The Wire(s)

LEO asked Brian Gray to tell us about his hot band, The Hot Wires. They celebrate their new EP with a show at ZaZoo’s on Friday, Dec. 2, with Buffalo Killers and The Tunesmiths.

LEO: What’s the new EP called, and how did it come together?

Brian Gray: It’s called The Cockpit Fighter EP. We named it after an image of an old fighter plane sitting in a scrap yard that our drummer’s girlfriend found. It still looks badass even though it’s shot to hell and out of commission. As far as recording, my friend Donnie Bott offered to record us for free. So, of course, we said yes. His only stipulation was that he could only finish four songs for us. So, we got those done and decided to get ’em out there.

LEO: What kind of band would you say you are?

BG: I would say the Hot Wires are high energy rock ’n’ roll. When we were forming, I was in a serious MC5 rediscovery period. They were around right after the original rock ’n’ rollers and right before the punk movement. So, there was no real name for what they did, but high energy. I wanted a band like that.

LEO: You were a Legendary Shack*Shaker once upon a time. How did that compare to being a Hot Wire?

BG: I was actually an original Shack Shaker! I had never really played straight ahead rock ’n’ roll or rockabilly before that band, and it was like going to school. We never practiced, and Colonel JD would pretty much tell us what key the song was in and go. Either you jumped in or got left behind. And the Hot Wires is probably the closest band to them I’ve been in, as far as energy goes. But this band is so much more fun, honestly. I always felt like a hired gun then. This is much more passionate for me.

Find more info at reverbnation.com/thehotwiresky.

Photo by Marty Pearl

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

album review: State Champion

State Champion
Deep Shit
SOPHOMORE LOUNGE



It takes skill to take a moribund genre and breathe fresh life into it — especially without breaking any ribs. The Kentucky-via-Illinois twang rock machine that is State Champion applies admirable strength and passion into this collection, leader Ryan Davis’ urgent bark prodding the rest of the band to keep up as they build songs designed to lead them out of this dead-end dump and off to some Springsteen-esque better place. Born to Run/Darkness-era Boss isn’t an out of place comparison, though the fiery Midwestern spark of early Uncle Tupelo also comes to mind. This is the music of a man who cares, and who probably has a thick beard. Though Bob Seger is still able to rock the Bucket, State Champion is a band you want to push up against in a small bar, sweating out the work week through your flannel. This is what rock ’n’ roll is all about, something that can bond a pissed-off teen and my 55-year-old Uncle Kenny at the same time.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Mint Condition stay fresh

Today The Roots are seen as an oddity for being a live band, but until recently, everybody played their own instruments. Though pop and R&B has changed dramatically in the past 20-some years, Mint Condition have stayed true to their talent and ideals. Their latest album is called 7. LEO spoke with bassist Ricky Kinchen.

LEO: You guys are celebrating your 20th anniversary, approximately. How does it feel, being 20 years in?

Ricky Kinchen: It feels great. A lot of great things have been happening — touring, some TV shows. It all started with this TV show we did called “Way Black When,” where they celebrated the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Every artist that played, we backed up. So our résumé grew within four weeks to, like, The Emotions, BBD, Ginuine, Guy, Cuba Gooding Sr. — he was amazing, I’ll never forget him. I know he wore them kids out, because he wore us out.

Then Prince called, so we did some shows over in Europe. The first show was, like, 35,000. The second show was 60,000. Some festivals … Then we toured with Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Doug E. Fresh. Then, next month we start rehearsing for the Trumpet Awards, where we’re going to be doing a tribute to Earth, Wind and Fire.

So, everything is good. I’m ready for the next project. We still got that magic whenever we come together, and it’s going to be interesting every time.

LEO: What can we expect from the live show? Sharp suits? Any other visuals onstage?

RK: I don’t think we’re going to be wearing suits or anything like that (laughs). We always looking young and looking fly. For us to be in our 30s and 40s — let’s just say 30s (laughs) — we still look halfway decent. So yeah, the ladies are definitely going to be coming out.

LEO: I’m about your age, so can you give me some advice on how to keep it fresh?

RK: Two of the guys who look the youngest, they work out, they drink a lot of water. The lead singer probably looks the youngest; he doesn’t club a lot, I don’t think he does a lot of drinking. So, if you drink, I’d say tone it down to some wine, some beer maybe (laughs). The strong stuff is definitely going to age you.

LEO: Are you seeing a range of age groups at your shows now?

RK: Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. The reason they come is they know what they’re going to get. They know every time they come to see us, they’re going to get a live performance. It’ll be people up there sweatin’, playing drums — you know you’re not going to get a track show. That’s the one thing about a lot of the younger artists right now — they’re killing their careers. Once all the shiny jackets and glitter and sunglasses are gone, and the record deals are gone, the only thing they’re going to have left is to do shows. But they don’t know how to do shows, and all the information is out there for them to learn — but they’re not being taught.

