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.

Nothing is effed? Lebowski & Paley & OIMBY

A couple of years ago, I 'fessed up to the fact that I was less interested in Lebowski Fest now that it has become something of a nationwide franchise. I called it the opposite of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)-- OIMBY (ONLY In My Back Yard), the desire for something super-duper cool about Louisville to stay Louisville weird.

As Lebowski Fest has spread to bigger cities, most of the choice musical and performance acts have been appearing in places like LA and Miami-- not in Louisville.

That being said, this year's musical line-up of Mucca Pazza, Todd Snider, and the Deloreans is nothing to sneeze at.

And in that blog post, I expressed concern that the spread of Lebowski Fests might mark a similar path for the (then-just-announced) spread of our beloved 21C's.

And what did we find out this morning? Our equally beloved Chef Michael Paley of 21C's Proof is leaving us for the new Cincinnati 21C's restaurant, Metropole.

Read my 2010 blog post about my predictions for Best Case/Worst Case scenarios for 21C's expansion. Note that under "Best Case Scenario," I list "Michael Paley stays at Proof."

This is kind of a kick to the gut. Now I have to admit, I was helping the Guy pull together his summer residency for Tourism Honors Academy last night, so I got all of three hours of sleep and may be a little more melodramatic than necessary... but I'm feeling a little "The goddamn plane has crashed into the mountain" about this.

Maybe I need a good nap and some Octopus Bagna Cauda to center myself.

Finnegan's Festival of Funky Fresh Fun #5

How cute is this poster? (apparently this is for a play called "Death Hamster" and that makes it even more awesome...)

Last year was the year I finally got around to "discovering" Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble, so this year might be the year that I finally "discover" Finnigan's.

I sure do love ten-minute plays-- still trying to finish the one I started writing last year after Humana Festival. (This year's TENS at Humana Festival were particularly awesome).  I should probably consume as many ten-minute plays as I can.... you know, for research.

Here's what's on tap for this year's 5th Funky Fresh Fun:

 Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun’s plays include:  A coffee shop fantasy set to music in Playlist by Kate Barry.  A bank robbery split three ways in Stick-up by Zachary Burrell.  The heiress to a chocolate fortune and an ex-hockey star find themselves in an awkward predicament in The Chocolate Girl by David Clark.  Memories are hard things to throw away in Toast by Tad Chitwood.  Need someone who listens?  Need someone who cares?  Just call the On Call Empathy Team by Sarah East.  Aristophanes’ love life gets some revisions in Greek Tragedy by Andy Epstein.  Things are not what they seem, or maybe they are in Mitch Field’s Life is But a Dream.  Digging up dead bodies isn’t always easy, but Nick and Corey still try and have a good time in Nick and Corey Grave Rob by Nick Potter and Corey Music.  Show tune sing-a-longs are the least of these ladies’ problems in Women Who Love Gay Men by Brian Walker.  The mystery of the dead hamster has so many possibilities in Death Hamster! by Bryce Woodard.

The festival runs on April 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14 at 730pm at the Bard's Town Theatre-- tickets are $15.

Lifetime Achievement for Lance Henriksen

The Derby City Film Festival's press release calls Lance Henriksen a "veteran actor known for roles in TERMINATOR and ALIENS," which is all fine and good. And truly, Bishop from ALIENS is a iconic sci-fi character.

But the television show MILLENIUM, starring Henrikson as an ex-FBI-er with the ability to see into criminals' minds, spanned three seasons and 67 episodes, featured LOST's Terry O'Quinn, and was created by the X-FILES's Chris Carter.  Damned good show.

Henriksen will be in town for the Derby City Film Festival in support of his new film IT'S IN THE BLOOD and will be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Festival. Here's the skinny on this film, and its Louisville connections:

IT'S IN THE BLOOD is a feature film from Louisville natives and Ballard High School graduates Scooter Downey & Sean Elliot and is up for three awards including Best Feature Film and two Best Actor Nominations for stars Henriksen & Sean Elliot. BLOOD tells the tale of a father (Henricksen) and son (Elliot) who become stranded in the wild and must confront the horrors of their past to escape with their lives. However, this wilderness is not what it seems, and as they deteriorate, so to does their concept of reality: horrifying creatures, ghostly apparitions, is it all in their heads, or could the truth be far more terrible?

Henriksen will be participating in panels and doing a signing of his new autobiography LANCE HENRIKSEN-- NOT BAD FOR A HUMAN (how much do you love that title? tons!).

BLOOD will be screened with the short film ENDLESS at 8pm on February 18 at the Clifton Center. The Derby City Film Festival runs from February 17-19. We'll have more on the festival in a later post. In the meantime, you can check out festival information here: www.derbycityfilmfest.com.

Lots of Henriksen on Netflix Instant, but unfortunately no MILLENIUM (not on Amazon Prime or in Wild and Woolly's catalogue, either... bummer).

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!

Love This City: Me & the Mean Reds

Confession: I have been in unholy funk lately.


