 | WAM News
WAM AUSTIN IS EXPANDING!
May 2008: Our gallery and shop in downtown Austin is undergoing a renovation and expansion this June. We will be adding new visual artists and plenty of great merchandise and apparel to fill out our new space. Summertime is "market" time. We will be off sourcing new fashion and decor items which will start shipping in July and August. Look in the store and online to see the hottest new trends for your music lifestyle as they arrive!
Great past events from WAM Austin:
GIBSON'S GUITARTOWN
collectors showcase guitars
March 2007: Gibson's "GUITARTOWN" Custom Showcase Guitars, all painted by Austin artists were exhibited at WAM Austin thru Oct of 2007. In conjunction with the large scale outdoor art project this select group of "collectors" guitars was auctioned to benefit local musician charities. The collection on exhibit in the windows of Wild About Music Austin's 6th Street gallery drew thousands of guitar lovers and photogs to the block. WAM was proud to have showcased many former and current Wild About Music exhibiting artists as well as many new "friends of WAM".
WILD ABOUT MUSIC - SANTA MONICA HAS CLOSED
Sept 2007: Customers needing information may contact us at our Austin Texas gallery 877-370-1700 or by email at info@wildaboutmusic.com. We will honor all store credits and gift certificates issued in Santa Monica at our Austin gallery and website. Please notify us if you need assistance with this. We thank ALL of our California customers for their business and support.
WAM REPRESENTS: LEGENDARY PRODUCER & AUDIO ENGINEER
EDDIE KRAMER
Limited Edition Fine Art Photographs
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Selected single images by: Eddie Kramer "From The Other Side Of The Glass".
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Sept 2004: Eddie Kramers photographic talents are highlighted in this collection of rare and historic photographs from the Golden Age of Rock & Roll; recently on exhibit at Wild About Music's Santa Monica CA gallery. These remarkable shots were taken behind the scenes in recording studios and performance venues from London to New York by legendary producer and recording engineer, Eddie Kramer, best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Small Faces, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, KISS, Crosby Stills & Nash, Santana, Frank Zappa, and the 1969 Woodstock festival, plus countless others including Texas all-stars Johnny Winter and Double Trouble with Buddy Guy.
Many of the photographs in the Kramer exhibit go far beyond single-image compositions, although they can be ordered in a variety of sizes and combinations. Kramer tapped into the talents of designer Peter Kavanaugh to create editions of storyboard vignettes comprised of multiple images thoughtfully placed in three-to-seven-foot wide photographic montages. The resulting storyboards engage the audience with multi-faceted, candid glimpses of rock legends like Jimi Hendrix between takes of songs for Electric Ladyland, and Led Zeppelin laying down tracks for Houses Of The Holy at Mick Jagger's English country estate, Stargroves, in August 1972. All photos are done in Limited Editions of only 45 or 200 and are available by custom special order.
Kramer's 38-year music industry career took root in London, England in 1960 where he emmigrated from his native South Africa after studies in classical piano, cello and violin. At Pye Studios in London he quickly demonstrated his recording versatility with artists like Sammy Davis, Jr., Petula Clark and The Kinks. Moving over to London's hallowed Olympic Studios, Kramer even managed to place his engineering touch on a couple of Beatles' singles before heading Stateside in 1968 where he landed at The Record Plant in New York City. Since then he has amassed a discography of hundreds of recordings by more than 100 varied artists representing a large cross-section of most any baby-boomers' record collection. Among his career hallmarks are the creation of Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios where Kramer served as Director Of Engineering from 1970-74, and heading up the location sound crew that crafted a triple-LP set that is now a rock bible: Woodstock. Kramer remains a busy producer/engineer with recent credits including work with Carlos Santana, Kyle Cook of Matchbox 20, and numerous 5.1 surround-sound film mixes.
For more information about ordering or to request prices and availability of photos please us tollfree at 877-370-1700.
WAM Represents:
John Van Hammersveld
Legendary California artist and Designer
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John Van Hamersveld "Pinnacle Indian"
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March 2006 (Los Angeles, CA) – Wild About Music is celebrating the release of the Cream 2005 Reunion Posters by legendary California artist and designer, John Van Hamersveld
, whose career has spanned the emerging surf culture of the 50's to the creation of the iconic album covers and concert posters of the 60's & 70's. He continues to leave his imprint on local and world culture in the new century. Van Hamersveld is the artist behind the pivotal album covers of our time including the
Beatles Magical Mystery Tour
and
Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street
, as well as the collectible concert posters from LA's Pinnacle Concerts:
Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and Cream
.
THE ART OF ROCK:
"Los Angeles artist John Van Hamersveld was one of the people who helped establish the Southern California psychedelic community. He used his extensive art school education to great effect in posters for the
Pinnacle Production Company, of which he was a founding partner. Van Hamersveld was a major graphic artist of the early 1960's surfing movement...and gained renown for the emblematic poster heralding The Endless Summer
, the definitive surfing movie. The Pinnacle concert production company was the first hip organization to put on memorable rock concerts and dances in Los Angeles, primarily at the Shrine Auditorium.
The posters Van Hamersveld designed for the first several Pinnacle events are now legendary works, prized for their bold graphics. His poster known as
"Indian"
, was for a
Jefferson Airplane show
and is the most widely circulated of all Van Hamersveld's posters. The artist used elements from his "Indian" in his next poster , promoting Cream's appearance at the Shrine, and then used elements of that poster in another, promoting Traffic. Both the Indian piece and his earlier Jimi Hendrix were later distbuted nationwide and are still among the most consistently requested and collected posters."
