# Danny Clinch : The Jersey Made Podcast-Capturing Music History Through New Jersey's Sound and Legendary Artists

An episode of [Jersey Made](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6807140302), 30 Sep 2026, 39 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/31a88eb6-dd21-4b52-ba99-b4b700fd418c/df29f78b-9bb0-43b5-b0e7-b4c000ca388c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=4ebfddbd-b979-4d7b-82f4-b4b700fd45fc

What does it take to capture the essence of legendary musicians who have shaped the soundtrack of America? In episode three of Jersey Made, host Buzz Knight talks with the remarkable Danny Clinch, a celebrated photographer and filmmaker whose lens has immortalized some of the most iconic moments in music history. With over 30 years of experience, Clinch’s journey from the humble streets of Tom's River, New Jersey, to photographing music legends like Bruce Springsteen, Tupac Shakur, and Johnny Cash is a testament to the power of hard work and the cultural impact of music. Join us as Danny Clinch reflects on his blue-collar upbringing and the values that shaped his artistic vision. He reveals how the trust he builds with his subjects allows him to create intimate portraits that transcend typical celebrity photography. Discover the stories behind the shots and the pivotal moments in his career, including collaborations with renowned icons like Annie Leibovitz. Clinch emphasizes the importance of community, sharing insights into his gallery in Asbury Park and the vibrant Jersey music scene that continues to thrive. As we dive deep into the music history of New Jersey, Clinch’s narrative serves as a reminder that success is not just about reaching the heights of fame but also about returning to your roots and giving back to your community. This episode is a celebration of iconic New Jersey artists and the music genres in New Jersey that have left an indelible mark on the American music landscape. Whether you’re a fan of the Jersey sound or simply curious about the music storytelling that captures the heart of our culture, this episode of Jersey Made is sure to inspire. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation that bridges the gap between artistry and community, and learn how Clinch’s work embodies the soulful history of legendary musicians. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the music heritage of New Jersey with Buzz Knight and Danny Clinch, only on the Buzz Knight Music Podcast! Listen now on iHeartPodcasts and immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of New Jersey music history! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Jersey Made.
[0:03] Speaker 2: What does it mean to be Jersey Made? Maybe it's
[0:06] Speaker 2: growing up close enough to see the biggest city in
[0:09] Speaker 2: the world, but far enough away to know no one
[0:13] Speaker 2: is coming to hand you anything. Around here, you learn
[0:18] Speaker 2: early that if you want something, you build it. You
[0:22] Speaker 2: earn it. You make people notice. That's been the Jersey
[0:27] Speaker 2: story for generations. And it's Danny Clinch's story, too. Danny
[0:33] Speaker 2: grew up in Tom's River before setting out with a
[0:36] Speaker 2: camera and an instinct for capturing something most photographers can't teach.
[0:43] Speaker 1: Trust.
[0:45] Speaker 2: It's a quality that has opened doors few ever get
[0:48] Speaker 2: to walk through, allowing him to document Bruce Springsteen, Tupac Shakur,
[0:54] Speaker 2: Pearl Jam, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and countless others. Not
[1:01] Speaker 2: just as performers, but as people. He's also directed acclaimed
[1:06] Speaker 2: concert films and documentaries and published books. But after all
[1:12] Speaker 2: those years documenting music history, Danny came home. Today, his
[1:17] Speaker 2: gallery in Asbury Park has become a gathering place for
[1:22] Speaker 2: artists and music lovers from around the world. Through the
[1:26] Speaker 2: See Here Now Festival, he's helped write a new chapter
[1:30] Speaker 2: in New Jersey's musical story. Because sometimes the greatest measure
[1:35] Speaker 2: of success isn't how far you go. It's what you
[1:38] Speaker 2: choose to build when you come back. This is Jersey Made.
[1:50] Speaker 1: Jersey Made. Danny Clinch, welcome to Jersey Made. Jersey Made.
[1:55] Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
[1:58] Speaker 2: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tupac Shakur, Pearl Jam,
[2:03] Speaker 2: Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton. You have spent more than 30
[2:07] Speaker 2: years photographing some of the most iconic artists in the world.
[2:11] Speaker 2: But before any of that, you were a kid growing
[2:14] Speaker 2: up in Toms River, New Jersey.
[2:16] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[2:17] Speaker 2: And we've heard you talk about your dad, this blue-collar
[2:20] Speaker 2: Jersey guy, and how when you listen to Springsteen's early records,
[2:24] Speaker 2: you actually recognize your father's life and some of those characters.
[2:28] Speaker 2: Take us back there. What was the clinch there? Household
[2:32] Speaker 2: like and what kind of kid were you growing up
[2:35] Speaker 2: in Tom's River?
[2:37] Speaker 3: Well, um, the clinch household was a very welcoming household.
[2:42] Speaker 3: I will say that My dad was a house painter
[2:45] Speaker 3: He and my mom were both very welcoming and not
[2:50] Speaker 3: non-judgmental people they had a lot of friends from all
[2:54] Speaker 3: different walks of life and My dad worked many jobs,
[2:59] Speaker 3: you know, aside from painting houses. At times he was
[3:02] Speaker 3: washing dishes. At times he was, you know, when it snowed,
[3:05] Speaker 3: we would all go, you know, out and shovel snow
[3:08] Speaker 3: to make an extra buck. My dad used to buy
[3:12] Speaker 3: and sell, you know, used cars. He'd find a car
[3:16] Speaker 3: for a really low price, and then he would bring
[3:19] Speaker 3: it home in the garage with my cousins, and he would,
[3:22] Speaker 3: you know, change the oil, the points, the plugs, and
[3:25] Speaker 3: give it a little paint job, you know, type thing. Uh,
[3:28] Speaker 3: he was, um, you know, when I think back to
[3:32] Speaker 3: the Springsteen songs that remind me of him, uh, growing
[3:35] Speaker 3: up is definitely one of those, uh, the idea of
[3:38] Speaker 3: when they said, sit down, I stood up, uh, you know,
[3:42] Speaker 3: my father was that guy. Uh, he was a kindhearted
[3:44] Speaker 3: person though. He was, um, not a troublemaker in that sense. Um, but, uh,
[3:50] Speaker 3: kind of an outsider, uh, character.