Back when I was in high school, my favorite movie was Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was a really different person back then (weren't we all?). I bought the VHS tape and nearly wore it out.  But in my twenties, I just stopped watching. It lost its glow. I no longer believed that being charmingly dysfunctional was attractive and my ticket to the tunnel of love. I'd lived in New York City and visited Tiffany's, and it had not soothed my soul. In fact, Tiffany's bummed me out-- looking at $250 keychains while working three jobs to make the rent just made me resentful.  And let's face it, it's hard to get past Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi, right?


But when I get in these funks, I think of Holly Golightly (gosh, was there ever a character name as delightful as "Holly Golightly"?). 


I don't have the blues; I have the "mean reds."


Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds. You mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat, and maybe it's been raining too long. You're just sad, that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid, and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

Yeah, Holly. Yeah I do. 


But let me tell you something, Louisville, the one unflinchingly good thing in my life is you. You're full of interesting and exciting things to do, and you're full of people who are kind and thoughtful and lovely to be around. 


I mean, it's hard to articulate exactly why I've been in a funk. (Which is why Holly's definition of the "mean reds" really speaks to me.) Seriously, just look at how I spent my weekend:


On Friday night, Roommate and I took in Actors Theatre's production of DRACULA. I went last year, but this was Roommate's first time. It's not entirely my cup of tea, to be honest, but both of us came away wondering the same thing: why in the world do locals pay exorbitant prices for cheesy haunted houses as a build-up to Halloween, when they can go see DRACULA at Actors? I'll be honest; I'm basing my knowledge of haunted houses on the few I saw in my youth. But I remember them being pricey, cheesy, and quick. DRACULA is scary, superbly produced, and a couple of hours long. 


On Saturday, we went to the Jug Band Jubilee, which is quickly becoming my favorite annual festival. It was a gorgeous night to be on the waterfront, and I bumped into some of my best friends in the city. After the event ended, a bunch of us went over to the (I'm still calling it "new") BBC on Main Street. I am a sucker for iceberg wedge salads, and the BBC has the best one in the city-- and it's only $5.99. It has both bleu cheese and ranch dressing, and the bacon crumbles are generously portioned and really tasty (this from a woman who is totally over the whole bacon fad). THEN (yes, it was an Energizer Bunny night), a couple of us went to one of my favorite bars downtown-- Al J's in the Galt House (is that Paula Abdul on their website?). I love looking out over the river at night. And I both love and feel bad for the fish in their fishtank bar.  The drinks at Al J's are well-made and among the most reasonable I've had in a hotel bar-- around $7.50 for a Manhattan.  


And Sunday, I got to interview the subject of my upcoming article for the October issue of The Louisville Paper-- Mike Brooks. Mike's one of the co-founders of the much-lauded new theater company in town, Theatre [502]. And he's intense and smart and funny and amazingly contemplative (you'll just have to wait for my article to hear more). But this guy is, like, the opposite of the "mean reds;" this guy is the opposite of "afraid for no reason." Seriously-- and pardon my crassness here-- but you have to have huge effing balls to start a new theatre company in this economy. And he and his friends just got it done. Inspiring.


So many good things. And so many more coming up. In fact, the next few days are shaping up to be utterly brilliant. More to come on that soon.


I still have the mean reds. But they'll pass. They always do. And no matter how funked out I get, Louisville, I'm never so funked out that I forget how much I love you.

The Word 'Jubilee' Makes Everything Happier

Last year I made a fairly public promise to attend the National Jug Band Jubilee, and I did follow through on that promise. And honestly, I had an unreasonably fantastic time.  As soon as I saw the fliers for this year's Jubilee, I did a little happy dance of anticipation.

The 2011 Jubilee is Saturday September 17 and features 9 national jug bands from noon til 11p at the Brown-Foreman Amphitheater.  Admission is free, and this year's festival is going to be recorded for a future Kentucky Homefront radio show on WFPK.

One of the things I loved most about the Jubilee is that it attracted a pretty diverse group of (given, mostly white) people. There were people for whom jug band music is part of their heritage. There were a ton of Bardstown Road hipsters on their Vespas. The similarities in dress, however, made a casual game of "Facial Hair: Ironic or Authentic?" preeeetty darned difficult.

Jug band music is billed as "America's Happiest Music."  And if you've ever been to the Jubilee, you'll understand why. There's dancing and storytelling and crafts and good comfort food and beer.  People bring their whole families-- multiple generations. And y'all know how I feel about music outside, especially on the water?  Heaven.  Here's hoping the weather shapes up before then.

Kentuckiana Pride Festival: June 17 & 18

After seeing ANOTHER EARTH yesterday at the Kentucky Center, Roommate and I hopped over to the Greek Festival for a quick bite. I'm not a huge fan of Greek food, but for just $5 I got a hummus and a small Greek salad that was a sufficient dinner.  And the Greek salad? Best I've ever had. I kind of want to go back today to have more-- this time I'll order a large.

But the best part of our brief stay at the Greek Festival was when the 6-piece band started to play and the dance floor filled with eager, soon-to-be-sweaty dancers of all ages.  I don't know what the Greek dances are called, but it's so nice to see that people are clearly still teaching them to the younger generations. A good quarter of the dancers were in their teens and early-twenties. Looked like the wedding scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding... is that tacky to say?

