If you want to sing out, sing out: Le Petomane performs their Greatest Hits in concert

I am so lucky that the people I love are so genuinely talented. It makes endorsing their events so guilt-free.

A little less than two years ago, I was assigned to write an article for The Paper about Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble's show "5 Things." I'd heard of Le Petomane, heard amazing things in fact, but had never seen them.

For the article, I went to a brainstorming rehearsal, observed their process, met Greg and Abigail Bailey Maupin and Kyle Ware... and fell in love. With all three of them. And their process. And the production. And the Le Petomane concept.

And soon thereafter, I fell in love with Kyle Ware for real.

Le Petomane is one of the best-regarded theatre companies in Louisville. Except for their occasional adaptation of Shakespeare, all of their plays are ensemble-written from the ground up, including the songs. The original music has often been the highlight of their productions-- think They Might Be Giants style smartness with a theatrical bent.

So for the final show of their 9th season, they are reprising their greatest musical hits for a two-night concert next weekend. I'm told they'll be wearing custom-made jumpsuits a la The Brady Bunch or the Partridge Family.

They've chosen the best of the best songs from their productions-- songs that can stand on their own with little context. So don't worry about being a Le Petomane newbie; you'll still "get" it.

The six-person ensemble will be joined by the musical stylings of Brian Lilienthal and the ubiquitous Scott Anthony.

From their press release:

By popular demand, Le Petomane closes its ninth season with a one-weekend-only event: a live concert evening featuring a ridiculous number of original songs from the ensemble’s past shows.  

Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble drew upon songs from nine seasons of original, new work to create an evening of audience favorites. Le Petomane's Concert-ed Effort will feature live music by Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble members Heather Burns, Tony Dingman, Abigail Bailey Maupin, Gregory Maupin, Kristie Rolape and Kyle Ware, along with special guest ringers Professor Scott Anthony and Dr. Brian J. Lilienthal. 

Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble was named Best Theater Troupe in the 2010 and 2011 LEO Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards, and has been described by The Courier-Journal as "simultaneously...hysterical, physical and thought provoking." 

Performances at The Bard's TownMay 31 at 7:30 p.m.June 1 at 7:30 p.m.Tickets$8 – 20 at our cheap and reliable sliding scale*
Contact Us@LePetomane.org or 502-609-2520 for show reservations or more information, or find them on Facebook. For pre-show dinner reservations, please contact The Bard’s Town directly at 502-749-5275.

* a word or two about the sliding scale: one pays what one a) thinks fair and b) can afford; we make a reasonable amount either way. The low end is no higher than the price of a movie ticket; the high end is not such an issue - as a non-profit we will gleefully accept any amount above $20 one cares to give, and will cheerfully provide a receipt of said donation for tax purposes.

17th Annual Garvin Gate Blues Festival

Nora Jean Wallace

So today I feel like a real legitimate professional blogger. For the first time, I have someone shadowing me to learn more about blogging and writing.

When it came time to write an actual blog post, I told Rachel-- my job shadow-- to visit the bulletin board here at Heine Brothers Douglas Loop and come back with an event that seemed interesting.

I love the fact Rachel came back with an event that I've never heard of and that sounds fantastic! And it's free! I'd like to say that I taught her well, but I think she's a natural.

The 17th annual Garvin Gate Blues Festival takes place on October 12-13 in the Garvin Place neighborhood in Old Louisville. This event is the largest free neighborhood street music festival in Louisville and features food and merchandise vendors. Proceeds from sponsorships and vendor sales benefit The Garvin Gate Association and the Old Louisville Preservation District. The event takes place  from 630pm- 11:15pm on Friday from 3pm -11:15pm on Saturday on Oak Street between 4th and 6th.

Bring chairs or a blanket, but leave your pets and coolers at home. No outside food or alcohol.

I'm so psyched that Rachel brought this to my attention. You know how much I love outdoor music events. Maybe going to the Garvin Gate Blues Fest will make me feel a little better about missing the Jug Band Jubilee this year.

For more information visit their website: http://garvingatebluesfestival.com/index.html

Jug Band Jubilee: The Happiest Music is Back

While I am super excited-- and a wee bit nervous-- to attend Start Up Weekend, I am terribly crushed that that means that I won't be able to attend one of my very favoritest festivals of the year: the Jug Band Jubilee.

