Jim Ransone – I wanted a relaxing night last night. It was drizzling all night and I really didn’t want to drive anywhere. Good thing Darwin’s is right near my house! I went and hung out with the regulars, had some dinner, and watched Jim Ransone and Tamara Nicolai jam out on stage. It was pretty much the perfect way to wind down a Monday.
Jim Ransone Every Monday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Jim Ransone Every Monday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Tamara Nicolai Every Monday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
The Last Menu Item – I’ve tried everything on the menu thus far except for one thing: The Bleu Buffalo. I’m quite an avid hater of Bleu Cheese. I can’t stand the stuff. Several people have told me it’s the best burger on the menu, even if you don’t like Bleu Cheese…so I caved. Wow, I was damn surprised! Chef Akin puts only a dallop of Bleu Cheese to give it a creamy texture, not so much flavor. The Wing Sauce does most of the talking as far as flavor…WOW! I ate a Bleu Cheese burger and I LOVED it!
Bleu Buffalo Burger @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
I took a promo shot last night during Jim’s set. Everyone kept asking, “Ooo, do we get to eat those when you’re done?” ABSOLUTELY! Within 60 seconds of announcing I was done shooting, all the wings were gone…and they were DELICIOUS!
$10 Wing Special Every Tuesday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Backyard Fun – I was on my patio and saw this grasshopper hanging out on the rail. I decided to play with my macro-lens attachment that I bought on ebay for $10. It’s essentially 4 magnifying glasses screwed together…but it works…
Grasshopper Macrohe jumped away before I could get closer.
Leaves on a tree macro
Hole in the wood macro
Darwin’s Burgers and Blues – As usual, my night started at Darwin’s. After I posted the pictures of my Garlic Grilled Cheese w/ Chicken Salad yesterday, one of the regulars came up with his own concoction: The Chicken Salad Cole-Trane. That is a chicken salad sandwich topped with chili and slaw!
Mark’s Chicken Salad Cole-Trane @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Ross Pead came out and played a great acoustic set with his buddy on harmonica. The perfect accompaniment to my sandwich.
Ross Pead & Co. @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Ross Pead & Co. @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Ross Pead & Co. @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
John McKnight Jam @ Nick’s Place – I hung out at Darwin’s for a few hours and then made my way over to Nick’s. This was my first time seeing John McKnight play. Wow, what an incredible drummer! He made everything look so easy and effortless, I think I even saw him checking out his watch in the middle of a fill. I saw some great acts jump on stage from John Rose to Truett Lollis and Jonathon Norwood! I hope to see more of these guys come play at Darwin’s someday.
I’ve been getting very behind on my posts on my personal site, everything recently has been posted directly to darwinsburgers.com. Today I’m going to play a bit of catch-up and show you guys what I’ve been up to.
09.07.2011 – Homer’s Acoustic Set – We didn’t have anyone playing this night, so Homer was nice enough to come out and play for us for only some food and a little booze. I brought out my loop pedal and him jam around with that. That kid is sick, after 10 minutes of fiddling, he was playing it like he’d owned one for years! I hate you Homer, and I can’t wait to see you play again.
Homer Wed. Acoustic Set
Homer Wed. Acoustic Set
Homer Wed. Acoustic Set
09.08.2011 – Thursday Blues Jam – Thursday Blues Jam is my new favorite night of the week. It’s so much fun every time, I can’t wait for the next one! I’d like to thank the Cazanovas for signing their framed pictures!