All that is to say, I loves me a festival on the Belvedere.  And during the summer it seems like there's a festival nearly every weekend.  Good for us.

The next one is the Kentuckiana Pride Festival.  The event is presented by the Kentucky Pride Foundation, whose mission states:

Kentuckiana Pride Foundation is a volunteer-based non-profit promoting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer/questioning and intersexed (GLBTQI) community in Kentuckiana's social, cultural and economic landscape. Each year on the Belvedere in downtown Louisville, we hold the Kentuckiana Pride Festival, a place where the GLBTQI community and its supporters can meet and celebrate, enjoying a variety of food, entertainment, and showcases from local and regional businesses and organizations.

The festivities start on June 17 at 8pm with the Festival Parade.  The parade starts at Tryangles at 209 S. Preston and makes its way down Market to Main and the Belvedere.  Friday night's festivities on the Belvedere start when the parade arrives and continue til 11p.  And they're free!

But the big day for the Festival is Saturday.  Performers start at noonish and run until 11pm or so.  I will admit to having been sucked into a couple of Ru Paul's Drag Race marathons, so I was kind of psyched to see Jade Sotomayor and Phoenix were on the bill.  Saturday's admission is $5, and there will be food and drinks and other vendors. Saturday's schedule:

12:00pm	Opening Ceremony: Pride Interfaith
1:00pm	Sibella
2:15pm	Dangerous Liaison
4:00pm	Sienna
4:45pm	Elliot Truman
5:30pm	Galaxy Girls
6:15pm	The Blue Umbrellas
7:30pm	Jenn Stout
8:45pm	La Boy Le Femme
9:00pm	Performances by: Cazwell Roxy Cottontail Adam Barta From RuPaul's Drag Race: Jade Sotomayor Phoenix

Please note, times are subject to change.

Listen Louisville, back in the day, long before I knew a dang thing about Louisville, I used to intellectually lump Tennessee & Kentucky together.  You know, like, "Tennessee... Kentucky... same diff!" Now I know that's just not true, but we do live across a border from a state that passed a law that makes it against the law to use the word "gay" in a public school classroom.  While this festival is largely aimed at the LGBTQI members of the Louisville community, you know some a**holes from other communities will be out there with their signs and their bigotry.  So, you know.... go.... whether you're LGBTQI or not.  Go to the parade, swing by the fest, bring your kids. I have a pretty strong feeling that if you're reading my blog, you know why and you know what I mean.

And enjoy a little George Takei Vs. Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay" law while you're at it.

Flyover Film Festival 3 & Another Earth

I'd never call myself a "film buff." That implies some level of scholarship and knowledge.  But I did just see two movies in a row on Monday (X-Men: First Class and Water for Elephants), and I'm going to another one tomorrow (Cave of Forgotten Dreams). I love movies. I probably average a movie in the theaters every two weeks or so. During the summer, it's easily once a week.

If you follow my tweets, you know that I spent the weekend with a friend I hadn't seen in fifteen years. And if you follow my tweets, you know that he, for lack of a better word, challenged me in a lot of ways. (You can go to this twitter hashtag for a lot of the story.)

I've never met anyone who changed so much that even the shadow of the person I once knew is nearly imperceptible. He's grown up to be a good man and a happy man, so there's no judgement here at all.  He's equal parts Gandhi, Ravi Shankar, and all those crazy hippy stereotypes that drive many of us nuts.  But this new man is one that has almost nothing in common with the woman I've become. Except our shared memories.

Visitor has lived so far outside of my life experience for so long that when I asked him if he had any pop culture guilty pleasures-- movies, tv, books read for entertainment pleasure only-- he had nothing.  I'm a pop culture nerd. Heck, I used to teach a course on pop culture.  He said, "My guilty pleasure is electricity." And all I could think was, "Really? Because I know that Tivo recorded a particularly exciting episode of 'Doctor Who' last night, and I wish you'd take a nap or something so I can find out what all the fuss on Twitter has been about.'"

But in the end the visit was incredibly meaningful, and I will look back on it fondly, always.  Maybe once in a lifetime do you ever have the chance to spend time with someone who has had you on a pedestal for 22 years.

His parting wish for me was that I should "treat myself better."

What he meant: You should take up yoga and qijong. You should find a spiritual healer who performs massages so you can work on the 20-something-years of pain and sadness you've stored in your muscles. You should supplement your cancer drugs with plant medicines.

What I heard: You should spend the day after he leaves in a movie theater with a giant popcorn and a giant root beer.

Because that's how I roll...

If I rolled with a little more cash, I would totally buy an all-access pass to this weekend's Flyover Film Festival.  It's only $75 for a four-day pass!  This is the third annual festival for the Louisville Film Society whose mission states:

We believe cinema art can take many forms, from the industrially-produced blockbuster to the hand-crafted experimental work.  We aim to share a vision of film as a transformative art and encourage  participation in all aspects of film culture by diverse audiences.