I gushed about the Jubilee last year on the blog. I had such a good time the year before that I decided to make the Jubilee extra credit for my American Literature students. You don't get more "American" than jug band music, and heck, it was popularized right here in Louisville!

On my way into the festival last year, I bumped into several groups of students-- some coming in, some leaving. And to a person, these 16 year olds were stoked. They loved it! A full one-third of my students attended the event-- it IS free, after all-- and every one of them said they never would have gone if I hadn't "made" them, but that they would definitely go back next year!

I hope that's the case. I'm not there, of course, to give them the nudge.

But I can give YOU the nudge.

It really is one of the very best events in the city. Nine jug bands will be in attendance at the Brown Foreman Amphitheater. The music starts at 1pm, and there's a special BBC early-bird happy hour from noon til 2pm. And at 3pm there will be jug band workshops where you can learn to blow a jug or play the kazoo.

If you're free on Saturday at any time, you should really check it out. It is, of course, very family-friendly. Bring a blanket or a chair. Visit the website for the schedule. Have a killer time. You won't be able to help yourself. They don't call jug music "America's Happiest Music" for nothing.

And while you're there, tell Heather I said hi.

Sad Melissa.

Episode 4: Louisville, Not Kentucky

Good mamas don't play favorites. But I am not a good mama. This episode of LOUISVILLE, NOT KENTUCKY is my favorite, thus far.

Linda and I talked about the Jug Band Jubilee, one of my favorite events in the city. We talked about the Tyler Park Jazz Festival. And Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble was gracious enough to let us give away two tickets to their new show: TIME FLIES  (You need to follow us @LouNotKY on Twitter and then tweet us to win-- enter by 9/10! We hope you'll "like" us on Facebook too!). We also jibber-jabbered about Louisvillagers on Reality TV-- go #TeamGunnar!

But the highlight of Episode 4 was our guest podcaster, Scott Kirkpatrick (aka Bro. Stephen) a local musician and a bartender at Rye.  Scott was such a great interview that our podcast ran 20 MINUTES over its usual run-time. We talked about his life and what brought him to Louisville and about narcolepsy (which he suffers from) and his guilty-pleasure music.

If you can't listen to the whole podcast, you need to listen starting at 40:00, where Scott plays a beautiful new song based on LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, one of my favorite books.  "Contagion" is lovely and will give you chills.

Scott brought two drinks for us to try during the "What are we drinking?" segment-- a drink that's on the menu at Rye called the Schnitzelberg and another off-menu drink called the "Alma Lesch" named after a folk artist featured prominently in the KY Museum of Arts & Crafts, downtown.

Scott was the best first guest we could have hoped for-- chatty and sweet and already a LOUISVILLE, NOT KENTUCKY listener.

Hope you enjoy this supersized episode of LOUISVILLE, NOT KENTUCKY.

Otter Kings & Alex Wright at Hideaway Saloon

Back when I first moved to Louisville, The Hideaway Saloon-- the upstairs bar on Bardstown Road right by Leatherheads-- was a regular haunt. I'm not entirely sure when it fell off the rotation of bars, but t did, and it's been a while since I've been there.

Scratch that: I did happen to catch Grayson Capps there early this summer. But it had probably been at least two years since I'd last walked in the door. 

All that being said, it's a really great venue to see bands in an intimate setting. And from my experience, shows nearly always draw good crowds. 

I got a really nice email from a guy named Scott Steinbruner asking me to help promote the Otter King's upcoming show at Hideaway Saloon. And certainly as the President of the Alex Wright Fan Club of North America, how can I turn him down. Scott writes: 

I’m a long time reader of your blog, and I recall that you are a big Alex Wright fan. I just wanted to let you know that Alex is playing with my band (Otter Kings) and Hello Mayday from Cincinnati this Friday night at the Hideway Saloon, starting at 10pm. Having never played with Alex before, we are really looking forward to it.

More information about the show is on our Facebook event page: http://tinyw.in/6b7j and our band’s Facebook page is here: http://tinyw.in/1EDj

I know you don’t know us from a hole in the wall, but we are really working hard to promote the show and get as many people there as we can, so anything you could do as far as mentioning the show to your readership would be most appreciated.
Thanks, and keep up the great work with the blog! 

Done and done, Scott. Thanks for emailing!

