What do you get when the creative minds join forces with diverse mix artists? One Mic! One Take! One Spectacular Performance! known as “Single Takes.”
St. Augustine Amphitheatre and St. Augustine Distillery have partnered on a performance-based project that features not only unique musicians but some of the most noteworthy venues the historic coast has to offer. Single Takes are a collection of videos that capture these performances, giving face time to both the artists and the locations used.
Created by Andrew Seward, Tommy Davis and Ryan Murphy of the Amphitheatre, the project started under the Sing Out Loud (SOL) series. Murphy, General Manager of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, describes SOL as an “umbrella brand” used for “outside the box” ideas, or performances other than the main concerts held at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre or the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall.
“The idea came from Andrew having experience doing a music related show on NOISEY/VICE, and doing music videos,” Murphy explained. “Tommy became involved as a graphic artist and having a good creative eye. With that combination, it really made us itch to do something different.”
According to Murphy, the goal of the project is “to really document known and especially some unknown talent and put them in amazing, interesting, and beautiful locations around the area. Ideally the artist and the location are compelling enough to turn people on to discover more about both.”
The artist lineup is a blend of local and national touring acts. “We try and cover as much ground as possible with local acts, and we also really like to grab people as they are traveling through and performing at one of the several venues we work on,” said Murphy. This means when touring acts agree, the crew takes them to a location to film before or after their main performance at one of the bigger venues. One of the most viewed performances is Frank Turner on the roof of the Lightner Museum.
“Frank Turner is an international non-stop touring machine. We had the honor of releasing his SOL video the day he announced the title of his newest record, Positive Songs For Negative People,” said Murphy.
A new backdrop for each video keeps the performances ever-changing. These aren’t just your average backdrops. “All the locations are ones that we feel represent something unique to St. Johns County and the historic coast,” said Murphy.
Venues used include the Lightner Museum, Flagler College, Government House, ToneVendor record store and natural landscapes, including scenic beach and marsh-side shots.
The biggest challenge is coordinating the series within the performance schedule for the touring acts traveling through. Ultimately Murphy notes the most rewarding part of the project is that it’s an excellent way to showcase performers who they feel should be seen by the world.
The project has gotten a lot of attention since the beginning, but artist participation is key. “We market and promote as much as we can, but nothing helps us out more than the artist blasting it out to all their fans,” said Murphy.
Though filming depends on the schedule of the artists, videos are uploaded once a week on Thursday and can be viewed on the series website and on the St. Augustine Amphitheatre’s YouTube channel. Recent releases include performances by Colin Hay of Men at Work, and Mental Patients.
The St. Augustine Distillery is the sole sponsor of the series, and Murphy says they’ve been a great partner to work with. They help provide equipment for each of the shoots. As for the future of the series, they will continue to expand their artist base and capturing performances, in addition to expanding the Sing Out Loud project as a whole.
“As an umbrella brand itself we are talking about some really special projects that are focused on singer/songwriters and other unique, talented musicians,” Murphy said.
Check out the latest Single Takes video here:
To learn more about the Sing Out Loud Single Take Series and watch the performances, visit www.solseries.com.