What I am most excited about, and what I almost certainly attend, is the area premier of ANOTHER EARTH.  I've blogged about it before; it's the fantastic-looking, very well-received sci-fi film starring our very own Louisvillager William Mapother.  And the fact that I have a mad little celebru-crush on the man actually has very little to do with my excitement about this movie.  (Although, yes, one of the event organizers sent me an email and referenced my crush... I wasn't at all embarrassed or anything!) But he will be there doing a Q&A afterwards. Seriously folks, watch the trailer... it looks SO good.

We're so lucky to live in a city that supports the arts like we do (although the Louisville Orchestra might not agree). I'm excited that we've sustained this fabulous film festival for three years.  I hope it continues to grow strong.  And I hope that next year I have better cash flow, so I can totally film-geek-out for an all-access pass.

Bonnaroo 2011 Line-Up Announced

You know how Mama loves her Bonnaroo...

But I was initially a little lukewarm when they announced the line-up yesterday.  Roommate and I always debate about music festivals.  For me, the best music festivals feature a knock-me-on-my-ass-good headliner who I've wanted to see for SO LONG and a solid line-up beyond that.  Roommate prefers his festivals to feature lots of good new bands.  I want my Pearl Jam.  I want my Springsteen.

What I do not want, frankly, is Eminem.  Or Widespread Panic.  Or Lil Wayne.  Or any of the other "big names" featured at this year's Bonnaroo.  Sure I'm interested in seeing Arcade Fire, but meh.  Neil Young will be awesome, but why do we have to lump the legend in with, well, a whole bunch of other legends? I really get almost halfway down the list before I'm psyched.  My first "ooh, that's cool" outbursts came with Dr. John and then with Florence and the Machine.

Interestingly enough, two of the names I'm most excited about are favorites from previous Bonnaroos.  I can't WAIT to see Low Anthem again.  And I "discovered" Abigail Washburn (with the Sparrow Quartet, including our own Ben Sollee) a few years back at Bonnaroo.

I do like Mumford & Sons, and maybe by June I'll be as wackadoo crazy about them as 95% of my hippest friends.

And as I've admitted before...  I KNOW that My Morning Jacket are a local TREASURE.  I KNOW that.  But I cannot, cannot, cannot get over how annoying the "Yim Yames" thing is.  I just can't.  I've been trying for three or four years, and I... I will continue to try.  For the love of Louisville.  But seriously.... "Yim Yames." I know he's made of puppies and awesome, according to most of you, but seriously... "Yim Yames"?  Ugh.

Here's the full line up, which I have shamelessly cut and pasted from The Nashville Scene:

* Eminem
* Arcade Fire
* Widespread Panic
* The Black Keys
* Buffalo Springfield feat Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Rick Rosas, Joe Vitale
* My Morning Jacket
* Lil Wayne
* String Cheese Incident
* Robert Plant & Band of Joy
* Mumford & Sons
* The Strokes
* The Decemberists
* Ray Lamontagne
* Bassnectar
* Iron & Wine
* Girl Talk
* Primus
* Dr. John and The Original Meters performing Desitively Bonnaroo
* Alison Krauss and Union Station
* Pretty Lights
* Florence & the Machine
* Superjam ft. Dan Auerbach and Dr. John
* Explosions in the Sky
* STS9
* Gogol Bordello
* Beirut
* Big Boi
* Scissor Sisters
* Gregg Allman
* Ratatat
* Global Gypsy Punk Revue curated by Eugene Hütz
* Robyn
* Warren Haynes Band
* Deerhunter
* Opeth
* Atmosphere
* Old Crow Medicine Show
* Bootsy Collins & the Funk University
* Wiz Khalifa
* Matt & Kim
* Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
* The Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
* Mavis Staples
* Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
* Chiddy Bang
* Javanotti
* Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers
* Loretta Lynn
* Cold War Kids
* The Walkmen
* Devotchka
* Wanda Jackson
* Neon Trees
* Portugal. The Man
* Sleigh Bells
* Amos Lee
* Best Coast
* Dãm-Funk
* The Sword
* The Drums
* The Black Angels
* School of Seven Bells
* J. Cole
* Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea
* Wavves
* !!!
* Junip
* Freelance Whales
* Justin Townes Earle
* Ryan Bingham
* Deer Tick
* Band of Skulls
* Sharon Van Etten
* Abigail Washburn
* Omar Souleyman
* Twin Shadow
* Kylesa
* Man Man
* The Low Anthem
* Alberta Cross
* Railroad Earth
* Jessica Lea Mayfield
* Smith Westerns
* The Head and the Heart
* Karen Elson
* Beats Antique
* 22-20s
* Phosphorescent
* Clare MaGuire
* Hayes Carll

What Do Sydney & Louisville Have In Common?

Sometimes press releases are like time machines.  I just got the greatest press release in my emails box, and it's full of all kinds of good news for the city and for various events and festivals. Awards. Kudos. Laurels. Pats on many backs.

But the events described in the press release haven't ACTUALLY happened yet.  They happen tomorrow.  At 1:30p.  In the Lobby of the Whale.  With Uncle Mayor Jerry.  