[3:54] Speaker 2: Two things seemed to show up pretty early in your life,
[3:57] Speaker 2: music and photography, and eventually you found a way to
[4:01] Speaker 2: bring those two worlds so brilliantly together. Where did each
[4:06] Speaker 2: of those come from? Was there music and art in
[4:09] Speaker 2: your house growing up, or were those things you discovered
[4:12] Speaker 2: on your own?
[4:13] Speaker 3: There was a lot of music in the house. It
[4:18] Speaker 3: was often 50s music that my parents both loved. They
[4:26] Speaker 3: had become parents when they were really young, my mom
[4:30] Speaker 3: and dad. When I was born in 64, they weren't
[4:36] Speaker 3: out discovering the Stones and the Beatles. They were still
[4:40] Speaker 3: listening to the vocal groups of the 50s and Elvis
[4:44] Speaker 3: and the Big Bopper, Richie Valens, stuff like that. That
[4:49] Speaker 3: was a lot of the stuff that was being played.
[4:52] Speaker 3: at our house. And my, I re I do recall, uh,
[4:54] Speaker 3: as a kid, um, you know, my mom and dad
[4:58] Speaker 3: had a, uh, an eight track that was, you know,
[5:01] Speaker 3: the hits of the fifties with all those artists I
[5:04] Speaker 3: just mentioned and buddy Holly and, you know, and the likes. And, um,
[5:09] Speaker 3: every time we, you know, got a new used car, uh,
[5:13] Speaker 3: which is also a Springsteen reference, um, we would, uh,
[5:17] Speaker 3: you know, take that eight track with us. everywhere we went.
[5:21] Speaker 3: So those songs, I know by heart, they're part of
[5:24] Speaker 3: my DNA. And so I just used to have a
[5:27] Speaker 3: love of music, I guess, early on. And I, It
[5:30] Speaker 3: turned out that both of my grandfathers loved to photograph.
[5:37] Speaker 3: My grandfather, even though on my dad's side, didn't really
[5:43] Speaker 3: have a lot of means and a lot of cash.
[5:47] Speaker 3: There were a lot of photos of his family, and
[5:49] Speaker 3: my dad had... you know, six brothers and sisters. And,
[5:53] Speaker 3: you know, there was, but there was all these photos.
[5:55] Speaker 3: And I thought to myself, I asked my dad at
[5:57] Speaker 3: one point, you know, how they ended up with all
[6:00] Speaker 3: these photos. And she said, he said, well, you know,
[6:01] Speaker 3: your grandfather loved, you know, to take photographs. And I said,
[6:04] Speaker 3: but he's in a lot of the photographs. And he
[6:07] Speaker 3: was like, well, yeah, if you look at his hands
[6:10] Speaker 3: he always has his hands behind his back because he
[6:12] Speaker 3: had fashioned you know some monofilament or fishing string you
[6:17] Speaker 3: know to a camera on a tripod and he is
[6:19] Speaker 3: just like click click you know type thing so um
[6:23] Speaker 3: that was cool and then my mom's uh dad also
[6:26] Speaker 3: loved photography and so did my mom my mom really
[6:28] Speaker 3: was the queen of the snapshots and we have uh
[6:32] Speaker 3: piles upon piles of photo albums to prove it. And
[6:37] Speaker 3: she was really my biggest inspiration because she always had
[6:40] Speaker 3: a camera. And I was like, you know what? I
[6:41] Speaker 3: need a camera. And I remember as a kid going
[6:44] Speaker 3: to this, you know, garage sale down the road, you know,
[6:47] Speaker 3: little yard sale. And I just remember a blanket spread
[6:51] Speaker 3: out in my neighbor's yard. And, you know, there was
[6:53] Speaker 3: a bunch of items on it. And one of them
[6:54] Speaker 3: was like a little Keystone snapshot camera. And I bought
[6:59] Speaker 3: it and started taking photos as a young kid.
[7:03] Speaker 2: There's a point earlier in your career that really caught
[7:06] Speaker 2: my attention. You get this opportunity to work with the
[7:09] Speaker 2: legendary Annie Leibovitz, and you said you don't consider that
[7:14] Speaker 2: luck or simply being in the right place at the
[7:16] Speaker 2: right time.
[7:16] Speaker 1: You said, and I.
[7:17] Speaker 2: Quote, I put myself in the position for Annie to
[7:21] Speaker 2: see how hard I work and how passionate I am
[7:25] Speaker 2: about photography. Tell us about putting yourself in that position.
[7:30] Speaker 1: Position.
[7:31] Speaker 2: What did you do to make sure that first opportunity
[7:34] Speaker 2: didn't pass you by? Yeah.
[7:36] Speaker 3: I mean, people would say to me like, oh, you're
[7:40] Speaker 3: so lucky. And I'm like, well, no, I'm not lucky, actually.
[7:45] Speaker 3: I worked really hard to put myself in the position.
[7:47] Speaker 3: And how I did it was actually at the time,
[7:50] Speaker 3: my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, Maria,
[7:52] Speaker 3: had gone to London to study Shakespeare and study abroad.
[7:59] Speaker 3: Most of the people in my family never went to
[8:02] Speaker 3: college and I had no idea you could go study abroad.
[8:05] Speaker 3: I got inspired by that and I started looking around
[8:08] Speaker 3: for some photographic workshops. I found a workshop that had
[8:14] Speaker 3: Annie Leibovitz and David Hockney as two of the instructors.
[8:17] Speaker 3: David Hockney had just finished a book of Polaroids and
[8:20] Speaker 3: collages that he had made. And I was really intrigued
[8:23] Speaker 3: by it. And, and I just was a huge Annie
[8:26] Speaker 3: Leibovitz fan. And so when I went to the workshop,
[8:29] Speaker 3: what I did was I, there was, I think four
[8:32] Speaker 3: or five other photographers there, one of them being David Hockney.
[8:36] Speaker 3: And I basically kind of skipped most of the classes
[8:39] Speaker 3: and went to the Hockney and the Annie Leibovitz, uh, um,
[8:42] Speaker 3: classes over and over again and befriended, uh, Annie's assistant
[8:47] Speaker 3: at the time, a guy named Dave Rose, who, um,
[8:50] Speaker 3: who basically said, you know, Annie told me to keep
[8:54] Speaker 3: my eyes open for someone that could intern at the
[8:58] Speaker 3: studio in New York City. And so at the end
[9:00] Speaker 3: of the workshop, she asked me if I'd like to
[9:02] Speaker 3: do it. And of course, I just jumped at the chance.
