Blog
October 27, 2025
Very sad to hear that we lost one of the founding members of the band KISS, "Ace" Frehley on October 16th.
Always wanted to photograph KISS but never got the chance. I did get to photograph Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley in 2021 at Summerfest.
He was a great guitarist who played with KISS from 1973 to 1982. He also played the farewell tours in 1996 and 2002.
"Ace" never took guitar lessons but he came from a family of guitar and piano players. His father also played the church organ.
In 1978 "Ace" did a solo album that went Platinum and then did a few more solo albums in addition to a few with his band Frehley's Comet.
His Gibson Les Paul guitar had smoke coming out of the neck and it had a spinning pyrotechnic feature.
We will miss the Space Ace or Spaceman as he was called when he was with KISS.
Enjoy some photos from 2021. I have one of those guitar picks from that night
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
October 13, 2025
On a cold February afternoon in 2018, we saw Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, Wisconsin.
It was a great show in a beautiful theater and it is one of Marty's favorites venues.
He was going to build his theater in Mississippi to resemble the opera house as much as possible. That's how much he loved it. During his performance that day he wouldn't bring out his Clarence White B Bender Fender guitar that was friend Clarence Whites from The Byrds.
My previous blog goes into that story with Clarence White.
Marty said that "it would blow the paint of the walls of the little theater"! I'll never forget that.
Marty is coming to our neighborhood to the Wilson Center for the Performing Arts on October 24, 2025 here in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Hope the B Bender comes out that night because he really plays it well and Clarence White would be proud of him.
Take a look at Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives. They are all fabulous musicians. "Cousin" Kenny Vaughan, "Handsome" Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs whose dad and his grandfather ,Earl Scruggs, I've had the pleasure to meet and photograph. Even did an interview with Earl Scruggs many years ago who started an amazing musical family.
Hope you are coming to the show. I think and expect tickets are sold out.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
September 29, 2025
I just edited again some photos of The Byrds from April 30th 1972 that I have had on my website before but revisited with Lightroom.
I was 18 years old in 1972 working with the Bugle American newspaper and Columbia Records in Milwaukee.
Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Skip Battin and Gene Clark were The Byrds in 1972 and they had a bunch of different lineups through the years.
This show was at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. John Hagar of Columbia Records and I went to say hi and get permission for me to do a review and take few photos.
We went backstage before the show and introduced ourselves and I asked Roger McGuinn if I may take a few photos during the show and he quickly said no.
The great Clarence White was sitting on a church table and looked at my surprised expresssion and said to Roger, "let the kid take a few shots".
I was then allowed to do that and witnessed one of the best guitarists play his custom B Bender guitar. It was just amazing to see it and hear it. I had never seen such an awesome guitar.
Being a lover of the pedal steel guitar and to hear a guitar doing something similar was amazing!
Clarence was killed a year later by a drunk driver while he was loading equipment in California.
The B Bender is now owned and played by Marty Stuart. It's awesome to hear it again.
On October 24, 2025, my friend Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives are coming to the Wilson Center for the Arts here in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Come join us for some great music and we hopefully will see the B Bender in action again.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
