Two miles of tunes: Adams Avenue Unplugged brings music lovers together
Thea the band performs outside of White Rice on Adams Avenue during Adams Unplugged.
When I started Uptown 11 Studios, I dreamt that one day, I’d be able to bring my passion for documentary photography and my passion for music together.
I envisioned a day when Uptown 11 would have a physical space, complete with a recording studio where San Diego artists could track music that would reach audiences far and wide, alongside stunning visual work created by our region’s best artists and documentarians.
After this past weekend, that dream feels closer to reality than ever before.
That’s because Uptown 11 Studios was called on for a dream gig.
We were put to work by the Adams Avenue Business Association to document the pure musical pandemonium up and down Adams Avenue (the birthplace of Uptown 11 Studios) during Adams Avenue Unplugged.
This year was extra special, because it kicked off with a film screening of “Recordially Yours, Lou Curtiss,” a Yale Strom film, that delved deep into the roots of Unplugged and the folk tradition and spirit it was borne in.
Hosted inside the marvelous Adams Avenue Theater, the setting itself harkened to simpler times along Adams Avenue, the art deco of the building lit up by Hollywood lights and enlivened by the sounds of San Diego musical legends Sue Hall, Gregory Page and Jack Temphcin.
The next day, it was time for the main event, a true hodgepodge of all the things I love photographing: lively music, happy people strolling in the San Diego sun, the grit of the Uptown pavement infused in every moment of the festival.
Here’s a look at my day documenting Adams Unplugged.
It’s my day, not THE day, because with 60 musical acts spread across three neighborhoods and 21 stages, there’s no single version of this day. It’s an amalgamation of the whole community’s experience that makes this special.
