Women Behind the Scenes: Artist & Crew - Valentine Cranford Reilly
Have you ever wondered what working in the music industry is like? WSP Fans interviews artist Valentine Cranford Reilly, who started out as an artist on Shakedown, to transitioning behind the scenes.
WSP Fans:
Do you remember the first time you heard Widespread Panic, or what was your first show?
Valentine:
Yeah, I do remember. It's kind of funny - the first time I heard of Widespread Panic was right when Napster came out, because I was a big Traffic fan. I was maybe 13 and I always thought I was born in the wrong generation. I collected records then and still do, and I love Traffic. Anyway, I thought maybe if I could download Traffic songs on Napster, I could make some mix tapes - like if I could connect my tape deck to my computer. I found Widespread Panic's version of Low Spark and was like, “this is good!” I still needed to learn who Widespread Panic really was, at that point I just knew they covered Low Spark and did a good job.
That summer, I was a counselor in training at a summer camp, and I met somebody there and was going through her CD case, and it was all WSP that she traded. Back in the days pre PanicStream when everybody just traded CDs of shows. I was going through them, all these CDs labeled “WSP + Date”, and I was like, what is this? She was like, “Oh, you don't know about Widespread Panic?” I said “I mean, I've heard of them, and I know they play Traffic songs sometimes (laughs).” She told me about the world of Widespread Panic, how it's more than just a band, and about the fans. I'm so grateful she did because it gave me grounding as a young kid feeling out of place everywhere. Through the music, I finally found a place where I felt at home.
Valentine circa 2006 with Lauren Johnson and Mimi Thomas
WSP Fans:
That's how many of us feel as fans. So we have this sense of community; we all come together over the love of music.
Valentine:
For sure. I'm forever grateful to her, and Napster, for showing me the way. I was a lost, hurting kid, and in so many ways, Widespread Panic saved my life, especially in high school. I'm just incredibly grateful to have found that. The first show I attended was when I was 14. It was one of the New Year's shows in Atlanta in 2001. That was the first show that I could get to. I grew up outside of Atlanta, and my friend's dad took us, and we were in the nosebleeds. It was so incredible. I remember looking down at this beast that was the crowd and thinking, “I want to be down there! I don't want to be way up here! (laughs)”
WSP Fans:
You were such a young Wrangler saddling up for shows at 14! That's awesome. Were there any other bands like that you were seeing at the time?
Valentine:
I was all about classic rock before Panic. I would go see the Stones with my parents, and loved seeing bands like kiss and Aerosmith. I loved Blink 182, and saw them several times when I was young as well. I was into the Grateful Dead because I loved Tie Dye from a young age and always wore tie dye, so naturally I ran into adults that told me about the Grateful Dead. I was young, but I remember when Jerry died, and how huge that felt.
Like I said, I always felt that I was born in the wrong generation and missed out. It wasn't till my 1st Widespread Panic Shakedown Street experience that I realized I haven't missed out on it at all… It's right here.
WSP Fans:
There is a strong connection between art and music, that they go hand and glove -- you can't have one without the other! Tell me about your journey as an artist and illustrator.
Valentine:
I've always been into art; my mother is a great artist. She's not a professional artist, but is very talented. As a kid, I would say, "Mom show me how to draw a Ninja Turtle," and she'd sit down and show me how to do it. My dad paints as well, and he's very abstract and funny. Lots of martini glasses and self-portraits, but I just always grew up surrounded by art and loving it. I took a lot of art classes in highschool and college, I was never the best, but I always enjoyed creating.
In the summer of 2006, I attended my first Red Rocks shows and did several West Coast shows. I had seen many shows that summer, and I wanted to keep going to see more shows and was figuring out how to do it. I made a lot of friends on that tour, as I was attending shows alone. I met Tripp Shealy and Forrest Weaver. Both were selling posters on tour. Tripp was selling his own, and Forrest was selling Blake Wiley’s art. Forrest knew I liked to draw and had seen some of my art, and he encouraged me to create posters. He offered to sell them for me, and I was like, if I'm going to make a poster, I will sell it! <laughs>.
