When Kelly Davidson first began photographing for The Boston Phoenix newspaper in the late 1990s, she got assignments to shoot portraits of Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly, and Kay Hanley of the band Letters to Cleo.
Visiting their homes, she was struck by a realization: “Wait, you have kids? You have a family?” It seemed wrong somehow. “You’re rock stars!”
But out of that observation grew her photographic series “Rock Parents,” which Davidson’s been shooting since 2005. “It’s all about these local rock stars with their kids,” she says.
“It was really just this fascination that rock stars have lives. They had homes. They had husbands and wives. They had pets,” Davidson says. “It was really awesome to see. People still doing what they love … and having a normal life and still having this rock star life.”
“The photos,” she says, “give you a glimpse of the other side.”
Enjoying this article? Help Wonderland keep producing our great coverage of local arts, cultures and activisms (and our great festivals) by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.
The photos are the subject of her one-evening “Rock Parents” exhibition at Once in Somerville tonight, Sunday, May 6. It debuts at 5 p.m., with performances by John Powhida International Airport at 6 p.m., The One Smith at 7 p.m., and Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys at 8 p.m. Admission is free and all ages are welcome.
This is Davidson’s seventh exhibition of the series. This time she’s featuring 13 new photos taken since late last year. “I think that brings the whole project up to 70-something” photos, Davidson says. This edition arrives after she gave birth to her daughter Evy three years ago and son Charlie a year and a half ago.
She photographed the portraits around Boston, western Massachusetts, New York and Los Angeles. “Either they play in Boston or they used to play in Boston,” she says.
When Davidson began the project, she photographed on film and aimed to capture candid scenes while hanging around like a fly on a wall. But she switched to a digital camera. Nowadays the photos are staged in parks, homes, and occasionally at shows when the kids happen to be there to get the pictures quickly—to fit into busy lives and get done before kids tire of the exercise, she says.
Davidson took photographs all growing up. She combined that with her love of music and led to her photographing rock shows for the University of Connecticut newspaper (where she was studied physical therapy) then the Boston University paper (where she studied photojournalism), and then The Boston Phoenix newspaper. “Rock Parents” began as a way to keep productive and build her portfolio as she developed her freelance photography business.
This exhibition includes the photos of Jonathan Ulman with his 2-year-old daughter Mary sitting on a drum and banging on a cymbal; David Stoops sitting on a porch while his 4-year-old daughter Zoe trots a toy lion across his bald head; Anthony “Ants” Conley kissing Alli Thresher as their kids—10-weeks-old Thoe and 1-and-a-half-year-old Vincent—roll around on their laps; and John Powhida with his two kids (one jumping on the bed).
Davidson and her husband Matt Savage—a singer and songwriter for the band Coo & Howl—are pictured with their kids in this exhibit. Davidson has played guitar in the Liz Borden Band, bass in Naked On Roller Skates, and “then I had a little recording project called Star Matters, but we never played live.”
“We met when I photographed his band when I moved to Boston in ’97. He was in the band Godboy. It was the first band portrait I ever shot,” Davidson says. She was still in college when she was asked by the band to photograph their press portrait.
They struck up a friendship, but romance didn’t blossom for more than a decade. “I only dated women,” Davidson says, “so that’s why we didn’t date till 2010.”
Are rock stars as far out at home as they appear on stage?
“Walter Sickert and Edrie, I think they just exude art. I don’t think there is any aspect of their life that isn’t art. Their daughter Wednesday goes to all their shows,” Davidson says. “They didn’t change their lives to have a family.”
And then there are artists like Tom Janovitz of the indie rock band Sodafrog (and brother to Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom). “He owns his own contractor job,” Davidson says. “They were just running around outside. They had a Christmas tree up in this pristine house. … I know there was music in there, but it just seemed like a happy cute normal family. Not in a bad way. … I think he was wearing a leather jacket, which is pretty rock ‘n’ roll.”
Enjoying this article? Help Wonderland keep producing our great coverage of local arts, cultures and activisms (and our great festivals) by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.