Oh, I can't keep this good news in.  Because you know how much Mama loves her some festivals, right?  I'll publish more details on the news tomorrow after the awards/kudos/laurels/pats have already been handed out.  (WHAT IF THESE PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR MINDS?  You don't want to jinx this, Louisville).

What do Sydney & Louisville have in common?  We're the only two recipients of the designation of "World Festival & Event City" in the "over 1 million" category.  That's pretty damned world class, kids.  Sydney and little ol' LOU?  So says the International Festival and Event Association. Earlier this month we got ourselves one of the ugliest buildings and now this... 

It's been a good month to be a Louisvillager.  So say we all.  

Art in the Highlands

Art in the Highlands is kind of cursed.  Last year, the event was plagued by downpours and was scheduled the same weekend as the big UofL-UK game.  This year it falls during the Jewish Holidays.

But this juried art fest is well worth checking out!  You couldn't ask for better weather for an open air art festival.  And it's held on the beautiful campus of the Louisville Collegiate School.  I'll be there for early holiday shopping and to see the local and national artists.  Some really good music lined up too.

From their website:

Louisville Collegiate School is proud to presentArt in the Highlands, a community-wide event featuring juried artists from across the country. The event will take place on September 18 and 19on Collegiate's campus at 2427 Glenmary Avenue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Art mediums represented will include watercolor, oil painting, photography, jewelry, sculpture, pottery and much more.

Entertainers Schedule:

Saturday, September 18
12 p.m. Augmented Five (Jazz Combo)
1 p.m. Bob Douglas
2 p.m. Will Cary
3 p.m. John Gage
4 p.m. Joel Timothy

Sunday, September 19
11 a.m. Citizen's Arrest (Classic Rock)
1 p.m. Bob Douglas
2 p.m. Will Cary
3 p.m. John Gage
4 p.m. Joel Timothy

HullabaLOU Round-up: Last Post

Okay, it's been a week, and tomorrow I leave for my "real" summer vacation, so this is as good of a time as any to put a period at the end of my HullabaLOU reporting.  Here, in no particular order, are some final thoughts on HullabaLOU:

• One of my favorite things about music festivals is discovering new bands.  When you go to Bonnaroo, you're given a little pocket-sized booklet as soon as you enter the gates.  This book-- besides having some really great articles and even some coupons for fest vendors-- features bios of all the bands.  This is a brilliant idea.  Helps the new, unknown bands gain an audience (I remember going to see a band my first year just because they were from Knoxville-- where @etammoor & I lived for a summer-- and they were in a tent, and it was hot).  Jazzfest sells their booklet-- well worth it, especially for the coupons.  And the industrious New Orleans monthly music bible, Offbeat Magazine, has vendors outside the gates of Jazzfest every day, giving away their phone-book-sized version.  I would have seen more new bands if I'd been clued into who they were.  And it's genuinely a nice break to go find a shady corner somewhere during the heat of the day and have something to read.
  
• I saw exactly four children at HullabaLOU.  Teens galore.  But only four little kids.  I saw lots of oldsters, including a surprising number of people with walkers and/or oxygen tanks.  But music festivals should speak of "community."  And community includes kids.  Bonnaroo and Jazzfest feature kids' activities and even musicians geared towards the kiddos.  HullabaLOU should do something about this.
  
• We're a foodie city, but you wouldn't have known that at HullabaLOU.  Sure, there were a number of local vendors.  But the food court was not memorable by any stretch of the imagination.  Again, at Jazzfest I budgeted at least $25 a day for food and was more than happy to spend it to taste food from restaurants that I normally couldn't afford to go to and have food that was only available at Jazzfest.  In the slower hours of HullabaLOU, it seemed like there was a beer/booze vendor for every four fest-ers.  Maybe they should consider giving that real-estate to more food vendors.
  
• Anyone know who designed the Dave Matthews Band HullabaLOU poster?  It was gorgeous, and I can't find it online.
  
• Ok, he he, my funny Ben Sollee story.  (And understand, I totally am giving the guy the benefit of the doubt here.)  So after his fantastic set in the blazing heat, Sollee came up to the Media Center, and I happened to bump into him at the food buffet.  Reminder:  I am quite possibly the shyest person in the world, so it to herculean effort for me to muster the courage to speak to him.  Which I did.  Complimented him on his show, stammered a bit, and then he engaged me in conversation about first the buffet and then the festival.  I explained to him that that day's fest (Kenny Chesney) was very different than the previous day's fest (Bon Jovi).  And he said, "Which one (Chesney or Bon Jovi) do you prefer?"  I stammered for a moment and then said, "Well, neither is my cup of tea, but I have to say-- Bon Jovi kinda rocked." And he walked away.  No comment, no smile, no nod of understanding.  Just cold walked away, leaving me holding a plate of chicken fingers and my pride.  Was it me (sweaty little awkward mess)?  Was it Bon Jovi?  Or was he just done with the conversation.  Who knows?  But when people ask me why I'm so shy... yeah, this is why, folks. UPDATE:  See the comments for Sollee's very kind response.  All a big ol' miscommunication.  

