Jeff Massey at Harlem Ave Lounge

 What can I say about Jeff? A lot. He's my favorite guitar player and has been for a long time. If you haven't had the privilege of seeing him in person, be sure to put it on your bucket list. Yes, he's that good. Many of my friends already know I'm a huge fan of his, and of The Steepwater Band, which he sings and plays in. And if you haven't seen Steepwater yet, put that on your bucket list as well. They ROCK!! What do they play? Good ol' American rock n' roll with a dash of delta blues and a pinch of old school country feel!
 Every once in a while he does a solo acoustic show at The Harlem Ave Lounge, which a great venue for live blues. I used to go whenever he played there, but life happens, and I hadn't been in a very long time. Well, life has brought me back to a place where I can go again, and I did just that. 

 Jeff (and the rest of Steepwater) is like family to me, a brother that I don't see very often. So I was so happy to make it this time around to see him. His acoustic shows are powerful and full of emotion. He really feels the moment. You won't hear a song the same way twice from Jeff, at least not like this. He plays a great mix of blues covers and original music. And for me, his original music is what is so powerful. When he plays The World Keeps Moving On in this setting, it fills me with emotion. I actually cried the first time I heard him play it here. But that's me, I feel music, I don't just hear it.


 The photo below would be my husband, also taking photos and video. Check out his blog of Jeff at www.wesbushby.com. I did some video, but it takes forever to upload. lol

 Jeff is an amazing guitar player, once you witness this, you get hooked. I've taken people to see him and Steepwater, and they become instant fans. So seriously, if you're a music fan, do yourself a favor and catch Jeff and/or The Steepwater Band, as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed. 

The Steepwater Band

Harlem Ave Lounge

** ALL Photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use.

Jam Night at the VIP Lounge

  Wednesday night was the inaugural Jam night at the V.I.P. Lounge in Griffith with my good friends Chris Karp and Aaron Hedges from The Crawpuppies (links provided at the bottom of this blog), as hosts. It was a great first night! 

 The first co-host guitarist was another good friend, Northwest Indiana's own Mark Rongers! I love to watch him play, he's so full of energy! Someone needs to figure out how to bottle and sell that! lol. I do apologize, I do not know the names of all the musicians that joined in the jam. If anyone wants to hit me up on Facebook, I would be happy to add their names.

 Several area musicians came out to play, and fun was had by all! How could we not have fun? There was music ♪♫♪♫ 

  So, as I try to do, I went to support my friends (and take photos, of course)....

 Mark, Chris, and Aaron

 There's a sample of that energy I mentioned!

Joining the trio, none other than Sonny Lee!

 Aaron Harris, jammin' some blues! All I can say is WOW!! Somehow, I never heard him play the blues before. No idea how I missed that!

 "Hacksaw" Hedges, on the low end...

Colin Peterson rockin' out!

 Aww man, Jerry Clemmons in the house!

 Marty Cohen sayin' Hi!

Diggin' that horn section!!

 The night was too short for my taste, but still a lot of fun, Jam night is from 9pm to 12pm. Every Wednesday. So if you're so inclined, join the jam, or just come out and support our local musicians. There is so much talent in Northwest Indiana, and a jam night is a good way to get a taste.

VIP LOUNGE

The Crawpuppies

** ALL Photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use.

Nomad Planets

  Well, here it is. My first blog post that's not about me, lol. Well, maybe a little. You see, my husband and I are both photographers (for those of you that don't know) and we'll probably be posting some blogs of the same events or bands. We love to support local music and events! That being said, please enjoy my photos of The Nomad Planets. To see my husbands, follow this link: http://wesleybushby.blogspot.com/ He is more of a blogger than I am, and covers a lot in the Northwest Indiana and Chicago area. My photography concentrates more on local bands and nature.

 We were out and about supporting local music Friday night and stopped by and support their new CD release show. I first saw Nomad Planets when they opened for my friends, The Steepwater Band. They've been together and around the area for a while, I just never had the pleasure of catching them. Boy was I missing out!! They're pretty awesome. A bunch of down to earth guys that love the music. And you can see that when they play, which what I try to capture. My goal when I shoot live bands is to try convey to my audience what its like to be in their audience. And they make that easy by the emotions you can see in their music. If you don't know them, you should. You can check them out here:

http://www.reverbhisnation.com/nomadplanets 

It's a good site to listen to some of their music! Now, on to the photos! I hope you enjoy them and get a feeling of what it's like to see them play.

