My Morning Jacket brings the world to Louisville

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The day before My Morning Jacket’s co-curated Forecastle Festival lineup was announced, LEO printed a hypothetical list of performers. “I saw that article!” exclaims Patrick Hallahan, the band’s drummer and a driving force behind the local elements of this year’s festival. “I know it’s not hard to imagine; all you have to think is, ‘Who have they toured with?’ … You were pretty dead-on with a lot of it.”

The festival is Forecastle’s 10th anniversary in Louisville. “We wanted to make it a celebration of the city rather than (focusing) attention toward the band,” Hallahan says. “It’s a celebration of Louisville.”

A visit to San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival proved inspiring. While the Californians were proud to show off their wines, the Kentuckians plan to have bourbon showcased. “I was trying to get a batting cage in there as well,” laughs Hallahan. “But bourbon and batting cages started to sound like a bad mix.”

Both My Morning Jacket and Forecastle have incorporated local vendors, nonprofits and artists into past shows, so it was a marriage waiting to happen. Still, like any relationship, both parties brought some of their own needs into the union. Both festival producer AC Entertainment and Forecastle captain J.K. McKnight had their own lists.

“We had to counteract it as well as blend in with it,” Hallahan says, suggesting it was about “half and half” when it came to how many performers the band selected. “We definitely had our pick of the Louisville bands and the regional bands, and I think they were picking more headliner (level) acts.”

What’s surprising is that this is My Morning Jacket’s first Forecastle. “We were always on tour,” he says. “It took 10 years, but …”

The band will have a fixed set time of two-and-a-half hours when headlining Forecastle on Saturday, so Hallahan laughs at the suggestion that the band might try to top their four-hour Bonnaroo 2008 set.

“The theme of this show, and this entire tour, is the Spontaneous Curation series,” where fan club members write in their wish list for songs they hope to hear. “It’s basically a set-list request line for (a) particular show. Honestly, we’ve received so much feedback for the Forecastle set, we could probably make 20 lists for that show.”

He laments that the Stax! Soul Revue, the all-star band of Memphis greats originally scheduled to play, had to cancel after the death of bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, but he’s excited to once again see his new friends in The Head and the Heart (“a fantastic live band”). He’s also curious, like many, to see how Beach House bring their subtle sound to a large, outdoor audience. And he’s in awe of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band: “That goes without saying. If you don’t have a smile on your face while they’re playing, you don’t have a heart.”

He goes on to praise others — Dr. Dog, Andrew Bird, Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Justin Townes Earle, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires — displaying how thin the line between fan and star can be. “I haven’t seen King’s Daughters & Sons live yet, so I’m really looking forward to seeing them. I love everybody in that and have been a fan for years, and I love their album.” He also will be seeing ex-Jacket guitarist Johnny Quaid’s band The Ravenna Colt for the first time. “I’ll have rotten produce waiting for him,” he jokes.

It’s been a long, strange trip for Hallahan. His first “real” show in Louisville was circa 1995 at the Cardinal Inn. His band, Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk, opened for “probably Hedge” to a few dozen people “all on the perimeter, hanging out, waiting for Hedge to play,” Hallahan laughs. “We were doing our best Jesus Lizard rip-off we probably could, I think.”

Seventeen years later, even without a new album to promote, the drummer is pretty busy. The band just returned from a European tour, has more dates planned through the summer, and Hallahan will have to go out of his way to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday. It’s a big year, but he says, “I like a full plate.” It’s the 10th year for the festival, and Hallahan’s 10th year with the band, so “It’ll definitely be an emotional show for me.”

Photo by Danny Clinch.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly

Houndmouth’s big break

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The New Albany music scene scored a big breakthrough in 2012 when a brand new rock ’n’ soul quartet, Houndmouth, went from zero to 160 faster than Dale Earnhardt Jr. being chased by an angry ex-girlfriend.