[9:06] Speaker 2: Did you connect any of that, the work ethic, the
[9:10] Speaker 2: confidence that put yourself in the room to growing up
[9:15] Speaker 2: in New Jersey?
[9:17] Speaker 3: Oh yeah. I mean, you know, my family, my father,
[9:23] Speaker 3: you know, no one worked harder. He was constantly working. Um,
[9:29] Speaker 3: and he made the most of every, every opportunity that
[9:32] Speaker 3: he had. And as kids, we didn't know that we
[9:36] Speaker 3: didn't have any money. You know, when, when the holidays
[9:39] Speaker 3: or birthdays or something rolled around, we always had something.
[9:43] Speaker 3: And that could mean that my father, uh, went and
[9:46] Speaker 3: found a bicycle in the trash and brought it home
[9:49] Speaker 3: and painted it and fixed it up and gave it
[9:53] Speaker 3: to me for, you know, my birthday. and I think
[9:57] Speaker 3: also just like there's again I say my parents were
[10:03] Speaker 3: really kind and giving. And I feel like we have also,
[10:07] Speaker 3: I've been inspired by folks like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl
[10:11] Speaker 3: Jam and the band Phish and Dave Matthews. And just,
[10:14] Speaker 3: I could go on and on about Willie Nelson, you know,
[10:17] Speaker 3: just giving back to their community and caring about others.
[10:20] Speaker 3: And my parents really instilled that in me early on.
[10:23] Speaker 3: And so those are the type of people that I
[10:25] Speaker 3: sort of gravitated towards. also just kind of carries through, uh,
[10:30] Speaker 3: in my New Jersey roots, uh, you know, is the
[10:33] Speaker 3: fact that my wife and I always do the best
[10:37] Speaker 3: we can to be inclusive of people and to help
[10:41] Speaker 3: support those in need. Uh, and that, and that's, you know,
[10:44] Speaker 3: like when I was a kid, we had, uh, I
[10:47] Speaker 3: had All of my rogue cousins would come and live
[10:51] Speaker 3: at our house because they would be kicked out of
[10:53] Speaker 3: their own house and they would live with us. I
[10:56] Speaker 3: had two foster sisters. I had kids from the Fresh
[11:01] Speaker 3: Air Fund who would come down from the Bronx or
[11:06] Speaker 3: somewhere and live at our house in the summer, young
[11:08] Speaker 3: kids and stuff. So that's the cloth from which I
[11:12] Speaker 3: am cut.
[11:14] Speaker 2: You describe a photo shoot as a collaboration between you
[11:19] Speaker 2: and the artist.
[11:20] Speaker 1: And I find that really.
[11:22] Speaker 2: Interesting because you're often working with people who have a
[11:25] Speaker 2: very strong idea about who they are and how they
[11:30] Speaker 2: want the world to see them. So take us into
[11:34] Speaker 2: a situation when you walk into a shoot, how much
[11:36] Speaker 2: of the photograph is already in your head and how
[11:40] Speaker 2: much are you willing to throw away once you meet
[11:43] Speaker 2: that person standing in front of you?
[11:46] Speaker 3: That is a great question. I feel like I always
[11:52] Speaker 3: come prepared and I have a real solid idea of
[11:55] Speaker 3: what it is I want to do. And through my
[11:57] Speaker 3: conversations with the artists, maybe the name of the record,
[12:00] Speaker 3: some songs, what are the song titles, things like that.
[12:07] Speaker 3: And then I try to be prepared for something that
[12:10] Speaker 3: I really know is going to work. I'll send a
[12:12] Speaker 3: mood board over. to someone to give them my ideas.
[12:16] Speaker 3: And then I always am open-minded and I'm always wanting
[12:21] Speaker 3: to show up and be willing to turn on a
[12:25] Speaker 3: dime if I see something better. And that's what you're
[12:28] Speaker 3: hoping for. You're hoping to be prepared, show up. I
[12:31] Speaker 3: don't like to waste people's time trying to figure out
[12:34] Speaker 3: what it is I'm going to do. So I think
[12:36] Speaker 3: there's like some communication going on there. And then if
[12:39] Speaker 3: all of a sudden the light changes in the room
[12:41] Speaker 3: and it just starts streaming through a skylight somewhere and
[12:45] Speaker 3: I just want to chase it, I can, or if
[12:47] Speaker 3: the artist is like, you know, I had this sort
[12:48] Speaker 3: of a thought, you know, that might represent this record, uh,
[12:52] Speaker 3: you know, and there's a lot of emotion and energy or,
[12:55] Speaker 3: you know, I want to capture. And then all of
[12:57] Speaker 3: a sudden that sparks a different idea in my head
[13:00] Speaker 3: than I might've had. Um, but the fact is that
[13:03] Speaker 3: I'm always ready to, uh, um, you know, just to
[13:06] Speaker 3: kind of turn around and, and, and, uh, and, and
[13:09] Speaker 3: follow the muse.
[13:12] Speaker 2: You photograph some of the most recognizable people in the world. Uh,
[13:17] Speaker 2: but what strikes me about your, your brilliant photographs is
[13:20] Speaker 2: that they rarely feel like they're celebrity portraits. They feel personal. Uh,
[13:26] Speaker 2: sometimes it feels like you've been allowed into a moment.
[13:29] Speaker 2: We really weren't supposed to be at, um, How do
[13:33] Speaker 2: you earn that type of trust?
[13:37] Speaker 3: I think it's respect for people. I think you have
[13:40] Speaker 3: to go in and just be who you are. I
[13:44] Speaker 3: try not to I can really admire someone, you know,
[13:48] Speaker 3: and I, I just, and I can be, you know,
[13:52] Speaker 3: really nervous about it too, but I just, I just
[13:55] Speaker 3: try to be myself and, uh, you know, I like
[13:57] Speaker 3: to play some good music, uh, while I'm there. And
[14:01] Speaker 3: I also come from the, the world of like documentary photography,
[14:07] Speaker 3: journalism in a sense. And I'm trying to capture a moment.
