Elephant Micah profile: Music His Way

People are gushing about Elephant Micah's distinctive folk sound



"He's a genius. I'm glad you're writing about him," said Nathan Salsburg, a self-professed "superfan" of Elephant Micah.

The Louisville record producer and archivist is super happy to describe Elephant Micah's songs:

"They endure in the way Napoleon's dying breath endures, like gaseous dispersion in the atmosphere," he gushed. "They are a reverberation of the first divine exhalation."

He's describing the homemade folk songs of Joe O'Connell, a Kentuckiana native who prefers to emphasize his music over much biographical analysis.

After eight years and even more recordings, O'Connell is getting more and more people to hear his music, on his terms.

O'Connell, who has built up a core group of collaborators between here and Bloomington, distributes music through the Luddite Rural Recording Cooperative.

As Elephant Micah, he records much of his music on cassettes and never set up a MySpace profile, though he makes some music available for download on his website and generally encourages the Internet to help promote him.

It almost sounds calculated, but as he told the blog You Crazy Dreamers, "I just really can't stand the word 'MySpace'."

Salsburg recently invited O'Connell to contribute vocals to a recording session with singer Glen Dentinger.

"He had the headphones on, doing his harmony vocal on Glen's track - only he could hear the master but I started cringing, because I thought there was no way his weird procession of notes could possibly line up with Glen's singing or the band's playing," Salsburg said. "Then we listened to the playback and it was brilliant. No one else would have though to do what he did."

O’Connell’s music also drew praise from the noted Howard Wolfson, who, when he isn't trying to get people like Hillary Clinton elected, runs the music blog, Gotham Acme. Wolfson named Elephant Micah’s 2008 album Exiled Magicians as one of his favorites of the year.

“He’s just a guy with a guitar, making music that could tear your heart out," Wolfson wrote. "Tell your friends how wonderful he is.”

O’Connell is returning to Louisville to promote his latest album, Echoer's Intent. The self-booked tour will take him through 20 states in two months. He'll play a show Friday (along with with Joe Manning, Time & Temperature and the aforementioned Salsburg) at the Lounge.

“Louisville is where I first started trying to play gigs, when I was 17 or 18," O'Connell said. "It is definitely one of the places I feel most musically ‘rooted’ in, and that sense has been renewed recently.

"It's particularly cool to reconnect with a lot of the people who were around ten years ago, in what was for me the very early stages of this music.”

c. 2010 Velocity Weekly

Column #12: Saturday morning TV is special

While reading the recent oral history of The Simpsons, I came across a statement describing one of the people who got the series on the air, the very successful TV and movie writer/producer/director James L. Brooks. It was said that if Brooks was awakened at 3 a.m. and asked what he did, his half-aware response would be an immediate, "I'm a writer."

There was once a time when I wanted a career like that of Brooks, working of some of the most beloved TV of the day and directing my movie scripts into award-winning hits. However, if you woke me up at 3 in the morning and asked what I did, I'd probably offer, "Uh... well, I love my wife. And our cats. Oh, and doughnuts. And I love TV. Oh, and I should probably mention my parents — are you going to tell them that I listed them after doughnuts?"

Sure, I write some stuff. It's satisfying, up to a point, but it's a fairly isolating and dry task.

On the weekends, I jump out of bed as soon as possible. Am I ready to go jogging, hiking or volunteering in a soup kitchen? No, silly, that's you. I'm up because I'm excited to watch my TV.

Saturday mornings are even more exciting than Sundays, and not just because the weekend is newer, fresher and more filled with promise. No, Saturday mornings are even better because my three favorite Christian children's shows are on.

I don't watch them for religion. I do, of course, swear allegiance to The Shield, The Wire and The Sopranos, as TV standard-bearers. And before I continue, I should specify that I don't smoke drugs.

I don't like all Christian children's programming. It's a mostly dull and uninventive form, and the special ones have to really work to stand out. I've
already learned my lessons about sharing, patience and other junk you don't need as an adult, but I still love colorful puppets and bad puns. Anyone who loves H.R. Pufnstuf and claims to be hip needs to drop their skinny-pants pretensions and check out shows like the following:

Dooley and Pals is a favorite. The program
follows the adventures of Dooley, a space alien who has landed in some American kid's yard and is prone to Ned Flanders-esque exclamations. Each week Dooley, a robot and a postal carrier (suspiciously reminiscent of S.Epatha Merkerson
on Pee-Wee's Playhouse) teach the kids lessons about life.