In the summer of 2011, bassist Zak Appleby, drummer Shane Cody, guitarist Matt Myers, and keyboardist Katie Toupin (all of whom also sing) had not yet become a band, and neither Appleby nor Toupin were even playing their current instruments. Fast-forward one year, however, and the London-based Rough Trade Records label is set to release the band of 20-somethings’ first self-titled EP, which the band recorded in a studio they built here.

While their sound — organic, rootsy rock reminiscent of classic late ’60s acts like The Band — is in vogue thanks to bands like Mumford & Sons and Alabama Shakes, while not far removed from The Black Keys and Jack White’s no-frills solid rock, Houndmouth is a modern band that has capitalized on the Internet to find an audience, both here and far away.

They recruited a high school friend, Chris Thomas, as their manager. He sent their songs to a few blogs, and within a couple of months, people began discovering them. “It really just kind of snowballed with the blogs,” Toupin says.

“I was actually looking for a job online, and I got a text from Shane that said, ‘We got a blog write-up!’” Myers adds.

They’ve since opened in other cities for The Lumineers and Those Darlins, and will play both a Forecastle pre-fest show Thursday at Zanzabar and a Friday night slot at the festival. They hope to tour around the country and possibly in Europe in the fall and winter.

Ultimately, it was their music — performed live before an industry-heavy audience at South by Southwest in Austin last March — that made them.

“We met Geoff Travis from Rough Trade,” Toupin says, perhaps not fully aware yet that her new boss has been in the music business since before the band members were born, “and he loved it.” Rough Trade has also recently released albums by Arcade Fire, The Strokes, The Decemberists, Alabama Shakes, and My Morning Jacket, to name a few.

Travis had seen the band on the first night of the festival, and then left Bruce Springsteen’s keynote address early the next day to see the band again. They played that afternoon to “about 30 people,” (including a LEO reporter), and though Travis missed that set, he offered a contract.

While their shot at the big time seems to have happened overnight, all four have paid their dues over several years of playing everything (Motown covers, bluegrass, hardcore) to oft-empty rooms. “A lot of wineries” is how Myers efficiently sums up their early years, back when Appleby and Toupin were still guitarists.

And the name? It’s probably fitting, as it implies an earthy, hungry animal as well as being goofily meaningless. What began as a late-night remark by Cody has become their career.

Photo by Kevin P. McGloshen.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly

John Timmons: After the X-tacy

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Don’t call it a retirement. At 56, John Timmons is no longer the ear X-tacy guy, but he’s still got a lot of years left, as well as bills left to pay from the beloved record store he owned and operated in the Highlands for 26 years.

These days, Timmons spends his time with family and friends, diving into Facebook, cooking, practicing guitar, and rediscovering the pure, simple joy of listening to music for pleasure. And though he’s truly resting and relaxing for the first time in years, he’s also working to discover a new identity.

He recently visited two new record stores, Astro Black and Matt Anthony’s Record Shop. Anthony had worked at ear X-tacy for a decade. “I was shoplifting,” Timmons jokes. “No, I bought some CDs. Trying to support some folks as best as I can.”

Timmons is now experiencing the normal fan’s dilemma of trying to support a local business when it doesn’t have the specific title the customer is looking to buy.

“The problem for me now is, where do I go to buy my music? Some of us from the store have been ordering from other indie stores (in other cities and online) … I prefer to buy as local as I can, but …”

At the end of 2011, when Timmons closed the store’s doors for the last time, he walked out into a world where AARP-eligible former small-business owners don’t have many options. “One of the hardest things was going from being there seven days a week to … nothing. Dealing with the aftermath of that, but — I need to be doing something.”

For the first time in his life, he had to prepare a résumé. “It was like, ‘OK, what have I done? Worked in record stores, worked in record stores, worked in record stores, owned a record store …’”

Though Timmons has had plenty of experience running a small company, he refuses to open another business. Ideally, a new job would be something easier but still fun. “The reason I stayed with the store for so long was that I felt passionate about it. I would want to do something music- or art-related. No physical labor,” he laughs.

