My buddy Earl Carter has finally started his new blog.
Last time we spoke before the holidays I mentioned the idea that he had volumes of great stories to tell, especially about the photos he’s taken over the years in Kingsport and couldn’t help but suggest a blog and this week – he’s ready to go.
Earl is a native of Kingsport and we worked together at the Kingsport Times-News for close to 15 years or so. He was there long before me and his camera lense has witnesses some of the most important events in our city. His business website features some great slide shows including Johnny and June Cash and other celebs, poster series and some of his professional work.
It gives me great pleasure to tell everyone that I bought Earl’s first print and it hangs in my office at home. It’s a baptism of an elderly woman in B&W taken in a river somewhere in Southwest Virginia and the moment is filled with rapture and that’s Earl’s forte’. He’s able to capture the warmth in his subjects. His product and scenery are nice too, but we’ve seen so many faces through Earl’s lense that he continues to impress me with his art. His website is nice, but is blog is gonna be even more interesting as the stories unfold and one of the ones that made me smile today is my old friend Bill Robinson.
Earl tells the story of Bill and his Kingsport song. I remember this all too well because at the time Bill wrote this song, Wally Boyd had commissioned me to chart his tune…”I Get A Kick Out Of Kingsport.” Wally’s song won and Bill’s didn’t and Earl has put together a cool slide show featuring the song and a tribute to our hometown.
I love Bill Robinson though. We call him Billy Fred at work. To this day, it still occurs to me that it was his name on my resume that got me my job at Times-News. He’s been there for close to forty years I believe and loves the business. We met when I was a teenager playing with the band Ten Penny. At the time, he worked as a sales rep who played out his creativity on the pages of our local newspaper. I worked at a radio station as a disc jockey and Bill was the manager of our band and booked us at the very first Fun Fest. Over the years we’ve played music together, worked together and entertained each other with an improvised, unscripted stream of creativity that always made us kindred spirits. He still refers to me as ‘Brother Dave’ and I believe him.
Bill is a terrific musician too. He exhibits a joy like no other person I know and can sing and play most every Beatles song. He plays at nursing homes and hippy parties – either one – doesn’t matter and will play all night. I’ve seen him giving his best to a party of one. Check out the songs Bill and I performed with a project back in the late 90s called the Retro-Rockits under this link and discography.
It was a treat to see Bill’s picture today and I can’t wait to see where Earl takes his new interest. Building a blog is a lot of work, but it’s the perfect window into our lives and Earl has plenty of stories to tell. Check him out here and explore his photos here.