Again, thanks for tuning into the "All HullabaLOU All the Time" portion of this blog.  I really enjoy covering events in depth-- I've done the same thing with IdeaFestival, Humana Festival, and Bonnaroo before, and it's always been fun.  But back to picking and choosing my topics for now.  And thanks for the Churchill Downs Entertainment folks for making it possible.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.  

HullabaLOU: The Acts that Got Away

Taddy Porter on the Media Center balcony

The inevitable bummer of a music festival is that you have to make hard choices sometimes.  Acts you like may overlap.  Some acts may start too early for your particular fest-ing experience.  And sometimes you just get plain ol' too tucked out to drag yourself out into the heat to catch an act that you really want to see.  There is a handful of people I wish I'd seen, and even more that I wish I'd seen more of.  Here are some notable highlights:

Friday:  My parking headaches killed my chance of seeing the estimable Sam Bush on the Budweiser Stage.  Luckily, the banjo god put in a guest appearance with Dierks Bentley, so all was not completely lost.  I've seen Bush several times-- usually at festivals.  He's really the hardest working man in Bluegrass, except for maybe Bela Fleck.  I only caught a wee bit of the B-52s show, not enough to hear any of their big hits.  I wish I'd stayed long enough to hear "Rock Lobster" just to see if the crowd got down on the ground and did the, uh, "Rock Lobster."  Funny story:  When Kate Pierson and Keith Strickland came up to the Media Center, some interviewer asked them what it was like to be together so long (since the 70's) before having a hit like "Love Shack" in 1989.  And immediately I thought, "Who is this guy?  Um, 'Rock Lobster,' dude?"  And Kate responded, "Well, 'Rock Lobster' was pretty huge...." And interview responded: "Oh, it was?"  Sheesh, can just anyone get a press pass these days?  (That's a joke, kids.  Just a joke.)

Saturday:  I hate, hate, hate that I was too exhausted from my Friday adventures to get out to HullabaLOU in time to see local Brigid Kaelin.  Sure, I've seen her show a half dozen times, but (a) she's wonderful and (b) it's super important to give the very few local acts some love.  But I heard her show was excellent, as always.  Otherwise, I feel like I had a pretty solid Saturday.  No regrets about missing the ever-revolving roster of Blood, Sweat, & Tears (although watching them on the jumbotron elicited this tweet from me:  "Wait a minute, Blood, Sweat & Tears are WHITE guys? #imnotTHATold").  I've heard good things about the local VilleBillies, and I heard that they were really nice guys in the Media Center.  But I don't know enough about them to regret hitting Ben Sollee instead.

Sunday:  Local Andrea Davidson opened up for Charlie Mars when I saw him a few months at Zanzabar, and she was pretty wonderful.  I also bumped into an acquaintance at the festival who just gushed about seeing her show and grilled me about her Zanzabar show.  But Sunday's big bummer miss was a band I'd never heard of-- and for good reason: their debut album just came out at the end of June.  The guys from Taddy Porter came up to see the good folks of the press in the Media Center and gave such a charming interview that I kicked myself for the rest of the day for having missed them.  They were unabashedly star struck about the acts they were sharing the bill with and simply thrilled to have been asked to be a part of HullabaLOU.  I went home and checked out a few songs on their website, and they're good old fashioned rock from Stillwater, OK.  Next time they're in town, I'll be there.  They could be the next big thing-- and that's one of the lovely things about music festivals:  you never know.  (That's a picture of the charming ragamuffins from Taddy Porter above).

Overall, HullabaLOU did a pretty good job creating a schedule where you could map out a complex timetable and catch at least a couple of songs by just about everyone you wanted to see (Although the Loretta Lynn-- Avett Brothers-- Dwight Yoakam overlap was a little hairy).  

HullabaLOU: Gladys Knight

One of my HullabaLOU highlights occurred just thirty minutes after I'd finally entered the event on Day One.  After a parking hassle that had me so frazzled that I almost turned ye olde jalopy around and went home, an angel took mercy on me and let me park in the VIP lot.  I hustled my buns as fast as I could to make it to the Gladys Knight show at the Budweiser stage.

Thankfully, the divine Ms. K was late to come on.  Her 11-piece band, including four dynamic back-up singers, vamped for the audience until she made her appearance, looking gorgeous and supernaturally cool in a white pants suit worthy of the mother-of-the-bride at a really classy wedding.

Two songs into her set, she offered up praise for Kentucky and Kentucky music, explaining that the songwriter of her most famous works-- "Midnight Train to Georgia," "Neither One of Us Wants to Be The First One To Say Goodbye," and "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"--  is country music writer, Jim Weatherly.  And then she launched into the latter song (see the video above).

So, highlight?  Frankly, the whole Gladys Knight set ranks up there in the "best moments of HullabaLOU."  But somehow I'd managed to sidle myself up to the stage-- just a person or two back.  And I was so close and so happy to be there, I was beaming like a halogen light.  And when she came to the second chorus, the amazing Ms. Knight looked me dead in the eye and sang straight to me.  And yeah, I know, I'm not the best thing that ever happened to her, but for just a second-- shorter than Rick Pitino's alleged sexual encounter at Porcini's but longer than just a quick howdoyoudo-- she made me feel that way.  

