Our good friend and talented photographer Wes Davis (of Beatnik Studios) has recently started up a really cool local music video project with his good friend Devon Carsen called Live in the City of Trees. They’re partnering up with local and regional musicians, taking them to really cool spots with unique aesthetics and acoustics in and around Sacramento, and filming them perform “stripped down” versions of their songs. “Live in the City of Trees was started to be a window into the music scene in Sacramento and the surrounding area,” Davis told Submerge. “We want to film live intimate performances in unique settings and really bring an artistic and human feel to the videos. Nothing overproduced or commercial looking.” At the time we spoke, they had three videos completed and uploaded to their Vimeo page (Vimeo.com/user6451802), one with Be Brave Bold Robot shot at a “secret spot in Old Sac,” (the same secret spot Davis shot local band ZuhG for their recent Submerge cover) one with Exquisite Corps shot in the century-old Maydestone Building on the corner of 15th and J streets (said to be haunted), and one with Justin Farren shot in an old graffiti-scattered building on Q Street. A video with Blvd Park was freshly uploaded as we went to print, and Davis informed us that he also has videos with Musical Charis and James Cavern “in the can” and that those should be up shortly. He also mentioned he is shooting ZuhG soon as well as San Francisco’s Fierce Creatures after their upcoming May 27, 2011 performance at Beatnik Studios. The cinematography is stellar, the audio quality is great and the performances are fantastic–goosebump-inducing even! Whether you are a fan of the aforementioned artists or you’ve never heard of them, you’ll enjoy Live in the City of Trees. Keep an eye out for their website, Liveinthecityoftrees.com, which should be launched in the near future; but for now, just hit up their Vimeo page or find them on Facebook.
-J. Carabba
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