Bud Gambrell
Jul 31, 2026
The love of music paired with the love of photography found a home within me.
They say that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. I would add one thing to that saying: change. Change is inevitable. It is going to happen. I can and will testify to that! My life has changed so many times that I feel like I have lived multiple lives.
At what point in your life did you realize you love music? Did it happen all at once, or did it evolve over time? Is there such a thing as love at first listen, or does it take time to foster that feeling of adoration? I am really unsure of the answer to any of these questions. I think, for me, it happened over time. It happened as I developed my own taste in what I enjoyed hearing. Maybe the following will explain a little more.
Another thing in life that is certain is music. Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Before I began my lifelong quest to collect music, there was my mother’s collection. She had a small collection of LPs that included Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass and Al Hirt, among others. I can still hear “A Taste of Honey” in my head. Mom loved those old albums.
One album in that collection I listened to many times was by Justin Wilson. It wasn’t about music. It was about comedy. Justin was a stand-up comedian before he became the TV chef. I just loved hearing that Cajun drawl. Mom always told me it came naturally because we had some Cajun in our lineage. Maybe that also explains my love for gumbo and boudin.
Another album Mom had was a Readers’ Digest five-album set of music from the 50s. There were a couple of sides in that set that I spun often on her console-style stereo. You remember those, don’t you? The large console stereos with the top that would slide open, revealing a turntable and a radio inside. On rainy days, I would slip into the living room and put on a record. I enjoyed hearing those old rock tunes by bands like Fats Domino and Bill Haley & His Comets.
Radio played a part in my discovery of music. When I was in the car with Dad, he always had the radio on AM country. It was the 70s, so the songs were by the greats like Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Porter Wagoner, among so many more, and some I didn’t know. It was also in the 70s that our family got our first car with an FM radio. I would take my mom’s keys and just listen to the radio. The clarity of FM radio amazed me.
As best I can guess, it was around the mid-to-late 70s when I was in my room listening to the radio. Huntsville has always had a radio station, WAHR. It seems like forever because I always remember it being on the air. That station has always had the best signal in town. I was dialing through the radio and found a live broadcast of The Pat Travers Band. I stopped and listened. What was this sound I was hearing? I was intrigued by that Rock ‘N Roll sound! I have been a Pat Travers fan to this day!
As a young man with an interest in music, how do you begin to dig deeper and build a collection of your own? There’s only one way! Join the Columbia House Music Club and order thirteen 8-Track tapes for a dollar. How else? While you are fulfilling your obligation with Columbia House, why not join BMG and order another eight 8-Track tapes? Tell me you didn’t do it, too. And how many of you still owe them for that one last album you never ordered? I bought The Greatest Hits of The Eagles and Bachman Turner Overdrive. I also had one of The Bay City Rollers. You remember, S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! I suppose it was obvious I hadn’t quite settled on a specific musical taste yet. That came in the form of live music.
It was sometime in late November 1976 that my sister asked me if I wanted to go to a concert. Being the easygoing kid, I said, “Sure, I’ll go. What’s a concert?” Off we went to the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville for my first concert. I had no idea who KISS was. I had never seen a picture of them. I had never heard a song. I was in for an eye-opening experience! The opener was Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show. At one point in their set, it looked like the lead singer might expose himself. That was wild, but not nearly as wild as it was about to get. As we walked through the mezzanine to our seats, I kept seeing people in costumes and makeup. That was odd; Halloween was over a month ago. Then the lights dimmed, and we heard the famous, "You wanted the best, you got it! The hottest band in the land... KISS!" The music started as the lights came on, with smoke and the flash pots setting off explosions and fire! That entire set blew my young mind! In that one evening, my musical taste narrowed to Rock ‘N Roll!
After that, my musical journey began: listening to and watching as many albums and concerts as I could afford. Tickets to concerts in the 70s were cheap, at least by today’s standards. Ticket prices were generally $6 or $6.50, up to $7 or $7.50. I guess it wasn’t all that cheap for a high school student at the time, but my buddies and I always found a way to get that cash together and buy that ticket. Albums were also only around $10. I did switch from 8-Tracks to LPs. That stands for Long Play. Today, I think most people just refer to them as albums or vinyl.