Isn't it-- shouldn't it be-- everyone's goal to touch someone-- even just one person-- so much that they'll want to play that song at your funeral?  (Was that in a movie?  I feel like it was.)  Anyway, the moment was transcendant and will stick with me for a long time.

Music icons owned HullabaLOU this year.  Whether it was the 66 year-old Empress of Soul, Ms. Knight or the 76 year-old Coal Miner's Daughter, Ms. Loretta Lynn, these oldsters showed some of the younger, less experienced acts (ahem, Jason Aldean) how it's done.  Connect with the crowd, look-- and sound-- fantastic, surround yourself with an awesome band, appear thrilled to be there, and most of all, put on a show.  Thank you Ms. Knight.  

The HullabaLOU Elephant: Ticket Prices

When you live in New Orleans, and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival time rolls around, the question you hear in coffeeshop queues all around town isn't "You going to JazzFest?"

It's "What days you going to JazzFest?"

On the one hand, it's patently unfair to compare the brand new HullabaLOU to one of the nation's most important-- probably the most important-- historic, and respected music festivals.  JazzFest just turned 40 years old this year.  It features seven days of music, from 11am - 7pm over the course of two weekends, on twelve music stages or tents.  JazzFest loves the "Heritage" part of its official name, and this is reflected not only in the music and the culture of the festival, but also in the hundreds of local food vendors, and its often museum-worthy collection of juried crafts booths.

In 2001, JazzFest broke all of its own attendance records and clocked more than 650,000 fest-goers for the seven days including one day that busted the 160,000 single-day record.  But even on a mediocre JazzFest day, it still pulls more than the nearly 79,000 bodies who went through the turnstiles at Churchill this entire weekend.

On the other hand, it's really hard for this JazzFest veteran to not draw comparisons.  First of all, there's no shaking the fact that both festivals occur on Churchill Downs properties.  And as I pointed out in an old post when HullabaLOU was first announced:  Churchill is actually two acres larger than the Fair Grounds property that hosts JazzFest.  Secondly, it was impossible to be a JazzFester and not cast your eye around the HullabaLOU layout and offerings and not say, "well, somebody went to JazzFest and got some good ideas."

And finally, and most importantly, JazzFest invented this wheel, HullabaLOU Festival; your learning curve should be really, really short.  Your sister property has been doing this for forty years and kicking ass.  HullabaLOU was a great little festival this year, take a lesson from one of New Orleans's favorite (well, sometimes reviled) transplants, and "kick it up a notch" next year.

Let's talk ticket prices, shall we?  When both Forecastle Festival and HullabaLOU announced their pricing structures for tickets this year, I thought the organizers of both festivals had lost their bloody minds.

I didn't go to Forecastle and don't feel like I missed much (I am long on the record for being allergic to "jam bands"), but I will say this:  $150 for a 3-day pass or $70 day-of one-day passes comes surprisingly close to the cost of attending Bonnaroo-- but with no camping (and all the facilities needed to support three days of 75,000 campers), no seventeen-plus hours of music a day, and not a single act that even touched a "stadium caliber" headliner in the entire three days of Forecastle Festival.

I'm of two minds about HullabaLOU's ticket pricing right now.  General Admission tickets were $75 in advance-- a price that nearly made me choke on my latte when I read it.  And frankly, I still think the ticket price was the single biggest misstep in an otherwise well-conceived and -executed festival.  But I can see the other side of the coin, and it is this:

Let's be realistic, folks.  If Kenny Chesney and his sexy tractor ever come to the KFC Yum Bucket to play a show, you better bet you'll be paying nigh-$75 for the crappy seats.  And if you're a Chesney fan-- and who knew there were SO many rabid Kenny Chesney fans?-- you'll cough up those bucks happily.   And while I was in the Media Center watching Kenny Chesney fans go wild, my 60 year-old aunt and uncle were tailgating before a Bon Jovi concert in Massachusetts-- a show that cost between $67-$335, before TicketMaster surcharges, if you could get tickets.  And for $75 at HullabaLOU, you got a stadium caliber headliner and seven additional hours of music.  So, there's that.

On the other hand, and this is a big Mickey-Mouse-sized hand, if you cast a critical eye over the crowds attending each day of HullabaLOU, you would see that the type of crowd was largely dictated by the headliner that day.  We had Bon Jovi fans Friday, Chesney fans Saturday, and DMB fans Sunday.  And those fans were getting a heck of a deal:  a stadium show plus some really fantastic minor-to-mid-major music in the seven hours before the act they were really there to see.

Charging $75 a day for tickets will, without a doubt, keep HullabaLOU from being a local cultural powerhouse.  Your average Joe & Jane are not going to shell out $75 to "check it out."  They're just not. $75 a day makes HullabaLOU an event that you plan in advance for, an event that makes you weigh the pros and cons of spending that kind of green.  And the purpose of going to a music festival isn't to see one act-- it's to sample from the buffet of offerings, see people you wouldn't normally see, discover new acts you'll come to love.

