Inspirations, Part II: Do you Know "What's Weird?"

I'll tell two versions of this story, one short, and one long. That way you don't have to read a lot of words if you don't want to.

THE SHORT VERSION:
I once bought a CD based solely on the album artwork.
Now the artist (David Barnes) that created the design is selling a book that I think you should check out. Or at least visit his website, because he's using a photo I took of him.

THE LONG VERSION:
In 2008 I was driving down Northlake Blvd. in North Palm Beach, Florida when I saw the CD Warehouse was going out of business. It was in it's last days, where the owner was even pushing you to buy the store shelving units with your steeply discounted CD purchases. There were only a few CDs left. I took a look around and picked up a few world music albums that I thought would be great for the long drive to Michigan that I was about to leave for. I didn't see to much else that looked interesting. I went over to the "Employee Recommendations" shelf and immediately fell in love with the artwork of the only CD left on the rack. At that time, I didn't know the band "of Montreal". I did know, however, that the artwork looked amazing! It turned out to be this.

So I bought the CD based on the artwork, and listend to the CD the entire drive from Florida to Michigan. Somewhere around Southern Ohio I began singing along as it helped to pass the time. When I got to Michigan, I gave the CD to my sister and her boyfriend as they'd heard of of Montreal but hadn't really listened to them yet either. Eventually I returned back to Florida and forgot I had left the CD there. Like a three year old who is more enthralled with the box than the present, I did still manage to have the cd packaging with me.

A couple months later I saw of Montreal perform live at the Langerado Music Festival. I left halfway though their set though, not because I wasn't entertained, but because they were one of the last bands to play. It was a very long four days of camping. Growing up in Northern Michigan I'm no stranger to camping but this was unexpectedly extreme! I went to the fest by myself and the first thing I did (as did many fest attendees) was get out of my car and kick of my shoes. Who needs shoes in the wilderness? Huge mistake!! Immediately the FIRE ANTS began attacking! It my first experience at a large festival and although I'd lived in Florida for a few years, I'd never actually experienced being bitten once, much less SEVERAL times by these terrible ants. OUCH! (Well, more like: OW!Ouch! OUCH! OWWWWW!!! GET THEM OFF OF ME!!!)So anyways after the extreme weather shifts from record lows to unbearable highs, in addition to the blisters and the dirt, I was quite exhausted by the time of Montreal played. I remember walking away thinking, "they seem cool, but I'd really love to go home and wash my feet."

SO, a week later I attended an art event of a group that had honored my work before. They had hired a local band, Fire Zuave, to play that I'd never heard, but instantly took notice of. After that show, Fire Zuave hired me to do photo work for them and we became friends. It turned out that the lead singer was cousins with Kevin Barnes, lead singer for of Montreal, and David Barnes, the artist responsible for me taking notice of of Montreal in the first place. Then I went on a couple tours with them and got to take photos along the way. A couple months ago I was hired by the Broward Palm Beach New Times to photograph another one of their concerts and an image I took is being used to help promote David's book. This makes me very happy as it reminds me of the day a few years ago that I bought a CD solely on David's (which I didn't know was David's, yet)work.