Another cool poster from Guy Burwell for Portugal the Man, available soon.
roseland theatre, sept 19, 2009, portland, or

Size: 14.75" x 22"
Media: 4 color screen print
Edition of COUNTING
Client: portugal. the man. / musicfest northwest

Guy Burwell

Guy Burwell Dave Matthews Band poster for Austin City Limits

Just a killer poster by Guy Burwell for The Dave Matthews Band appearance at Austin City Limits Season 35. Several big name bands are appearing at the tapings including Willie Nelson, Andrew Bird, Ben Harper, Kenny Chesney, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, M Ward, Madeleine Peyroux, St. Vincent, Heartless Bastards, Okkervil River and Band of Heathens.

Each band will have a poster made for them by an artist. They may be some available on the ACL site at some point, and I know they gave some to each band so they might have them for sale on their sites as well. As well as the artists will be selling the posters at some point.

The Dave Matthews Band poster
Size: 17.5" x 23.5"
Media: 3 color screen print
Edition of 200
Only Numbered posters will be sold at the show. Guy will sell his sometime after the show.

Guy Burwell Humboldt Univeristy poster

Another strong poster from Guy Burwell for the Humboldt University Musical Program. On sale at Flatstock 22 in Seattle and later on his website.

Size: 14.5" x 23"
Media: 4 color screen print
Edition of 200

EMEK, Guy Burwell, Mike King interview from The Oregonia

Kristi Turnquist of The Oregonian interviewed Portland's best known rock poster aritsts.

In Portland — where it sometimes seems as if everybody under age 30 plays in a band — concert posters pop up everywhere: stapled to telephone poles, tacked to bulletin boards at coffee shops and bookstores, displayed in record store windows and pasted to the sides of music clubs. Many get papered over or recycled and are never seen again.

But as the recent new book, "Gig Posters Volume 1: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century" reveals, those scores of design-it-yourselfers are surrounded by some of the most accomplished poster artists in the country. Flip through the oversize volume, with more than 700 examples of concert art, and the work of Portland professionals — Mike King, Guy Burwell, Emek, Dan Stiles, Gary Houston and Justin Hampton — are among the creations that merit framing, not forgetting.

Some gig-poster designers consider their work an art form. Others reject anything so pretentious-sounding and take pride in reflecting the image of a band. But no matter how you classify them, rock posters are a visual history of the country. They're snapshots of what was, at the time, considered the ultimate in cool. For example, in 1956, Nashville's Hatch Show Print Shop commemorated an Elvis concert with a simple red, white and blue letterpressed poster featuring a photo of the King, and capital letters blaring out the gig details. It looks charmingly retro now, but the design still pops.

The best posters walk that line between living in their moment and looking great decades later. The posters featured in the "Gig Posters" book are all recent — as the subtitle says, from the 21st century — so it may be premature to declare that they'll stand the test of time. But there's no denying that they're fascinating, overflowing with imagination in how to visually convey music.

Nobody counts exactly how many people make posters in Portland. It's safe to say dozens, from members of bands making their own fliers to fans whipping up posters for free. Those who make a living at concert-poster work are fewer in number, however.

"Off the top of my head, I would say maybe four people are doing concert posters full time," Burwell says. There are others, he says, who do posters in addition to other graphic design work.

What brings national-caliber poster artists to Portland? "It must be something in the water," jokes Clay Hayes, author of "Gig Posters Volume 1." In 2001, Hayes, from Alberta, Canada, founded the Web site GigPosters.com, the world's largest historical archive of posters. Even those who moved here from elsewhere seem stumped about why Portland attracts poster artists.

Emek, who became a successful poster artist in Los Angeles before relocating to Portland, suggests it may be the same reasons we hear about why so many writers live here. "When the weather's nice, I want to go outside," he says. Portland's cloudy days are a great reason to stay indoors and work. "I'm more productive here."

And in a digital age, designers don't have to be in cities such as L.A. and New York, he adds. "It's all virtual now," Emek says. "I can live anywhere that there's the Internet and Fed Ex."

No matter where they live, top poster artists' work is in demand. "The gig-poster scene has grown by leaps and bounds in the last five to 10 years," Hayes says. Collectors and bands seek out creators of limited edition, screenprinted posters, which can sell for thousands.

For a look behind the colorful surface, we spoke with three of Portland's best designers of gig posters about their art, why they're in Portland and what music they listen to when they're off the designing clock.

MIKE KING

Age: 49

Web site: crashamerica.com

With more than two decades of experience, Mike King could be considered the patriarch of Portland gig-poster design. Or, as the Oregon City native puts it with characteristic sardonic humor, "I'm a bitter old man. Get off my lawn."