Alex Wright & Butch Rice @ North End 7/20

Sadly, it's been a little while since I've had a chance to see Alex Wright play a gig. I hope he hasn't revoked my status as President of the Alex Wright Fan Club of North America.

Little did I know, though, that the North End Cafe-- one of the most consistently good restaurants in town-- has launched a new late-night music series, the brainchild of local musician/music-writer Hunter Embry.

This Friday night (doors at 11p, music at 1130p), two of my favorite local singer-songwriters, Alex Wright and Butch Rice, will take the stage along with special guests Danny Flanigan and Chris Fuller.

Note this is the HIGHLANDS location (woo hoo!); lots of y'all still default to the Frankfort location when you think of North End (I know I do).

Mama may need to take a disco nap on Friday afternoon, but I'm going to try not to miss this.

Forge Presents: Artists are Startups

This event sounds so fantastic. I have this friend who is a pretty talented writer but doesn't have a lick of business sense in that crazy creative noggin of hers. I'm totally dragging my friend to this event. My friend could really use a good talking to about how writing can be a business and how my friend should think of her talent as a product that should be paid for. My friend is going to get so much out of this event. And it looks like Falls City is a sponsor, and that's her favorite beer, so maybe that will help convince my friend to go.

What? 

I have friends.

I have friends who are writers and have no business sense and love Falls City Beer.

Lots of them.

I'm not talking about me here. Not everything is about me.

Forge presents "Artists are Startups" featuring Ashley Capps, founder of Bonnaroo, with music by Alanna Fugate and art by Sloan Showalter, Leia Facewalker, and Shawn Khily. Thursday July 12 at the Butchertown Pub Studios from 530p-730p.

Cure for the Bullhockey: Sean Cannon as a Bear

Every once in a while, you stumble upon something that makes life just a little bit better.

When you say to yourself: "Self, there's a whole lot of bullhockey in the world. This thing you have found-- it negates just a little bit of that bullhockey."

This is one of those things.

And there's been a lot of bullhockey lately.

So, it's a good time to share it with you.

I've been pretty vocal on Twitter about my love for Sean Cannon, the "After Dark" dj at WFPK. So much so that it made the one time I met him a little bit awkward-- for me at least. (I think I hugged him-- what can I say? I'm a hugger!)

I'm convinced Cannon is my musical soulmate. One particularly glum evening, I was sitting in front of my computer, probably blogging, and Cannon whips out a series of tunes-- Pixies, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Counting Crows, and Grant Lee Buffalo (there may have been one or two songs in between)-- that made me want to crawl through my computer and give him a big ol' smooch.

And congrats to Cannon for having the "After Dark" podcast featured glowingly on the USA Today website recently.

Cheyenne Marie Mize is a Louisville treasure, one of those unforgettable voices and stage presences. And her song "Wishing Well" is ludicrously catchy.

Put Sean Cannon in a bear costume in a mall with a tambourine to a "Wishing Well" soundtrack... it's a cure for the bullhockey, folks.  Not all of it, mind you. But if this little video doesn't make you smile, you're in dire straits, my friend. Maybe you need a hug. From me. Get on over here!

Free Orchestra Concert

It's not often you get to hear musicians from the Louisville Orchestra perform for free, so I wanted to make sure that I shared this event with you. I don't have a good anecdote or chit-chatty bit for this one. I kinda figure my Cancerversary post probably filled my chatty quota for the week, right? (Again, thank you so much for the lovely, lovely things you people have said about me and about that post. It's a cliche to say that something 'means a lot," but when I say your words 'meant a lot' to me, I really mean it. I've been thinking about some of the things y'all said for days.)

Anyhoo... What a great way to spend a Friday evening... Tomorrow at the Village Anchor (a place I've been meaning to try out) will host the Louisville Orchestra Musicians Association at 6p in a free concert. LOMA is performing for free as a thank you to the community for the support they received during their protracted battle with management this year.

TICKET GIVEAWAY! An Evening With Yanni

No, no, no, ladies... I'm not giving away an actual EVENING with Yanni. I'm sure that would be a fantastic night; based on the videos on his website, he seems like the smiley-est, most chipper dude in the world.

But I AM giving away two tickets to see Yanni's world tour called "An Evening with Yanni."

