Producer and label honcho David Less has seen a lot in the course of running Memphis International Records. Some of what he’s seen was through a lens. “When You Wish Upon a Star” an exhibition of photos taken from sessions that he produced, will be on display at Otherlands, and he is kicking things off with an opening on Sunday that features his musical subjects doing their thing in real-live 3-D.
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“The thing is, we never allowed pictures in our sessions,” Less says. “We didn’t allow photographers. But our designer wanted snapshots so she could make collages for the art if we needed them. So I would take pictures, but I never told anyone I was taking pictures. This was only on sessions I produced. But you have time when people are listening and playing. A lot of them are pictures that people didn’t know were being taken, in fact, most of them are. So it’s kind of unguarded moments in the studio in that respect. It’s not a posed photo session.”
“There are picures of Jim, of course. I did a lot of records with Dickinson,” Less says.
Alvin Youngblood Hart, Louise Hoffsten, Steve Selvidge, Sam Shoup, Amy LaVere are among other subjects. And they won’t just be stuck to the wall.
“A lot them will be there,” Less says.
The Dickinson Boys, aka Luther and Cody, will perform the first set.
“In the second set, we’re going to let the people who are in the exhibit sit in,” Less says. “I know Amy will be there. And Jim Spake and Sam Shoup.”
What else ya need? It’s a perfect stop before Lafayettte’s.