In 2007 I made my first lot posters and sold them, starting at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. I had my Jerry Garcia print and a summer tour print. I remember standing on the corner in the city and thinking “ this is crazy. ” That whole summer run - I couldn’t believe that I was getting paid for my art, and it was allowing me and my partner at the time, Brendan, to see more shows. For years and years he was always willing to help me sell them. There were times when I think a lot of people thought Valentine was a man with a beard. <laughs> I developed a style with my early designs as they were all hand-painted. I basically painted them, then copied and sold them. Things just grew from there. Around 2012 I realized that I needed to learn to screen print if I wanted to grow as a poster artist and have a shot at doing official designs. So, I bought a screen-printing setup. I didn't know what I was doing. I basically had bought a t-shirt printing setup. <laughs> So, I had to learn how to print t-shirts and then learn how to print posters. I ended up building my poster press, which I still use primarily. I have a very nice, expensive, automatic poster press, but I never use it. I like to pull them by hand. Things just steamrolled with my business from there.
WSP Fans:
Lot economics is the foundation for so many creative businesses; it does teach us so much and is its own little world.
Valentine:
It really is.
WSP Fans:
When you're thinking about ideas and concepts, what inspires you? Where do you start?
Valentine:
The first thing I always focus on is the music. Before I agree to do a job, especially if it is a band I don’t know well, I'll start listening to the music. Once I get to know their music well, and if it is a good fit, and I have some good ideas, then I will agree to do it. That's first and foremost. A song is attached to every panic poster I've done. I have done a lot! I have done more than one poster of a few songs, but it's always different.
The second thing I look for when I'm doing art is the place. I love putting in skylines or something specific to an area, and I'll think about the state's flower or bird and like to incorporate those things too.
When designing, the third thing I consider is color and what colors go well. What's cool about screen printing is there are so many different colors of paper and inks to choose from. I love mixing inks, particularly glow and glitter inks. It's fun to play around with and see what happens. It's exciting. You’re pulling the ink across every piece of paper , and you're moving the paper around. It's very hands-on, exciting, and grueling too.
WSP Fans:
Tell me about your transition from slinging posters in the lot to transitioning to an official capacity. Was there a defining moment?
Valentine:
Yes, there was definitely a moment. To explain, I have to say I kind of live in two worlds, one of them is as an artist and a screen printer where I print and create for bands, individuals, and companies of all kinds. The other is working in the music industry. I started out 13 years ago working for a company who exclusively did artist catering and hospitality backstage at events. My good friend Rob worked for them and I knew they did Bonnaroo and several other large festivals, and I wanted in. The first show I ever worked for them was in Sturgis, SD at the bike rally. I was living on a tour bus for three weeks for the event, working crazy hours, it was so intense. I loved every minute of it. That first event I got to work with The Stone Temple Pilots and Axl Rose, Cage the Elephant, and many other great bands. It was an exciting experience, and I was hooked on being part of the circus. I loved it. I kept working for him regularly at events and individual shows all over the country for years. I also started freelancing some, doing artist hospitality, and sometimes dressing rooms, sometimes other aspects. I also ran my own festival for five years and did everything!
Valentine and the Dude
I always thought if I were to start doing official poster art, especially for Panic, it would be because I've laid so much groundwork in the art; years and years and so many lot posters. But, in reality, my other job, working in the music industry, is ultimately what got me my first official poster job for panic.
When I had my first child, I knew I couldn't be on the road all the time anymore. So I stepped back and reached out to Cola (crew member), a longtime friend of mine and just an all around badass. Cola took my place with the company I was working for, and was amazing. She eventually got hired by Widespread Panic. After my third was born, Cola started reaching out to me to help her with some things, specifically Widespread Panic. While I had worked with them before, having done dressing rooms and catering at festivals and several one off shows of theirs over the years, I had never worked for them. So I started coming in and working with Cola for Panic big shows like New Year's, where there were more decorations, ambiance, and fun stuff to do, and I got to know the crew better. Cola is a hot commodity in the industry, so when she can’t be on a run with Panic, I have been able to come in and sub for her. Now sometimes we are both there. I love working with her, and the whole crew, such an awesome group.