This past spring, WFPK program director Stacy Owen contacted Timmons to gauge his interest in trying radio. Though he had dabbled many years ago, it remains a relatively untried field for the self-effacing Timmons. DJ Duke Meyer has been training Timmons, who now fills in for Meyer and others when needed.

Timmons also has an idea for his own weekend show, if the station is interested. But public radio doesn’t always pay the bills, and in addition to his personal obligations, there are still ear X-tacy issues to resolve — specifically, bills. “It’s gonna take a bit of time. They’re all gonna get paid … I feel worse about the local stuff, but some of them got paid, and then the accounts got on lock-down.”

Does he have a timeline for final payments? “No.” There are lawyers and accountants dealing with it, at this stage, but Timmons is firm that “local artists will get paid.” Most have been sympathetic, he says. Some, who are owed small amounts or can otherwise afford it, have even told him not to worry about it. A few have made their unhappiness known.

He’s aware of what people have said, online and otherwise.

“After closing the store, I can see it a lot clearer now, what it was when it was there,” he says. “As an owner, you see everything that’s wrong with it — how it can be better. Now I can stand back and certainly appreciate it and be proud of it … I can see how other people saw it, for better and for worse, but it’s nice to have people come up and say, ‘God, I miss that store.'"

“I miss the store every day … I miss a lot of things about it, but then again, there’s a lot I don’t miss.” He misses the community of it all. “The staff, and the people coming in. That’s what it was all about.”

Photo by Thomas DeLisle.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly

Clifton Center’s cultural kicks

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John Harris moved to Louisville from Dayton, Ohio, in 2010 to turn Clifton’s neighborhood events center into something a bit more global. As executive director of the Clifton Center, he wears many hats. The most visible and arguably most important is as the programmer of an ongoing series of concerts, movies, discussions, art, and whatever else is relevant to understanding and enjoying the culture of both native Louisvillians and the world outside.

“We think of it as a neighborhood facility, but it’s for everybody,” Harris says. “We’re not trying to attract (a) particular demographic — we’re trying to attract everybody that’s interested in experiencing new art and new music.”

The Lexington native and erstwhile French horn player moved around in his younger days, trying to find the perfect fit for his love of arts, culture and nonprofit work, including three years at Eastern Kentucky’s famed Appalshop. Harris attributes that experience to helping shape his view that “the arts can be in service to a great thing” beyond mere entertainment.

Next, on to Dayton, where he ran the Cityfolk program for seven years. There, he was able to begin to fully integrate traditional and ethnic arts — jazz, roots, world and other sometimes hard-to-define forms of music. “The idea was representing the cultural traditions of the people that lived in the community. But also, giving people a chance to experience the cultural traditions of others.”

Harris built a program there called Culture Builds Community, with artist residencies working in different neighborhoods. It began in an area filled with a large Appalachian population and grew to multiple areas, bringing music and art to underserved communities.

Harris and his wife, Natalie, “… liked Dayton a lot, but we said, ‘We’re not going to stay here forever.’” After his father died, he wanted to be closer to his mother in Lexington, “and it just so happened, we were in (Louisville) visiting some friends, and somebody said, ‘Oh, did you hear that so-and-so left the Coalition for the Homeless?’” Everyone turned to Natalie, who has worked with the homeless for many years.

Once in Louisville, “I saw this ad, and I thought, ‘Oh, that could be kind of interesting.’” The more he looked into the Clifton Center, the more interested he became.

Harris’ first Clifton concert featured Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and subsequent acts included soul star Bettye LaVette, bluegrass veteran Tim O’Brien, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and Mali ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate, among others. The upcoming season so far includes the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, classical music from Brazil, and an “Africa to Appalachia” collaboration.

The plan is to expand, with more shows in more rooms, and more visual arts. “My idea is to position ourselves as a genre-less presenter,” Harris says. “We really believe in good music of all different kinds, and we think there are audiences for that. And it’s the kind of place that we want to be.”

Photo by Thomas DeLisle.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly