The Diamond Center's 5th and final Tour Blog....

written by yours truly and Mr. K is up over at The Llano Idea... go check it out HERE Again, I am sorry that I am too lazy to post it here too.

Ok, so over the tour, between Kelly and I, we shot over 20 GB of images... which is pretty close to a billion images... I think. I documented many of the bathrooms at the places we visited, especially the bars we played. There is just something that I find incredibly interesting about them, it just tells a lot about the place... what do you think?

New Orleans, Hi-Ho Lounge (Private bathroom for performers.... nice)

home again...

After 17 days, 15 shows, 19 states crossed, 5400 miles driven and countless pizza slices consumed we are finally home! The tour was a success and we had a BLAST. K and I were so fortunate to be traveling and playing with such an awesome group of people who all play in numerous other projects but took  2 weeks to join us in the Diamond Center. Thank you so so so so so very much to Daniel Markham of One Wolf, Alan Brown of My Milliner and founder of 90% death sex, and Sound man/drummer extraordinaire, Tim Falen of Ghost Owl, and of course the lovely Kelly Garcia who was in charge of slingin' the merchandise, and helping me keep up the female presence... we couldn't have made it without each and every one of you. Our 3rd blog post is up over at The Lllano Idea, check it out! Sorry I am too lazy to do one here too! 

This series of images was taken by my man K outside of "Little Italy" in Athens ( which is one of our FAVORITE places) with Tim, Daniel, and two of my very best friends Kelli P and Ryan. It was such a treasure to have some time with their sweet baby hearts.

lubbock to new orleans

I always attempt to be more diligent with posting when on the road... and I always fail. So here we are almost a week in and this is my first post.... please forgive. 

I have something to make up for it, I have been taking a TON of images so there will be MUCH posting, it might just be a couple days delayed. Here goes Austin to New Orleans (basically day 1 and 2)

We played our first show at the Creekside Lounge in Austin TX. It was a great show and we had LOTS of support from our local friends.  The headline band, Smoke and Feathers, had a "projectionist" which was AWESOME and something that I have seen footage of but never seen in person. Basically it was an analog video/image show straight out of the late 60s.... righteous. Here is Aaron, the projectionist on the left, the outside of the bar on right.

the projectionist

more projectionist and Creekside Live from the outside. We played with 2 other great bands, Alex Dupree and the Trap Door Band, and American Sharks.

I just have to mention here that I love, LOVE shooting in low light situations, especially with my most righteous camera. It captures images and color in such an amazing way.
This, on the left, is what it feels like in the end of the night when the van must be packed. More Creekside on the right.
On Saturday morning we woke up and left Austin by 9am... yea thats right we got out of town by 9am which is a feat to say the least, and headed to New Orleans to make a radio show by 4. Here Jana and Kyle are in the WTUL (Tulane) studio. 
Then... after the radio show in New Orleans, we headed to Frankie & Johnny's, a sweet restaurant a local pointed us to. This is the civilized side of the table... (Alan, Kelly & Jana)
... and the other side. (me, Kyle, Tim & Daniel)
the food was greasy and delicious. On the left here is Kyle's alligator soup, which the waitress referred to as "cup-A-gatar" (like cup-of-gator)... and on the right, Tim, Daniel and Alan grubbin'. (this will be a constant theme, I enjoy taking images of people as they are eating)
On the way from the eatery to the club we were playing we were directed thru a New Orleas neighborhood, and it was incredibly sobering. It has been almost 3 years since Katrina and still the evidence of her wrath is ever-present. 

Here are Tim and Daniel outside of the Hi-Ho Lounge as the sun was setting.

We played with 2 of the MOST amazing bands in New Orleans. One Man Machine opened the show, and I was emotionally moved by their performance... I STRONGLY suggest checking them out. After we played a local band called Silent Cinema played, and even though I have no images of them... they were AMAZING also. I MUST see both of these bands again.

Here is Bernard from One Man Machine, I, again, was moved to tears from his performance.
and the guys backstage before the the show from left to right... Alan, Tim, Daniel, Kyle.
...and Jana. I love, LOVE getting her making funny faces.
this is me. Jana took this one.
This is Kyle talking to our new friend Robin, who has to be one of the sweetest most genuine people that I have EVER met. He played with Bernard and One Man Machine, and he put us up for the night.
backstage at the Hi Ho Lounge.
Sunday was our last day with Jana. She had to return back home to work and away from us. We missed her INSTANTLY. Here she is on the right outside of Robin's house on Sunday morning, before we took her to the jet plane. Jana... next time you MUST be here with us for the whole time, it's not the same without you.