I am crazy excited about this. I'm so grateful that Yanni's folks touched base with me.

Here's some info from them:

After an extensive world tour, popular contemporary composer Yanni returns to the United States with a new show An Evening with Yanni, coming to the Louisville Palace on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

Yanni will return to his roots and perform the instrumental hits from legendary live shows that have amazed millions on every continent. Joined on stage by world-class musicians, Yanni will perform the pieces made famous by his shows at the Acropolis in Greece, India’s Taj Mahal, the Forbidden City in China and the Royal Albert Hall in London. The live show will also feature music from Yanni’s newest album Truth of Touch. Now platinum in the Middle East, the compilation of original studio music is the composer’s first in almost a decade.

Reserved Seat Tickets are On Sale Now: $89.50 / $69.50 / $59.50 / $49.50 / $39.50 www.LouisvillePalace.com

I always associate Yanni with my dabbling in New Age-y stuff in the 90's. But he's also a huge humanitarian and involved with lots of global events like the Olympics and, according to Wikipedia, is the widely considered the biggest fundraiser for PBS. 

What do YOU associate Yanni with? Tell me to be entered in the drawing to win TWO tickets to "An Evening With Yanni." You can email me the answer at lou@loueyville.com with the words "I want to see Yanni" in the subject line or comment below. I will choose one random commenter or emailer on Thursday 4/26.  Good luck!

Diego Garcia Returns to Louisville!

Love this photo from METROMIX

Grumble, grumble... *stink-eye*

I'm still none-too-pleased with the folks over at Zanzabar, but it's very difficult to get around the fact that they're my favorite music venue in town. Oh... and TATER TOTS. Of course.

DO BETTER, ZANZABAR!

And there's no getting around the fact that Zanzabar is the only place to catch the return of Diego Garcia this weekend.

Garcia is once again headlining a night of music on April 14 at 9pm-- just five months after his last show at Zbar. I went to the last show, and it was pretty fabulous.  Just yesterday I was in the car listening to WFPK, and a song came on the radio, and I thought, "Why do I love this song so much? The moment it came on I was slammed by a wave of happiness." Turns out-- Diego Garcia song.  Great music. Nice guy. Chatted briefly with Diego after the show, and he gave me the softest t-shirt... hey, the little things count when you're a starving blogger.

Anyway, I emailed Diego a few questions about his upcoming show.  Here are his responses:

LOU: You're playing Louisville during the craziest time of the year in Louisville... the build-up to Derby. What are your impressions of the Kentucky Derby? Decadent and depraved or stately genteel tradition? Something in between?

DIEGO: All of the above. Tradition is beautiful especially when it's part of the land. Crowds are scary.

LOU: You last played Zanzabar on December 10. We're so happy to have you coming back so soon. What was your experience like atZanzabar and in Louisville? Did you have any time to hit the town at all? Did you get to eat at Zanzabar? Did you have their famous tater tots?

DIEGO: Zanzabar is beautiful. It's real. Again, another iconic building and location. The food was also unreal but this time i will make sure to eat after the show and not before! And yes, the tater tots are the real reason were coming back to Louisville

LOU: Lindi Ortega opened for you last time you were here. Wow. Who can we look forward to seeing open for you in April?

DIEGO: Not sure yet but Rumor has it the band "the tater tots" are opening.

LOU: For those of us who went to the show in December, what new can we expect this time around?

DIEGO: A few new songs I'm working on in the studio. Neil youngs harvest moon has also made its way into the show. As well as a new petty song. It's all cool.

How nice of a guy is Diego? He (or his peeps, rather) sent along a free download for you!  Here's "Roses & Wine," folks!

WHO'S IN TOWN? Handbell Ringers April 12-15

When I saw that the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Area V Spring Festival-- aka "Bellebration"-- was coming to Louisville next weekend, my little head went kablooey! What the...? Who ARE these people? How can there be such a thing? I was delighted... "delighted"doesn't even begin to cover it. I am endlessly fascinated with people who are devoted to obscure things.

I immediately hit their website and read up on their many competitions, scholarships, youth initiatives. And the idea for this new series-- WHO'S IN TOWN?-- was born. Because if the handbell ringers had come and gone and I was none the wiser... I would have been bummed out.