LEO: Is this the best period for the band?

RK: It’s all great. It’s all different. I might appreciate things more now than I did back then.

Mint Condition with Eric Roberson
Sunday, Dec. 4
Brown Theatre
315 W. Broadway • 584-7777
mintconditionmusic.com
$38.50; 7:30 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

album review: Silver Tongues

Silver Tongues
Black Kite
KARATE BODY



The debut album from the Louisville-based Silver Tongues, which includes some talents who have played with Wax Fang, The Fervor and Cabin (including LEO (m)ad man James Hewett), is yet another surprising, atypical release from Falls City. The often subtle, intentionally paced collection draws influences from varied sources rarely heard in other groups simultaneously — there are hints of gospel, early ’90s peak R.E.M., early ’70s folk, classic rock, and most consistently and wisely, pre-Radiohead geniuses Talk Talk — coursing through the veins of these songs. Though the occasional anthemic moment can veer a bit into late- ’80s Cause Rock territory (a la U2, Sting, etc.), the majority of the material is so quietly confident that it feels almost anti-rock. Such material — not too soft, not too hard, perfect for every office (but really best heard late at night, contemplating humankind’s place in the universe) — should, in a just universe, find a wide audience, here and everywhere. See them (tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Zanzabar at 10 p.m.), and thank me later.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Q&A with Dane Waters

LEO: You sound, to me, like a mermaid — sexy, mysterious, removed from daily life. Are you real? Do you have to pay an LG&E bill and shop for groceries like the rest of us?

Dane Waters: I hope I’m very real! I do spend a lot of time trying to focus on the essence of life, whether it’s through reflecting on its meaning or why I’m here, finding ways to connect with others … but I think I’m more interested in transcendence. I can find something to love about absolutely everyone, even if it’s a small thing. I find beauty and art everywhere, from the scars to the stars. I don’t care much for grocery shopping, but I do eat lots of sea creatures and adore baby tako.

LEO: Your music is very cinematic, as in David Lynch, German Expressionism, etc. (not Tom Cruise). Does film inspire your music?

DW: Tom Cruise did a great job in Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”! But yes, film and, probably more so, opera are indelible influences. I totally dream about Lynch or Herzog asking me to do a song for one of their films! So if they were to ask me about these songs, I’d say they’d find failing heroes, extreme dynamics, murder, suicide, shadows, residuals of war, sharp contrasts, palpable atmospheres, soaring heights, abysmal depressions of steppenwolves, romance, forgiveness and just generally a whole lotta desire and death.

LEO: 

You made most of this album by yourself, but you collaborate often with others and have your own group, Softcheque. Why did you do much of this alone?

DW: It’s true. I’m musically connected to many groups from choirs to the opera chorus to gig bands that have jazz elements, and to bands Sapat and Another 7 Astronauts. I’ve also recently done vocal tracks for Wax Fang and Ut Gret. But I also need to produce music where every detail and nuance is my decision. I like the artistic control immensely. I’m even doing all the printing of the jackets myself with my own woodcuts.

LEO: Your new album is called Dark Waters. Do your friends call you “Dark”?

DW: I think most people know my light cheer and smile. Then there are the few that know me so much better.

Dane Waters and Another 7 Astronauts each play sets on Thanksgiving eve at Land of Tomorrow (LOT), 233 W. Broadway. Check www.facebook.com/#!/Another7Astronauts for more info.

album review: Anton Mink

Anton Mink
Outside the Lines
ROSE ISLAND



Two decades ago, as Riot Grrl threatened to influence a generation, those creatures once known as major labels sent in their own army of harmless suburbanites to distract the teeming masses — Letters to Cleo, No Doubt, etc. — to create a new New Wave for a new generation more concerned with whom Julianna Hatfield was dating than what social change might be possible under the post-Reagan/Bush political climate. This you-go-girl! scene — a minute before the Spice Girls finally took down the guitar bands on the radio — typically led to bands playing in the background of a club scene in an Alicia Silverstone or Drew Barrymore comedy and little more; best for a collegiate audience looking for kegger background music, this weirdly funky pop/rock wasn’t meant to last long, like that Bud Light at that kegger, but oddly enough, here it is again.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Justice is served by King’s Daughters & Sons

When WFPK DJ Matt Anthony called King’s Daughters & Sons a Louisville music version of the comic book “Justice League,” he got it right. To call the band a “supergroup” would also be fair, though their combined fame as members of Rachel’s, Shipping News and other bands is notably less than that of the Traveling Wilburys or Chickenfoot.

The new band began with singer-songwriter Joe Manning, a popular local fixture and LEO columnist. Manning wanted to expand his music beyond what the solo format allowed, and to incorporate more surprising influences — the subtle beauty of the Louisville-bred The For Carnation, the gothic pleasures of Nick Cave, as well as the ultimate solo record, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

Manning and guitarist/singer Mike Heineman, writing together, wanted to explore fictional narratives — worlds of ghosts, sirens, murder ballads and other themes not found easily in rock music today. What they found was a style that combined the literary and musical traditions of the American South and the British Isles.