Wild About Music 2006:
Though the music revolution of the 60's gives much context to Van Hamersveld's body of work for all of us....John endures as a monumental contemporary artist for the new millenium. In addition to his past and recent work designing the art, architecture and brands of bands, fast food giants, and cities; his legacy extends far beyond poster art. He is actively creating
compelling new images
as well as revisting the elemental graphics of his past in a series of fine art silk screens. We are pleased to have these bold pieces, many
never-before-seen
, exhibited in our Santa Monica gallery.
May 2006: WILD ABOUT MUSIC SANTA MONICA HOSTS EXCLUSIVE
LOS ANGELES MADONNA GALLERY AND TOUR SHOP:
WAM is proud to host the Los Angeles Madonna Confessions Tour shop and Gallery at our Santa Monica location. This will give fans a chance to purchase official tour merchandise and avoid waiting in long lines at the venue. In addition our gallery features Madonna's new collection of fine art canvases and photography. Madonna lovers can also shop for exclusive collectibles, apparel, accessories and tour programs.(310)-899-3114.
TOUR SHOP HAS CLOSED but WAM continues to stock Madonna artworks and apparel.
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1450 2nd Street
| Santa Monica
| Promenade District
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WILD ABOUT MUSIC Opens
In Santa Monica’s Promenade District
November 29, 2004 (Los Angeles, CA) – Santa Monica has added a unique new music-inspired retail store to its great mix of shopping and entertainment choices in The Promenade District. Wild About Music® (WAM), an all-music-themed art and gift gallery, has just opened its first venture outside of its founding center of Austin, Texas. The new store, at 1450 Second Street, features hundreds of unique artworks and thousands of merchandise items with everything either featuring music themes or created by actual musicians.
Offerings include: fine art (originals paintings, giclees, prints, sculptures), custom furniture and home décor, performancewear and themed music apparel, jewelry, books, stationary, glassware and much more. Both established and emerging artists are included, many with roots in Southern California. As the new 7,000-square-foot space evolves, it will also include rotating celebrity art exhibits and artist work areas. After the first of the new year, the facility will also add an intimate music listening room and live performance area focusing on ‘artful’ music like jazz, classical, world and singer-songwriters, featuring both well-known and up-and-coming musicians.
"In this day and age of big box stores and strip centers, it’s not often that a completely fresh retail concept comes along anymore," says Wild About Music founder, Fred Schmidt. "Not to sound smug, but there really isn’t anything else out there quite like what we do. Music fans of all ages and cultures just have to come by and check it out for themselves. The usual reaction we get from the first-time visitor is: ‘WOW! Why hasn’t this ever been done before?’ Wild About Music, now more than a decade in the making, is truly an original concept."
"We are very excited to be able to find a space in this first-rate area of Los Angeles," adds Schmidt. "Many of our best customers over the years, who discovered us in Austin, reside in this area and they have encouraged us repeatedly to do a location here. We have searched all around this city for several years before finally settling on this spot."
"We're thrilled to finally have the LA market presence that has been an expansion goal for so many years," says Schmidt. "Los Angeles in general, and Santa Monica specifically, is an ideal market for the Wild About Music concept. And we’ve ended up with such a fine space to really push our presentation to the next level. If this venture proves as successful as we hope, our business plan calls for raising new capital to build more Wild About Music stores in as many as 20 music and art oriented cities across North America, plus locations internationally. We will never be a ‘retail chain’ but rather a collection of galleries, each of which will have a core focus on art and music prevalent in that region."
In Austin, Wild About Music has focused on local art talent and popular Texas music genres like the blues and singer-songwriters, as well as themes like the city’s Live Music Capital Of The World™, Austin City Limits Music Festival™, and South-By-Southwest™, producing unique art and merchandise with its pool of creative talent to contribute to those experiences. In Los Angeles, another popular entertainment capital, the company will celebrate everything from beach/surf music culture to the classical heritage of the Hollywood Bowl, from jazz and blues festivals to film scores and music legends from Southern California. The LA and Austin stores will also share some of their respective artistic talent with music-themed works of a non-localized nature displayed in each location.
"Music and art know no boundaries; the crossroads of the two are such fertile ground," says Schmidt. "We have no shortage of history, talent and inspiration upon which to draw wherever we are. It’s a passion and a lifestyle with our staff, our talent and our customers."
The company will also continue to serve its broad cross-section of local and worldwide customers virtually through its website, www.wildaboutmusic.com.
Wild About Music • 1450 2nd Street • Santa Monica, CA 90401
Ph: 310-899-3114 • Fx: 310-899-3115
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115 E 6th St
| Downtown Austin
| Historic 6th Street District
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WAM Austin has REOPENED!
UPDATE August 28, 2004 (Austin, TX) -- After losing our lease at our longtime Congress Ave. address due to redevelopment and a threatened period offline...We have found and just finished making ready a great new location on Austin's Historic 6th Street. We will be open for your visit us over Labor Day Weekend at 115 East 6th Street, right across from the Driskill Hotel. In addition we will see you at The Austin City Limits Fesival where we will once again have the best in Austin Live Music Capital Merchandise. New fall merchandise is arriving daily so visit us often. Thanks to all who have been calling and supporting us in our search for space and reminding us why it is great to be in Austin. We can't wait to show you our new "digs"!
Wild About Music • 115 E 6th Street • Austin TX 78701
Ph: 512-708-1700 • Fx: 512-708-8600
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