And honestly, who knows how obscure the handbells really are? This season on the Zooey Deschanel show "The New Girl" an entire episode centered around a handbell competition. Maybe Zooey can do for the handbells what other Manic Pixie Dream Girls have gone for the ukulele.

I fired off an email to the Handbell Ringers to see if I could find out more about the upcoming Bellebration, and I got this fantastic response from Area 5 Secretary, Wendy Ransom.  

LOU: What goes on during Bellebration? Can you give us a brief overview of the event? 

WENDY: Bellebration is a handbell festival hosted by Area 5 of Handbell Musicians of America (There are 12 areas that make up the national organization).  Area 5 covers a five state area-Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia. Handbell choirs from all over the 5 states will gather in Louisville for a 2 day event featuring a combination of massed rehearsals and hands-on classes on various handbell techniques. Approximately 400 musicians are expected.

The event has two levels of handbell musicians. Tins who perform generally easier music and Coppers who perform more complex or difficult music. Each group has 2 unique pieces they perform on their own and then 3 pieces for the entire massed choir. The groups rotate through divisional rehearsal, massed rehearsal and then time in classes. Classes include topics such as, basic ringing technique, high bell technique including four in hand, bass bell technique, musicality, handbells in worship, and others. (note- bells range in size from approximately 2" in diameter weighing less than a pound to approximately 11" in diameter and weighing 11lbs. Different sizes have different techniques.)

Why did you choose Louisville? 

We aim to rotate the annual festivals around the 5 state area to make them accessible to members. We host 2 each spring and aim to host them in areas in opposite locations. Our other festival this year was held in Akron, Ohio on March 16 & 17. It is also a bit about price and what any given city has to offer in a convention center. The event is short. It begins on Friday at 4 and is over by 6pm on Saturday. Having dining options in the vicinity of a convention center is important due to the need for 400 people to get out, eat, and get back to the event in a relatively short amount of time. It is also nice to have an entertaining city for those who opt to stay over Saturday night and return home on Sunday.

Aside from your Bellebration events, what are you most looking forward to doing while you're in town? 

It has been a number of years since we hosted our event in Lousiville so we are looking forward to heading to a different city and a generally bigger one than our usual venues.

Are there any events associated with Bellebration that the public can attend? 

Yes our closing concert is open to the public. It is at 5:30pm on Saturday the 14th at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The concert will run approximately one hour. Seating is general seating and our concerts are usually well attended.

You can learn more about the guild at http://handbellmusicians.org/ and more specifically about Area 5  http://area5.handbellmusicians.org/

Hard Rock Rising: Battle of the Bands

Hard Rock Cafes around the world are currently hosting a contest called: Hard Rock Rising-- the Global Battle of the Bands.

Each local Hard Rock has their own Battle of the Bands, with the winners advancing to ... um... yeah, okay... I'm a little unclear about how this contest really works.  The BIG prize is that some bands are going to get to play in London, but I'm really not sure how this happens.

And frankly, voting in this contest-- which is starting on Facebook-- is a little like doing the Hokey Pokey.  But the endgame of the local contest is a biggie-- a coveted spot at Waterfront Wednesday this summer.

Here's what you need to do to vote:

1) Go to the Hard Rock Louisville fan page on Facebook and "like" it.
2) Click on the Hard Rock Rising page in the left hand column of the Facebook page.
3) Scroll through the bands, and download songs from the bands you want to vote for. FREE DOWNLOADS-- yay!
4) Voting ends February 6.

The good news is that you can vote for more than one band. The bad news is that you can only vote once AND you can only vote if you live within 50 miles of Louisville.

I'm not going to tell you how to vote, but I will tell you that I cast my ballots for The Navigators-- the band project featuring Alex Wright and Dewey Kincaid (and that song... "Get Out of Touch"... one of my favorites) and for Butch Rice, another one of the most talented singer-songwriters in Louisville.

Side note: Where the heck is Tyrone Cotton on here??-- ANOTHER amazing local singer-songwriter and an awesome supporter of other local musicians... No one comes out to support local music like Tyrone does (he's been at the past two Alex Wright shows, for example). Love him for that.

Kentucky Homefront Fundraiser: Sunday Funday

I don't normally just cut and paste press releases, but this is already late notice, and I want to get it on the interwebs before people clock out of work for the weekend. You know how I loves me some jug bands... this is jug bands AND wine. On a Sunday.  Perfect.  Here's the press release:

Please join us this Sunday, January 29th, from 4-8pm for the 11th Anniversary fundraiser for the Kentucky Homefront Radio Show!  