[14:10] Speaker 3: I'm trying to trying to capture someone with their guard down,
[14:13] Speaker 3: you know, it's like you can dial in all the
[14:15] Speaker 3: things that are important, you know, great lighting, a perfect
[14:19] Speaker 3: location and things like that. But if you can't get
[14:22] Speaker 3: the artist or your subject to just sort of loosen
[14:27] Speaker 3: up and be a little distracted so that you can
[14:30] Speaker 3: really capture the true person, then you're, you know, you
[14:33] Speaker 3: kind of, you're not as successful as you'd hope to be.
[14:37] Speaker 2: You've spent more than 30 years documenting music history, sometimes
[14:42] Speaker 2: with this really incredible access to moments the rest of
[14:46] Speaker 2: us will never get to see.
[14:49] Speaker 1: Have you ever had a.
[14:49] Speaker 2: Moment when you actually lowered the camera and thought, I
[14:54] Speaker 2: don't want to photograph this, I just want to be here?
[14:57] Speaker 3: No. No, because I'm so obsessed with photographing and documenting
[15:04] Speaker 3: the musical history that I'm able to witness. So I
[15:11] Speaker 3: do say to myself, let me put my camera down
[15:14] Speaker 3: for a minute and just really appreciate this for sure.
[15:18] Speaker 3: But I don't ever think that I don't want to
[15:21] Speaker 3: photograph it.
[15:23] Speaker 2: You photograph people at extraordinary moments in their lives and
[15:27] Speaker 2: sometimes these vulnerable moments as well. Is there one photograph
[15:32] Speaker 2: that you've taken that has stayed with you in a
[15:36] Speaker 2: way that you never expected?
[15:37] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[15:40] Speaker 3: I did a photograph of Johnny Cash. I got to
[15:43] Speaker 3: photograph Johnny Cash. Who's, you know, as I said earlier,
[15:47] Speaker 3: how my family loved the fifties and, uh, sort of
[15:51] Speaker 3: the early rock and roll records, uh, of which I
[15:54] Speaker 3: think Johnny Cash made some, even though he's a country
[15:57] Speaker 3: artist in a, in a sense. Um, but we all
[16:00] Speaker 3: love Johnny Cash and I got to photograph Johnny Cash and,
[16:04] Speaker 3: It was in 1994. He, he wasn't, he had not
[16:08] Speaker 3: yet done the Rick Rubin, you know, records, which really
[16:12] Speaker 3: lifted him up again. He was kind of in a
[16:15] Speaker 3: quiet moment in his career. And, and I photographed him
[16:18] Speaker 3: for the cover of a acoustic guitar magazine and it
[16:22] Speaker 3: was a great shoot. He was really kind and he
[16:25] Speaker 3: was funny and he was, he had, you know, given
[16:28] Speaker 3: me his full attention. It was, it was a lovely
[16:30] Speaker 3: moment and we were done and it was before a show.
[16:34] Speaker 3: And I asked him if he would mind if I
[16:36] Speaker 3: just kind of documented him getting ready for the show
[16:39] Speaker 3: and about to hit the stage and that. And he agreed.
[16:42] Speaker 3: He said, yeah, yeah, absolutely. You can. And so there's
[16:47] Speaker 3: a moment. you know, where he was about to hit
[16:51] Speaker 3: the stage and he was standing in the hallway and
[16:53] Speaker 3: he had his guitar and he was just looking down and,
[16:56] Speaker 3: you know, I could hear his hype man out there,
[16:59] Speaker 3: you know, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the show?
[17:01] Speaker 3: You know, you're about to see, you know, the greatest,
[17:04] Speaker 3: you know, his greatest recording artist, you know, the man
[17:09] Speaker 3: in black. And, and I snapped this photo of him.
[17:13] Speaker 3: And when Rick Rubin made the first, I was so
[17:19] Speaker 3: happy that he had made this record and that it
[17:22] Speaker 3: had lifted up Johnny Cash again, that I sent him
[17:25] Speaker 3: this photograph of Johnny Cash in the hallway. And I said,
[17:30] Speaker 3: thank you for reminding people how valuable this man's music
[17:35] Speaker 3: is and his talent. And so... they started making the
[17:39] Speaker 3: second record and long story short, Rick called me and said,
[17:42] Speaker 3: we're making this new record. It's called solitary man. And
[17:45] Speaker 3: everybody that comes in my studio sees this photograph that
[17:49] Speaker 3: you sent me. Cause I've hung it up in my studio.
[17:51] Speaker 3: And everybody said, if you're calling this record solitary man,
[17:55] Speaker 3: like this is the album cover. Um, and so, uh,
[17:59] Speaker 3: they did use it and some of my other photos
[18:01] Speaker 3: in it as well. And, and that, That's just been
[18:04] Speaker 3: really special to me because to have an album cover
[18:08] Speaker 3: on a Johnny Cash record was just, you know, meant
[18:10] Speaker 3: so much to me because it meant so much to
[18:12] Speaker 3: my family. And so that one has really stayed with me.
[18:15] Speaker 3: And it's also kind of a testament to the shoot
[18:18] Speaker 3: was great. And I did what I came to do,
[18:20] Speaker 3: do a magazine cover with portraits and all that. But
[18:25] Speaker 3: I went the extra mile and hung around and I
[18:26] Speaker 3: just grabbed this really, I think, personal moment, you know,
[18:30] Speaker 3: that everybody loved, including myself.
[18:35] Speaker 2: We'll be right back with more of the Jersey made podcast.
[18:38] Speaker 2: And don't forget to check out music.
[18:39] Speaker 1: Save me and comedy. Save me.
[18:49] Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Jersey made podcast with buzz night.
[18:54] Speaker 2: There's another part of the story, your story that I,
[18:57] Speaker 2: that I love. You've said that you first started playing
[19:00] Speaker 2: harmonica as a kid and that your grandfather was, had one.
[19:04] Speaker 2: What do you remember about first picking up the harmonica,
[19:07] Speaker 2: and when did it become something you really started taking seriously?
