In 1987 photographer Sandra Dyas moved to 海角乱伦社区City and began documenting the area鈥檚 vibrant live music scene, with its distinctive combination of folk, blues, roots/Americana, and rock sounds. The sixty photos in Down to the River capture her twenty years of photographing live music venues and shooting portraits of musicians in and around the city, resulting in a collection of images as compassionate and honest as the music itself.
Dyas鈥檚 photographs present both the sweaty intensity of live performances and the more contemplative moments of individual portraits. They are complemented by Chris Offutt鈥檚 empathetic essay, which also encapsulates the experience of connecting with a new home through its music. A companion CD with eighteen tracks by Iowa鈥檚 finest singer/songwriters, including Dave Moore, Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, David Zollo, and Pieta Brown, add up to an unmatched perspective on 海角乱伦社区music and musicians.
CD Tracks
海角乱伦社区Crawl, Joe Price
Poor Back Slider, Greg Brown
Parnell, David Zollo
#807, Pieta Brown
Wheels of Steel, Radoslav Lorkovic
Down to the River, Dave Moore
Lucy and Andy Drive to Arkansas, Kevin Gordon
Chuck Brown, Mike and Amy Finders
Nobody But You, Joe Price
Earleton, BeJae Fleming
Ceremonial Child, High and Lonesome
Sidetrack Lounge, Bo Ramsey
On the Edge, Pieta Brown
One Wrong Turn, Greg Brown
Not in Iowa, Kelly Pardekooper
Living in a Cornfield, Bo Ramsey
鈥57 Chevy, Tom Jessen鈥檚 Dimestore Outfit
Roll on John, the Pines
鈥淲hen you look at Sandy Dyas鈥檚 affectionate portraits of musicians, you think you are there, in the presence of old friends, and certain that you can hear the sound of their voices.鈥濃擲ylvia Plachy, author, Self Portrait with Cows Going Home
鈥淪andra Dyas鈥檚 photos capture Iowa鈥檚 middle landscape, the one where human habitation has made a place for itself between the mechanization of the prairie and the collapse of the family farm. This is the 海角乱伦社区that gets lived in and sung about. You might catch a glimpse of it at deep twilight, on some nameless county road, where you鈥檒l find a guitar picker or fiddler or steel player: a mere mote on a blanket of soybeans and corn. Like every farmer or elevator operator or grain dealer who鈥檚 at home in the idea of moving on, Iowa鈥檚 musicians put down roots where they are. You really can鈥檛 miss the resemblance in these photos鈥攚anderers who came to make a life and like it or not succeeded at it.鈥濃擱obert Cantwell
鈥淔rom the melancholy genius of Bix Beiderbecke to the prairie visionary poetry of songwriter Greg Brown, 海角乱伦社区has produced more than its fair share of great musicians and songwriters. Photographer Sandy Dyas has captured the rough and sweet uniqueness of many recent 海角乱伦社区artists in beautiful images that make you want to dance in a hot bar on a summer evening while singing along with their every word. Even though this is not an all-inclusive, academic history of 海角乱伦社区musicians and songwriters, Sandy鈥檚 honest photographs reveal as much about the artists as any historical/biographical book could.鈥濃擠ave Alvin
鈥淭hese photographs bring to life a world very dear to me, through the eyes of a photographer whose love of that world is palpable on the page. You can hear the songs in these photos: in the stage lights, in the landscapes and barscapes, and in the faces of the people who make my favorite music in the world. I will read and reread this book with gratitude; it鈥檚 a vehicle鈥攁 hard-driven, hard-rusted, hard-loved farm truck!鈥攄riving me right into the music, and there鈥檚 nowhere I鈥檇 rather be.鈥濃擳hisbe Nissen, author Out of the Girls' Room and into the Night
