Dee Lippingwell has she wants to share.
It乌鸦传媒檚 the title of her new, limited-edition book that documents the 17-year history of Merritt Mountain Music Festival, the popular country-music gathering once held in the B.C. Interior town.
A longtime concert photographer based in Surrey, Lippingwell was the festival乌鸦传媒檚 official photographer from 1993 to 2009.
Just published, the 220-page softcover book features her photos of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Randy Travis, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and other country stars, along with shots of festival moments.
乌鸦传媒楳ountain乌鸦传媒� memories: Surrey photog乌鸦传媒檚 book recalls 乌鸦传媒榗razy-ass scene乌鸦传媒� of Merritt music fest.
乌鸦传媒� Tom Zillich (@TomZillich)
Campground C party zone and more remembered in Dee Lippingwell乌鸦传媒檚 third book.
Lippingwell乌鸦传媒檚 yearly job was to 乌鸦传媒渂asically take photographs of everything on a daily basis,乌鸦传媒� she explains in the book, her third filled with concert photos.
乌鸦传媒淲e looked forward to whatever the festival had in store for us 乌鸦传媒� rain, hail, blistering sun, dust storms, just to name a few,乌鸦传媒� she writes. 乌鸦传媒淏ut we came prepared for everything and were never disappointed at each year乌鸦传媒檚 review, only to start planning for the next year and what would be done different or added. We were a family that included paid and unpaid participants, all of us anxiously awaiting the next Mountainfest.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒� RELATED STORY, from January: .
PICTURED: Dee Lippingwell
The book乌鸦传媒檚 intro, written by former Province entertainment reporter John McLaughlin, chronicles the festival乌鸦传媒檚 infamous Campground C party zone, filled with cowboy hat-wearing guys (乌鸦传媒淐ody乌鸦传媒�) and bikini-clad gals (乌鸦传媒淐rystal乌鸦传媒�), tricked-out bars, pool tables, pools, DIY dance floors and lots of liquor.
乌鸦传媒淭here were a lot of different customers that kept Merritt as a top summer event on their calendars every year, buffing up the RV and making plans to camp with friends,乌鸦传媒� McLaughlin writes. 乌鸦传媒淐ody, Crystal and their many friends and all their cute, pink livers are actually what kept the place going all those years, kept the beer garden full and the party never ending. It was a crazy-ass scene until it wasn乌鸦传媒檛 and, like starlings out the barn door, the kids swarmed off with some new distraction and just didn乌鸦传媒檛 come back.乌鸦传媒�
(Story continues below photo)
PICTURED: Country musician Keith Urban on stage at Merritt Mountain Music Festival in 2002, in a photograph by Surrey乌鸦传媒檚 Dee Lippingwell.
McLaughlin tells the story of the festival乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒渋gnoble finale乌鸦传媒� in 2009.
乌鸦传媒淎dd in the disaster of a brain boggling backstage cash demand from Kenny Chesney乌鸦传媒檚 people, payable before his sold-out performance, which led to a mad scramble and left all the staff and freelancers, including our own Dee (Lippingwell), unpaid to this day. That left behind plenty of fury and drama, lawsuits flew like scared chickens but in the end, somehow, there was simply no money. Zip. It was amazing to see it go down, but down indeed went Merritt Mountain Music Festival.乌鸦传媒�
Only 250 copies of 乌鸦传媒淢emories From the Mountain乌鸦传媒� are available (for $65 on ), and each book comes signed and numbered.
Lippingwell, 75, photographed the festival with the help of her husband, Paul, and some hired shooters.
Over the years she乌鸦传媒檚 catalogued images of the 3,500 rock, country and pop concerts she乌鸦传媒檚 photographed since her very first, a Pink Floyd gig in Vancouver in 1973.
Lippingwell乌鸦传媒檚 1987 book, 乌鸦传媒淭he Best Seat in the House,乌鸦传媒� was followed in 2012 by the self-published 乌鸦传媒淔irst Three Songs乌鸦传媒� No Flash,乌鸦传媒� a title that referenced the instructions typically given to concert photographers before a show begins.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Follow us on and follow Tom on
