A new tintype photo and another nice review!

My nephew, Jeff Howlett, was back in town again a couple of weeks ago to take tintype photographs at two different venues in Tampa and Dunedin.  You can read about my first tintype Jeff took of me in a previous post here.   This time around I had my eyes opened much wider -- which I made a point of doing since I look a bit like I'm squinting in the first tintype.  It's difficult not to squint or blink due to the bright lights Jeff has to use. 

Jeff's website is here.  He also has another site with a fellow photographer that explains a bit about tintypes here. Jeff had a lot of happy customers at the Tampa Indie Flea.  Many people were having tintypes taken for holiday gifts.

My other bit of news is that I've received another nice review of one of my recordings in Audiofile Magazine.  This one is for The Prettiest Girl on Stage is a Man: Race and Gender Benders in American Vaudeville by Kathleen B. Casey.

"Narrator Lee Ann Howlett brings to life an array of American vaudeville stars from the 1890s-1920s whose acts reflect the cultural changes caused by immigration, racial discord, and changing gender roles at that time. With a conversational delivery style, Howlett creates a tough persona for singer Eva Tanguay, emphasizing her strength while performing racy songs of the period. Also portrayed is Julian Eltinge, a top female impersonator whose extreme masculine facade in real life countered speculation that he was gay. Howlett is most enjoyable as Lillyn Brown, a biracial woman who played a black dandy with a top hat, which she removed to display long hair as she sang suggestive songs as a woman. The great Sophie Tucker herself played in blackface, impersonated men and people of other races, and emphasized her Jewishness. Listeners will be intrigued to hear that Lady Gaga is considered a modern gender bender."

The link to the review is here and you can listen to a sample of the book on Audible here. 

 

A Band Called Death autographed poster!

I've posted here before about our nephew, Jeff Howlett, and the documentary he and his friend Mark Covino made called A Band Called Death.  Well, there's been a flurry of activity surrounding this film since I first blogged about it for the LA Film Festival last year.  At this point, Jeff and Mark and the members of Death have seen their movie shown at numerous film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.  The DVD of the movie has just been released.  It can be purchased a number of places including here, the homesite for Drafthouse Films.  You can also download the movie for viewing from several sites including the Drafthouse site.  George and I are waiting on our Blu-ray DVD which is now on it's way!

The guys of Death, Bobby Hackney, Dannis Hackney and Bobbie Duncan, were nice enough to autograph a poster of their film to both of us and our nephew, Jeff, sent it to us.  You'll notice that each of the guys signed it to 'Nick' and Lee Ann instead of 'George' and Lee Ann.  This is due to George's dual identity.  He was always called by his middle name as a baby and while growing up.  All of his family still call him 'Nick' for Nicholas.  However, when I met him in college he was going by his first name then -- George.  He said he was tired of correcting people.  It can get crazy when I'm around his family and everyone except me calls him Nick.  So the guys in the band know him as Nick via our nephew Jeff.

George had the poster framed at a local frame shop.  The owner of the shop had never heard of Death before but now they've gained another fan.  He was the one who suggested that the poster be framed in a vinyl black frame with tiny grooves that resemble a vinyl LP.  It looks great and George has it proudly on display in his mancave.  Here's the full poster:

Here are some close-ups of the guy's signatures along with one of the corner of the frame where you can see the type of frame a little better.

We love having this memento of Death and Jeff's first film via his company, Howlermano Productions.  Jeff is also heavily into photography, too, which you'll see if you search his website.  Oh, there was also a really cool illustration in The New Yorker magazine in July by an artist named Ronald Wimberly.   It's basically a juxtaposition of Death in the '70's and how the guys look now.  Needless to say, it was pretty cool seeing Jeff's name in The New Yorker.  We've been subscribers for over 25 years.

David Hackney

1952-2000

RIP