I love some of the faces Mark makes. He's so much fun to 
photograph. 

So,thank you for stopping by and checking out my photography. And don't forget to support local music!! 

Happily Ever After

As of October 4th, 2014, I am now and forever Christine Lee Bushby. 

 It's really rather surprising, even to myself. It all happened so quickly, if it was in the form of a photo, I would have had to pan to capture it. It's true, what they say; when you know, you just know. I was married once before, so long ago, but not for the right reason. Other attempted relationships followed, but at some point, sooner or later, there was that voice in the back of my head. You know the one, doubt. The one that tell you something isn't quite right. Not this time. 

 There was no doubt, no voice. I just knew. the minute I saw him at a benefit that I went to for a man named Calvin Belt. It was August 18th, 2013. It was love at first sight, but I didn't even know it then. Sometimes, you get to a point where your just done, and the romantic in me was, well, gone. At that time, I didn't believe in happily ever after. It was just in movies and fairy tales. My heart had had enough, it was pretty much on lock down. But a different little voice spoke up. It said "You HAVE to get to know him". Without even realizing why, I agreed. 
 (So I have to pause my story here and tell you, love at first sight does in fact exist. If a little voice or even just a feeling, speaks so loudly you can't ignore it, LISTEN.)
 I went to this benefit because The Steepwater Band. They are good friends of mine and I have been following them for years. Although recently, I haven't had the chance to see them much, for one reason or another, so I hadn't seen Wesley (now my husband) before, at least I didn't think I did. Turns out we had met before, briefly. It was on June 8th, 2012, and his first time seeing The Steepwater Band at the House of Blues in Chicago. We were both in the photographers pit shooting Steepwater. Flash forward a couple of years, and I see the back of my head in his blog of that night.

 If you'd like to see it, here's a link, I'm in photo # 74  :
http://wesleybushby.blogspot.com/2012/06/steepwater-band-house-of-blues-chicago.html


We didn't even speak to each other, just politely stayed out of each others way. It was my first time in a photo pit, and I was nervous and concentrating. Plus I didn't know the rules. You are only allowed in the pit for the first three songs. Oops.

So anyway, after seeing him at the benefit, I started "stalking" him on Facebook. As a matter of fact, I first saw a band called The Robots because of him (later on, I found out they also played at the benefit). After finding out he was going to a gig of theirs, I decided to go. Yes, to see him. But he happened not to go that night. I did like the band though, and added them to my list of local bands that I like to support. 

As time went on, I did see him at a few different shows. Then finally, on March 29th of this year, at another Robots show, it happened. By this time we were friends, and I really liked him. But I am shy, I've never made "the first move". Well, that night, he did. In a big way, at least to me. Toward the end of the evening, we were sitting next to each other and suddenly, his arms were around me, holding on and not letting go. It was wonderful. As we got to know each other more, we learned of the things we have in common. Love of music, photography, and Doctor Who, to mention a few. We both love Doctor Who so much, we had a Whovian wedding. Nothing conventional or commercialized for us!! Just a simple ceremony with friends and family, then pizza lunch afterwards. And of course, we went to a Steepwater show in Chicago that night.

So this is the beginning of my happily ever after. I will not call it a fairy tale ending, because it doesn't end. Life, and love, are journeys. And my journey has recently become so much better... I never knew a heart could be so filled with love. This is what we chose to be read for our ceremony, it fits us so well:

MY LOVE
~ Linda Lee Elrod ~

When I met you, I had no idea
how much my life
was about to be changed...
but then, how could I have known?

A love like ours happens
once in a lifetime.
You were a miracle to me,
the one who was everything
I had ever dreamed of,
the one I thought existed
only in my imagination.

And when you came into my life,
I realized that what I
had always thought
was happiness
couldn't compare to the joy
loving you brought me.

You are a part of everything
I think and do and feel,
and with you by my side,
I believe that anything is possible.
(this day) gives me a chance
to thank you for the miracle of you...
you are, and always will be,
the love of my life.

Between Wes and myself, more photos will be added of our wonderful day. You can find his blog here: http://wesleybushby.blogspot.com/

He will probably get to it before I do. He's been blogging for a while, whereas I'm just getting started. 

I want to thank everyone that was there on our special day. It meant a lot to us to be able share it with you.  I also want to think all of my friends and family for all the love and well wishes.  


Until next time,

Be open to love and enjoy your journey.