Minkin's Music: A guiding light

By Jay Minkin

There are lighthouses in Cleveland and they don’t necessarily stand on the shoreline of Lake Erie. Chad Cochran, aka “Cowtown Chad,” is one of those bright lights who has become an ambassador of Northeast Ohio within the international Americana Roots music community.

Born in Fredericktown and now residing in Cleveland, Chad uses his artistic eye to capture decaying barns, homes, and vintage signs with beautiful photographs as a connection to memories growing up in a small town. His love for music inspired him to branch out into concert photography with his work published in several national magazines, album artwork, and billboards as well as archived at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Over the last two years, Chad has been doing informal shoots that he calls “on-the-fly” portraits using only available light and natural surroundings. Besides being great pictures, Chad had an idea where the musician would tell him a story during the shoot about something they don’t normally talk about. His goal was to show that mental health is something we all deal with in one way or another. The concept finally became reality last month as Chad’s project, “I Didn’t Want To Tell You,” was published in No Depression magazine (whose name derives from both an Uncle Tupelo and a Carter Family song).

To view Chad Cochran’s work in person, check out 78th Street Studios located at 1300 W 78 St. in Cleveland. The building is 170,000 square feet of art galleries, artist studios, performance spaces, and music recording studios. Every third Friday of the month, from 5-9 p.m., over 50 venues open up at the same time to present compelling visual exhibits, ambient music, delicious cuisine, and pop-up vendors. The next Third Friday event will be held on September 20.

Contact Jay at Blues4Bird@aol.com or post on his Minkin’s Music Facebook page.