[19:11] Speaker 3: I'm wearing my Tangiers shirt, as you can see. You know,
[19:18] Speaker 3: I remember my grandfather giving me a harmonica, and I
[19:21] Speaker 3: felt like my memory is that I was a lot
[19:23] Speaker 3: younger and I I'm sure I was when he gave
[19:25] Speaker 3: me the first one, but I recently, my, my nephew
[19:28] Speaker 3: was digging through some old photo albums and he found
[19:31] Speaker 3: a photograph of my, my grandfather and I playing together.
[19:36] Speaker 3: And we each had a harmonica and I look like
[19:38] Speaker 3: I'm about 13, maybe in the photo 14 or so. And,
[19:42] Speaker 3: you know, I just remember learning to play like, Oh,
[19:45] Speaker 3: Susanna and, you know, Michael row your boat ashore type stuff.
[19:49] Speaker 3: But yeah, I think that like, I always loved, you know,
[19:53] Speaker 3: before I got really into the blues, um, you know,
[19:58] Speaker 3: deeper into the blues. I always loved blues, bass, rock
[20:01] Speaker 3: and roll. You know, I love the Allman brothers and
[20:03] Speaker 3: Led Zeppelin and stuff like that. And so I always
[20:08] Speaker 3: just really enjoyed it. And I was working with a
[20:10] Speaker 3: photographer named Timothy White, who's also from New Jersey. You
[20:14] Speaker 3: might want to check in with him. He's got a
[20:16] Speaker 3: new book, actually an autobiography that just came out. And
[20:21] Speaker 3: he's photographed all sorts of celebrities and musicians and stuff.
[20:24] Speaker 3: And I worked for him as an assistant, and he's
[20:28] Speaker 3: been a mentor to me. And we would be sitting
[20:31] Speaker 3: in a van waiting for Paul McCartney to come out
[20:34] Speaker 3: of the hotel, and an hour would turn into four
[20:38] Speaker 3: hours of waiting. And his other assistant, Timothy, and his assistant, Russell—
[20:45] Speaker 3: were just way into like all sorts of early gospel, blues, jazz,
[20:51] Speaker 3: R & B, you know, like, you know, original rock
[20:55] Speaker 3: and roll and stuff. So they were always playing this
[20:58] Speaker 3: stuff that I had never heard. And I was like, wow,
[21:01] Speaker 3: it turned me on to the blues, like in a
[21:02] Speaker 3: way that I had never anticipated. I mean, I knew
[21:05] Speaker 3: who Muddy Waters was, but man, I just did not
[21:07] Speaker 3: know who you know junior wells was or robert johnson
[21:11] Speaker 3: or uh buddy guy and and helen wolf and all
[21:15] Speaker 3: these incredible artists that they kept turning me on to
[21:18] Speaker 3: and then i realized how much i love that music
[21:20] Speaker 3: and and so i started to we would be sitting
[21:24] Speaker 3: you know in in these uh vans waiting for people
[21:27] Speaker 3: and i so i was like i think i'm going
[21:29] Speaker 3: to grab my harmonicas that i kind of have you
[21:31] Speaker 3: know sitting in a box somewhere i'll bring them along
[21:34] Speaker 3: because we're just sitting there and i'll play along to
[21:36] Speaker 3: this music and i did that and then i ended
[21:39] Speaker 3: up getting uh some lessons out of the village voice
[21:43] Speaker 3: you know before the internet i found a guy adam
[21:46] Speaker 3: gusow in the village voice and and i just started
[21:49] Speaker 3: paying him to show up in washington square park and
[21:52] Speaker 3: give me some harmonica lessons and From there, I met
[21:56] Speaker 3: these guys who had a band called Danger Man. They
[21:59] Speaker 3: had done a record. Brendan O'Brien produced the record and
[22:05] Speaker 3: they got to choose the photographer and they saw my
[22:08] Speaker 3: book of photographs, which not only included rock and roll
[22:11] Speaker 3: and Johnny Cash, but it also included a lot of
[22:13] Speaker 3: early hip hop, Nas and Public Enemy and LL Cool
[22:17] Speaker 3: J and that and And they loved it. And so
[22:21] Speaker 3: I went up to visit them to talk about, you know,
[22:24] Speaker 3: what we were going to do for the photo shoot.
[22:26] Speaker 3: And we got into the conversation of blues and they said, yeah,
[22:29] Speaker 3: we're going to, you know, come up and jam with us.
[22:31] Speaker 3: And so I did. And then, you know, before you
[22:33] Speaker 3: know it, we started the Tangier's Blues Band and that
[22:35] Speaker 3: was 30 years ago.
[22:39] Speaker 2: And then take us to Woodstock 94. You're there to
[22:42] Speaker 2: photograph Blind Melon. Not to perform with them, but Shannon
[22:46] Speaker 2: Hoon asked you to come out and play harmonica on change.
[22:49] Speaker 1: In front of that crowd.
[22:50] Speaker 2: And you said to him, I've only played in front
[22:53] Speaker 2: of family and friends at backyard barbecues. And Shannon looks
[22:57] Speaker 2: at you and says, Danny, it's all just one big barbecue.
[23:01] Speaker 2: Tell us about that performance.
[23:04] Speaker 3: Well, it all starts, surprisingly, in New Jersey, where Blind
[23:10] Speaker 3: Melon was playing at the Garden State Arts Center. Blind Melon, Soundgarden,
[23:16] Speaker 3: and Neil Young. And that's when I said to Shannon
[23:20] Speaker 3: that I had only played at a barbecue. And he said, Danny,
[23:24] Speaker 3: come up and play with us. It's all just one
[23:26] Speaker 3: big barbecue. Because I was like, I'm not coming up
[23:28] Speaker 3: to play with you guys. It's Soundgarden and Neil Young.
[23:30] Speaker 3: I mean, you don't want me to come up. And
[23:33] Speaker 3: he said, no, it's just it's all one big barbecue.
[23:35] Speaker 3: Come on, come on. So I did. And that was
[23:37] Speaker 3: the start of, you know, me actually playing on stage.
[23:41] Speaker 3: And it was it was terrifying. And but I had
[23:45] Speaker 3: so much fun. I kind of just really enjoyed it.
[23:49] Speaker 3: And then when they did Woodstock, they said, you know,
[23:50] Speaker 3: you're going to come up. and we're going to do change,
[23:53] Speaker 3: and I'll call you right halfway through the song when
[23:57] Speaker 3: your solo is about to come. I'll invite you out.
