Chuck Sperry

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The Black Keys • Beale Street Music Festival • Memphis

THE-BLACK-KEYS-BEALE-ST

The Black Keys
Beale Street Music Festival, Memphis
30 x 23
Edition of 125
5 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

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THE-BLACK-KEYS-VARIANT
The Black Keys
Beale Street Music Festival, Memphis
30 x 23
Vintage Variant Edition of 25
5 colors on acid-free textured paper
Signed and Numbered
Sold Out – Thank You!
 
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The Black Keys asked for a bluesy poster that captured the authentic roots of Beale Street, Memphis. My poster: a moment from the illustrious history of Beale Street, the roots of blues and rock and roll, with the texture and warm colors of an approaching May night as the shadows lengthen along the front of the pool hall on Beale.

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Rodriguez “Searching for Sugar Man” at the Warfield

RODRIGUEZ

Rodriguez at The Warfield, April 23, 2013

Firehouse-Goldenvoice No. 174

21 x 32

Edition of 125

3 colors on archival cream paper

Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

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RODRIGUEZ-SILVER

 

Rodriguez at The Warfield, April 23, 2013

Firehouse-Goldenvoice No. 174

21 x 32

Silver Edition of 10

2 colors on silver metallic paper

Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

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RODRIGUEZ-GOLD

Rodriguez at The Warfield, April 23, 2013

Firehouse-Goldenvoice No. 174

21 x 32

Gold Edition of 10

2 colors on silver metallic paper

Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

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For more on  Rodriguez read on…

The story remains one of the music world’s most unusual tales of the 1970s: an obscure debut LP by a Detroit singer-songwriter becomes a source of hope and inspiration to the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. Now, the story of Rodriguez and his cult album Cold Fact is the basis for Searching For Sugar Man, a riveting new documentary by filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul. Light In The Attic Records in partnership with Sony Legacy are honored to announce the release of the original motion picture soundtrack, comprising tracks from Cold Fact and its 1971 follow-up Coming From Reality – both reissued in 2008 and 2009 by Light In The Attic.

Back in the late ‘60s, Rodriguez was discovered in a Detroit bar by renowned producers Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore. They recorded a 1970 album that they believed was going to secure his reputation as one of the greatest recording artists of his generation. Instead, Cold Fact bombed, and despite the release of a second LP, entitled Coming From Reality and produced by Steve Rowland, Rodriguez drifted into obscurity, even being subject to some fantastic rumors of a dramatic onstage death.  Cold Fact took on a life of its own when a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid-era South Africa. Banned by the government, the album became a country-wide phenomenon over the next two decades, and the soundtrack to a resistance movement of liberal African youth. Back in Detroit, working in construction and renovation (he also ran for mayor), Rodriguez was totally unaware that he was not just a folk hero but a household name thousands of miles away. Decades later, two South African fans, Stephen ‘Sugar’ Segerman and Craig Bartholomew-Strydom set out to find out what really happened to their hero, and their investigation led them to a story more extraordinary than any of the many myths they’d heard. Their story forms the basis of Searching For Sugar Man.

“I describe myself as ‘musico-politico’,” Rodriguez said recently. “I was born and bred in Detroit, four blocks from the city center. Back then, I was influenced by the urban sounds that were going on around me all the time. Music is art and art is a cultural force. As far as my work from Detroit comparing to the South African Apartheid, the similarities echo. The placards of the 1970s in the United States read things like: We Want Jobs and Stop the War – I was looking at the music from a working class perspective that was relevant, as it turns out, to the kids in South Africa.”

