Three years ago a book of my photographs, ‘The Fray: There & Back’ was published by Marquand Books. Technically, the first book went on sale at shows in January of 2009. The Fray was about ready to release their second album, the eponymous titled The Fray and I was also very excited about the upcoming release of the feature length documentary ‘Fair Fight’ which was going to accompany the album release.
Marquand had published Lance Mercer’s book of Pearl Jam photographs ‘5x1’, a book that Ben and I were fans of. I’ve always regretted not laying out the book myself, even though Marquand did a find job of printing, as the photographs were never given a chance to shine in the way that I wanted them too.
The odd part though is that not many people even know about the book. The book was never sold through any book sellers such as Barnes and Noble or Amazon. To this day I’m still not sure why but I’m secretly hoping that someday those several thousand copies of the book that are sitting in an office in Nashville will make their way to the coffee tables of The Fray fans.
While updating my website yesterday I stumbled across the preface to the book I’d written in the fall of 2008 and I wanted to repost it here.
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In late January 2006, my friend Mark Cunningham called to tell me that one of the bands his company managed was looking for a “t-shirt guy.” I’d been spinning my wheels in upstate New York, having seemingly run out of options other than going back to school. The timing was perfect. The tour would start in mid-March and run through the second week of April, right around the time I would be sweating bullets over graduate school applications. I asked Mark if I could bring my camera on the road. Sure, he said, why not? The band’s first single, “Over My Head (Cable Car),” was catching on, and the band’s monitor engineer, Brian, had been shooting video of the crowds singing along every night. Mark suggested I could probably take over for him.
A few weeks later, I found myself flying into a cold and rainy St. Louis, entirely unsure as to what the next three weeks on the road had in store. Other than several hectic coast-to-coast moves, I’d never had the time to actually get out on the road and explore. Would I get my own bunk? Did the beds have sheets? What about power outlets? And where would I go to the bathroom? From the minute I landed in Missouri I started filming: my taxi ride from the airport, my arrival at the Pageant Theatre, the bus parked in the empty sleet-drenched parking lot behind the venue.
As I wandered in the backstage door, I came face-to-face with the guys. Introductions were made and I tried to imagine who played which instrument. It was Thursday, March 23rd, the start of the band’s second headlining tour, a three-week stint around the Midwest. Every show on our run would sell out. To say the rise was meteoric would be an understatement. That first night at the Pageant, I snuck away from the merchandise table. Though I probably wasn’t supposed to, though I could have lost my job for leaving the merchandise unattended, I got my camera out and started shooting. When it came time to settle with the venue that night, the cash box was around a hundred dollars under, the only time it would be short during my days as the cotton tech.
We woke up the next day in dreary Kansas City, and I went about setting up my merchandise stand. I managed to find time to shoot more footage of the band as they took care of the few hours of boredom that come mid-afternoon in an empty rock club, the sound check, a trip up the street to a mediocre burrito stand, and then some more of the show. I was taking liberties, certainly, but nobody took much notice. A few days later, Ben and Joe asked to see some of the footage I’d been shooting. It was that moment that solidified my creative relationship with the band and became the catalyst that would eventually send me off on the journey of documenting nearly ever step of The Fray’s existence over the next three years.
Several weeks ago I asked Isaac if I could get a ride home from the studio. Production for the band’s second album was coming to an end, and I was hoping to squeeze off a few more shots of the dusky Denver skyline for the studio documentary I’d been shooting for the past five months.
Halfway home, Isaac turned to me and asked if I liked any of the songs. For a few short breaths I considered his question. “I love them all,” I said. “How could I not?” After spending so much time with the band, I felt an indescribable connection to the unique existence of four musicians whose moments felt more and more like my own. Having been there every step of the way, over three hundred shows, thousands of frequent-flyer miles, countless stamps in my passport, and just as many photographs, it was hard not to feel the emotional attachment to each and every moment. This had become my life and these new songs a testament and soundtrack to every single one of my images.
The photographs printed on these pages are a simple documentation of existence: from naps caught in a dressing room in Switzerland to the thousand eager faces at a show in Minneapolis. To me these images represent more than just a year of travel, tour, and life. They are a living record, proof that all of this has actually happened. These moments are not just memories. Life in a band and being on the road is like everything and nothing you would imagine. It is both beautiful and brutal. But if you ever went looking for proof as to the size of Ben, Joe, David, and Isaac’s hearts and the passion for what they do, perhaps it would be found within these pages.
Rod Blackhurst
September 5, 2008
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(Source: thefray)