I am not enough of a Bon Jovi, Chesney, or DMB fan to pay $75 to see them in a stadium.  If I had been left to my own devices, there was no one day of HullabaLOU that would have been worth $75 to me-- even though I adored the Day Three line-up-- and certainly the 66 acts featured weren't worth a three-day pass for me.

People lost their noggins this year when day-of JazzFest ticket prices jumped $10 from $50 to $60.  But you could still get them in advance for $45.  Attendance levels did, indeed, sag-- no one can ever really say why, but I would think $60 is a cut-off for spontaneous JazzFesting for a lot of people.  Those days of drawing 160,000 fans were back in the day of $25 JazzFest tickets.  Back in the day when I would wake up on a JazzFest morning and say to myself, "Well, there's really no one I'm dying to see today, but it's a beautiful day, so I might as well hit the Fest."  (or... "I'm really in the mood for some Crawfish Monica, so I might as well hit the Fest"... or... "I really regret not buying those beautiful earrings yesterday, so I should snag them today before someone else does.")

JazzFest invented the wheel and perfected it.  If they keep inflating the ticket prices, the air is going to come out of them there tires really fast.  If Churchill Downs Entertainment wants the people of Louisville to be asking "What day you hitting HullabaLOU?" come July 2011, they have to cut their prices.  Otherwise the crowds will always be dictated by the pull of the mainstage headliner.

HullabaLOU Hangover: HullabaLOU will return

*Yawn!*  Oh, hello there.  What day is it?  It's Tuesday?  Really?

Right.

So my first HullabaLOU-free day found me sleeping for twelve hours and then spending the rest of the day on the couch catching up on a backlog of "Next Food Network Stars" on my TiVO and eating delivery Cafe Mimosa.  Three days in the 95+ degree heat left me feeling like I had the mother of all hangovers-- even though I was super-careful to hydrate religiously (every day, I clocked at least nine bottles of water).  I'm not going to wax lamentingly about what this means, although I did find myself asking Roommate repeatedly:  "How do we survive Bonnaroo every year?"  (His response: "We just barely do.")

But I'm back.  And so, we're told, will HullabaLOU return, says Churchill Downs Entertainment President Steve Sexton.  When asked yesterday whether there will be another HullabaLOU, his response was essentially a cheery, "Hells yes!"

And good.  I'm glad.  My fear, about halfway through the festival, was that the festival wouldn't be financially as successful as they hoped and that they'd just trash the whole idea.  And, after Day Three of HullabaLOU, I was pretty well-convinced that the festival deserved another go at it-- with some tweaks, of course.

You know, there's some non-attendees on local social media who are giving "mainstream media" a hard time for handing Churchill a lot of really good press for HullabaLOU and not being critical enough.  I know I'm not "mainstream" anything, but I have to say in their defense:  besides the steamroller heat, there was very little not to like about HullabaLOU.

If you chose to attend HullabaLOU, you did so because you felt like the admission price was worth it to see bands that you wanted to see.  And, from what I could tell and from what I heard: no one put on a bad show, there were few technical glitches (Al Green cussed out his sound man, Dwight Yoakam lost power for less than 10 minutes), and everything ran pretty much on time.  And heck, if you were really truly invested in the music, for the most part, you could get closer and more intimate with the performers than just about any other venue I've been to.  I mean, Ms. Gladys Knight smiled at me, I was that close.  Joan Osborne was just one body away from me.  And Ricky Skaggs could have been playing at your cousin's backyard bar mitzvah, the Bluegrass Stage was so cozy.  Yes, there were the mainstage acts and the few smaller stage acts that packed throngs, but the jumbotrons at every stage brought those musicians right into your lap.  And let me tell you, one of the most common compliments I heard in the Media Center were that the camerafolk were the unsung heroes of the event-- nearly every show looked like a concert film on the jumbotrons and on the various tvs throughout the Downs.

Sure, I know there is room for improvement from HullabaLOU-- I have strong feelings about things Churchill Downs Entertainment could do differently for 2011, but I'll save that for another post.  (Doubters, I promise I'll get all these posts up by the end of the week or so.)  But I was pleasantly surprised by my overall great experience at HullabaLOU-- and I'm not alone-- just about every journalist I talked to said something along the lines of: "it seemed like this was going to be a hot mess, but I can't believe how much fun I had."  And looking back over the #hullabalou feed on Twitter, it seems like the fans were pretty much in agreement.  Honestly, the notable bitchy tweets largely came from media who were paid to go, went for free, and just didn't like the line-up and/or crowd.  I'll keep my opinions on that to myself.

In the meantime, I think you can trust the local media when they give HullabaLOU two (tired, sunburned) thumbs up (and it's certainly not like CDE went out of their way to earn great reviews from the press).  Now that some of my giddy HullabaLOU hangover has worn off, I'm still a big fan.

Check out my night-of recaps for Day One, Day Two, and Day Three!