Classic and Southern Rock were the soundtrack to my high school years. When my group of friends gathered, we always listened to those genres. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Bros., Bad Company, Pat Travers, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, etc. That list could go on for a long time. My good friend David had an old pickup truck. I think it was a 50s model. The truck was solid as a tank, but it didn’t have a radio. For entertainment in David’s truck, we would sing Skynyrd songs. There was no music. There was no Ronnie Van Zandt. It was just us wailing through the songs, one after another. I am so glad we didn’t have video recording devices back then. We usually had a bottle of whiskey with us. We had to keep our singing voices clear. (laughs)
The concert journey began to expand into other cities in the early 80s. Finding out about concerts was different back then. It was more difficult. There was no internet, so you just had to keep your ear to the ground. One way we found out about local concerts was through flyers for upcoming shows that were sometimes handed out at the Von Braun Civic Center.
We would venture to Birmingham or Nashville to see concerts. A couple of times, we would see a concert in Huntsville and then go to Nashville or Birmingham to see the next show by the same band. Two shows were small business to some people. They followed a band to several cities. It was big for us, though. A few times, I left town for a concert without parental permission. The Joe Perry concert in Birmingham may have been one of those. It was held at Brothers Music Hall in Birmingham. It was technically a club, so you had to be of age to enter. Only one of us had an ID to get in. The rest of us either used that same ID or found a way to sneak in. It was worth it. Imagine rail-riding right in front of Joe Perry!
I have no recollection of how many times I have told the story about the concert three friends and I attended in Nashville. The date was January 28, 1986. That date should be familiar to most people. That was the day the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after launch. I stopped by work to pick up my paycheck. There wasn’t direct deposit back then. I watched the disaster unfold on TV. Then we took off for Nashville. We were off to see BB King at The Grand Ole Opry House! Opening the show was The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I had never heard them, but I was so surprised to find another band whose sound I loved. I had heard of the next band before. My former roommate bought a cassette tape of "Texas Flood" and played it for me. I was totally blown away by the sound! The next band was Stevie Ray Vaughan! To make the evening even more mind-blowing, Billy Cox, the former bass player for Jimi Hendrix, came out and played a Hendrix medley with SRV. BB King was the headliner. He was still young enough and in good health. He stood behind that mic and swayed to the music throughout the entire performance. He would do that hand slap, slapping the back of one hand into the palm of the other. Man, what a show! But wait, there’s more! For the encore of BB's set, Jimmie Vaughan and Kim Wilson from the T-birds, with SRV and Billy Cox, all came out and did a jam with BB. We left feeling like we owed more money. That ticket cost us $15.00. The best entertainment dollars ever spent! Below is the first official concert photograph I ever took. There are so many more to come!
We were lucky enough to return to The Opry House to see SRV again later that year. This time, it was with Gregg Allman supporting his I’m No Angel album. That was a special trip, too. We managed to get a backstage tour of The Nashville Network (TNN), which was located near The Grand Ole Opry House. During the tour, we were surprised to see Roy Acuff walk up and introduce himself. This legend introduced himself to us! Words left my body!
Huntsville in the 80s had a good music scene, in my opinion. We had three bars that featured rock bands. That time was very enjoyable. On any given night, you could go to The Vapors, The Plush Horse, or my favorite, Cactus Jacks, to see bands. I made Cactus Jacks my regular spot. I once saw Pat Travers rock so hard in that venue that he blew the breakers. The band had to take a 30-minute break until they could get the power restored. I also got to see PT at The Plush Horse. I blame that night on my current hearing damage. He played so hard and so loud it popped my ears. I couldn’t hear anything after the show.
Sidenote to that night. After the set, I couldn’t find my friend David. He finally resurfaced. I asked where he had been. He said he had been outside on the tour bus with Pat Tavers, smoking a doobie. What! Without me!
The concert trail continued into the late 80s. I kept attending as many concerts as I could afford. There has always been a limit to how many concerts I could afford to attend. I actually missed two very big opportunities. At the time, they didn’t seem big, but they turned out to be missed opportunities. Around 1979, some friends were going out of town to see AC/DC. I didn’t go because I was low on money. Less than a year later, Bon Scott died. Doh! The next time, friends were going to a show out of town to see The Fire Meets The Fury Tour, which featured Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I had seen SRV twice, so for financial reasons, I thought I could wait for the next tour. There was no next tour, as Stevie perished in the helicopter crash. Besides, I had a job, and there were a limited number of days off. I had begun a career in television production, so I worked nights. I didn’t have a job where I worked during the day and could attend a concert at night. Bummer, right?