Kentucky Homefront is a show featuring Kentucky's finest acoustic folk, traditional, blues, country, and bluegrass musicians, and its best storytellers. Their front porch broadcasts that air each Wednesday on WFPK at 8PM are reminiscent of radio variety programs of a bygone era. Hosted by the talented and inimitable singer/songwriter John Gage, Kentucky Homefront is recorded on the 2nd Saturday of every month (except January and July). 

You can expect a rollickin’ good time as River Bend will provide a limited menu, a full bar and is donating 15% of their proceeds to Kentucky Homefront! Also, a new guitar will be raffled off and there will be three 50/50 raffles. There will also be a “Keep the Front Porch Light Burning Bright” booth where you can buy season tickets at a discounted price.

Here is the entertainment schedule:
4:00PM - Songwriters in the Round with John Gage, Turley Richards and Mickey Clark
5:00 PM - Hog Operation
6:00PM - Mickey Clark & The Blue Northern
7:00PM - The Juggernaut Jug Band
Please join us for a great night! 

$10 suggested donation. 

River Bend Winery

120 S 10th Street

Louisvillle

Alex Wright CD Release @ Monkey Wrench 1/27

Dear Fellow Alex Wright Fans,

I hope this first issue of the Alex Wright Fanclub Newsletter finds you all happily enjoying the New Year.  It's already been a great year for us fans, right?

How much did you LOVE hearing Alex and Dewey Kincaid on WFPK's Live Lunch on January 6th? If you missed it, you can catch it again on the Live Lunch Archives here. (Did you know that you can also check out the entire Live Lunch archive since 2007 on your Android or iPhone WFPK app? Totally awesome.) It's also been great hearing Alex's song "Viscosity of Trust" get so much play on WFPK.

As I am sure you know, our next chance to enjoy Alex's music will be January 27th at his Feeling the Pull CD release party at the Monkey Wrench at 9pm. Mark it on your calendars. Dewey Kincaid is the special guest.

So I've been thinking: Justin has his Beliebers, Jimmy has his Parrotheads... what should we fans of Alex Wright be calling ourselves? We'll discuss at our next meeting.

Reminder: no matter how much you "feel the pull" (see what I did there?), you should absolutely fight the urge to throw your panties on stage while Alex is performing. First of all, his wife will be there. (I know, I know... all the good ones are taken.) Secondly, it's very distracting to the performers. It's much better to discretely hand said panties to Alex sometime when he's not on stage or to stuff them (along with a few bucks) in the tip jar. Let's be on our best behavior this time, fans.

As always, you can check out more of the latest Alex Wright news, download the album, and join his mailing list at his website.

Looking forward to seeing y'all on the 27th!

Rock on!

Lou
President
Alex Wright Fan Club of North America

PS. No, there's not really an Alex Wright Fan Club of North America... yet. And no, Alex Wright does not necessarily endorse the entirety of this message. :)

Diego Garcia Ticket Giveaway!

Thanks to Diego Garcia's PR folks, I have two free tickets to his show tomorrow night to give away.  

More information about the show in my previous post, here. 

Want to go? Either leave a response to this post below or tweet me @loueyville and let me know why you need a night out!

I'll pick a post at random tomorrow at noon!

Diego Garcia: Not Just An Atoll (Z'bar on Sat)

I don't blog all that much about music because here in Louisville we're lucky to have a lot of great music bloggers who get the job done.  But occasionally I get a press release from a musician's PR firm that kind of excites me.

This Saturday, Diego Garcia, formerly the frontman of the band Elefant, will be playing at Zanzabar. His PR people let me stream his solo album, and I was totally charmed. From the press release:

Diego Garcia has become one of 2011’s breakout new stars, with NPR calling his debut album ‘Laura’ “one of the top 25 albums of the year (so far).” The album has had an impressive response from radio, hitting #1 atWXPN in Philadelphia and #4 at tastemaker station KCRW in Los Angeles. With lush string arrangements and Spanish guitar, Diego Garcia’s poignant single “You Were Never There,” was recently featured as Starbucks ‘Pick of the Week’ (with 750,000 download cards distributed nationally). Prior to his successful solo career, Diego Garcia originally made his mark on the music scene as front man for the popular indie band Elefant.

