Bob Reuter
January 26, 2008
Bob Reuter met me at City Museum on Martin Luther King day, after hours. He had a rental car for the day so I didn’t need to pick him up like we originally planned when we arranged this impromptu show on a phone call before the weekend. We made a little small talk as we walked around to find an appropriate place to shoot. He decided on the nautical themed room on the main level. There are fish tanks there with actual fish that are native to Missouri, some big Carp and Gar—which I’ve only seen dead before washed up on the shores of the Merrimac while camping in the summer time.Bob, is a main-stay of the current music scene in St. Louis. I’ve heard third hand that he played in some of the cities first punk bands back in the late 70’s. I’ve also heard whispers that he was somewhat of an early musical mentor to some performers who’ve gone on to become rock stars on the national stage. He’s also known for his photography which was a subject of an earlier video I made about him several years ago. He’s a punk rock troubadour, and a raconteur. I love to read his stories on his myspace blog–he could be a serious writer if he wanted to be. Once we determined the performance space, he took off his hat, tuned up his guitar and we rolled. We walked around each other like fighters before the first blows of a prize fight. He played a song about South St. Louis called Dirty South. The southside of St. Louis being at the bottom of the city that is a gateway not just to the west, but also the Northern border of the southern part of the US–the “dirty” south as Bob calls it here. The title of this song also shares it’s title with one of his bands. Then, almost as soon as he started, he donned his hat, packed up his guitar and we were done. He had a rental car to return.
Filed under: City Sessions at City Museum |
Great idea, Bill!
Looking forward to these.
I’m into this. Little bit of Dylan in there, Muscle Shoals era, little CCR, little everything. Good stuff.
Wondering how you pulled the sound off? Couldn’t see a mic anywhere.
As I stated before, love the idea and can’t wait to see more of these.
I wondered the same thing Adam. Bill got great consistent sound throughout the video. Not an easy thing to do.
The sound came from a single wireless lav. An expensive one. Sennheiser ME2 Omni lavalier. Basically the same thing they use for broadcast. But for stuff like this, worth every penny. It’s not perfect. But it works.
Nice location and wonderful performance. Excellent video Bill. Thanks.
So exciting to finally see what you’ve had cookin’! Bob was amazing, as usual (:
Love him. Love the location.
I had no idea Bob Reuter was who he is in reality, but I could sense it on higher level. Always wanted to talk with him. Heard this song in it’s first rendition on CD - fabulous, but DAMN this video, and the sound…Dude I’m a Radio/TV major and a snob..(haha) and that was moving and beautiful on so many levels. Thank you.