Tim Vega | |
---|---|
Born | Timothy Martin Vega September 14, 1965 |
Died | April 29, 2002 36) | (aged
Known for | graphics |
Patron(s) | Blues Traveler, Gov't Mule, Spin Doctors |
Tim Vega (born Timothy Martin Vega; September 14, 1965 – April 29, 2002) was an American graphic designer best known for his work with several musical acts, especially jam bands. Among his patrons were Blues Traveler, Gov't Mule, and Spin Doctors.
Vega was a New York City native, son of novelist Edgardo Vega Yunqué. He is Suzanne Vega's younger half-brother.
He started out in the graffiti art scene. Before long, his art appeared on official T-shirts for Blues Traveler, and even created the cover art for the band's self-titled debut album. He would later design posters for H.O.R.D.E, the music festival founded by the aforementioned act. In addition to his work with Blues Traveler, Vega is credited with creating the original logo for Gov't Mule, and several items for Spin Doctors. He designed the Warhol-esque tour T-shirt for his sister's album 99.9F°. [1] During the tour supporting the album 99.9F°, he worked for his sister selling merchandise, including t-shirts with the images he created.
He was the in-house painter for Larry Bloch's Wetlands Preserve nightclub in New York City. He painted everything from the Volkswagen bus in the lobby to the bathrooms (which were painted several times). His work can be seen in the film Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club. [2] In 2001, Vega worked as a production assistant for "On Stage! At the Twin Towers", a music festival held at the World Trade Center in New York City. He avoided being one of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, because he called in sick for work that day. [3]
Vega died on April 29, 2002. He worked at the World Trade Center, and though not present during the September 11 attacks, his alcoholism in the months that followed proved fatal. [4] Later that year, a fortnight-long tribute was held (beginning December 6, 2002) and featured performances from Blues Traveler John Popper, Warren Haynes, Joan Osborne, among many others. [3] [5]
Suzanne Vega's Beauty & Crime was released in 2007, dedicated to the memory of Tim Vega. [6] [7]
Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s, including "Marlene on the Wall", "Left of Center", "Luka" and "No Cheap Thrill". "Tom's Diner", which was originally released as an a cappella recording on Vega's second studio album, Solitude Standing (1987), was remixed in 1990 as a dance track by English electronic duo DNA with Vega as featured artist, and it became a Top 10 hit in over five countries. The original a cappella recording of the song was used as a test during the creation of the MP3 format. The role of her song in the development of the MP3 compression prompted Vega to be given the title of "The Mother of the MP3".
Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performances, and were considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, spearheading the H.O.R.D.E. touring music festival.
Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and No. 17, respectively.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the concert.
John Popper is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler.
Homebelly Groove...Live is the second live album, and third release overall, by American jam band Spin Doctors, released in 1992.
Warren Haynes is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey Betts Band. Haynes also is known for his associations with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, including touring with Phil Lesh and Friends and the Dead. In addition, Haynes founded and manages Evil Teen Records.
The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands typically referred to as jam bands and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, after taking a one year break.
Wetlands Preserve, commonly referred to as Wetlands, was a nightclub in New York City that opened in 1989 and closed in 2001. It was located at 161 Hudson Street in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood.
God Street Wine is a jam band from New York City. Their music is an amalgam of rock, jazz, bluegrass, funk, psychedelia, pop, Americana, reggae, progressive, and more. The band broke up in 1999 and reunited in 2009. GSW played a significant role in the development of the improvisational jam band scene of the early 1990s. Their earliest days include playing Nightingale's and The Wetlands Preserve in New York City where their contemporaries were The Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, Jono Manson and the Dreyer Brothers. From their earliest days, fans of the band were known as Winos. This group of dedicated fans would follow them from gig to gig. When their touring base expanded Winos would sometimes drive hours to see the band. GSW was an early adapter of internet marketing, acquiring a domain name and electronic mailing list ahead of many others in the scene. They also maintained a snail mail list and telephone hotline fans could call to get tour dates from a recorded message. Occasionally callers would be surprised by a band member answering the phone and replying to their inquiry personally.
Richard Royall "Duck" Baker IV is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist who plays in a variety of styles: jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk, and Irish and Scottish music. He has written many instruction books for guitar.
Bearsville Sound Studio was a recording studio founded by Albert Grossman in Bearsville, New York, 2 mi (3.2 km) west of Woodstock in 1969.
Live at Roseland Ballroom is the first live album by American jam band Gov't Mule. It was taken from their performance on New Year's Eve 1995, opening for Blues Traveler. It was recorded at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, New York City.
99.9F° is the fourth album by American singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega. Released in 1992, the album marked a departure for Vega, as she embraced a more electronic, experimental sound. It peaked at No. 86 on Billboard magazine's album chart and was Vega's fourth Top 20 album in the U.K. The single "Blood Makes Noise" reached No.1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.
Jerome David Marotta is an American drummer who resides in Woodstock, New York. He is the younger brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a drummer and composer.
Chris Barron is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Spin Doctors.
Peter Malcolm "Pete" Kovachevich, also known as Peter Savant, is an American guitar player, singer, songwriter and photographer. He is known for his bluesy and aggressive style, reminiscent to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. He has played with popular jam bands like Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, and Warren Haynes, and he became a staple in the New York jam scene, playing Fridays at a small club, Nightingales, with his bands First House and Kindred Spirit.
A jam band is a musical group whose concerts are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cross genre boundaries. Most jam band sets will consist of variations on songs that have already been released as studio recordings. Jam bands are known for having a very fluid structure, often having one song lead into another without any interruption.
Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor, podcast creator and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture. Budnick, who is editor-in-chief of Relix, grew up in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Peter Shapiro is an American club owner, concert promoter, filmmaker, magazine publisher, author and entrepreneur from New York City. He is widely known as the promoter for Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead, the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary "final shows". Shapiro first gained renown through two films that screened at the Sundance Film Festival: Tie-Died: Rock 'n Roll's Most Deadicated Fans (1995) and American Road (1997). He has gone on to produce numerous other projects including U2 3D (2007) and All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live! (2001). The Producers Guild of America identified him as one of “The Digital 25: Visionaries, Innovators and Producers of 2009.” On June 8, 2016, Shapiro was honored at the annual gala of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival.