Eyes On You, Amen, Saved Me, Jack Daniels and Jesus Just to name a few....

Eyes On You, Amen, Saved Me, Jack Daniels and Jesus Just to name a few....

HISTORY..

Photo by: Kim Schmid

Just a little history of why I am willing to travel to Milwaukee this Saturday in the middle of  yet another winter storm, well we do live in Wisconsin and this winter storm thing has become an every other day occurrence for the last month so what's another slow day of driving right?

 In June of 2015 I was sitting in a crowd of people on a 100 degree day ( yes that does sound amazing right now) and you know how when you are at music festivals you try to catch a little nap when you can during the early acts so you are ready for the main stage headliner.. Well, that was exactly what I was trying to do when I heard this amazing voice of reason on the stage and as I heard his story of playing football for North Carolina and how he was injured and had to find another career, him telling the story of his father passing away suddenly and how he had moved to Nashville to pursue his music career I was no longer kicked back in my chair I was really thinking about everything he was saying and looking at how all of this was relating to my life. He was just recovering from surgery also, this guy was quickly turning into a someone who I needed to know more about as a person and an artist. Then the true life  changing moment happened for me he belted out this song called "Jack Daniels and Jesus" and at that moment in time I looked at my life and said OK this is it; time for a change!  The artist that changed this old lady's life almost four years ago is Chase Rice.

SHOW NUMBER 9..

Photo by: Kim Schmid

This Saturday my daughter and I will be traveling to The Rave in Milwaukee to see our 9th Chase Rice concert together. Since that day in June 2015, I will have earned one degree in full and will graduate from Chippewa Valley Technical College in May with my second degree in four years this degree will be in Digital Marketing where I am hoping to land my dream job in the music industry. I have lost 82 pounds and 52 inches and have become very dedicated to having a healthy lifestyle. I have watched my daughter graduate from college and my son graduate from high school. The accomplishment that I am most proud of, for myself is renewing my love for being behind the camera lens. I have always loved photography and music but with starting my family at a young age my hobbies were no longer my priority. Thankfully that day in June I was listening to this young man on stage because he truly #SavedMe. This will be an emotional concert for me because I lost my mom to cancer in January this year and it has been a rough few weeks and I also will get to meet this man who has changed my life with his story and music.

PHOTOGRAPHY..
I can't even put into words how it feels to be in the front row of a concert and see the emotions created by music. My goal as a amateur photographer; that is content with a good phone camera at an event is to try to capture as many artist/fan interactions as possible.
As the lights go down I just close my eyes and wait,, I know what is coming but for the person standing next to me experiencing it for the first time makes it feel so special to me; to be able to witness their expression when the lights come on. I take multiple photographs of other objects including, nature, newborns, animals, and starting to look into weddings and engagement photos but my true love of being behind the lens is being in front of the stage. I will continue to experiment in other features of photography but you will always find me in front of a stage whenever possible. Check back on Sunday night for the wrap up of this weekends concert.