Then came my first marriage and children. I didn’t completely put music aside. I still managed to get out to a local bar to see a band from time to time, though that slowed as the children grew more active. One band I made a point to see was from Birmingham. The band Gravy would make a trip up to Huntsville regularly. I loved hearing them play! Gravy was a power trio that played their own brand of Blues Rock. Unfortunately, they released only one album before disbanding. The singer, Rob Thorworth, released two more solo albums.
During those years, I saw bands in bars and caught some good acts. Tinsley Ellis made regular stops in Huntsville. Chris Duarte stopped by when his first album, Texas Sugar/Strat Magik, came out. It was during those shows that I suppose I developed my affection for music photography. All I had was a simple 35mm point-and-shoot. It was nothing fancy, but it let me capture a decent shot or two. I also managed to get shots of Kim Wilson with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bernard Allison, and Jonny Lang. What I didn’t know then was that I would grow to love music photography.
There was one concert I made sure to attend every year. It was called Big Spring Jam. The city of Huntsville would close downtown streets and set up five stages for three days of music. What an event! That weekend had something for everybody. The hardest part was narrowing down whom to see. Because the stages were so far apart, it was impossible to see all the bands you wanted to. It was unimaginable to leave one and make it to the other on time with 100,000 people in attendance. I believe a poll in Huntsville would show that everyone misses it. I know I do! That weekend was not only about the music; it also became a social event. Over the course of the weekend, the organizers estimated 250,000 – 300,000 people would attend. It was a great time to run into old friends. Hopefully not when you were trying to make it to the next stage. Catch you later. I need to get over to that stage!
Fast-forward a few years, and we get closer to modern times. My taste has refined just a bit. Once, I was all in for the arena shows. The more people, the better, and the louder, the better. Now, I am happy going to a smaller venue for a more intimate show. I think Side Tracks Music Hall really fostered that. That venue was big enough for a 500-person show. It was also home to more intimate acoustic shows with smaller crowds. It could feel like a listening room experience. I have really grown to love that. I transformed from a teenager who liked to stand in front of the speaker stacks so I could hear it as loud as possible to the adult who likes to hear the words of the song. Don’t you dare say I have gotten old! I already know that.
Side Tracks also gave me the space to explore music photography. That hobby at the time gave me the best of both worlds. I got to listen to music and take pictures. I will admit that it does not suck! I went to a lot of shows at Side Tracks. I began taking pictures there in December of 2019. The headlining band was one I had become friends with, Them Dirty Roses. By my own admission, those pictures were not great, but they were mine. I could see that I had a lot of work to do to improve. I shot my next show that year on New Year’s Eve. The Georgia Thunderbolts were the headliner that night. I had become friends with them as well, so access was not an issue.
I continued into 2020 and shot as many shows as I could afford while at Side Tracks. I was going to the show; why not take my camera? I would shoot for a song or two, then retreat to the patio to review what I had done. I made adjustments and shot more pictures. Some of those early pictures were good, and some were horrible. Actually, you may be surprised at how many bad shots I still come home with. You will never see any of those frames.
The love of music paired with the love of photography found a home within me. I found both worlds so enjoyable. I got to listen to music and take pictures, all while meeting so many people. There are so many I count as music family. That bond cannot be broken. That’s a different kind of family. This is an, if you know, you know, subject. If you know, then you understand. If you don’t know, I cannot explain it to you.
Sometimes, I wish I could count how many bands I got to see in the few short years Side Tracks was open. That place had something special. I suppose most bars strive for that “something special.” Side Tracks had it. The music was always good. The people were always friendly. The staff was always kind and helpful. It had everything you needed for a great musical experience. I also wish I had a count of the pictures I took there. It would be in the thousands. I took pictures very liberally. I was trying to hone a skill.
I found that the more I shot at concerts, the more I liked it. As I said before, it doesn’t suck. This lifelong love of live music had evolved into concert photography. After shooting mostly at Side Tracks, I felt I was ready to try a bigger stage. It so happened that Tab Benoit was coming to town. I have been a fan of his for many years. I believe that I came up with a number of around 29 years. I was finally going to get to see him play live. I asked if I could bring my camera. I was told yes. You would have thought that I won the lottery! I could not have been happier. That was my first show to photograph on a larger stage with a professional lighting setup. That concert and those pictures will never leave my memory.
In 2022, I came to a crossroads. I love going to concerts. I also love photographing them. My dilemma was: Is anyone seeing the pictures? Is any of it making a difference? I asked myself whether to continue. Well, like any Taurus-born American boy, I’m too stubborn to quit. I’m not going to quit going to shows. If I continue to photograph, how can I find a larger audience? How do I get myself more in front of a national crowd? That is when I began my venture into concert reviews with photographs for a magazine.
The first challenge was finding a publication. That wasn’t too difficult. To date, I’ve worked for four magazines and now have my own column in Mixed Alternative Magazine called Off The Charts. If you’re reading this in MaM, you probably already know that. If not, go find it. Maybe you’ll discover a new favorite band.
My first review was of JJ Grey at Mars Music Hall in The Von Braun Center. I felt like I had made it. I was in the pit, taking pictures of a national band. I have to admit, it was very cool! I learned that shooting larger concerts had limitations I wasn’t used to. The main difference is that most bands only give you the first three songs to shoot. I was almost in a panic. How will I ever get done that quickly? Now, after doing the three-song minimum so many times, it is a breeze. If it’s a band I like, it gives me more time to watch.
After that JJ Grey review, I received an email. It was from the PR person at the VBC. She had seen the pictures and asked if I would be interested in joining their photographer pool. Wait! What? I get to do what I love and get paid? Sign me up! Have you heard of Cloud Nine? Well, that’s where I was. My next show was shooting one of my favorites. That was a pinch-me-to-make-sure-I’m-not-dreaming moment. I was scheduled to shoot Gov’t Mule. It was Warren Haynes! I had seen him play several times before with Gov’t Mule, The Warren Haynes Band, and The Allman Brothers Band. It felt like a dream to be in the pit, right in front of Warren.
This concert photography adventure keeps topping itself. I have never made a bucket list of bands I’d like to shoot. In reality, it keeps writing itself. The time I got to shoot Judas Priest was surreal. I saw them years ago and had been listening to their albums since around 1978. I stood in the pit directly in front of the Metal God himself, Rob Halford. Will someone pinch me already?
Those bucket-list shows just keep coming. The time I got to see Jamey Johnson and Charlie Starr sing George Jones’ song "Yesterday’s Wine." I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot I was supposed to be taking pictures. You may have seen the picture that circulated on the internet of Elwood Francis from ZZ Top playing a seventeen-string bass. Yeah, that was me. Simply pointing my camera in the direction of Billy Gibbons was mind-blowing in itself. In 2022 or 2023, I shot bands in fourteen different venues. To some photographers, that is a very small number, while others may see it as a lot. I saw it as fun!
I went into that much detail to show that two loves can grow into a passion. Or do two passions grow into something bigger, like an obsession? I only say obsession because if I attend a show now without my camera, I sit and imagine what shots I could be getting. I look at the lighting. I look at the players and how they are performing. I rarely go to a show anymore and wish I didn’t have my camera with me. I guess you can’t shoot them all.
There is another part of music photography that I have come to love. I very much enjoy the promotional shoots. The one-on-one shoots are almost as much about fellowship as they are about work. The bands are always a lot of fun! You can get to know someone a lot in a couple of hours walking around taking pictures. I did mention work. In all actuality, this is not like work at all. How does that old saying go? "Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." Google says that Mark Twain said that. How fitting.
Don’t think for a minute that my love for music is limited to large arenas. I do enjoy seeing local musicians in small rooms or on outdoor stages. Huntsville is becoming a music hotspot. Music is played virtually every day of the week. I don’t get out as much as I used to, but when I do, it’s always enjoyable. I have made so many friendships through music. I’m often asked if I play. I’m around music so much that they assume I do. My answer is always, “I can barely play the radio.” That gets a laugh, most of the time.
Music has a power that is unexplainable. Music can cheer you on in happy times. Music can lift you when you are down. A song can spark a memory from long ago. Music can bring people together, even if they speak different languages. Music is the universal language that everyone speaks. Get out and support local music. Find your favorite band. Go up and introduce yourself to someone in the crowd to see what happens. You may have just started your own music family.
Until next time,
Keep your diamond down in the groove!
Where to find Bud:
Email:
the_budgambrell@mixedaltmag.com
Website:
https://bgambrellphotography.com
Amazon:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/bud.gambrell