[23:59] Speaker 3: I did. I walked out there, and I don't know
[24:02] Speaker 3: that I'll ever play a better solo in my life
[24:04] Speaker 3: because I must have been channeling some kind of spirits
[24:07] Speaker 3: or something because I nailed it and I wasn't that
[24:10] Speaker 3: good of a harmonica player. For sure. But you can
[24:15] Speaker 3: see it on YouTube. It's easy to find. The song
[24:18] Speaker 3: is called Change. And I don't come out until halfway
[24:22] Speaker 3: through the song. But it's pretty epic.
[24:26] Speaker 1: But this wasn't a one-off.
[24:29] Speaker 4: You found yourself on stage with Pearl Jam and the
[24:33] Speaker 4: Foo Fighters, Leon Bridges, Jason Isbell, some of the same
[24:38] Speaker 4: artists that you photograph.
[24:40] Speaker 1: Do you ever... Look at those moments and go.
[24:43] Speaker 2: How did this kid from Tom's River end up here?
[24:47] Speaker 3: I do all the time. I think it's a testament
[24:51] Speaker 3: to art in general and friendship and respect for people.
[24:58] Speaker 3: I'm certain that I'm not invited up there because I'm
[25:01] Speaker 3: the greatest harmonica player in the world. I'm invited up
[25:04] Speaker 3: there because we have relationships and, and, uh, people to
[25:09] Speaker 3: play music with people is, is a very personal, um, experience.
[25:13] Speaker 3: And it's, it's something that, um, I don't take lightly.
[25:17] Speaker 3: And I just, I really feel so honored to, to, uh,
[25:20] Speaker 3: to do. And I recently, um, I recently sat in
[25:25] Speaker 3: with Gary Clark jr. Uh, at the count Basie. Um, and, uh, I, man,
[25:30] Speaker 3: it was just, I felt like it was the, one
[25:33] Speaker 3: of the best, uh, songs i ever played on like
[25:37] Speaker 3: live in front of an audience like he he's just
[25:40] Speaker 3: he's so generous and and kind and like he invited
[25:44] Speaker 3: me up and we just had like this blues jam
[25:46] Speaker 3: that was like unbelievable Um, but I feel that way
[25:49] Speaker 3: about a lot of things and, and, uh, and you know,
[25:52] Speaker 3: the blues band, we know every year at see here now, um,
[25:55] Speaker 3: we do, um, a pop-up transparent clinch gallery, uh, at
[26:00] Speaker 3: see here now. And, um, but we also did the
[26:03] Speaker 3: 10 years blues band plays the late night show at
[26:06] Speaker 3: the stone pony. And we invite the artists that are
[26:08] Speaker 3: playing the festival, um, to come and sit in with
[26:10] Speaker 3: us and um uh you know a few years ago
[26:14] Speaker 3: when bruce played uh the festival he came over uh
[26:18] Speaker 3: after saying that he wasn't he didn't think he was
[26:20] Speaker 3: going to make it because uh you know he had
[26:21] Speaker 3: been so busy wrapping up the tour and then he
[26:25] Speaker 3: called me last minute and he was like danny i'm
[26:28] Speaker 3: gonna come out to the jam are the boys ready
[26:33] Speaker 3: I said, Oh, the boys are ready. What are we
[26:35] Speaker 3: going to do? And he had sat in with us before.
[26:37] Speaker 3: So we knew like what his style was and what
[26:40] Speaker 3: songs he liked to do. And I asked him and we,
[26:42] Speaker 3: we of course did a big wood shedding event and
[26:47] Speaker 3: practiced so that we were ready for him. And you know,
[26:51] Speaker 3: of course that's a highlight for everyone. Cause nobody leads
[26:53] Speaker 3: a band like Bruce Springsteen. And when you're in the band,
[26:56] Speaker 3: you're like, wow.
[26:59] Speaker 2: Now, when you first imagined C here now, what did
[27:01] Speaker 2: you want people to understand or maybe feel about this
[27:06] Speaker 2: great place?
[27:07] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[27:08] Speaker 3: Well, you know, my buddy Tim Donnelly and I, he's
[27:12] Speaker 3: my partner as well with H.M. Wollman and Tim Sweetwood
[27:17] Speaker 3: from C3. Tim Donnelly and I, like, had this idea. Like,
[27:21] Speaker 3: we both grew up, you know, in Tom's River. He
[27:23] Speaker 3: grew up in Silverton. I grew up in Tom's River
[27:25] Speaker 3: in Belcrest. And we were like, you know, it was
[27:29] Speaker 3: interesting cause you know, we connected over music, him and I,
[27:34] Speaker 3: our love of music and, and, and, you know, um,
[27:37] Speaker 3: we just went to the first Lollapalooza together. He had
[27:41] Speaker 3: gotten an assignment from, uh, a surf rider, um, foundation and, and,
[27:47] Speaker 3: you know, he and I are both, you know, we're
[27:49] Speaker 3: both boogie boogie boarders, you know, spongers, uh, you know,
[27:52] Speaker 3: body boarders, uh, and we're always in the ocean. I
[27:56] Speaker 3: was a life, a lifeguard on the ocean. He worked
[27:58] Speaker 3: on the beach, uh, Like, we were just all about
[28:00] Speaker 3: music and surfing, really, and art. And so we carried
[28:08] Speaker 3: that forward. And yeah, he had gotten an assignment from
[28:12] Speaker 3: Surfrider in 1992 to interview Eddie Vedder. And he said,
[28:18] Speaker 3: come along and bring your cameras. I'm going to get
[28:19] Speaker 3: to spend some time with Eddie. And Pearl Jam had
[28:22] Speaker 3: just put out their first record, and people were excited
[28:25] Speaker 3: about it, but we didn't even really know that much
[28:27] Speaker 3: about them. And anyway, fast forward many years, and we
[28:32] Speaker 3: came up with this idea, because I was like 20
[28:34] Speaker 3: years of photographing Bonnaroo. that music festival, I had been
[28:41] Speaker 3: to outside lands. I had been to Lollapalooza. I had
[28:44] Speaker 3: been to so many different music festivals. Um, and, uh,
[28:48] Speaker 3: we thought we could do something cool, you know, something
[28:51] Speaker 3: about art, music, surfing. And then, um, Mumford and Sons
[28:55] Speaker 3: came through and did this thing called gentlemen of the
[28:57] Speaker 3: road where they came into communities and played, um, where
[29:01] Speaker 3: people needed an influx of cash for whatever reason. And
[29:05] Speaker 3: we had just had a really big storm in New Jersey.
