Tonight, Thursday, August 6th, acclaimed music photographer Michael Weintrob is set to debut his new streaming music and art series, Instrumenthead Live. This music programming comes in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and he and his collaborators view this as an opportunity to provide safe, premium concerts to music lovers everywhere.
This evening, the first original show, “Music With 5 Questions” hits the airwaves, and features Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band), Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), and Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), with some very special guests including legendary guitarist Robben Ford and bassist Jay White. The Instrumenthead Live streaming platform has a stacked lineup of performances scheduled through the month of August including Daniel Donato, Stolen Faces, Lady Couch, The SloBeats, and Mimi Naja & Friends. These concerts will all be available on their newly launched site, InstrumentheadLive.com .
In the spirit of the kickoff performance tonight, we caught up with the visionary behind this new streaming venture and the Instrumenthead brand/project as a whole, the great lensman and photojournalist Michael Weintraub for, appropriately, five questions.
Live For Live Music: Michael, before we get into what you’re putting together musically, I wanted to ask what have you been doing with all this unprecedented free time during the quarantine downtime?
Michael Weintrob: Spending my time trying to be healthy, going on lots of hikes and spending time with my beautiful wife. This has been a time to recuperate from years of being on the road. I’ve also been building a brand new website for my photography business as well as working on my new book, INSTRUMENTHEAD REVEALED. The way I look at it, when the race slows down, you have a chance to catch up. By having this downtime, it’s given me the opportunity to dig deep and prepare for the future.
Live For Live Music: I’ve always been a huge fan of your work, goin’ back to when we first sort of broke into this game around the same time, and even collaborated on some early media. It’s been a joy to watch you build your brand, your vision, and see things evolve into beautiful fruition. Now, with COVID, comes a new, necessary chapter. Please break down your latest endeavor, Instrumenthead Live. What’s happening, specifically?
Michael Weintrob: Instrumenthead Live, or IHL, is our virtual venue. The website instrumentheadlive.com is our secured portal to watch all of our upcoming creations. Like when photography went digital, this is the new live. #thenewlive
Live For Live Music: Word. Always ahead of the curve, you are perpetually. So I expect nothing less in these uncharted territories. Please explain what was the genesis of the idea? From inception, how did you put it together?
Michael Weintrob: IHL is the evolution of the live art exhibitions that I have been putting on for the last 9 years. My original goal was to always have the musicians who are being featured in each art gallery also simultaneously perform in the space. I’ve been hosting concerts for many years and it made sense to continue putting on live music events. IHL is our way of giving back to the musical community of Nashville and encouraging live performance to continue through this pandemic.
Live For Live Music: Let the people know just exactly what is on the docket so far. Who or what are the performances scheduled?
Michael Weintrob: We’ve got a lot lined up right off the bat! Tonight, Thursday Aug 6th, Music With 5 Questions feat. Jen Hartwick (Trey Anastasio Band), Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), & Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee) with special guests Robben Ford on guitar and Jay White on bass. The rest of the schedule looks like this so far:
Friday Aug 7th: Daniel Donato-Album Release Concert “A Young Man’s Country”
Saturday Aug 8th: The Stolen Faces- A Grateful Dead Experience
Sunday Aug 9th: LadyCouch- Tribute to Jerry Garcia
Saturday Aug 15th: The SloBeats feat. Kenny Vaughn, Dave Roe, & Pete Abbott
Friday Aug 21st-: Mimi Naja & Friends feat. Lindsay Lou, Royal Masat (Billy Strings), & Kyle Tuttle
Live For Live Music: Nice! Really diverse assortment of players, genres, catalogs. Again, on brand Michael! Once you get through the initial scheduling, what do you envision for the future of this project?
Michael Weintrob: I would love to have the opportunity to continue putting on these shows. We are happy to establish a safe, creative space where musicians can perform and connect with their fans. Where art is being seen, made, and heard.
Live For Live Music: Right on, man. Looking forward to seeing where this goes. I know fans will be grateful for such organic live music in this capacity. Thanks for the time & as always, your efforts.
Michael Weintrob: Thank you B and Live for Live Music.
As told to B.Getz