Shots from the bug

01/24/2024

Soon 🔜 more pictures from the seat of the 71’ 

02/12/2022

Keep Swingin!

ROCK” Caught him swattin’ as he ran down Lincoln..works out as if he was still at the Bronx gym back in the 60’s “They killed me with a shotgun!” as he held up his shirt, “I was dead for 20 mins.. but I came back.. dig the car.” I meet only the city’s most interesting from the seat of the bug.

01/27/2022

Lotz house:
•German immigrant Johann Albert Lotz and his family were surprised at their home on Columbia Pike on the morning of November 30, 1864, to find thousands of Federal troops marching in front of their house heading north to Nashville, Tennessee, but unable to proceed across the swollen Harpeth River.
The federal Army confiscated the Lotz home and set up shop.
Lotz a skilled carpenter built the house single handed to promote his work so he would be considered in the development of all the homes in the small populated but growing town of Franklin.
That evening Confederate troops attacked with 20,000 men at that point and the Union soldiers manned defensive fortifications on a line across the Lotz and adjacent Carter property.

The Lotz family fled across the street to the Carter House and the two families hid in the Carter's basement witnessing a five-hour battle consisting of intense hand-to hand combat, considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War with 10,000 dead or wounded. The south wall of the Lotz's house was blasted away and cannon fire created holes in the roof and floors, but the structure could still serve as a field hospital later, with Lotz supervising the repairs.
He wasn’t happy none.
Lotz rebuilt his house after the storm
cleared but later Albert Lotz and his family were forced to flee the house after he constructed a piano with an American eagle holding an American flag upward in one claw; and a Confederate flag pointing downward in the other claw carved into it. Outraged Confederate sympathizers spread the word and Lotz became a pariah. After his life was threatened, he abruptly sold the house and contents at a financial loss and the family left the area in a covered wagon to travel west across Indian country to settle in San Jose, California
Over the next 100 years, the house had many owners and gradually deteriorated until the Heritage Society of Franklin and Williamson Counties purchased it in 1974 to save it from demolition. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976

01/24/2022

The Carter House Office:
•The Battle of Franklin was fought on Nov. 30, 1864 as part of the Tennessee Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army.
Over 60,000 men in a 5 Miles radius battled mostly hand to hand combat while 100’s of canons fired at opposing lines. 10,000 casualties.

In 1830, the Carter family owned eight slaves and Fountain purchased 19 acres on the edge of Franklin. The production on the farm consisted of livestock and grain until 1850, when Fountain built a cotton gin on the property. The Carter enslaved people produced nearly 500 bushels of wheat and oats and 12,000 pounds of cotton. The farm grew exponentially each year through 1860.

And on Nov. 30, the lives of everyone on the Carter farm were indelibly changed. The Battle of Franklin was fought in Carter’s yard, consuming the farm in violence. During the long night of the battle the family, the enslaved people and neighbors huddled together in the cellar as a storm of war raged outside their windows. Jack, Calfurnia, John, Susie, Tom, Oscar and Gus were among the enslaved men, women and children in the cellar that night.

The individuals in the cellar had very different realities and their futures were all bound for a different path, but that night they all huddled together praying for survival.

In this photo you can see the amount of artillery that was fired on these grounds and at these structures. ( Zoom close)
The office seen here is one of the last original bullet ridden structures of ANY Civil War location.
As I pulled up to the gravel road that crosses through I could feel the presence of fallen soldiers.

01/24/2022

Follow me for more of who you may never know…

FOLLOW INSTA•GRAM 👉🏻 •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Daniel” Its all in the eyes... right? .I asked Daniel if he would allow me to take his picture and if he had done any modeling. He said “I was once a Tom Ford model” he replied .. very clear voiced and well spoken while filthy, standing in a designer jacket no shirt and ragged pants not his size. I said “ I believe it!” He says..”People will stare, make it worth their while.” I gave him a donation and after I rolled away I realized he was quoting Tom Ford. I wonder what magazine covers he has graced prior to his street life? I wonder if this shot will change his world? And maybe mine.. Only in Hollywood.. Only in America.

01/23/2022

www.shotsfromthebug.com

01/23/2022

Tower:

Over a 100 feet high able to hold roughly a million gallons of water. Built in 1930 as part of Dortch Stove Works, supplying water to the factory in Franklin Tennessee. In 1930, the total population of Williamson County was almost 23,000 people. The water tower has stood to watch the entire population of Franklin alone grow to more than over 70,000 people in its 92 years. . The tower shows its age, but also its history, living through World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the War on Terrorism.

Calvin Lehew, who by the way was Al Gore Jr’s Babysitter purchased the property over 20 years ago from the city of Franklin for $1 million, redeveloped it with the goal of creating a place for artists and creative folks to set up shop. Sold it for 24.2 Million in 2012 and it recently resold to developers a few months ago for 56.2 Million!

Listed in the National Register of Historical places in 97’ the new developer plans to turn it into living spaces and retail.

Although progression is part of the American way.. preserving the History of the landscape to me is most important.
Lets hope this tower stands to witness more of the History of this growing Middle Tennessee small town.

Photo by:
©️Huckjohns

10/07/2020

EVH”

• I remember when I first saw Eddie and Alex. Comin up the stairs at a rock bar in Royal Oak Mi. just out of a limo with 1000 fans below waiting for them to put their hands in cement. They got to the top of the stairs and knelt down Wayne &Garth style in front and to my hero friend and then drummer Johnny Bee Badanjek . I was a punk kid 23 and new into our band and doubted Johnny at rehearsal when he said he knew VH well.
After I picked my jaw off the floor Johnny introduced me as the best Rock singer in Detroit. (I’ll never forget that feeling) Sammy went down to see fans and Bee Alex Eddie and myself sat at a table as they signed CD’s and memorabilia with just them and a few management and label guys . We drank beers quietly and after a bit Eddie and Alex finally looked up from their sharpies and said to me..“ You smoke kid?” Wide eyed I studdered.. yeah and immediately pulled out a fresh pack of unopened Marlboro lights and slid them over. Alex began to rip off filters and they lit em up, not shortly after the room was smoke filled. “You hung out with Dave the other night huh? How he knew that I still don’t know. “Isn’t he an asshole?” Eddie chuckles smokin unfilters “You dont have to answer” Dave and a friend of mine had a great hang after his show with Bad Co the weekend before. I told them about the adventure and they shared stories of growing up, Valarie, Sunset and of course Dave. They smoked the entire pack. After I asked Eddie to sign it, I was sure noone would believe it if I told them he said “This will be worth a fortune after these things kill me.”
I wouldn’t trade that empty pack for a Corvette today.

That night we went to the show and sat next to the board as we requested. We coulda sat anywhere but the sound was best there. I remember the way Eddie fell all over his hero Jim McCarty backstage, rightfully so.
Eddie saw me “ Got any smokes?” with a smile I threw over the pack I had and said “keep em.”
..Thank You Edward Van Halen. You were a cool kind innovative virtuoso composer who changed the way we heard the guitar forever.
Happy Trails

07/04/2020

Independence” Its a gift, a right to freedoms that cannot be infringed. May you pursue your happiness today, enjoy your family’s and prosper not forgetting those that provided it. 🇺🇸

07/04/2020

Lowride” Lobster traps and sand worms.