Tag: Alynda Lee Segarra

WATCH: Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Rhododendron”

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Artist: Hurray for the Riff Raff
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Song: “Rhododendron”
Album: Life on Earth
Release Date: February 18, 2022
Label: Nonesuch

In Their Words: “[‘Rhododendron’ is about] finding rebellion in plant life. Being called by the natural world and seeing the life that surrounds you in a way you never have. A mind expansion. A psychedelic trip. A spiritual breakthrough. Learning to adapt, and being open to the wisdom of your landscape. Being called to fix things in your own backyard, your own community.

“[The video] is really far out and fun. I got this bodysuit that just looks like the inside of the human body. It looks like you’re skinless. It’s in a scene where I’m playing to an audience of plants. Just really absurd, but I put that suit on and I was like man, this feels really good. It feels like, ‘This is who I am. Let’s just take the skin off.’

“With this ‘Rhododendron’ shoot, something clicked in me where I was like, ‘All I have to do is be myself.’ I had been thinking that I had to be something bigger than myself. I felt like I was just never quite making the mark and then something clicked where I was like, ‘I just gotta be me. I could do that. I could show up and be me. And if people don’t like it, then I don’t know what to fucking tell them.’ It was like a brain shift of, ‘Oh, this can be fun. It doesn’t have to be suffering.’ With so many videos and photo shoots before, it really felt like suffering. I felt so uncomfortable being perceived. I didn’t know who I was.” — Alynda Lee Segarra

Photo Credit: Akasha Rabut

Meet BGS Photographer Laura Partain

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We at the BGS love including beautiful, original artwork with our stories and we couldn't do that without the help of a handful of talented photographers. Meet Laura Partain, one of the photographers who keeps us looking good. Partain, who now lives in Nashville, grew up in east Texas and southern Illinois, and says she was creative from a young age. 

"I've always had a hyperactive imagination and a ton of energy," Partain says. "I used to set up 'photoshoots' with my brother Andrew when we were around 6 and 2 years old. I'd get blankets for the backgrounds, and props would range anywhere from stick ponies to plastic 'pretend' pizza slices."

Those photoshoots led to a photography class in high school, a wedding gig, and a new digital camera … and the rest is history. Partain ended up in SIUC's photography program and has been making pictures ever since. "I learned to shoot film, and mostly quit digital photography all together," she says of her time in college. "I got tough and learned how to work my ass off. I learned how to make good work, focus, compose, create. Photography made me feel brave, and gave me a voice. It still does."

Now, Partain is fortunate enough to make a living doing what she loves.

"Photography is my first love, and I'm committed for life to the craft," she says. "Music, however, is always my close second. So, if you're wondering why I shoot music, my best answer is this — I have to. I get to record in the visual sense, and that's my means of creative participation. Today, I'm a full-time photographer living in Nashville, and shooting just about anywhere. I photograph for album covers, press shots, music festivals, shows … you name it. I photograph for fun, too. All of the time. I dont really stop."

In addition to providing wonderful photos for the BGS, Partain also shoots for outlets like SPIN, NPR Music, and Spotify. Check out more of her work here and browse a handful of our favorite photos below.

Son Little for our November 2015 Artist of the Month feature

JP Harris and Chance McCoy for our August 2015 Artist of the Month feature

 Willie Nelson at Heartbreaker Banquet

Hurray for the Riff Raff's Alynda Segarra, as seen in her Call to Folk Singers op-ed

Old Crow Medicine show during the "Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer" video shoot

Lede photo via Instagram