There's also a pair of aliens who act like a less-cynical version of The Muppet Show's Statler and Waldorf, plus odd animation and weird songs.

Wimzie's House is another fun one, featuring a sweet little girl who's supposed to be a dragon (or something) but looks like a puppet version of Punky Brewster. Altogether, the gang looks like Fraggle Rock rejects, which is endearing and probably explains why the Jim Henson Company sued them at one point.

My favorite character is Horace, the dumbest one and the one most likely to throw an angry fit. He's certainly more interesting than anyone on Grey's Anatomy.

Then there's Mustard Pancakes. Is that a name for a show or what? It sounds creative enough to be a Frank Zappa album, right? I shouldn't like this program as much, though, because there's a human starring in it. Lame!

No less, she's a middle-aged folk singer and seems Canadian. She's also a total rip-off of Nanny from Muppet Babies, but you have to see her face. Its characters are three dogs and a cat who live with this delusional single lady. One dog in particular, with the delightful name of
Oogleberry, instantly stole my heart with his sad eyes and eagerness to please.

My wife doesn't totally understand my fascination with these programs, but I don't
totally understand why she watches The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Maybe you shouldn't listen to me. My favorite movie genre is the "animal who talks, raps and/or plays sports" genre. I just like what I like.

c. 2010 Velocity Weekly

Lyle Janes profile

Fans of public access television have been enjoying “The Lyle Janes Show” for 11 years now, surely a local feat if not quite as nationally notable as the adventures of Jay Leno and friends. Janes, however, does things differently than most talk-show hosts. You might even say that he does it… his way.

“I've always liked to sing. I grew up listening to big band and easy listening music, like Frank Sinatra and Mantovani. I also had asthma, though, so I could never do it a lot.”

Janes also grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, an unlikely beginning for a fabulous entertainer. “Oh, no, no, no!” Janes exclaimed. “I'm actually writing a book about that.”

As Janes grew into adulthood, he realized that he preferred the cult of show business, inspired by “The Merv Griffin Show.” Becoming a host and entertainer like Griffin became his dream. While Insight-98 might not be NBC, Janes fulfills his dream, every Wednesday night at 9:30, and there is no Conan O'Brien waiting in the wings to force him out.

Janes, a native of Louisville's Highview neighborhood and today a commissioner of the city of Parkway Village, can also be seen often at the Improv at Fourth Street Live, where his comedy act touches upon his Jehovah's Witness youth and what he calls “disasters and beauty school accidents.” (He recently began working as a hairdresser at Sensations Spa & Salon.)

A fan of singers Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr., Janes went into a recording studio to make a demo. He printed 500 copies of Introducing Lyle Janes. His cover of “Mack the Knife” is probably the first to include a shout-out to Louisville. “I've been giving them out as Christmas presents. Or I use them as coasters,” said Janes, laughing, although they are also available at Ear X-tacy.

Even if he never becomes as famous as Merv Griffin, Janes has a wonderful way of seeing the world. “I've always ended my show on an upbeat note, every time. I always say that it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.”

photo by John Rott

c. 2010 Velocity Weekly

Nora, Ben & Eli profile

In Louisville today, it's not hard to find bearded hipsters playing their interpretation of Appalachian mountain music while sipping craft beers and mumbling about moving to New York some day. Few, however, have the training and skill of a trio of pluckers who only recently earned their license to drive.

Nora, Ben & Eli are a group that never would have happened without early arts education. A decade ago, they were fortunate enough to join the Louisville Leopard Percussionists, the nonprofit program for elementary school kids where they learned how to play instruments, improvise and work together.

Nora Grossman, Ben Scruton and Eli Kleinsmith, all of whom play multiple instruments, were originally part of a post-Leopards group whose members fell away until only the three were left. The well-educated group evolved into a string trio exploring Appalachian, Irish and Eastern European folk music.

