CUSTOM MUSIC POSTERS 

For Christmas presents this year, I had an idea to create personalized music posters for some of the most special people in my life. I wanted to encapsulate their favorite artists in a unique visual representation, capturing a concert that they each attended. Here’s their stories.

Bonnie Raitt - An all time favorite of my mom and mine. In 1998, my mom got tickets to see her play for the first time back when Portland had an amazing waterfront venue. I wasn't supposed to go. I was in high school and I had a big art project due the next day (I was making an album cover, go figure). I threw a big ol' teenage-like fit begging for her to take me instead of my dad. She gave in of course. Who could say no to an annoying teenager in the 90's? So there I was, sitting on bleachers, crafting together a collage of an album cover for Bob Marley, while being entranced by Bonnie's slides with my mom. We both cherish that memory to this day.

Back in 2005, I had just graduated from College and I decided to follow my future wife to Colorado for a new adventure. I’d only ever really lived in Portland, OR for most of my life (unless you count 6 years of Southern California that I don’t remember very well) so this high altitude state was a bit of an adjustment for me. I didn’t have a job and my then girlfriend was working split shifts so I hardly saw her. I finally got a gig with Madison House Design (The String Cheese Incident’s in house design team for their company) which kick started my career in the music industry. This poster was given to my wife this year as a tribute to a show that I surprised her with tickets for. Terri Clark is her all time favorite country music singer. I’m not a fan of country, but I suffered through it for her.

Everyone loves a Grateful Dead poster right? How about one that reacts to black light? This poster was given to my creative partner. I reached out to his daughter for help. She told me a quick story that one of his biggest regrets was not going to see one of Jerry’s last shows because he was injured at the time. We did a little research and figured out which show. (Found out later that we were off a year and he actually did go to this show.) The skeleton symbolizes Dave’s recent re-found love of walking in the outdoors and breathing in the deep forest air.

For my dad. HE LOVES FRANK! (My mom could do without). I didn’t want to give away that I was making my parents posters this year so I couldn’t ask them for help with this one. With a little research and make believe, this poster is a lot of guesswork. 1968 was what I figured was about the time my dad might have been running around Southern California bad ass music venues. The Roxy! August 10th is his birthday. And Tom and Paul on Guitar is a tribute to my late uncle who was a musician.