The Burnells - Photos

Haven, Birmingham, 8/31/22

Champy's, Muscle Shoals, 8/11/22

Turn to Now art

Painting: "Hawk's Frothy," by the lovely and talented Tim Denny

Turn to Now cover

Back cover: "Late Fall, Just South of Muscle Shoals," by Mark Kelly

Wishbone Studios (Winter/Spring '22)

A good place to work...and reflect

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Spooner Oldham, getting down to work on "Here We Rest," with Gary tuned in and Kat reflected in the pushplate, snapping the photo

The great Travis Wammack almost burned down the studio with his track on "Orange See of Confusion." Fortunately, Billy had everything under control, as usual.

J.M. Van Eaton was the house drummer at Sun, playing on hits by Jerry Lee, Cash, and Orbison, among others. He stopped by Wishbone to visit for a couple of hours and kindly posed with Gary, Jason, keyboardist Jaimie Copeland, and Mark.

Kat's sweet mama, Joyce Hand Gooden, sang on three songs — and, like the rest of us, was thrilled at the opportunity to hang out with Spooner

Kat and Jason ponder a playback

Miss Joyce with Gary and Mark, looking even bigger than they are

Billy listens, Gary adds an overdub

Mark getting the intro of "Among Other Things" just right

Kat consulting notes during a playback, Mark thinking about a nap

The Jason Ruha drum throne, fit for a percussion king

Leaving Wishbone at the end of another good day's work...

Reward for a good day's work: Gary, Kat, and Mark at Champy's, home of delicious food and fine music

Avondale photo shoot (May '22)

Kat, holding up a wall as only she can.

Mike Fields, staunch practitioner of the amenities

David, seized by the moment, favors the group with a bit of the old soft shoe

Jason, taking a moment to decide whether posing for pictures is working hard or hardly working

Nobody amuses Gary like Gary

Mark, wondering why everything just went black-and-white

"You want sitting on a wall? I'll show you sitting on a wall."

Mike, thinking that some sculptor is missing a big opportunity

Kat, demonstrating how to descend stairs (or maybe how to walk up them backward)

"Is this really how rock stars spend perfectly good afternoons?"

Gary, wondering what the hell that is over there.

David, reflecting on whether being in the Burnells is worth this much trouble. Photographer Grace Hyche, quietly concluding that taking pictures of the Burnells is not.

Kat and Gary, convincing David to climb the steps and walk down them yet again.

"I tell you, if we keep doing this, we're gonna get a really good picture."

"What does she mean, we look better walking away?"

"Okay, this time, everybody look in a slightly different direction."

"Is it me, or is this walk getting longer?"

Homes away from home (in the Shoals, Fall/Winter '21-'22)...

Like the great blue heron at bottom left, contemplating what the day might hold

Gary and Jason, almost ready to head to the studio for the day

Early morning fog

10 minutes from Wishbone, a million miles away from everything else

A little perspective...

Time to turn in

Morning at another refuge: Kim's place, on the mountain in Colbert Heights

A little Burnells history...

The Happy Burnells, ready to take the stage at an early gig, 1997 (left to right, Ed Reynolds, Kat, Jason, Mark, Gary, Mike). This lineup played together till 2002.

First promo photo

Mark, Gary, and Mike, rocking it

Gary takes a solo

Mark, bringing the words

The last Happy Burnells lineup, 2005 (standing: Gary, bassist Mike Krischke, guitarist/singer Brooks Brown; kneeling: drummer John McNutt, Mark)

Rebirth: Mike, Gary, and Mark (along with Stuart Oates, who snapped the photo) meeting in 2018 to talk about getting together to play some songs — which led to reforming as the Burnells