CUSTOM MUSIC POSTERS 

For Christmas presents this year, I had an idea to create personalized music posters for some of the most special people in my life. I wanted to encapsulate their favorite artists in a unique visual representation, capturing a concert that they each attended. After posting these to my social feeds, it grabbed the attention of others in my life who wanted me to create for their special people and has grown from there.

Here’s their stories.

Bonnie Raitt - An all time favorite of my mom and mine. In 1998, my mom got tickets to see her play for the first time back when Portland had an amazing waterfront venue. I wasn't supposed to go. I was in high school and I had a big art project due the next day (I was making an album cover, go figure). I threw a big ol' teenage-like fit begging for her to take me instead of my dad. She gave in of course. Who could say no to an annoying teenager in the 90's? So there I was, sitting on bleachers, crafting together a collage of an album cover for Bob Marley, while being entranced by Bonnie's slides with my mom. We both cherish that memory to this day.

Back in 2005, I had just graduated from College and I decided to follow my future wife to Colorado for a new adventure. I’d only ever really lived in Portland, OR for most of my life (unless you count 6 years of Southern California that I don’t remember very well) so this high altitude state was a bit of an adjustment for me. I didn’t have a job and my then girlfriend was working split shifts so I hardly saw her. I finally got a gig with Madison House Design (The String Cheese Incident’s in house design team for their company) which kick started my career in the music industry. This poster was given to my wife this year as a tribute to a show that I surprised her with tickets for. Terri Clark is her all time favorite country music singer. I’m not a fan of country, but I suffered through it for her.

Everyone loves a Grateful Dead poster right? How about one that reacts to black light? This poster was given to my creative partner. I reached out to his daughter for help. She told me a quick story that one of his biggest regrets was not going to see one of Jerry’s last shows because he was injured at the time. We did a little research and figured out which show. (Found out later that we were off a year and he actually did go to this show.) The skeleton symbolizes Dave’s recent re-found love of walking in the outdoors and breathing in the deep forest air.

For my dad. HE LOVES FRANK! (My mom could do without). I didn’t want to give away that I was making my parents posters this year so I couldn’t ask them for help with this one. With a little research and make believe, this poster is a lot of guesswork. 1968 was what I figured was about the time my dad might have been running around Southern California bad ass music venues. The Roxy! August 10th is his birthday. And Tom and Paul on Guitar is a tribute to my late uncle who was a musician.

I was lucky enough to meet Susan and Dino Cattaneo in the early stages of my career, just as Susan's career was taking off. They've been one of my oldest and most consistent clients over my career. When Dino asked me to help create a special memory for their upcoming wedding anniversary, I was truly touched and honored to help them celebrate. Congratulations and here's to many many more!

My friend Cammie contacted me awhile back to make a 50th birthday present for her husband. She was taking him to Vegas to see U2 in the Sphere and wanted to surprise him with something special. I was happy to oblige and make this for Colin. I also got to lean into a huge inspiration in Hatch Show Print posters to help with the visual vibe.

My first actual commissioned music poster. Teresa reached out wanting me to create a Jimmy Buffett poster for her husband, self claiming that had never been great at getting him good presents and thought a custom poster would be perfect for his upcoming birthday/father’s day, etc. Turns out that Alan is a massive JB fan, even sleeping out at University of Oregon to score front row center tickets back in 1981. Teresa even had the ticket stub and had the great idea to incorporate it into the artwork. This poster is chock full of many symbols that only a super fan would get.