positive. I remember the first time I heard this band was in September of 2007 when I came to visit Jakes here in Seattle. This was around the time we started dating. I was still living in Sioux City, Iowa and my friend Becca and I drove out here to live it up for 11 days. (When I say we drove, I mean that SHE drove the entire way here. It was a nearly Olympic feat.) During our stay all the dudes at the now defunct Breau Chateau were continually listening to the song "Heaven's So Far" if I remember correctly. They had just recorded it at Bear Creek to go on the Decline of the Pacific Northwest comp, alongside music from Jakes's former band King's English, The Knast and Holy Ghost Revival. As of the writing of this, The Knast are now the only band still together. Anyhow, I heard that song a gazillion times over the course of the 11 days. I liked it. It took seeing them live for me to really get it though. The always wise Miss Vanessa Gonzalez of The Starvations (one of the best bands of all time!) was living in Seattle at that point and was singing the praises of Emeralds. She went so far as to say they were her favorite band in town. Vanessa knows good live Rock n Roll, so I had a feelin' she was onto something. Was she ever. Wow. Those guys put on an amazing show. If you've never seen them, do everything in your power to catch their last show. The date is TBA last I heard, so keep your eyes peeled. I danced maybe as hard as I've ever danced at Emeralds shows. It's like I would go into a trance and just totally lose it. I've been known to end up on the floor whipping my hair around like a maniac at many of their gigs. There was talk of me being in a music video for them at one point, just on the merits of my hair whipping I believe. If only that had happened! I feel lucky to have been able to share a bill with those wicked shredders while I was still in Sioux City Pete and the Beggars. When I moved here from Iowa it was exciting having guys like that around at my shows, and getting to go to their shows. There have been a few lineup shifts over the last couple years, but this is a band that has been consistently great. The Emeralds dudes are definitely a large part of what made me fall in love with Seattle and it's music scene. Really rad, talented, supportive, nice people that can rock your socks off. Thanks Emeralds!
xoxo
Lexi
Here are the photos. This shoot was awesome. It involved completely rearranging and redecorating Ryan's living room. I even made the poor guy hang out of the window so we could drape black cloth outside to make it look pitch dark. It would have been a nasty fall. The dudes brought all the great props, Adam Vick supplied the pigs head, I brought some candles and some cameras and film. They had a mexican food and Rainier beer feast for the kitchen shots. Fun fun fun.
Emeraldss final lineup: Adam Vick, Ian Edmunds, Lee Cizek, Ryan Fitch & Nick Provo. HERE is in old post raving about Emeralds with some photos! And ANOTHER.
Canon Ae-1 Program camera. Fuji Pro 400H film for color, Ilford film for B&W and Fuji Velvia 100 film cross processed for the crazy yellow and red ones. Here's a link to the set on flickr.
A glimpse into the life...
Here are a few of my favorite live shots I've taken of them:
A rad video by my talented friend Benj. Check out his youtube channel!
Links to some other great music projects these guys are involved in!
P.S. Why am I spelling their name 2 ways? Cuz they were known as Emeralds for years, but due to a much inferior band also sharing that name, they switched to Emeraldss.
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