Cazanovas @ Thursday Blues Jam
Danny and Jake @ Thursday Blues Jam
Jake @ Thursday Blues Jam
Eric @ Thursday Blues Jam
Danny @ Thursday Blues Jam
Cazanovas @ Thursday Blues Jam
Jim @ Thursday Blues Jam
Cody and Jim @ Thursday Blues Jam
Rodger Wasserman @ Thursday Blues Jam
Joe Clover @ Thursday Blues Jam
Tamara @ Thursday Blues Jam
Cindy @ Thursday Blues Jam
Hobo @ Thursday Blues Jam
Cindy @ Thursday Blues Jam
Cody @ Thursday Blues Jam
@ Thursday Blues Jam
Katie Martin @ Thursday Blues Jam
@ Thursday Blues Jam
Katie Martin @ Thursday Blues Jam
09.09.2011 – Truett Lollis – Truett was amazing! Rhetta Akamatsu gave a fantastic review of Truett Lollis and Darwin’s in The Examiner. She liked our food!
Truett Lollis @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Truett Lollis Trio featuring Jeff Baker
Truett Lollis and Jeff Baker @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Theron Peterson of Truett Lollis Trio
Truett Lollis @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Listen to that video crowd! @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
I spent too much time getting this shot. @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Truett Lollis and Jonathan Norwood @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Jonathan Norwood of Truett Lollis Trio
Jonathan Norwood of Truett Lollis Trio
Cody Matlock is an amazing little ball of talent. At 15, this young man is already jamming with the best players in town and soaking up advice and pointers from Truett, Little G, Danny Vinson and anyone else who happens to be in the room. Seeing Cody and Truett play together was history in the making!
Love the shirt! Cody Matlock @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
History in the making. Truett and Cody @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
09.10.2011 – The Cazanovas – It was great to finally see the Cazanovas do a full set! I’m used to just seeing them in small chunks while hosting the Blues Jam. Maurice Nazzaro, Danny Vinson, Eric Puller and stand-in bassist Harold Pattillo did a great job! Towards the end of the night, they were joined by Frankie Robinson, Little G, Cody Matlock, and Matt Smart for a bit of a jam session.
Maurice Nazzaro of The Cazanovas
Harold Pattillo
Danny Vinson of The Cazanovas
Eric Pullen of The Cazanovas
Maurice Nazzaro of The Cazanovas
The Cazanovas @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Matt Smart @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Saturday Night Jam @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Frankie Lee Robinson @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Frankie Lee Robinson @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Little G. Weevil @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Little G. Weevil & Cody Matlock @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
School of Blues w/ Little G, Danny Vinson, and Cody Matlock
09.12.2011 – Jim Ransone – Jim Ransone of The Breeze Kings played a nice chill set where you can come in and enjoy some food and conversation with some light acoustic blues in the background.
Jim Ransone Mondays @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Jim Ransone Mondays @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Jim Ransone Mondays @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Jim Ransone Mondays @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Jim Ransone Mondays @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
09.13.2011 – LITTLE G – WOW! I can listen to this guy play all night, oh wait I just did that! I had so much stuff to do last night, but I ended up sticking around for the entire set! I’m going to love having Little G here every week. You will too, just come out and watch him for a night. Here’s a little taste of what he’s bringing:
Little G Weevil Every Tuesday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Little G Weevil Every Tuesday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Little G Weevil Every Tuesday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Little G Weevil Every Tuesday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Little G’s Cigarbox Guitar Every Tuesday @ Darwin’s Burgers and Blues
Making of a Mammoth – Now for a bit of food porn. Little G ordered a Mammoth burger and I decided to document the making of it.
2 Big Bang Patties w/ Cheese and fried jalapenos. Mammoth Burger
First patty topped w/ Bacon. Mammoth Burger
2nd patty, fried jalapenos, then chili. Mammoth Burger
Sprinkled with chopped onions. Mammoth Burger
Toasted bun on top. Mammoth Burger
Little G’s Mammoth Burger and Fries @ Darwin’s Burgers.