King started making posters well before "the influxers," as he calls them, moved to town. King still designs telephone pole-style fliers, in addition to record covers for the likes of Jack Johnson, signed-and-numbered, limited-edition posters for Pink Martini, the logo for Voodoo Doughnut and other graphic design jobs.

King, who has no formal art training, creates posters highly varied in style. In the "Gig Posters" book, King says he's influenced by "cartoons, early Soviet art, the ads in comic books, matchbooks, '60s movie posters, Victorian advertising, the smile on a small child's face." He lays out a design on the computer and then, as he says, "attempts to screenprint it."

The "Gig Posters" book features, among others, King's poster for a 2007 Arcade Fire show: a drawing of a boy sleeping near what appears to be an empty liquor bottle, beneath a window revealing a purple, starry night. In a poster for opening night of Portland's Doug Fir Lounge, King combines a found image of a deer with his own lettering of the show info, curving throughout the animal's antlers.

In his younger days, King played in punk bands. He started making posters, as do so many, "in exchange for tickets to the shows, and for beers." By the early '80s, King started charging money for his work. After years working as a janitor, in a print shop and at Powell's Books, King has supported himself with graphic design since 1990. These days, King shares a studio in an inner Southeast warehouse with fellow poster artist Burwell.

Like many poster artists with a track record, work comes to King in a number of ways. Music labels, promoters and bands sometimes contact him directly. Sometimes he contacts them. King, who lives in Southeast Portland, is making a living — "I get to eat," he says — though King teases his studio mate. "I get a little jealous of Burwell," he says. "I think he makes more money than I do."

When designing a poster, King says, "I'd rather know how a band visually represents itself than listen to the music." When indulging his own taste, King says, "I'm enamored with culture on all levels. I like live theater, and I like 'The Hills.' I like all kinds of music: indie rock, Jewish music, jazz music, classic rock, metal, country-western."

Part of the appeal of design, King says, is getting "to force my opinion on an unsuspecting world." In a moment of sincerity, King describes his job with an unprintable term of endearment. And then, smiling, he says, "I feel pretty good about the work I do."

GUY BURWELL

Age: 43

Web site: guyburwell.com

Like his studio mate, on the day we visit, Guy Burwell wears a black shirt. King describes the two as "slightly chubby, scruffy older guys in black clothes." But the similarities end there. Burwell's artistic style is as identifiable as King's is unpredictable.

"I'm an illustrator, first and foremost," he says, and takes inspiration from illustrators of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. The "Gig Posters" book spotlights Burwell's trademark approaches. For example, a poster for British singer Holly Golightly reveals Burwell's penchant for telling stories in his work. At first glance, we see a brunette gal in a country-style, vintage dress, holding a rifle.

But as Burwell explains, Golightly's songs are a mixture of roots music, heartbreak and messed-up romance. So Burwell gives the gal a heart-shaped black eye; arms her rifle with heart-shaped bullets; circles her head with bluebirds; draws worms emerging from even more hearts; and renders it all in subdued, autumnal colors.

Burwell loved drawing from childhood, and his passion for music eventually translated into working in record stores. That led to doing posters for bands, plus murals and calendars. His art training consisted of, as he says in the "Gig Posters" book, "half a semester at Southwest Missouri State University." Restless with his hometown of St. Louis, Burwell moved to Portland in his mid-20s and got a job at a record store. A music promoter came in one day and wondered who did all the cool art around the shop. It was Burwell; shortly after that, Burwell started doing posters for the promoter.

That led to a job with Will Vinton Studios, where Burwell designed characters and content for TV shows and commercials. After about five years, Burwell started his own animation studio and moved to California for a while. "I lost some weight and got a tan," he recalls. But he missed the Northwest, and moved back to Portland in 2004.

In the past few years, Burwell has been on a roll, thanks to working with bands who boast huge, passionate followings, such as My Morning Jacket and Phish. Such national acts often buy limited-edition posters to sell as part of their merchandise line. Burwell says the copies he retains to sell on his Web site generally sell out within hours.

Burwell, who's single ("I was married once, a million years ago") lives in Northeast Portland. He makes a comfortable living, he says. "But the comfort level depends on each person's definition of comfort." He's lucky, he says, in being able to travel and work most of the time on jobs he wants to do. "But it's a seven-day-a-week job. Work is always on my mind."

EMEK

Age: 39

Web site: emek.net

For one of the most respected gig-poster artists in the business, Emek lives a decidedly non-rock'n' roll lifestyle. He works at a studio in his home, a comfortable Northeast Portland house surrounded by a lush, well-kept yard and populated with his wife, 3-year-old son, 1-year-old daughter and the children's toys. Emek (who doesn't use his last name, Golan, professionally) enjoys working in the garden when not sitting at his drafting table, creating intricate, painstakingly detailed posters for such clients as Erykah Badu, Radiohead and the Coachella music festival.

