- Backstage StoriesWonders, Relics, and a Beer Fridge
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Even the dingiest backstage, supplied with a comfy sofa, can feel like a pharaoh’s chamber when you’re a bit weary from touring. Hot coffee, cold beer, and a fresh piece of fruit can temporarily change your world.
—Chandler Holt, Chatham County Line
The backstage area has long held a fascination for music fans. There is a mystique about being “with the band” and allowed in places where fans rarely get to go. Despite the perceived glamour of backstage life, however, the backstage area is often just a momentary rest stop for the artist.
Back rooms, catering areas, and the club owner’s office typically make up a venue’s backstage—if the venue has a “backstage” at all. Showers and loading docks often serve as the place to tune up, work on songs, check phone or email messages, and generally take a moment away from the world. It is these moments, before or after a show, that make up a huge part of the musician’s daily life.
A lifelong interest in musicians and their process—how the music is created and presented—drew me backstage. I wanted to document musicians’ day-to-day experiences and their travels, as well as my own. Over time, my subjects also became my friends. Here are some of my friends, all in moments away from the audience, but never too far away from the music. [End Page 25]
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