Sometimes I question the relevancy of my work, well.. scratch that, a lot of the times I do.. because I spend so much time on it.. Projects are time killers and you hope, that when you're done with it, the world will be ready.. Focusing on a town like Wildwood, New Jersey, progressive for it's civil understandings, is/was a town of diversity, even back when a lot of towns in America were not..
Wildwood, a resort town once built of a fisherman's haven, has of course, gone through its stages of history - it's most important, were the impact of traveling music groups.. groups that even, would travel from the mid-west, where, conditions from which they were coming from, were probably substantially worse than Wildwood, New Jersey. A town of complete cultural acceptance, escape and reflection in the 1950's and 60's.. So much so, I find stories about prominent vocal music groups of the day refusing to leave the resort town in southern New Jersey.. and boy, the Motels are a living cartoon.. and so much fun to draw.
What's beautiful, is that the motels of Wildwood share a coined name for the music style that those artists expressed - and the same motels of Doo Wop housed many of those acts and patrons who were there to support the Doo Wop vocal groups in various clubs and venues in Wildwood, while on their vacation.
Nearly 1,000 photo references and two years in the making (so far).. 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' is coming.. and I couldn't be happier to complete it with everything I have, for every reader to come.
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