 

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Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 Poster by Chuck Sperry

CROSSROADS-GUITAR-FESTIVAL-WEB

Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 Poster

by Chuck Sperry

Madison Square Garden, New York City

Friday, April 12 & Saturday, April 13, 2013

22 x 32

Edition of 1000

6 colors on archival cream paper

Signed and Numbered

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Crossroads Festival line-up is a who’s-who of the best guitarists in the world. This year’s festival includes:

Albert Lee • Allan Holdsworth • Allman Brothers Band • Andy Fairweather Low • BB King • Blake Mills • Booker T • Buddy Guy • Citizen Cope • Dave Biller • Doyle Bramhall II • Earl Klugh • Eric Clapton • Gary Clark Jr. • Jeff Beck • Jimmy Vaughan • John Mayer • John Scofield • Jonny Lang • Keb Mo • Keith Urban • Kurt Rosenwinkle • Los Lobos • Robbie Robertson • Robert Cray • Robert Randolph • Sonny Landreth • Taj Mahal • Vince Gill

Poster is available here in Eric Clapton’s official store, and will benefit the Crossroads Centre.

 

By

Pearl Jam Buenos Aires Poster

PEAR-JAM-BUENOS-AIRES-WEB

 

Pearl Jam Buenos Aires

Chuck Sperry and Santi Pozzi

22 x 29

Artist Edition of 100

4 colors on archival cream paper

Signed and Numbered (Chuck Sperry signed – Chuck Sperry and Santi Pozzi – plate signed on the back)

Sold Out – Thank You!

 

PEARL JAM STORY BA

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We will be making a very limited release of Artist Edition posters, here, on Sunday, April 7, 2013 at a random time.

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When Pearl Jam asked me to make a poster for Buenos Aires, they knew my recent history in Argentina. I had recently visited Argentina to make a presentation about rock posters at the Trimarchi Design Conference, at the invitation of Santiago Pozzi, an artist who had worked together with the me at my studio as an intern for many months in 2012. I asked Pearl Jam if it would be possible to collaborate with Santiago Pozzi – and to introduce you to the great, new young talent, the Argentine rock poster artist Santi Pozzi – to make their Buenos Aires show poster. Pearl Jam loved the idea. It was a bit of an extension of the VS. idea (at my behest), but with the hand-written story of the poster printed on the back, which ingeniously distinguishes this series of posters from other posters for Pearl Jam.

After traveling to Argentina and meeting many of the artists there, I felt that Santiago Pozzi would have the local knowledge to work with me to make a very authentic poster for Pearl Jam’s concert in Buenos Aires. I felt Santi should generate the theme and idea for the poster, and asked him what he thought. He returned with this idea: Argentina’s local folk hero, Gauchito Gil, known by every Argentine from childhood, should be fighting a mutant soy bean monster from the genetically altered soy bean crops that have invaded Argentina’s farmland for years. In Argentina, South America’s bread-basket, the farmland is called the Pampas. And lately, the Pampas have been over-run by industrial soybean production, by monoculture, and that monoculture, industrial production is engineered by Monsanto Corporation, who overlords the use of genetically engineered seeds. You can read a New York Times article about genetically engineered soybean seed here.

This important issue and treatment of it, would resonate with the Argentine fans. They would immediately understand the anti-corporate motif, and this would mirror Pearl Jam’s opposition to corporate control – whether it is in the music we listen to, or the food we eat. The local folk hero, Gauchito Gil, who is like a Paul Bunyan figure in Argentine mythology, would be fighting for the freedom of Argentina from corporate control. Very Pearl Jam!

Santi drew Gauchito Gil and I drew the Soy Monster. I figured since I’m the Nord Americano, that made sense, and I Rat Finked him out, California-style. I’m very happy with the result, and the Supreme Court ruling, and all the press about Monsanto’s control of genetically engineered food made this a classic mix of rock poster and protest poster all wrapped in one.

As a note: Santi Pozzi printed all the show posters for Buenos Aires at Imprenta Chimango, his printing company in Buenos Aires. I printed all the posters for the Ten Club and for the Artist Edition release (with metallic blue-silver) which is offered here.

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We will be making a very limited release of Artist Edition posters, here, on Sunday, April 7, 2013 at a random time.

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