[29:08] Speaker 3: And we had also just had a big fire down
[29:10] Speaker 3: at the south end of the boardwalk. So they came
[29:14] Speaker 3: and did this show and, and Tim, Tim and I
[29:17] Speaker 3: saw it and we were like, wow, this is exactly
[29:19] Speaker 3: what we would hope to do someday. And sure enough,
[29:24] Speaker 3: We put a one sheet together and after several people
[29:27] Speaker 3: turned us down, Tim Sweetwood, who lived in Atlanta, said,
[29:32] Speaker 3: let me fly up and see the site that you're
[29:34] Speaker 3: talking about. And we said, oh, okay. i mean the
[29:38] Speaker 3: one guy you know we had talked with other people
[29:40] Speaker 3: but he's like i'm gonna fly up and come to
[29:42] Speaker 3: asbury park so he comes comes up and we're standing
[29:45] Speaker 3: on the boardwalk you know just north of convention hall
[29:48] Speaker 3: in asbury and he looks around and he's like this
[29:50] Speaker 3: is incredible Like I've been putting on a festival in Atlanta,
[29:55] Speaker 3: you know, for years and I have to build the
[29:57] Speaker 3: vibe out of, you know, I'm in a park in
[29:59] Speaker 3: the middle of Atlanta in the middle of a city.
[30:01] Speaker 3: I have to create a vibe. He's like, this is
[30:03] Speaker 3: already a vibe and this is incredible. And so, um,
[30:08] Speaker 3: he made it happen, you know, Tim, Tim Sweetwood made
[30:11] Speaker 3: it happen. And the funny story that I love to tell,
[30:13] Speaker 3: and I'll just, I'll try and keep this short is that, um,
[30:17] Speaker 3: I think at the time that he came up to
[30:19] Speaker 3: see the first time it was, I think the Asbury
[30:24] Speaker 3: park film festival was happening at the time. He came
[30:27] Speaker 3: to town. We had our meeting. We went to dinner.
[30:30] Speaker 3: We came back to see the film festival and Bruce
[30:35] Speaker 3: showed up and played at convention hall or, um, actually
[30:40] Speaker 3: the Paramount theater. So Bruce, People come to Asbury Park,
[30:45] Speaker 3: myself included, after living in New Jersey. I had gone
[30:51] Speaker 3: 20,000 times over 20 years trying to see Bruce Springsteen
[30:54] Speaker 3: play in Asbury Park. And it took me that long
[30:57] Speaker 3: to catch him. Tim shows up. First time he's there,
[31:03] Speaker 3: Bruce Springsteen plays in Asbury Park and he sees it.
[31:06] Speaker 3: Next time he comes through just to confirm we got
[31:09] Speaker 3: everything covered, we're going to do this. Bruce Springsteen plays
[31:13] Speaker 3: again in Asbury Park, like at the Stone Pony or something.
[31:17] Speaker 3: The first three times that he came to Asbury Park,
[31:22] Speaker 3: he saw Bruce Springsteen play. It was just phenomenal. We
[31:25] Speaker 3: were just like, okay, this is an omen. This is
[31:28] Speaker 3: all good stuff for us. And here we are, of course,
[31:32] Speaker 3: and then we were able to get Bruce to play
[31:34] Speaker 3: the festival and that, so.
[31:38] Speaker 1: Your career has taken you all over the world.
[31:40] Speaker 2: You photographed some of the biggest artists on the planet
[31:44] Speaker 2: and have access to these places most people could only
[31:48] Speaker 2: dream about. But when it came to build something of
[31:52] Speaker 2: your own, you chose Asbury Park, New Jersey.
[31:56] Speaker 1: Why was it.
[31:56] Speaker 2: Important for you to do it right there?
[32:01] Speaker 3: You know, I mean, I love New Jersey. And Asbury
[32:04] Speaker 3: is just such a strong music and art community place.
[32:07] Speaker 3: It kind of found me at the same time. When
[32:11] Speaker 3: it comes to my gallery there, the Transparent Clinch Gallery,
[32:17] Speaker 3: I had already done a couple of gallery things there
[32:22] Speaker 3: in Asbury. In fact, my nephew sent me some photos
[32:24] Speaker 3: of his son at one of my first galleries in
[32:30] Speaker 3: Asbury Park, which was a pop-up. in the Grand Arcade there,
[32:35] Speaker 3: right where the convention hall and the Paramount Theater are.
[32:39] Speaker 3: And I took one of those little rooms and I
[32:40] Speaker 3: put up a bunch of my photographs and I had
[32:44] Speaker 3: Stringbean and the Stalkers come out and have a little
[32:47] Speaker 3: jam out there. It was almost like a precursor to
[32:51] Speaker 3: what we have now with Transparent Clinch Gallery. But I
[32:55] Speaker 3: did a gallery there. Tim Donnelly and I did a
[32:58] Speaker 3: gallery show of Bruce Springsteen on his 60th birthday. Um,
[33:04] Speaker 3: you know, still Asbury was pretty, pretty bleak at the time.
[33:08] Speaker 3: And we easily rented a space out on the boardwalk.
[33:12] Speaker 3: That was a yoga studio. And I put up a huge, uh,
[33:15] Speaker 3: Bruce Springsteen show of my images. Then I guess when
[33:18] Speaker 3: they were building the, um, uh, Asbury ocean club, they
[33:22] Speaker 3: had already built the Asbury hotel, which I love. And
[33:27] Speaker 3: they had this big space. And at the end of
[33:31] Speaker 3: the East end of the Asbury hotel that, they weren't
[33:33] Speaker 3: using and somebody came up to me and said, Hey,
[33:36] Speaker 3: we'd love to, to have you put a little pop-up
[33:40] Speaker 3: gallery in here. We don't really like the space being empty.