4 days and 1420 miles in....

and already a billion stories to tell. 

For those that are just joining, my band the Diamond Center started our tour on Friday which will take us 12 shows in 14 days starting in our home of Lubbock Tx and lead us all the way to NYC and back. I will be posting a tour blog, with tons of pics thru this whole deal starting this afternoon AND, we, as a band, will be featured word famous The Llano Idea, telling our stories from the road.

I thought I would kick this whole thing off with a couple of images from the preparatory night before we left town. We spent the majority of the evening making tags, rolling shirts, mounting labels, and constructing talismans (that was k's contribution).

and now for the big K surprise... INTRODUCING with no further delay...... (drumroll please)

My Only Companion SALSA! Kyle slaved over 2 batches of his delicious salsa to be able to bring it on the road to sell... and it's been a HIT. You MUST get some if you see us.

This is our buddy and expert t-shirt roller Taylor, who was a HUGE help in our preparation night... Thanks T-no-no, we wouldn't have made it without your mad skills. You can also see t-no-no HERE, although he's not with us for this tour, he's joined us on the road before.

been sewin for days!

The bags are finally finished, and they look great... if I do say so myself! This round has a little something special, a diamond stitched into every single one. You can see them all HERE. 

If you would like a bag and are planning to come to a show, tell me which one you like, and I will reserve it for you! (these babies are one of a kind) If you don't reside in a city that the Diamond Center will be touring thru email me, brandiprice{at}gmail.com, and let me know which one you would like, and I will ship it to you!

The bags are $20 each ($22 if mailed) Made with 100% reclaimed and recycled material, they are all lined and have a pocket inside. There are two sizes the MESSENGER which is 15" x 13.3" with a 45" strap (that can be tied up if needed shorter) and the TOTE which is 14" x 15.5"

check em out! your very own diamond

lined, and a pocket to boot!

This is another hint for what K has been cookin' up to sell on tour... ill do a full post on it tomorrow! yuuuummmmyyyyyy!

This is how the bobo's are helping... jerks.

life is a whirlwind... and I am spinning

I have been a bad blogger recently, partially due to the fact that I have SO MANY THINGS TO DO these days. Often when we lay our heads down at night K and I discuss how there just aren't enough hours in the day... I hate this feeling. We are getting ready for the Diamond Center tour which starts next Friday, and the amount of things that have to be in order before leaving for 2 weeks can be a little overwhelming! 

These images are from a shoot I did a couple weeks ago of a family that I have known for years. Their mother was one of the first designers I worked with after finishing my undergrad! These 3 kiddos are adorable... A-dorable! Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

bags galore!

In 2 weeks from friday my band The Diamond Center is leaving on a 2 week tour of the East Coast and Midwest... wooo hoooo! 

Trying to think of things that we can sell on the road to generate more cash-flow for the ever-rising gas prices, I came up with the idea to make Diamond Center tote bags! Its been a blast re-connecting with the sewing machine (the last time I used it was when I was in 4-H as a youngster) AND not to mention designing the bags. I decided to use found fabric, so the bags are 99% reclaimed and recycled! (the thread is new)  I debuted the bags at our CD release show here in Lubbock last week and they were a hit! Hopefully the rest of the country will think the same.

K also has something in the works that he is creating to sell... more on that yummy surprise soon!

To see if The Diamond Center will be hitting your neck-of-the-woods, check out our tour schedule at our rockin' new site over HERE.

Style Station/miss lindsey J...this one's for you!

The Style Station is one of the most amazing vintage clothing shops that I have been in. Period. What makes this place better than all the great finds are the 2 that run it, Art & Rebecca DeVitalis. I would not and could not do them justice by trying to describe the quirky couple but I will say this, Art likes to talk... mostly about Texas music & musicians, and Texas Politics, and if you take the time to listen to his stories, you will not be disappointed. He is great (small side note... he DOES love Neil Young even though he is not from Texas). Rebecca is sweet and soft spoken, and creates wonderful new pieces from vintage clothing... she usually rolls her eyes at some of the stories that Art tells. She is wonderful. If you ever find yourself if Texas, on I-35, around West, Texas (yes that's West, Texas not west Texas) between the exits 347 and 349, STOP at the Style Station! Here are some images from our time there: ohhhh... and he also LOVES musicians, and since we, the Diamond Center, were on our little mini-tour when we stopped thru, they gave us some Style Station Tees! sweet!

Here we have Mr. Alan Brown soaking in the conversation.
Art showing off his propaganda, that he also sells in the shop, to Kyle.

The Lady's work area... and sweet sewing machine

See the rest of the images HERE