Zanzabar is probably my favorite local venue, so I'm really excited for this show.  Below you will find a link to a free download of his song "Stay." We've been hearing Garcia a lot on WFPK; this is a fantastic time to see him in person.  Tickets are $12.  And with the kind of buzz he's been receiving, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it sells out.  Maybe you ought to get your tickets in advance, huh?  You can do that here.

Doors at 8p; show at 9p. I'll see you there!

(Keeping my fingers crossed that I might have a ticket giveaway coming your way soon.  And maybe an interview in which I ask totally absurd questions.  In the meantime, check out Louisville.com's article by Allison Ray.)

Catching Up With Some Awesome Louisvillagers

I don't mess around when I bring y'all Awesome Louisvillagers. The awesome thing about Awesome Louisvillagers is that they don't stop being awesome. Some of this is slightly old news, but there's enough old and new news to call for a little collective post.

Awesome Louisvillager and humble reporter Gabe Bullard is now the News Director at WFPL and is once again hosting the Moth Story Slam for November (Tuesday, November 29, 8pm at Headliners. $8. (more information here). Gabe did a bang-up job in October, and we're looking forward to witnessing his hosting chops again tomorrow. This week's theme is BUSTED. 

The lovely and talented singer-songwriter Awesome Louisvillager Brigid Kaelin is now living in Edinburgh, Scotland for the year and charming audiences overseas (and blogging about her adventures daily at Red Accordion Diaries). 

(By the way, it's that time a year again... go watch Brigid's "Dreidel's Day Out"-- even if it weren't holiday season, you should check it out to give a little jump start to your Ear X-tacy nostalgia).   

Local blogger and do-gooder extraordinaire, Awesome Louisvillager Michelle Jones is getting ready to roll out her annual "One Thing I Love About Louisville" series, which she features every January. If you're interested in participating by writing a guest post for her blog, drop her an email-- her contact information is featured prominently on her blog.  Hey Michelle, would it be too meta if my "One Thing I Love About Louisville" is your "One Thing I Love About Louisville" series? (I've already been featured, actually: here's mine.) 

Look forward to a couple more Awesome Louisvillagers before the year's end. You can read all the posts in the series here. Do you have suggestions? Are you awesome? :) Shoot me an email at lou [at] loueyville.com.

Raise a Joyful Voice

I am unabashedly a summer person, but these perfect fall days are kind of messing with that.  My favorite temperature is 82 degrees, but there's part of me that thinks I could really be okay with the upper-60's if they were always accompanied by the staggering beauty of the changing leaves and the autumnal light.  It is just so damned pretty out there, isn't it?  And when it's this beautiful outside, I feel compelled to seek out things of beauty.

So, beautiful music in a beautiful space?  Yes, I would like some of that please...

The Choral Arts Society of Louisville's November concert is coming up this Sunday, November 6 at 5pm at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church (639 S. Shelby Street).

According to their website, the pieces that will be featured are:

- "Funeral Ode for Queen Mary" -- Purcell
- "Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing"
- "Magnificat" -- Bach

Tickets are $20, but there are discounts for seniors and students.

Highlands Festival... a mystery this year

I'm afraid, loyal readers, that I am batting zero trying to get you specifics on tomorrow's Original Highlands Art & Music Festival.

It's an event I love, and it's in my backyard (almost literally), but this year they've done a crap job of getting the information out there. The LEO had a blurb about it, but no times for the music lineup, which includes The Instruction and Alanna Fugate (and at risk of sounding all "get off my lawn-y:" when you google both of those performers the primary links are to MySpace... ugh, MySpace!  And there's no upcoming shows listed on their MySpace pages).

What I do know: The Festival runs from 11am -11pm. Baxter Ave will be blocked off from Highland Ave to either Christy or Breckenridge. There will be music and food vendors and lots of art vendors and usually a lot of community-oriented booths. Stuff for kids... everything you'd want for a good street fair.

The event is also associated with the 4K Tap 'N Run, which involves running and drinking and costumes.

Wish I could share more, friends. I hope that the lack of info out there this year doesn't bury the event for   the future.  And if you read this before the event and have info to share with me, email me or tweet me, and I will update this post!