Manning also wanted some of their favorite musicians to join them.

“I initially said no,” Rachel Grimes remembers.

“Oh, did you?” says Manning, surprised, as they laugh.

“I think I said I’d think about it, and took two or three months.”

Heineman clarifies, “I think it was a year of just dudes” before Grimes’ love for the songs overtook her reluctance to join another band.

“We’re so excited to finally have this record coming out,” Grimes says. The title of the Nov. 22 release, If Then Not When, came from a scrambled line she had uttered in comical frustration about the four year-plus haul from their first show to their first album.

“It had been on my mind for a long time, and it’s worked out pretty much exactly how I envisioned it,” Manning says.

It was Grimes’ career path that led them to an unexpected home on a Scottish label. On a solo European tour last year, the pianist met Alun Woodward, former leader of the band The Delgados and co-founder of the influential indie label Chemikal Underground. After he sent her some of their records, she sent him her band’s album.

“At the very last moment, right when we were getting ready to self-release it, we finally set ourselves a date,” explains Manning. “We said, ‘In 30 days, we’re going to decide what we’re going to do with the record,’ and in that 30 days, (Chemikal Underground) said, ‘Yes, we’d love to put your record out!’”

The more traveled members have seen enough of the music business to keep their expectations low. Grimes, bassist Todd Cook and drummer Kyle Crabtree were all personally affected by the 2009 closure of their longtime mutual label home, Chicago’s Touch and Go Records, which occurred shortly after King’s Daughters & Sons recording sessions had begun with producer Kevin Ratterman.

Despite all the obvious problems within their industry, the group members have fans scattered all over, from Louisville to Tokyo. So why did it take so long to get to this point? In the end, probably because what distinguishes them from most new bands — their relative maturity and civility — stopped them from doing anything too rock ’n’ roll cliché.

“This has always been a 100-percent democratic group,” Manning says. “Which means it’s taken a long time to do things.”

Neither the band nor their label are concerned with launching long tours, or acting as though the business of music is currently financially rewarding. The members, who have all seen each other grow up in Louisville bands since the ’90s, have plenty of new songs in progress and are having fun playing together. Still, Manning can already appreciate what they have achieved together.

“If nothing ever happened again, I would like to have a record that I would like to listen to. And I would like to listen to this record.”

King’s Daughters & Sons with Seluah
Friday, Nov. 18
21c Museum Hotel
700 W. Main St.
www.kingsdaughtersandsons.com
$10; 8 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Bassekou Kouyate’s African blues

Veteran string-picker Bassekou Kouyate has made some valuable friends — Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Ali Farka Touré — who have helped him expand his audience beyond Africa. His band’s most recent album, I Speak Fula, was released in 2009 by Sub Pop imprint Next Ambiance.

LEO: How did you learn to play the ngoni?

Bassekou Kouyate: I was brought up in a large family of active griots, traditional musicians who were sought out not just in our village but throughout the area of Ségou and in the capital, Bamako — even sometimes in neighboring countries, for social negotiations and entertainment. My father and uncles, just like their father, were skilled ngoni players. The ngoni is the signature instrument of male griots and, until recently, no other people played the instrument.

Following our family tradition, I was not actually taught until I was 8 years old. My father Moustafa was my teacher, and I was lucky because he was famous as a ngoni player. In addition, my maternal grandfather, Bazoumana Sissoko, was the most famous griot in Mali, but I didn’t get to know him well until I came to Bamako at the age of 16. By that time, he was blind, but he recognized that I was a serious player and was very fond of me. He could recognize me by feeling my hands.

LEO: The ngoni is said to be similar to the banjo, which is used often in American folk music. Do you listen to any banjo music from this part of the globe?

BK: I first heard banjo music when I came to the U.S., to a meeting in Tennessee about the protection of traditional blues music, and met up with well-known banjo players. It was there that I heard American music for the first time; we had no radio or TV, and all I knew was the music I made with other Malian players, who mostly played modern instruments — guitar, flute, drum sets — and with my family, who played traditional Malian instruments.

Since then, I’ve learned to listen to the banjo, which fascinates me because it is so obviously a descendant of the ngoni that was made in my grandfather’s time out of a round calabash with wood and gut strings, instead of the elongated hollowed-out wood base we use now. The U.S. player I’ve listened to most recently is Béla Fleck, with whom we went on tour in 2009. He is the most amazing musician and one of the people who is quickest to pick up on material brought to him by other musicians.

LEO: What can Malian music offer music fans in the United States?