“Ok. To me, Darwin`s is the best blues club in the ATL area. That`s bottomline. The staff is so friendly, makes everyone feel like family. Bottomline. But where on earth have these chefs been? The Mammoth burger is so good i`m totally speechless. You want a bar burger? Well, try elsewhere. This is serious soulburger my friends!” – Little G Weevil
COMING SOON: Novakord + Winter Ransom + Ross Pead + Darwin’s Burgers Case Study
We decided Thursday to take a trip to Savannah for July 4th weekend. I’d never been to Savannah and someone else was driving, I’M IN! We arrived at midnight Friday and wandered the streets drinking smoothies from Wet Willie’s. They convinced me to take a night off and leave the camera. It was a cool vibe! At 2am the streets were still crowded with families and street musicians!
Saturday the photography began, so did the drinking. Our first stop was The Tea Room where we started our day with a pot of Flaming Dragon Oolong. The waitress spooned brandy onto a sugar cube and lit it on fire!
After that was going through gallery after gallery of local painters and checking out the art scene. I’d like to give mention to David Patterson, the phenomenal sketch artist and Thomas Kinkade, “painter of light”.
We had a great Seafood and Alcoholic Lemonade lunch, I ordered a Crab Bisque and Crab Cakes. The food was so good I actually forgot to take pictures of my entree! After lunch we drank at the pool for a while…finally ending the night with some Savannah Light Painting! Not so much drawing, but playing with filters and such.
Savannah was a cool place, but we didn’t really get to explore too much since we were only there for 2 days and partying most of the time. Next time, I want to check out the Historic District near SCAD campus. Light Painting!
SCAD Theater at night. SOOC – Straight out of Camera.
Savannah Park
Flaming Dragon Oolong from The Tea Room
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Savannah
Crab Bisque that made me forget to take pictures!
Smoke Break
Self Portrait in the Pool
Ray Underwater.
Sean Underwater.
Savannah Bay Bridge taken from our hotel roof.
Savannah Church SOOC – Straight out of Camera.
Abandoned Pool SOOC – Straight out of Camera.
Savannah Bay Bridge SOOC – Straight out of Camera.
Went and grabbed sushi at my favorite sushi spot in Atlanta, Kiku! I’ve been coming here since they opened a few years ago, I finally decided to bring in my camera and grab some shots of some of my favorites!
Spicy tuna, crab and shrimp roll.
The Nigiri plate! Salmon, Yellowtail, Shrimp, Scallops.
Raw Sweet Shrimp
Salmon, still my favorite!
Sweet Shrimp Heads, deep fried and covered in sauce!
Our friend Chris invited us to come out to Lake Lanier to hang out on the Pontoon Boat. It was supposed to rain, but we went anyways. We ended up being just outside of the storm for most of the day, it was great! 5 dogs, water, guitars, booze, and grilling steaks on the boat!
My old friend Johnny Wu quit his job at Yahoo! and is now learning to be a farmer at the University of Santa Cruz. I gave him a call and drove 2 hours to go check it out. I had a lot of fun eating strawberries and picking Aphids off Apple trees. The weather kinda sucked, but they fed me some of the most amazing food ever!
Upon arrival, they fed me a vegetarian meal of Curry potatoes, a vinaigrette salad, and some homemade bread. All of it was amazing! Later they gave us chocolate and ginger cookies and tea while we were out in the field. Seriously the best cookies I’ve ever had! I kept sneaking back for more, I must’ve eaten at least a dozen cookies.
Later we walked through their experimental garden and just ate fruit and veggies straight off the plants!
Lettuce Patch: They had one patch that had about 20+ different kinds of lettuce. We literally got on our hands and knees and started eating leaves from the ground. It was the best lettuce I’ve ever had in my life. Sweet and crunchy!
Strawberry Fields: Farmer J.Wu walking through the strawberry fields.
The Strawberry: The best/freshest strawberry I’ve ever tasted in my life!
Tiny Flowers:
The Orange Grove: This is their experimental garden where they grow many many varieties of…well everything. This particular section I got to try fresh Mandarin, blood, and nectarine oranges. They were amazing! I never knew oranges were crunchy.