A day with JD Souther

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to hang out with one of the greatest song writers of all time. Cowboys and Indians magazine called to see if I would be interested in shooting the story on JD Souther. I think I said yes before they even finished asking the question. It was a long drive from Austin but I drove up to Amarillo and spent the day hanging out at Palo Duro canyon, JD's old stomping grounds. We met about 6:30 in the morning to take advantage of the morning light but without a cloud in the sky it was a difficult shoot. I got some nice shots but I didn't have "The" shot.
After our morning shoot JD had some things to take care of so I spent the day driving around Amarillo looking for another location but it just wasn't presenting itself. After several hours of scouting I got lost and ended up in an unfamiliar part of town but it was meant to be because there it was, The old 47 Knucklehead. This was going to be the shot. I went in and asked the owners if I could borrow the bike he was of course a little hesitant but when he found out what it was for he was more than happy to let us use it. I called JD and told him what I found but I think he was hoping for something else but when he saw the bike he was hooked on the idea. When he saw the final picture he said it was one of his favorite pictures ever taken of him. Those are the words a photographer likes to hear.
JD is responsible for many of The Eagles top hits and his music has been recorded by numerous other artists including The Dixie Chicks, George Strait, Linda Ronstadt and many others.