“Somehow, we all figured out that we all liked this kind of music,” said Kleinsmith, a 17-year-old senior at St. Francis. “I think it was because Ben and Nora had been going to the Hindman Settlement School. I started going to that, and we explored Appalachian music from there.”

At the school in Knott County, the group found mentors who helped influence their direction. “There are just so many nice people who are good musicians, too, and that's how we got the Appalachian style,” elaborated Scruton, 17, a senior at duPont Manual.

“One of the most important things we can do is to get people our age into this kind of music. Most are not aware that it exists,” said Grossman, a 16-year-old junior at duPont Manual.

They're still influenced by jazz, too. Scruton said, “Nora and I grew up listening to that style of music, from the Leopards, so we've got that in our minds. It translated to the other instruments, but we're not — we don't sound like Miles Davis or anything.”

Leopards founder Diane Downs is proud. “It's been great to hear them grow into monster musicians,” she recently told a packed house at the Leopards' annual fundraising concert, where Nora, Ben & Eli were featured guests.

They maintain a steady schedule now, but the boys will begin college this fall. None of the trio is planning to pursue a career in music, but they will all continue to play, even just for fun, for the rest of their lives.

Nora, Ben & Eli will perform at Sunergos Coffee on Saturday, March 13th, at 7 p.m. Free, all ages.

photo by John Rott

c. 2010 Velocity Weekly

John Paul Wright profile: All Aboard for Funtime

An average day working on the railroad goes something like this for John Paul Wright: “The caller calls and you have to be there in two hours. I run the train for eight to 12 hours and go to the hotel. My away-from-home terminal is in Nashville. You might stay in the hotel 12 hours or 24. I work on call, no shift. Long hours being away from home. Lonesome. Johnny Cash said his early music sounded like a train. I know why.”

Wright, a resident of Middletown, was raised in a musical family in Germantown. He began playing guitar while attending the Brown School. He has also studied African drumming for 20 years.

“Hub Engineer” is a song on Wright's first album, Music for Modern Railroaders. It begins with a recording sampled from the CSX phone system. “When you become a hub engineer, you call that number to get that automated crew caller bot. A hub engineer is one that is qualified to run on all lines running out of Louisville. I though it would be funny to add that at the beginning because you live with your phone being on call seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”

Wright wrote “Hub Engineer” as a joke for his colleagues. “Modern railroaders love telling stories, stories about crazy stuff they have done on the railroad. That is my favorite part of my job. The last of the L&N employees are fast retiring. There is a lot of history from the L&N Railroad. My run is the Louisville to Nashville mainline. We are the modern railroaders directly related to Casey Jones, John Henry and the many men and women who built this country.”

Before he went to work on the railroads, he worked as the music director for Pneuma, an after-school arts group. He worked for a while at the late, beloved Twice Told Books in the Highlands, alongside artist and songwriter Sean Garrison. Today Garrison says of Wright, “He has the true voice.”

Joe Manning is a singer/songwriter with a large following and an equally large debt to Wright's influence. “J.P. was the first one to introduce me to bluegrass, and by extension to country music, so I blame him for a lot of the subsequent terrible choices I've made as an adult. He's also a great singer and songwriter who knows the value of experience in storytelling. Look at all the trouble he went to just to write some authentic train songs.”

Elaborating on the connections between music and railroading, Wright said, “A GE Dash-8 locomotive vibrates in a 6/8 pattern, you can stuff paper into the horns and create great tones. The rail sings when you go around a sharp turn. There are thousands of songs about the railroad. Some of the first American labor unions were railroad; Joe Hill and other musicians, Woody Guthrie, sang about union struggle.”

Wright plays most often for his wife and son, but is planning to record a new record this summer. He will warm up by performing at the Railroad Workers United's Labor Notes convention in April in Detroit.

Folk singer John Gage hosts Kentucky Homefront on WFPK-FM. He said, “I've known John most of his life. He's always been musical, and it's been wonderful to see him grow as an artist. He's continuing a tradition of American folk music, singing songs about the railroad. And they're great songs.”

As the secretary treasurer for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Local 78, “unions and corporate greed are on my mind more and more,” said Wright. “I am focusing on broader issues.”

For more information, please visit http://www.myspace.com/sd402 and http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jpwright

photo by John Rott

c. 2010 Velocity Weekly