BK: First, it is an opportunity to listen to your roots. When I first heard the blues, I thought it was Bambara music from my home area in Mali, and Americans will be able to hear the same similarities. Next, it shows how traditional music can be developed in a modern form, but Americans know all about that already — we can just show how it works for Malians of our tradition. There is a variety of traditions in Mali, from the Mandé, the Sorai, the Wassoulou, the Tuareg, the Bwa and many more. And above all, what our Malian music can offer music fans in the U.S. is that it will make them want to dance.

For an extended interview, go here.

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
Thursday, Nov. 17
Clifton Center
2117 Payne St. • 896-8480
www.subpop.com/artists/bassekou_kouyate_and_ngoni_ba
$20; 7:30 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Super fun

For a good time, call Supertruck — or, better yet, go see them live when they celebrate the release of their new self-titled album. LEO asked bandleader Daniel Sturdevant about their long road to stardom.

LEO: How did the album come together?

Daniel Sturdevant: My brother Nate joined — we’d cycled through a few drummers before that. This album has three different drummers on it ... It’s been a work in progress for the last two years, really.

LEO: Did you have to block off times around people’s jobs and real lives?

DS: Yeah, yeah, definitely. But it’s been a continuous source of fun, and frustration (laughs), as it always is. Now that we’ve got Nate in the band, it’s been a lot easier. Before, we always had to go around somebody’s schedule, but I can lean on my brother, and my girlfriend Natalie (Hartman, bassist) is home base, so it’s a pretty tiny group. We started out as Jordan (Humbert), the singer, and me — just acoustic guitars, singer-songwriters ... Over time, we built it up to a rock ’n’ roll band; that’s what we enjoy doing.

LEO: How far do you want to take this band?

DS: That’s a good question. As far as I can go. I’m looking forward to getting this out, people hearing it.

LEO: How do you see Supertruck’s role in the Louisville music scene?

DS: I don’t like to see it as just a good time, drink up kind of rock ’n’ roll band, but there is that aspect of it. But at the same time, people can get caught up in that. People seem to enjoy themselves at our shows. People might not say that it’s visually stunning (laughs) or the most intricate musicianship they’ve ever heard, but they usually say they had a good time. We try to bring that excitement, bring the fun. It’s definitely a big part of why we do it. Not to say that we don’t practice — I take my guitar work very seriously, and I’m always trying to better it. I’m never fully satisfied.

Supertruck plays at the Monkey Wrench on Saturday, Nov. 26. For more info, go to www.supertruckmusic.com.

Louisville's Top Chef

Here

Between 2003 and 2009, Chef Edward Lee and his Old Louisville restaurant, 610 Magnolia, had been one of dining's worst-kept secrets in the region. The farm-to-table pioneer, a multiple James Beard Award semifinalist, saw his stock rise after a 16-page profile in Gourmet magazine, followed by a winning appearance on “Iron Chef America,” and now as an ongoing competitor on Bravo’s “Top Chef” (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.). Whether he wins the $100,000 grand prize or is this season’s “too soon!” cut, Lee’s role on the popular program can only help the rest of the country see that Louisville has a lot more to offer than KFC.

LEO: Why "Top Chef," as opposed to the 800 other food programs on now?

Edward Lee: That's easy: just look at the caliber of chefs competing. It's not home cooks or diner owners trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. “Top Chef” draws the best of the best because there's a legitimacy that other shows just don't have. Now, I did do “Iron Chef” and win, but that was last year. I wanted to compete against the brightest up-and- coming chefs in the country. I love being in that pressure cooker and pushing myself to see what I can accomplish under the most unpredictable situations.

LEO: Did you know any of the other cheftestants prior to taping?

EL: I had heard of some of them. Many have a great reputation in the industry. It was fun to meet and compete against them. The ones I didn't know, well, I think we're on a first name basis now.

LEO: Of all the prior cast members, do you have any personal favorites — either due to abilities or personalities?

EL: I don't have a favorite, I respect every past chef that had the gumption to put their careers on the line in front of a national audience. It ain't easy.

LEO: How did you feel about it being in Texas, and in 3 different cities?

EL: Awesome. You know, I'm a huge Townes Van Zandt fan, who was from Texas, and I'd never been to Texas before, so it was a real treat for me. Now I get what it means when people say everything's bigger in Texas. All the while I've got “Pancho and Lefty” in my head and my knife pack under my arm. That was surreal.

LEO: How do you feel about Louisville's food scene currently? There have been a slew of interesting restaurants (Harvest, Eiderdown, Hillbilly Tea, Hammerheads, etc.) that have opened since the recession began. Why — or how — do you think that has happened?

EL: Independent restaurants are generally immune to the ups and downs of a market-based economy. If you make good food and offer a value product, people will come in good times or bad. Louisville's food scene is exciting and ambitious. I'm proud to be a part of it. But there's still room to get better, more innovative, and revive old traditions. I'd love to see a kick-ass soul food restaurant in this town.

LEO: Do you have any plans for a new restaurant any time soon?