[33:42] Speaker 3: We think it would be great to have a little
[33:44] Speaker 3: gallery show there if you're interested. And Maria and I
[33:47] Speaker 3: were standing there and we were like at first hesitant
[33:50] Speaker 3: to do it, but they were so accommodating with what
[33:53] Speaker 3: they offered us. The star properties people just kept saying, yeah,
[33:58] Speaker 3: whatever you need. And so we, we, We partnered with
[34:02] Speaker 3: Tina Karekis, who had just lost her lease on the
[34:05] Speaker 3: boardwalk in another space, and she was looking for her
[34:07] Speaker 3: next move. And we all were just like, yeah, let's
[34:10] Speaker 3: do this. So it started out as a very casual
[34:14] Speaker 3: pop-up for a couple of months, and we started to
[34:18] Speaker 3: immediately put some live music in there and have some
[34:20] Speaker 3: community events. Now we're there nine years, and we really,
[34:27] Speaker 3: I feel like, have become... a destination place for people
[34:31] Speaker 3: who love, uh, music and rock and roll and hip hop. And, uh,
[34:35] Speaker 3: you know, and anytime there's like a Springsteen shows in
[34:38] Speaker 3: the area, we get an influx of people from all
[34:40] Speaker 3: over the world. Same with Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters.
[34:44] Speaker 3: People come from all over the world and they, they, uh,
[34:46] Speaker 3: you know, come and hang out with us and it's
[34:48] Speaker 3: become a community living room, uh, to a certain extent.
[34:52] Speaker 3: And I think we also, again, we're always doing, uh,
[34:56] Speaker 3: you know, fundraisers for the community. Um, and, uh, you know,
[35:00] Speaker 3: we just did one recently when the fish, uh, guys
[35:04] Speaker 3: played Madison square garden. Um, we, we are, you know,
[35:08] Speaker 3: giving some of the proceeds to the divided sky foundation,
[35:12] Speaker 3: which Trey Anastasio had started for, uh, uh, people that
[35:16] Speaker 3: need help with addiction. Um, and, uh, and now when
[35:20] Speaker 3: my friend Glenn Hansard, who just passed away, uh, recently
[35:24] Speaker 3: we did a print sale, uh, and we're going to
[35:26] Speaker 3: donate some of the proceeds to the Simon. I wish
[35:32] Speaker 3: I could remember the exact phrasing for this, but it's
[35:34] Speaker 3: the one that the family recommended where it really looks
[35:38] Speaker 3: after people who need housing in Dublin.
[35:43] Speaker 2: Got a few rapid-fire questions to close with, Danny.
[35:46] Speaker 3: Your questions are great, by the way, and I really
[35:49] Speaker 3: appreciate that you did your research and that you had
[35:51] Speaker 3: some really succinct and really great questions. Thank you.
[35:55] Speaker 1: Thank you. Uh, first concert.
[35:58] Speaker 3: Oh, well, the one that pops out, I think it
[36:02] Speaker 3: might've been the Charlie Daniels band at Six Flags Great
[36:04] Speaker 3: Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.
[36:07] Speaker 1: First record you bought with your own money.
[36:10] Speaker 3: Um, I would say I won, uh, one of two records.
[36:16] Speaker 3: I can never really put my finger on which one,
[36:18] Speaker 3: but you know, when you go to the boardwalk in
[36:20] Speaker 3: New Jersey and Seaside Heights and you put your quarter
[36:22] Speaker 3: down and they spin the, they spin the wheel. And
[36:27] Speaker 3: round and round she goes. Where she stops, no one knows.
[36:31] Speaker 3: And you try to win a record. And I won
[36:36] Speaker 3: Born to Run. And I also won the Fleetwood Mac
[36:41] Speaker 3: Rumors record. So it was one of those.
[36:45] Speaker 1: One musician you never photographed but wish you had.
[36:48] Speaker 3: Prince.
[36:50] Speaker 1: Favorite New Jersey diner.
[36:52] Speaker 2: Oh.
[36:56] Speaker 3: Franks.
[36:57] Speaker 1: Favorite New Jersey pizza?
[37:00] Speaker 3: Oh, New Jersey pizza. Well, I'm going to go Maruca's.
[37:07] Speaker 1: The most Jersey song ever recorded?
[37:11] Speaker 3: I'm just going to go with Tom Waits' Jersey Girl.
[37:15] Speaker 1: Camera or harmonica? You can only bring one.
[37:19] Speaker 3: Oh, geez. You know, that's a great question. I often
[37:26] Speaker 3: don't leave home without either, but I guess it would
[37:31] Speaker 3: depend on where I'm going, but I have to say
[37:34] Speaker 3: at this point in my life, it's the harmonica.
[37:37] Speaker 2: And when you are bringing a camera with you along
[37:41] Speaker 2: the way, what's your camera of choice just so you
[37:44] Speaker 2: have it and it's easy to be with you?
[37:47] Speaker 3: Leica M10R.
[37:50] Speaker 2: Always curious, always looking for something new. Always passionate about art, music, photography.
[37:59] Speaker 2: Danny Clinch, you are Jersey Made. Thank you for being on.
[38:03] Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. I feel really Jersey too
[38:07] Speaker 3: these days because my wife and I have a tomato
[38:12] Speaker 3: garden out in the back and they're just starting to
[38:14] Speaker 3: come in now. So we're sitting down at dinner and
[38:18] Speaker 3: carving up some Jersey tomatoes and really feeling like we're
[38:21] Speaker 3: Jersey people.
[38:23] Speaker 1: The corn's not too bad either.
[38:26] Speaker 3: No, but I'm not growing that.
[38:30] Speaker 2: I'm Buzz Knight, and thanks for listening to the Jersey
[38:33] Speaker 2: Made Podcast. Please check out our companion podcasts from Buzz
[38:37] Speaker 2: Knight Media Productions, Taking a Walk, which I host, Music
[38:40] Speaker 2: Saved Me and Comedy Saved Me, hosted by Lynn Hoffman,
[38:43] Speaker 2: Taking a Walk Nashville, hosted by Sarah Harrelson. All of
[38:47] Speaker 2: the shows are part of the iHeart Podcast Network. and
[38:50] Speaker 2: they're available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you
[38:54] Speaker 2: get your podcasts.

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