issue 2 || April 2015

brandAmerican Drifter

bandKatie Powderly

andSharon Alagna

www.RootsRevivalCo.com

In This Issue

brand American Drifter

band Katie Powderly

and Photographer Sharon Alagna

• DEADHORSE wRECkORDS • Upcoming Events • Featured Products

brand American DrifterThe BeginningI was a fashion stylist in Miami and also worked in the costume department in major motion pictures/TV and accumu-lated A LOT of wardrobe stock. I turned my garage into a stock room and my den into a photo studio. Photographers and models from the agency would come shoot at my home. I had a lot of fun styling and still enjoy it immensely. I hate hoarding, so I began to sell fashion stock that I didn’t feel I would use again on eBay and etsy. I did it as a side hobby on the weekends. As usual in my life, I wanted a change of atmosphere and New York City was next on my bucket list since I had already lived in Texas, LA, Chicago and Washington. It took me a good year just to get my foot in the door to the film industry there so, in the mean time, I was selling (ALL) my clothes just to scrape by and could barely afford food. It became my full time focus, originally I would just model the clothes myself or put them on a mannequin with bad lighting in my tiny Brooklyn apartment but, eventually I started recruiting models and photogra-phers who were just getting started and was able to “guide” them through the photoshoot easily. I did the styling and sometimes the hair and make up.

The GoodsAlthough I do create some of the product I sell, I am all over the place creatively. It’s an addiction for me to curate. I love finding the beauty in other people’s designs and combining them to make a work of art, whether it’s on a model for a fashion shoot or it’s a display in stores windows.

The Inspiration Since I was 18 I have traveled, on my own. I love new culture, new food, new music, new people, new architecture…and I don’t mean, just go on a week vacation somewhere and take pictures and say “Oh, I went there…” I mean, I want to experience it like a local, so, naturally I go there and become one. When I feel like I “get it”, I move on to a new city. I’ve lived in about 10 cities on my own accord, so far. So I would say that “culture” and the bohemian way of being and interacting with people inspires me… easy living.

The VisionNaturally a mobile shop was the answer to everything for me. I can travel, curate with other people’s designs through my ever-changing vision and bring the locals a one of a kind shopping experience with hand-made unique products, each one telling a story.

Find American Drifter here:www.shopamericandrifter.com (coming soon)www.americandriftervintage.com (etsy) www.AmericanDrifterBlog.com

Instagram: @AmericanDrifterTwitter: @AmericanTwifter Facebook: American Drifter Vintage

{Coming Soon: The American Drifter Mobile Retail Shop}

I went on a 5 month road trip two years ago. I have a playlist for each state I traveled through, and what I was feeling at the time. It’s very somber, but I left Brooklyn with a broken heart and a car full of vintage to sell. It was the 4th of July 2013, super hot in the desert and a long way to go. I promise the playlists get happier. ;) Click to listen to Kristen’s first playlist from her road trip:

band Katie PowderlyHey. I’m Katie Powderly. I currently live in Frederick, MD, by way of Wisconsin and Tennessee. I’m a songwriter and guitar player and singer and a bunch of other stuff that isn’t relevant to this conversation.

I discovered Frederick, MD, while playing upright bass as a sideman for my friend Woody Pines’ band on a tour in 2012. We came through Frederick on that run, and the town struck me, powerful as the crack of a baseball bat knocking a ball out across the field at dusk over the stands and into the blinding stadium lights. As a songwriter, I acknowledge my tendency to romanticize details, but believe me when I tell you there is something about this place.

Why do you make music?I make music because I don’t have a choice. Songs have burst forth from my mouth since I was a very little girl. I became a musician at about 19, playing upright bass in a traditional bluegrass band in the Midwest. We played just around one thousand shows together over the course of many years. But eventually I quit because I wanted to learn to play guitar and become a songwriter. That changed everything for me musically.

Everybody processes and copes with life very differently. Some people drink, some gamble, some shop, some go to the gym, some make art. We all need an outlet. Music is mine.

(Photo credit: Mick McKiernan)

Music is how I process life and my mistakes and how I communicate those lessons back to myself in the hopes of not making them over and over and over again…though I often do, regardless. It is also my way of reaching out to others in situations in which I feel like I’ve erred, or if I want something I don’t know how to ask for, or if I feel like I’ve fallen too far. Songs are a safe space for me to sort out all of the confusion and create clarity, if I’m lucky.

Your inspiration?Inspiration is an elusive mistress. I grapple to find and hold on to inspiration, as at times it can feel like a vapor; the more desperate the clutch of fingers, the quicker it dissipates, escaping. It either comes to me, fickle as a cat, or I go search-ing for it. When it makes its presence known, it arrives in the form of a heightened awareness, an intensification of all the senses. Colors look more vivid. Smells are amplified. I taste food as if for the first time.

But those precious days are rare. So like all song-writers, I draw my inspiration from my life. Lov-ers, leaving, regret, resentment. The desire for the last word. Nostalgia. Yearning. His perfect face. Her biting tongue.

Secret weapon/superpower?