EL: Maybe …

LEO: Your former chef de cuisine, Gabe Sowder, has been operating the mobile Taco Punk operation, which will soon also become a restaurant. Do you feel like you've gone from a young upstart to a mentor and established national figure?

EL: I don't think that's for me to say. I do what I do; I make mistakes, I accomplish certain goals, I still have dreams. I still love every ounce of this business. This business is a marathon, not a race. I just hope I'm somewhere at the top when all is said and done.

LEO: Do you think your career would have gone in this direction if Gourmet had folded 3 months earlier? Was this part of your plan already?

EL: As important as that Gourmet article was, I have to believe that my career wasn't based on a coincidence. I was cooking my ass off before the article came out, and have been ever since. So, yes, I believe that hard work and dedication does eventually reap rewards despite what happens in the media world. Having said that, I'm sure glad as hell that Gourmet didn't fold earlier.

Home boys

Relic has become a popular attraction around Louisville, sharing soulful, harmonious bluegrass at bars, festivals and anywhere else available. Now, the band’s two most similar members, Aaron and Adam Bibelhauser, have stepped to the side with a new album, Always Home, a collection that honors the brotherly tradition of the Stanleys, Louvins and Everlys. LEO asked how the Bibelhauser Brothers project came together.

LEO: Why not record this with Relic?

Aaron Bibelhauser: This new record initially began as a solo project of mine, with the intent of recording and releasing my original songs, some closer to fitting in the bluegrass box than others. After getting started on the project, my twin brother, Adam, brought some of his own tunes to the table. It quickly became apparent that this was to be a duo project of new, original music. It was really about focusing in on our abilities as writers and as vocalists.

LEO: Bluegrass hardly requires you to write your own new material. What inspired you?

AB: Writing new material is critical to keeping traditional music alive and relevant. I do think that skirting in and out of the confines of a traditional genre is a really helpful tool in gathering thoughts and presenting them in a coherent manner, without sounding too far out. With bluegrass music — much like the blues, jazz or even classical music — it’s easy to paint yourself into a corner as a musician who plays only existing compositions. In consciously steering ourselves away from this idea, it almost opened up a door, and it became a logical next step to write our own stuff.

LEO: Do you resent musicians in more trendy genres who get more mainstream attention?

AB: A lot of pop music has become mainstream because it’s catchy and people really like it. I think, however, there is a real drive in deciding what songs get airplay that has a huge effect on what listeners tend to like. It used to be that disc jockeys got to decide what new music they wanted to play, and now it’s all pre-determined by label affiliation and commercial interests behind the scenes. At the end of the day, I just hope that the music I involve myself in has substance. I want to do something that’s meaningful, as an artist, not just a guy trying to figure out what hook the song is going to need to grab people’s attention.

Bibelhauser Brothers perform Friday, Nov. 11, at Uncle Slayton’s at 8 p.m. Go to www.cdbaby.com/cd/bibelhauserbrothers.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Stoner hero Kal Penn returns from duty

If anyone is recession proof, it’s probably Kal Penn. After only five years in Hollywood, the New Jersey native landed a leading role in the stoner comedy “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle.”

“It tanked at the box office,” says Penn, eight years and two sequels later. “So we were like, ‘Oh, man, OK. Well, I guess this was fun. It was nice to meet you …’ and then, three months later, it comes out on DVD and suddenly starts picking up all this steam.”

Most of the movie roles Penn took in between sequels were less successful, and it took getting past a stereotypical villain job on “24” to land a more satisfying, regular part on “House, M.D.” But after a season and a half of what a million actors would kill to get, Penn left to take a job in the new presidential administration, as an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement.

Penn — who served under his birth name, Kalpen Modi — spoke recently at Bellarmine University about community service. “It was for the ‘Do Something’ initiative, which encourages folks to get involved on a community level, whether it’s art or volunteerism, or just doing something other than complaining about what other people aren’t doing.”

Penn’s job in the White House called on him to serve as a liaison to “young Americans, the arts, and Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities,” and the 34-year-old self-described “nerd” enjoys engaging with others. After his lectures, Penn says, “Q&A is always fun. I don’t like to talk at folks for very long; I hated that when I was in college.”

Penn claims to not be fully clear on why people have been so interested in his career moves. “It’s not a unique story at all … It’s not uncommon for people to take a break from the private sector to serve as political appointees. You’ve got doctors and lawyers and professors and people that are serving this president, they’ve served past presidents; they do it for a year or two, or four, or eight years, and then go back to what they were doing before.”

Penn’s “Kumar” contract required him to take a leave from D.C. last year to film the Christmas-themed movie, now in theaters, which uses 3-D. “The 3-D is cool, there are a couple of explosions, and the special effects are awesome, but they’re not action movie special effects,” he says. “What people like about Harold and Kumar is their relatability, so, to put on 3-D glasses, you feel like you’re on the couch with them or you’re in these insane situations. It’s so cool to see. I was wondering when we started, ‘Is this a 3-D gimmicky thing?’ But I thought it was awesome.”

