Ricky Berger at Good Folk in Los Angeles

Always a joy watching my best friend do what she does best. This photo was taken during her live set at Good Folk, a concert series curated by singer/songwriter Abby Litman. Joining her that evening was a roster of luminary musicians, among them: Jamie Drake, Amanda Carson (Amanda on the Moon), Gal Musette and Daisy Abrams. Ricky played some of my favorite songs of hers, as well as premiering new work with lush arrangements for harp, celesta, cello and multiple voices.

Meredith Axelrod

The picture above you depicts two versions of the profoundly gifted folk singer/songwriter Meredith Axelrod. I drew "Blue Meredith" at what must've been two o'clock in the morning after a fitful night of sleep, as if it woke me up to roar itself into existence. 

Trapped like a firefly in a jar, the original picture from which the illustration is based, illuminates my mind intermittently, and has done so in the five and a half years since I first saw it. Truly, it is one of my favorite photographs of all time, and keeps my drifting thoughts company at the most wonderfully inopportune times.

When I showed it to Meredith, she said, "You captured what I meant to convey by the photo."

I don't know what either is supposed to convey, but I captured it. Whatever it is. And that's something to be proud of.

Meredith Axelrod's evocative, stirring Americana folk music can be heard on Soundcloud.