My secret weapon is what I call The Six. It’s a sisterhood of intensely powerful female friend-ships. Though we are all scattered across the country, this group of women is an enormous source of strength and support to me. They are my inner circle, and I am always learning and becoming a better person as a result of knowing them. Two of us are songwriters, one is an academic, two are intuitives and healers, and one is a leather worker. I think our most special gift is the ability to bring out the absolute best in each other. It is important to surround yourself with folks who encourage you to be the best version of yourself.

Find Katie Here: www.katiepowderly.com

@katiepowderly on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

My first album, “Slips of the Tongue” is out on CD and will be out on vinyl as of the end of April and The Unconditional Lovers and I just headed back into the studio to begin record number 2! So many exciting things on the horizon.

{Click below to listen to a playlist curated by Katie Powderly}

When you’re not making music?Yoga, cooking, working out at the YMCA, travel, reading, writing.

Unapologetic indulgence?Lattes and chocolate.

{Click here to read the full unabridged interview with Katie Powderly}

and Sharon AlagnaThe BeginningHow I started is kind of a hard question. I knew I wanted to be a photographer before I ever picked up a real camera. I don’t know how I knew and it’s probably one of the only things in my life I’ve ever ‘known’. I started shooting when I was 16 in the midst of a growing depression that manifested itself in eating and dissocia-tive disorders. I’d stopped being able to connect to myself, I barely recognized the girl in the mirror and I couldn’t reconcile who I felt like I was with my body or the outside world. I started making self por-traits because it was the only way I could see myself realistically and the only (non destructive) way I could express how I felt to others. I started shooting live comedy shows for friends about 3 years ago and then live music about a year later and was surprised to find myself immediately fall in love with photographing concerts even though I’d never really been into going to shows prior to that.

The GoodsI make 2 main types of photos- music and portraits. Portraits are more about constructing a world, especially my self portraits; live music is the complete opposite. You have almost no control over the situation with journalistic photography, you have to work with what you’ve got and often what you have is far from ideal. That’s part of why I love it though, every band is different, every venue is different, every night is different and making something beautiful in a crap environment is ridiculously fulfilling.

The Inspiration Shooting music is about the energy, the energy of the performers, the energy of the crowd. It’s a game of chasing the energy. The inspiration is the musicians. I can tell you more specifics about how a performer moves on stage than I can about the music at shows that I shoot. I barely hear what’s being played while I’m shooting. It’s all about the energy and the lighting and the vibe. My fine art work, my self portraits, are quiet. They’re me alone with my camera. It’s how I talk to the world, it’s how I talk to myself. They’re my therapy and my escape. They’re how I speak when I can’t find the words. They’re driven by whatever I need to say or figure out at the moment.

The VisionYou can be anyone you want to be in photos. I can be strong in photos even when I feel completely helpless and weak, I can be sexy in photos even when I feel disgusting and gross, I can be confi-dent in photos even though have very little self-confidence in real life. When I make a portrait of someone else I want them to look at that image and feel more confident and sexy and strong. I want my subjects to walk away feeling better about themselves because of my images. With live music I want to capture the moments that pass too quickly for your eyes to even fully register them. There’s something so magical about that. That tiny moment is never going to exist again but it lasts forever if I catch it right.

I grew up thinking that I had bad taste in music because I have weird tastes in music. I’m driven toward good lyrics, music that really tells a story, music that just intrinsically makes me feel something (even if it’s just goofily happy), and music that signifies a time period or event in my life. Click to listen to Sharon’s playlist and to read more about why she chose certain songs:

Find Sharon Alagna here:www.sharonalagnaphotography.com

Instagram: @SharonAlagna

“We Can’t Be Beat”

Rhinestone Rhonda

Rhinestone Rhonda, a former Miss Arkansas runner-up from Little Rock, had her heyday in the early 70s as a truck stop lounge singer. She earned her reputation for her sexy raspy voice by smoking a carton of cigarettes a day. Although she can no longer perform a full set without the help of frequent oxygen puffs, the classics from her glory days are captured on the “Best of Rhinestone Rhonda” LP set.

Everyone loves an underdog, and DEADHORSE wRECkORDS is no exception. Red “Rogue” Stallion founded the label with his son Red, Jr. Despite their “green” beginning, they started learning the tricks of the trade and began to sign more artists to the label. Together, father and son laid the ground work that has allowed DEADHORSE wRECkORDS to stay sure-footed through the decades.

Rhinestone Ronda is one of the fake bands signed to the fake record label DEADHORSE wRECkORDS, an art project with music as the inspiration.

To learn more about the project, visit:www.DEADHORSEwRECkORDS.com

New AlbumRelease

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Upcoming EventsFind Roots Revival Co. Here: Artists & FleasApril 18thDowntown LA

Jackalope Arts FairApril 25-26Pasadena, CA

ArtopiaApril 30Los Angeles

Featured Products

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purchase.{ }

Katie Powderly’s Album Slips of the Tongue

American Drifter Accessories

American Drifter Vintage Clothing

Sharon Alagna Portrait & Concert Photography

www.RootsRevivalCo.com