He has also returned to TV, appearing this season with “Kumar” series co-star Neil Patrick Harris on “How I Met Your Mother.” Up next, if all goes well, will be a new comedy series starring and developed by Penn for NBC’s Thursday night lineup.

“I was so excited — it’s what every actor would want to do: ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to develop my own show?’ I love ‘30 Rock’ and ‘The Office’ and ‘Parks and Recreation,’ that kind of stuff, so I’m working with them on developing a workplace comedy. To me, what I love about the ‘Harold and Kumar’ movies is that those guys could have looked like anybody, could’ve been from anywhere, it just so happened they looked like (co-star) John (Cho) and I, and are from New Jersey.”

Penn’s idea is to set the series at the U.N., most similar in tone to “Parks and Recreation” but moved to the middle of New York’s most diverse mini-world.

“I think what it should focus on, in order to be funny, is everyday situations. Regardless of what office you work in, there’s always beef between people, or somebody’s got a crush on somebody else — whether you’re at the U.N. or you’re working at Walmart, office politics are always very similar. Hopefully we can riff off of the diversity of the characters, but (tackling racial issues) definitely wasn’t a hidden desire.”

The setting also incorporates another favorite topic. “They’re all public servants, in some capacity, and that’s kind of neat. I don’t think we’re ever going to do plotlines on the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” Penn laughs, “but something like the International Year of Rice, I’ve always been fascinated by — like, how does something like that actually happen? How do 198 countries decide that this is going to be the International Year of Rice instead of solving another issue? I think it’ll be more that kind of stuff.”

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Cropped Out offers abnormal music for another option

The second annual Cropped Out music festival takes place downtown this weekend, featuring underground acts like MV & EE, Bill Orcutt, John Wesley Coleman III and the reunited Scratch Acid, plus many more. Co-founders James Ardery and Ryan Davis grew up in Louisville, but Ardery now lives in Brooklyn, so LEO asked Davis to inform us about what they had to offer.

LEO: Explain yourselves to our readers who voted for HullabaLOU as “Best Festival” in our Readers’ Choice poll. Who are you?

Ryan Davis: Cropped Out is a small promotions company and collective of friends, started by two Louisville natives, with the primary intent of providing our hometown with an alternative source of live music. The whole idea came about early last year when a series of frustrating circumstances led me to decide that, if you want to see something happen in this town, you often have to do it yourself. I contacted my friend in Brooklyn, who was and still is well connected as a promoter and musician in the city. I went to college in Chicago and had worked at record labels and booked shows at art spaces and bars around town, and toured the country for years with my own band. So between the two of us, there was all this talk of bringing friends through town on their own respective travels and pairing them with bands we were stoked on around Louisville — of which there was no shortage. What better way than to throw them all in the cage together for one weekend? Well, in retrospect, there was probably a plethora of better ways, but we’re learning more with every one-off show we book, and I hope some of that knowledge rubs off on the festival in our second year of doing it.

LEO: How do you decide whom to book?

RD: I think we tend to begin with friends’ bands, first and foremost. Then we start chewing over a small handful of long-shot dream headliners, and fill it in from there. Last year was more of an effort, at least on my part, to get as many of my friends involved as humanly possible. Not that that has changed this time around, but in an effort to not have the same festival all over again, we’re looking around under some slightly different rocks.

LEO: What about locals?

RD: An accurate representation of local musicians is absolutely imperative to the project. It’s the life source of the entire operation. We can sit around all day trying to bring bands with whom we are fascinated to town, but without that exchange of ideas between our community and its passers-through, that sense of participation, it defeats the purpose. We wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for the bands around here to whom we grew up listening, initially planted the seeds of the punk rock tree in our brains at an early age, before we went off into the world and decided how to harvest it. There are musicians in this town, some of whom are more or less “stuck” here, be it because of familial obligations or work or money or comfort or whatever. They may never have the opportunity to tour, or to be heard at all, which is criminal under some circumstances. So in bringing the weird world to Louisville, we are simultaneously, and proudly, showing Louisville to the weird world.

CROPPED OUT
Nov. 11-13
The Crummy Den • 835 E. Main St.
croppedoutmusic.com • $20-$50

album review: Ut Gret

Ut Gret
Radical Symmetry
UNHEARDOF PRODUCTIONS



Some of the most “incorrect” music makes more sense in today’s ADD-iPod world than it did 40 years ago. While fans of jazz, funk, prog rock and gypsy music might have crossed paths occasionally in the early ’70s, they’ve otherwise been a scattered and lonely lot. But today, groups like Mucca Pazza, Beat Circus and, from Louisville, Liberation Prophecy and Ut Gret have boldly taken the baton from Zappa, Zorn and other freaks, and the result — at its best — is music like Radical Symmetry. Within the first song, a handful of genres interweave delightfully, a cat-and-mouse game of creative, caffeinated composing run amuck, and intentionally so. The second song, well sequenced, is a jaunty, sexy Parisian number with womanly vocals, a strutting organ and an inspired sax. Eastern music comes in, deceptively smooth jazz runs parallel to electro squiggles, and military marches welcome the clowns to town. Highly recommended if you have an open mind and are more likely to travel to Djibouti than to Destin.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

X’d out

"ear X-tacy is no more"

It was a weird ending for the record store that popularized the “Keep Louisville Weird” slogan.

