Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Because The Night  Greensboro - March 19, 2012 The first Bruce Springsteen concert  I attended was a revelation, almost a rock n' roll revival. But there was also an undercurrent of pain and empathy. Two songs stood out for me that night. The first was Springsteen's haunting, solo piano version of  The Promise  which became a sound that I tried to get into my paintings from that day forward. The second was Bruce and the E Street Band's electrifying version of  Because the Night . I knew that Springsteen had penned the song and then given the not quite finished work to Patti Smith to complete and record. I took that song on as my romantic talisman. Somewhere down the line I knew I would find a partner who would feel the passion from those haunting lines and that searing music just as I did. My wife, MarySue, and I found each other in 2003 and  our friend, the singer/songwriter  Kelly Colbe...

Gregg Chadwick Nightwalk 8"x6" oil on linen 2012* Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Art, Workshops, Music & Food at the Santa Monica Airport Artwalk 2012 Saturday, March 17, 12-5pm   Each year the city of Santa Monica sponsors an Art Walk at the Santa Monica Airport. At the airport a  community of artists works quietly alongside the hum of rotor blades and the roar of jet engines. Hidden from the world at large on most days, on March 17th 2012 the artists that call the airport home will once again open their studio doors and let the public into their creative process. I am fortunate to have an intelligent, talented and caring group of artists and gallerists around me. When the news of the world threatens to throttle our creative souls, a shared artistic community can help keep us on the path. I enjoy this day greatly. The crowd of visitors is convivial and eclectic and represents the diversity that I love in Los Angeles. Children and fri...

by Gregg Chadwick The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb known informally as The Ghent Altarpiece  was painted by the Flemish artist Jan van Eyck with the assistance of his brother Hubert in the 15th Century.  The multi paneled artwork has been a school to artists since it was unveiled at the  Saint Bavo  Cathedral in Ghent in 1432. The series of paintings that form the altarpiece evoke a harmonious universe of beauty and glowing light.  Jan van Eyck lived and worked in Bruges, Belgium from at least the unveiling of The Ghent Altarpiece in 1432 until his death in 1441. By then the city of Bruges had become one of the most important artistic centers in Europe. Painters traveled from all over the continent to study, collaborate and create in Bruge's fervent environment. Jan van Eyck himself was a transplant, having been born around 1390 in the village of Maaseik, just outside the city of Maastricht which is now part of The Netherlands.  Amaz...

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band  Perform Smokey Robinson's "The Way You Do the Things You Do" Live at the Apollo Theater in New York City March 9, 2012 Bruce Springsteen Sings "Waiting On a Sunny Day"  with Jake Clemons on Saxophone at the Apollo Theater in New York City on March 9, 2012 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band  Perform "We Take Care of Our Own" Live at the Apollo Theater in New York City March 9, 2012 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band  Perform "Death to My Hometown" Live at the Apollo Theater in New York City March 9, 2012

by Gregg Chadwick "Wrecking Ball sounds like it's quite possibly Bruce’s best album in a quarter century, for what my opinion's worth. It's bracing and subversive and furious and sonically fearless. It's going to give voice to a generation. Certainly to an era. In that regard I'd put it shoulder to shoulder with Born to Run, Highway 61 Revisited, Exile on Main Street, London Calling, and American Idiot. Indelible. I hate hyperbole, but I've got to say I stand in awe of Bruce's ability to make music this angry and relevant and authentic at any stage of his career, never mind 40 years on. Thank God for him." -Novelist  Dennis Lehane Bruce Springsteen's new album,  Wrecking Ball  (Listen to the full album streaming here) , was officially released in Europe and Australia today and will make its debut in the U.S.tomorrow - March 6, 2012. Over the past two weeks I have been writing song by song reviews of the alb...