November 15, 2021

Willy Porter is one of Milwaukee's outstanding musicians who has been around since the early 1980's.

He has toured extensively across the country and Europe but keeps his base in Milwaukee after 11 albums.

Opening and touring with my favorite guitarist, Jeff Beck, and others like Sting, Paul Simon and Tori Amos, he keeps busy. Wish I had seen that Jeff Beck show with Willy!

In 2005, Willy was smart and started Weasel Records, a label of his own and he hasn't looked back after making several albums.

Together with the great vocals of Carmen Nickerson they are an awesome duo. Add Eric Madunic on bass, Dave Schoepke on drums and Dave Adler on keyboards and you have the full show.

Enjoy Willy and Carmen and his band whenever you can to see a great show!

If you feel like going to Ireland, you can go on Willy Porter's Ireland tour that he has done for a few years. Checkout www.willyporter.com for all good Willy Porter news.

Here are the photos from this year at Summerfest on September 4th. The Briggs and Stratton stage at Summerfest is one of the newer stages and it was great seeing him there.

During the show, I noticed the cutest photo opportunity for me! There was a young boy strumming his guitar standing on a bench in front of the stage.  He was playing along with Willy and wearing his earmuffs and mask.  Maybe a future musician we may see at Summerfest some day?

Enjoy these photos of the Willy Porter and his band.

Thanks,

April 20, 2020

In the past I have written blogs about John Prine who is in my opinion is the best songwriter and storyteller in the world. Steve Goodman was a good musician and friend of John's who would have to be the second best. John Prine lyrics are just amazing and to think he wrote some of his early material during his six years as a mailman in Maywood, Illinois!

John passed away on April 7, 2020 at 74 years old. It put tears in my eyes and I'm sure a lot of other people felt the same way.  COVID-19 was stronger than John and took him to heaven. He is now with his buddy Steve Goodman who passed in 1984. When they did a show together it was really a fun time with many great songs and stories.

I had the pleasure of photographing John twice, in 1972 and then again in 1974 when I worked for the Bugle American newspaper. I have seen him probably six or seven times and every performance was just great.

My photographs of John are some of my favorite images. In 1974 when he played at Milwaukee's Summerfest Schlitz Country stage, I gave him a photo from the Milwaukee PAC 1972 show and had a few Schlitz beers with him backstage. It was called the Schlitz Country Stage after all so we had to have some Schlitz beer and it was flowing pretty good and I was only 19! John loved the photo and we joked about the 1972 photos where he had Pabst beer on his stool and now it was Schlitz! I always wanted to get a photo autographed by him and never did after all these years...

The 1974 photographs are fun to look at because it was about 100F and the Summerfest Skyglider ran almost right above the stage. John was talking to the people up there and they were talking to him which made for some interesting banter.  It also made for some great photographs of him looking up at them talking and playing around.

John had some health issues and could not smoke anymore and he LOVED to smoke cigarettes! He often said that when someone would lite up a cigarette he'd rush over to get a whiff of that first puff! He even wrote a song about going to heaven and smoking a nine mile long cigarette.

My heart goes out to his family and to our Milwaukee promoter, Peter Jest and his wife Karen who became very good friends of John.

We lost a good one on April 7th.  He will be sadly missed.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

April 6, 2020

I hope everyone is doing well during our pandemic right now. Here in Wisconsin we are being advised to stay at home.  There is not much traffic out there so hopefully everyone is complying and staying safe.  It's a good time to get house projects done and other chores.

We go back in time today for my blog which is about my first paying music related photo job!!! I was 17 years old, in high school and working at Camera Corner here in Milwaukee every day after school.

My boss at Camera Corner, John Dunar, was very nice and saw my interest of getting into the music photography business. A friend of John's was Dave Kennedy of Dave Kennedy Recording Studios. They were talking together in the store one day and Dave said he had a band called The Serendipity Singers coming in to record that week. Then he asked me if I would like to photograph this folk band and document their day of recording in his studios! Before I could say yes he even offered to pay me!

The day is documented here and you can even see my photo gear bag in one photo. The experience was an eye opener for me in a few ways. It was the first time in a recording studio and I was just in love with the technology that surrounded me. Dave Kennedy had THE 16 track tape machine of the time, an Ampex Master Maker 1000 16 track recorder!

The second eye opener of the day happened when I learned that my borrowed camera was stolen!  I borrowed it from Camera Corner with permission from my boss. I wanted to have two cameras available to me that day.  I put one of the cameras on a couch in the reception office for a few minutes. In less than five minutes someone took it and it was never seen again along with the exposed film that was in it. My boss at the camera store was very nice about it but it was a big life lesson for me!  Still would really like to have that film.

Enjoy the photos that I have of that very interesting day.  They even played kazoo's! Remember those?

Be safe everyone.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

September 18, 2017

Had fun night last night with a very good friend from my high school days. We took a little road trip to see Roger McGuinn at the Stephanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Roger McGuinn of the Byrd's fame can still finger pick, sing and play really well!  It was a great show!

This was the first show of the season at the Stephanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Built in 1923, it is a classic and it's beautiful. Check it out. Todd Rundgren is coming later in the season!!

A couple of my photos here are of Roger in 1972 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin when the Byrd's played there.

Enjoy three photos from 1972 and the rest are from last night.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Roger McGuinn performing at the Stephanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts on September 16, 2017.

Willie Nelson at Summerfest in 1977.

December 5, 2016

A long time ago in 1973, I had the great pleasure of meeting, photographing and being part of an interview with Leo Kottke. We did the interview for the Bugle American newspaper in the dressing room of the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee.  Since that day, I have wanted to see Leo again and redo some of my favorite photos that I have ever taken, like the one with the mirrors in the dressing room. It came out really cool.

Well, thanks to Jan Martin (Leo's manager) and Peter Jest (the local promoter) we have some new photos for you to see and enjoy of Leo. The dressing room is in the same building but a different hall. The previous photos were in Uhlein Hall and these photos are in Vogel Hall. Leo was opening up for Loggins and Messina before and this time it was his own show.

I met Leo outside as he was coming in for the sound check before the show that night. He was so nice and really wanted to duplicate the 1973 photo for me as close as possible. I couldn't have asked for anything more other than to see and photograph his show that night but it was not meant to be I guess.

Enjoy a look at 1973 and 2016 together! We all get a little older and that's life. The last photo is the photographer getting ready to shoot it! Moved a few things around and did a preshoot of myself!

2017 Rich Zimmermann Photography calendars are now available for $30 plus $6 shipping for you or someone you love for Christmas!! Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can send them out!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Leo Kottke in Milwaukee in 2016.

November 28, 2016

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Today's blog is a look back at Leo Kottke playing a show at Summerfest in 1973.

Never pictured Leo as a big festival player but here he is in 1973 at Summerfest!!

Enjoy a look at the master of the 12 string guitar.

Don't forget that my 2017 Rich Zimmermann Photography calendars are now available for $30 plus $6 for shipping!! Great holiday gifts for any rocker in your life or for yourself! Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I can ship one or two today for you!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Leo Kottke at Summerfest in 1973.