Though beloved local institution ear X-tacy had struggled to survive in the new century, no one expected it to end the way it did.

They failed to open on Saturday and left no notice about why they were closed. An employee called singer-songwriter Alan Rhody, a Nashville resident, at about 9:30 a.m. to tell him his 3 p.m. in-store performance wasn’t going to happen.

ear X-tacy remained inexplicably closed for several hours before LEO first started hearing something was wrong. Upon arriving at the store late Saturday afternoon, all was quiet, dark. The merchandise was still there, visible through the glass doors, but otherwise … nothingness.

Calls and emails to employees current and past were met with a wall of silence. Around 5 p.m. Saturday, one source told me that “legally” nothing could be said until an announcement was made. LEO then discovered that the store’s Twitter and Tumblr accounts had been removed.

Sunday came, and the silence continued. The store remained closed, frozen in an unexplained moment. An update on the store’s Facebook profile said an announcement about the store’s future would come Monday. Given that the busy holiday shopping season was on the horizon, it didn’t make sense that they would just close, suddenly, or that it would happen now.

When owner John Timmons first made a public plea for support in February 2010, he called a press conference at the store, using the media to help the public understand how dire their financial situation was. Years of Apple products, illegal downloading, powerful chains and an unsuccessful investment in Think Indie, a digital site intended to challenge iTunes, had taken their toll, and he urged local customers to come back to his brick-and-mortar business.

On Monday morning, I arrived at the store shortly before their expected 10 a.m. opening, anticipating the lights turned on and the doors open, or dozens of passionate supporters gathered — sharing stories of the first cassette they’d ever bought from the store, or buying a Rachel’s CD from Jason Noble himself, or hanging out in the store on a Friday night when they were under 21 and had no better place to go.

Instead, I found closed doors again. Around the city, people were growing increasingly nervous about the future of the landmark.

As Monday droned on, no time was given for an announcement. Concerned supporters continued to ask questions, and one ex-employee decried “media vultures” on Twitter.

A Facebook update in the 4 o’clock hour promising an announcement was quickly deleted. Finally, around 5:50 p.m., the store’s profile issued Timmons’ official announcement that “ear X-tacy is no more.” The emotional letter, which gave no explanation for the abrupt closure, read in part: “It has been a dream come true … actually, a dream exceeded, to be part of your musical lives here in Louisville for the last 26 years … The record store experience has been the only child in my life. Now, it’s time for me to let it fly.”

As of press time, it remained unclear what will happen to the merchandise, including numerous local, self-produced recordings. There is no indication that there will be a liquidation sale, or a going away party. The store often described as a community meeting place left supporters nowhere to turn to express their feelings except the Internet — the very beast that, at least in part, was to blame for the store’s demise.

On Tuesday morning, a fan named Tammy commented on the store’s Facebook page, “Where on Earth am I going to Christmas shop now???!!!” Whoever is running the store’s page replied, “Poor Tammy! Find another local record store. I can give you a list :)”

Here
c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Metal drama

Theatre 502’s new production isn’t just good drama, it’s also a valentine to music lovers — especially those who know that Slayer and Poison exist on different planets. LEO caught up with playwright Marco Ramirez.

LEO: What is the play about?

Marco Ramirez: “Broadsword” is about a broken-up heavy metal band from New Jersey that has to reunite in order to save their lead guitarist from the grip of hell. It’s kind of an Agatha Christie mystery play, but imagined through the lens of “The X-Files” and “Halloween.” It’s also very much about family — both the one we’re born into and the one we make for ourselves.

LEO: How did music influence the direction of the story you wrote?

MR: The play’s entirely about music, but even more so it’s about musicians. I don’t think the story of one band influenced me more than others, but the stories of a bunch of misunderstood blue-collar geniuses did. Names like Daniel Johnston and Jeff Mangum (neither of whom made metal), and wonderful music mythology surrounding Robert Johnson and guys like Jeff Buckley. Basically, anyone who ever recorded one genius album and disappeared, or who died mysteriously, or who thought they spoke to the devil.

LEO: How much of an expert on metal are you?

MR: I know a lot more than my parents do, but a lot less than the guy with the Dio tattoo on his neck. It’s weird — when it comes to metal, I’ve found that, at most, what people know is maybe Metallica and a couple “Wayne’s World” quotes.

LEO: Does your taste differ from your characters?