Valentine & Cola
I wouldn't call myself an official crew member; Like, if they're the ingredients, I feel like kind of a sprinkle, like a bonus crew member, and I love it. When asked what I do for the band, I say “ well it is part ambiance, part helping the band, part coordinating hospitality; Cola calls it ‘backstage coordinating’ but, as I am not Cola, and sometimes we are both there… I would say I raise the vibes….so I am ‘ The Vibrator.’ ” <laughs> Getting to know the crew and guys like Eric Draper has been fantastic. Eric oversees merch on tour and asked for my help with some sweatshirts for the band, then posters and such. I'm grateful because it's not the path I thought I would take to doing official art, but it all has worked out pretty wonderfully, and I'm ecstatic to be given these opportunities.
WSP Fans:
It's a family affair, and I swear it's all devised by Colonel Bruce in an abstract way.
Valentine:
Oh, I have such a cool Bruce story from this past Halloween that I'd love to share. I knew the Colonel as he played my festival. What an incredible creature he was. For these past Halloween shows in Savannah, I wanted to design and carve pumpkins for backstage. So, I got six pumpkins, forgetting that cleaning pumpkins is quite a task! Fortunately, my girlfriend Casey offered to help. We were sitting outside the venue on the sidewalk, she was cutting the pumpkins, emptying them out, and I was carving them. I was trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to carve; I knew I wanted it to be Col. Bruce related. My friend Lynn suggested ZAMBI, so I carved those 5; Z-A-M-B-I. Then, for the last pumpkin, I carved Colonel Bruce's face. I set them out on a road case in the walkway that the band was taking to go to the stage, and people were taking pictures with them and stuff. They looked cool, all lit up, and I was excited about it. I knew at the end of the show, the road case they were sitting on would need to be loaded out. So just before the encore, I moved the pumpkins to a little table right outside the stage door, where I had set out some tarot cards and crystals and stuff. When we were loading out, I went over to the table to clean it up, and a woman was sitting there, and she said, "are these your crystals and cards?" And I was like, "yeah, they're mine." And she goes, "you know, I'm a medium, and I wanted to let you know there's been a gentleman standing here, for the last like hour, pointing at that pumpkin going, ‘Hey, that's me!’ “
I have zero doubt that Colonel Bruce was right there all along.
WSP Fans:
Final question, can you share with us your inspiration behind the NYE poster artwork that was also used onscreen during the show?
Valentine:
The inspiration for that mini poster was Little Lilly, basically "it's only real if you believe" I knew that I wanted to do a blue girl, and I went back and forth between doing a young girl or a woman, but in reality, panic fans love their ladies. So I thought it'd be more fun to do a woman. I knew I wanted to do her in blue; everything aside from her to be black and white. It had a very dark, dim skyline with the moon and stars, and I liked the concept of her throwing color into it.
I initially designed the art to be a full-sized poster. Most of the posters I have designed and hand printed are about 12.5”x 19”. So, I designed it to be twice that big, which would've been the largest poster I have printed. I took too long designing it, but luckily Eric liked this idea but asked if we could do it as a mini. It was a great compromise, but I put a lot of detail into something that I was planning on printing twice as big as I'd ever done that now needed to be half the size of what I usually do, which presented some challenges in the final stages of designing and printing. Overall I'm thrilled with how they turned out, especially with how well they glow.
Paul Hoffman heard I made a poster for the show and asked if he could have a file. I wondered if he would use it as part of the projection design and just went about my work day. Just before the show, I glanced at the setlist, and saw that Lily was the opening song. When the time came, I went out into the crowd.I stood in the stands, and they started playing Little Lily, and I saw my artwork come up behind the band; it was surreal, and hard to hold back the tears... I get emotional just thinking about that moment. I remember looking down and seeing Cola standing below me, she had found me out there; she was smiling and had tears too. It was a wonderful moment that I'll never forget. Endlessly grateful.
Valentine has a few special posters left from the 2022 NYE run. If you’d like to purchase one, click here.