Befitting a man whose Web site identifies him as "the thinking man's poster artist," Emek is soft-spoken and reflective when discussing his work. His first commission for a gig poster was for a political demonstration on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, following the L.A. riots that broke out in 1992 after a jury acquitted police officers charged with beating Rodney King.

Emek grew up in the Los Angeles area, the son of politically minded, artistic parents. He studied art at California State University at Northridge, but eventually the L.A. scene began to wear thin. "It's all about going to art shows to be seen, not to look at the art," Emek says. "I like to put my nose to the grindstone and let the art speak for itself." A visit to Portland convinced him this was the place to be, so he and his wife moved here in June 2006.

Examples of Emek's work have been hailed as among the best rock posters of all time by Billboard magazine. Collectors scoop up his posters in seconds, paying in excess of $1,000. Emek is doing well enough that he recently bought his parents a house a few doors down from his own.

At a recent gathering with other poster artists in the city, Emek recalls, "We got to wondering about why are we all here?" Nobody could put their finger on one particular reason. "There's something about this city that just feels refreshing."

In his work, Emek likes to branch out. On the one hand, he'll channel Soviet propaganda art for a bold poster of Erykah Badu as a workers' heroine, surrounded by upraised fists holding microphones. But then he'll print on Plexiglas, or sculpt three-dimensional pieces.

When designing a poster, he'll listen to the music and see what it suggests to him. And when listening for pleasure? "I like Afrobeat, like Fela Kuti. Thievery Corporation, kind of electronic soul."

And then it's back to work. In his family, Emek explains, art was a calling. "You didn't do it because you were going to be rich and famous," he says. "You did it because it was in you."

Guy Burwell Andrew Bird poster ON SALE NOW

Guy has them for sale HERE like I first told you about back on the 13th. Only $25 plus $10 for shipping

Guy Burwell Andrew Bird poster

Wow Guy is just rockin it this year. This is his poster for the upcoming Andrew Bird show on July 16. Guy will have them for sale HERE on the 17th

Size: 14" x 23"
Media: 5 color screen print
Edition of 200

ON SALE ALERT- GUY BURWELL'S FAITH NO MORE POSTER

Faith No More fans don't forget the hot Guy Burwell Faith No More poster for the show in Frankfurt Germany goes on sale today at 1pm EDT., that is 7pm in Europe.

$60 plus shipping.

Buy it www.secretserpents.com

STOLEN GUY BURWELL POSTERS

TELL YOUR FRIENDS SPREAD THE WORD NAIL THIS BASTARD

From Guy

HERE is something I need to address and maybe this forum can help by virtue of it's very specific nature towards poster collecting. It's not going to be pretty.
(PLEASE don't write me emails of condolence, though I would appreciate it. I have a lot on my plate and head just now. You understand."

SO-Pardon the capital lettering:

FEEL FREE TO POST THIS IN IT'S OWN TOPIC SOMEWHERE IF YOU THINK IT WOULD HELP:

THE LAST NIGHT OF THE BONNAROO FESTIVAL, WHILE THE LAST BAND WAS PLAYING, A PERSON OR PERSONS BROKE INTO OUR CLOSED TENT AND STOLE A STACK OF
MY POSTERS, STACKED IN BAGS AS WE SAFELY HAVE DONE AT EVERY FESTIVAL WE HAVE EVER ATTENDED (we don't need editorializing at this point, thanks.)

THERE IS EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THIS PERSON IS AWARE OF THE NATURE OF POSTER COLLECTING BUT WERE AFTER MY PRINTS SPECIFICALLY AS NO OTHER
ARTISTS' MATERIALS WERE TOUCHED. I THINK THEY WERE AFTER A SPECIFIC POSTER (do you think?) BUT THEY DID NOT GET ANY OF THOSE PRINTS BUT THEY TOOK
AN MODERATE QUANTITY OF MY UNSOLD STOCK FROM THE WEEKEND. A VARIETY OF POSTERS THAT WOULD NORMALLY HANG ON DISPLAY FOR SALE FEATURING MANY
DIFFERENT TITLES BUT ONLY 1 OR 3 OF ANY ONE TITLE. EACH SET OF POSTERS IN IT'S OWN PLASTIC BAG.

THESE TITLES ARE ONLY OF MODERATE VALUE INDIVIDUALLY BUT TOGETHER THEY CERTAINLY CONSTITUTE FELONY BURGLARY.

-THE MAJOR ITEMS TO ESTABLISH A CLUE MIGHT BE
-8 OR SO FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS PRINTS
-EIGHT OR TEN MELVINS 25TH ANNIVERSARY PRINTS
-EIGHT OR SO JACKIE MARSHALL PRINTS
-EIGHT OR SO BUTCHERS AND BUILDERS
-BLACK KEYS NORTWEST MUSIC FEST PRINT 2006 #004 ( i had to look at his print a hundred times that weekend)
-2 or 3 BUILT TO SPILL
-SEVERAL OTHERS FROM MY CATALOGUE BUT NOTHING IN QUANTITY. NO PHISH, NO MMJ, NO CURE ETC...
-ENOUGH OF A VARIETY OF PRINTS THAT IT WOULD BE OBVIOUS THAT SOMEONE GOT THEM ALL AT ONE TIME IN ONE PLACE.
-Does your "pal" suddenly have 5 Nada Surf posters from their Paris show? I didn't even know he liked Nada Surf that much. Hmmmmmn.

THE LOSS IS NOT CONSEQUENTIAL. I AM NOT UPSET ABOUT THE LOSS OF THE POSTERS BUT THE THIEVERY CANNOT BE UNADDRESSED, AGREED?
I DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE ALL BURNED OR LOST FOREVER, BUT LET'S DISCOVER A CRIMINAL.

I HAVE A FEELING THAT THIS ONE PERSON HAS AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON WHO IS GOING TO KNOW ABOUT THIS EVENT. SOME OF THESE ITEMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE
TO THE PUBLIC YET IN ANY OTHER FORUM THAN FROM MYSELF, SO IF SOMEONE HAS MULTIPLE COPIES OF CERTAIN ITEMS THEN.....SELL OUT YOUR FRIEND. CUZ THEY AIN'T.

SO: UNLEASH YOURSELVES, YOU INTERNET DOGS OF WAR! THERE WILL BE A NICE NICE REWARD IN POSTER TERMS FOR THE PERSON WHO CAN IDENTIFY FOR CERTAIN
THE DASTARDLY DOUCHEBAG WHO HAS PERPETRATED THIS VIOLATION OF OUR GOODNATURED WORLD OF POSTER TRANSACTIONS (generally).

THERE IS EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT DISCOVERING THAT THEY DID NOT GET WHAT THEY WANT, THAT THEY WILL DESTROY THE PRINTS WHICH IS FINE.

FIND THEM IF WE CAN. IDENTIFY THEM IF WE CAN. BUT BE CAREFUL, OF COURSE.

I am not upset over the loss but it makes me sick that we have to deal with this sort of issue over the passions of our shared interest in posters and art.

Thanks, kids. Pardon the crappy intrusion into your fun-loving forums.

xo

New Guy Burwell PHISH BONNAROO poster

WOW Guy Burwell has created another classic poster. This time for PHISH at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.

On sale details to follow. More than likely available at the show and some from Guy later on his website.

New Guy Burwell and Angry Blue Faith No More poster

Guy has really been doing some incredible posters this year. This one is part of the Faith No More series put together by www.secretserpents.com

Angry Blue did a great one also with a vulture on it. Saw a bunch of those vultures in Florida recently, weird birds.

Justin has gotten together some really good artist for the series. I'll let you know when the newest ones are out and where to get them.

New Guy Burwell posters on sale now

BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS AVAILABLE NOW.
MELVINS AVAILABLE NOW. ONLY $18 PLUS SHIPPING WOW
JACKIE MARSHALL AVAILABLE NOW.

GET THEM HERE

STUNNING NEW Guy Burwell Melvins poster

WOW Guy really turned out an amazing poster for the Melvins show in Portland the other night. Be sure to click the pics to see them larger in all their glory. On sale details to follow

Guy Burwell Flight of the Conchords on sale now

Nice new poster by Guy Burwell

Size: 17.5" x 23.5"

Media: 4 color screen print

Edition of 400

Buy it here.

New Guy Burwell Poster The Builders and The Butchers

Very Cool new poster from Guy Burwell for the Sasquatch Music Festival appearance by The Builders and Butchers.

Size: 17.5" x 23.5"
Media: 5 color screen print

Show is May 24 so it will be for sale on Guy's site after that. Check back for the exact day.

New Guy Burwell Gutter Twins poster on sale now

Guy Burwell has just released a gig poster for the Gutter Twins show in Portland Oregon from this past weekend. Gutter Twins are of course Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs & Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan. Whats really cool is that I suggested this to him back in October and he got the job, nice job Guy. I love the Gutter Twins and Dulli great music.

Posters are only $15 dirt cheap
Size: 17.5" x 23.5"
Media: 3 color screen print
Edition of 110

Go to www.guyburwell.com to get one.

New Guy Burwell Gutter Twins poster on sale now

Guy Burwell has just released a gig poster for the Gutter Twins show in Portland Oregon from this past weekend. Gutter Twins are of course Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs & Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan. Whats really cool is that I suggested this to him back in October and he got the job, nice job Guy. I love the Gutter Twins and Dulli great music.

Posters are only $15 dirt cheap
Size: 17.5" x 23.5"
Media: 3 color screen print
Edition of 110

Go to www.guyburwell.com to get one.