MR: I love me some Motorhead and some Pantera — I jokingly called an early draft of this play “Cowboys From Hell” — but I don’t think I listen to it as often as the guys in “Broadsword” probably do.

LEO: Do you have any Louisville music favorites?

MR: I’m not sure if this is Louisville-specific, but a lovely Louisville native — the director of “Broadsword,” Amy Attaway — gave me two bluegrass mixtapes a couple years ago. Distortion or no distortion, there is nothing more metal than a “murder ballad.”

“Broadsword” runs from Nov. 11-19 at Parkside Studio at the Iroquois Amphitheater. More info can be found at www.theatre502.org.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Sebadoh’s license to please

The story of Sebadoh has taken more twists and turns than a telenovela, though one lacking in obvious sex appeal or comical evil. The story began in the late ’80s in western Massachusetts, where then-ex-Dinosaur Jr. bassist Lou Barlow began collaborating on lo-fi homemade tapes with Eric Gaffney. Jason Loewenstein joined soon after, and the trio, fueled by their single “Gimme Indie Rock!,” influenced a generation of angry, confused but sensitive ex-punks.

Gaffney left early on, replaced first by Bob Fay and then by Louisville native Russ Pollard, whom Loewenstein had met while living in Louisville for more than a decade. Though the group’s last album was released in 1999, Barlow and Loewenstein have reunited at various times since, unfairly never achieving the mass popularity of peers Pavement or Guided by Voices.

Though the two men now live across the country from each other — Barlow in Los Angeles and Loewenstein in Brooklyn — and play with other groups (Barlow with Dinosaur Jr., Loewenstein with the Fiery Furnaces), the songwriters have begun working on new Sebadoh material again. For this tour, Fiery Furnaces drummer Bob D’Amico has joined the duo.

Sub Pop recently reissued their acclaimed 1994 album Bakesale, so LEO asked Barlow about that period.

LEO: Bakesale was made around the time Jason was involved with (Louisville musician) Tara Jane O’Neil.

Lou Barlow: Yeah, he wrote a bunch of songs about her (laughs). She plays on the record. He’d recently moved to Louisville, actually. He loved Louisville, so he stayed there.

LEO: How do you feel the album holds up now?

LB: I didn’t think it would hold up; I guess, in my mind, I imagined that it wasn’t as good as people said it was … I’ve always liked the songs and the lyrics, I just didn’t think texturally or playing-wise it would really hold up, but when we were putting together the reissue, I finally had to listen to it. We lightly remastered it, beefed it up just a little bit, so I had to listen to it again, and I was kind of amazed that it sounded pretty good. It had a really cool feel to it, and the feel of it was pretty consistent … it was kind of a charming record — it’s not like a monster rock record by any stretch, but it’s pretty charming in its limitations, and also in its strengths.

LEO: Where do you think it falls in the Sebadoh catalog, for your tastes?

LB: I kind of think records like Bubble and Scrape and Sebadoh III and The Sebadoh, the last record we did, I think those are more powerful and scarier records. I like scary rock records, I guess (laughs), when it comes to rock bands. I like things to have a little bit of an edge to them, a menacing edge. I’m not really into the Pixies so much. I think there’s other Sebadoh records that have more of that edge (than Bakesale), to me they make them more interesting — but, having said that, listening to it, Bakesale is, track-by-track, definitely pretty consistent, and I really love Jason’s songs on it.

LEO: And you’re still OK with Bob Fay’s song “Temptation Tide”?

LB: Yeah … it’s OK. You know, that’s the spirit of Sebadoh. Bob Fay was the drummer in the band; true to our credo, our ethos or whatever, everybody had to have a song, and that’s Bob’s song. It could have been a lot worse (laughs), you know? It’s OK.

LEO: When Bakesale came out, it spoke to a lot of younger people who felt alienated and confused, like you. Now, you’re a family man.

LB: (laughs) Yeah … To be perfectly honest, I never saw it that the songs I wrote were — I got a lot of flack for being like, “These are so immature, navel-gazing, self-indulgent songs,” and I never bought that. I put a lot of effort into writing songs I thought would have longevity. I was in a really good spot as a songwriter, and the songs I wrote, they don’t embarrass me. They make sense to me. For all of the anger, or the confusion, of youth that might be in those songs, I also think that I could easily go through something as a 45-year-old man, and one of those songs, “Rebound,” could easily apply to somebody having romantic relationships in their 40s, I think. It’s not that difficult to translate it. To me, they’re just good songs, and in my opinion, they’ve stood the test of time. I’m able to play them, and I’m pretty to sensitive to that. If I’m playing a song and I don’t believe in it, or I’ve gone beyond it, I don’t play it, ’cause it feels weird. In general, these songs just don’t feel weird.

For an extended interview, go here.

Sebadoh with Mazes and Deer Meet
Friday, Nov. 4
Headliners Music Hall
1386 Lexington Ave. • 584-8088
www.sebadoh.com
$15; 9 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly