I tried to book every kind of music I could there - mostly punk and hardcore, but also indie rock, folk, jazz, hip hop and random weirdos. Wax Fang played their second show there, in November 2005, many months before they even had a name. My assistant manager played with Second Story Man and Joe Manning; customers would ask my other best employee, "Didn't I see you singing last night at the Jazz Factory with Liberation Prophecy?"
Everyone was welcome, not only to watch but also to play, whether they were 5 or 85. It was a glorious, but ultimately, failed experiment.
I had fun trying to support the local music scene, trying to provide an outlet that it was otherwise lacking. I met lots of people, most of whom were very nice and/or interesting. One of my favorites was Brandon Skipworth, an exceptionally decent fellow who's done wonderful, necessary work over many years as a partner in the Noise Pollution record label.
They put the out the great collection Bold Beginnings: An Incomplete Collection of Louisville Punk 1978 - 1983, which you might have heard about on a series on WFPK, and they've put out excellent discs by VRKTM, Tyrone, Out. and many others.
Noise Pollution recently released a disc by The Teeth. I wrote a review of it, assuming that - as usual - I would hear no direct response to my essay. Once it's out there, it's out, and hopefully people get the idea. I always assume that bands - or anyone trying to make their name known to the public and trying to sell their product in exchange for money - would know that any publicity is good publicity. Well, two months later, I found that I was being discussed on a message board. Oddly enough, it was more positive that hateful!
I am not bringing this topic to this forum to continue the discussion, or backtrack from my review or anything else I've written in the past in any way. I write this because
a) I find it highly amusing
and
b) One of the main reasons why I do this (besides the paycheck) is because I love music,
and I love the Louisville music scene, and being able to shine a light on all the gorgeously unique sounds and ideas that come out of here and, all too often, never leave here.
To you, the Louisvillian who is 21 and older, who isn't going to do anything more exciting tonight, I would ask you to listen to this band, The Teeth, for free, on their MySpace page and decide for yourself if you like them. I'm just one person. My opinion is important but yours is, too (unless you like Sheryl Crow or Lenny Kravitz - in that case, you have no rights).
The Teeth are playing at Cahoots at 1047 Bardstown Road in the Highlands with One Small Step at 10 p.m.
Oh, and tell 'em Berkowsh**z sent you.
C. 2008 Velocity Weekly
