Cotton tales

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Whiskey Bent Valley’s new album has just about the cutest cover you’ll see this year. It’s a drawing you might expect to see on the cover of a classic kids’ book, not on the cover of a new album by an old-time bluegrass band from Pewee Valley. But there it is.

LEO asked Whiskey Bent Valley’s guitarist, Col. Mason Dixon, to walk us through the band’s latest album (the line-up also includes fiddler and vocalist Junior, bassist McElroy Jones and Petey Bob Wagner on “banjer”).

Col. Mason Dixon: The new album is entitled Peter Tracks. It is full of traditional old-time banjo and fiddle songs. This album is a true representation of “What you see/hear is what you get.” There are zero overdubs on the album, hardly any retakes were ever used — we were trying to catch that true instrumentation and sound of acoustic instruments playing old traditional music.

We recorded the album at Dead Bird Studios in Louisville. We had intentions of having guests on the album, but things just did not work out exactly how we planned. However, I think in the long run it ended up being better, because you get that true representation of what us four musicians bring when we are together.

Some of the songs we enjoy playing most live would have to be “Police Man,” “Let Me Fall” and the old traditional tune “Soldier’s Joy.” On the back of the CD, there is small print that says, “Recorded live on the floor.” That’s an old-time saying meaning no overdubs — a true live sound.

The artwork was done by a guy in New York City named Eric Losh. He has done many different bands’ albums, including the Hackensaw Boys and Pokey Lafarge. The cover image was just something I thought of … I wanted something true, and what’s better than an old rabbit in a creek bed?

Whiskey Bent Valley plays on “Great Day Live” Thursday at 10 a.m., at Manny & Merle on Friday and at the Kentucky Bluegrass & Bourbon Festival on Monday.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

No Sleep ’til Bangalore

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Red Baraat brings the world to Louisville



Here’s the kind of guy Sunny Jain is in 2013: He’s been working so hard that, even during a week-long vacation on a Cape Cod beach, he’ll step out of the water to take a phone call to talk about his music.

Jain’s band, Red Baraat, has been a thrilling surprise in the five years since they emerged in Brooklyn — a dance-party band steeped primarily in Indian wedding music but merged with enough New Orleans funk and jam-band exploration to make sense to an increasingly global American audience.

It’s a sound that transcends age, as well. Red Baraat is playing Louisville for the third time in two years, and Jain fondly remembers the crowd at their first, in the Bomhard Theater, whose dance floor included 80-year-olds and 6-year-olds getting down together.

Since the release of their second studio album, Shruggy Ji, in January, the band has played everywhere from the White House to Austin City Limits, and have their first band dates in India and Pakistan scheduled in mid-September — in between dates in Seattle and Minneapolis. That’s quite a unique routing issue, yes?

“Right!” Jain laughs. “Exactly ...” A Midwestern tour had been scheduled, but the band couldn’t turn down such an opportunity, which is why the band will play Indiana’s Lotus Fest shortly after playing in India.

The trip is a dream come true in two ways: “It’s been a special musical aspiration to get the band over to India,” Jain begins, “and, also, a personal one — to get to go. And I’ve never been to Pakistan. My parents were originally from there, before Partition happened in 1947. They fled to the eastern side, which remained India.”

It’s rewarding for Jain, who was raised in Rochester, N.Y., to “get back there and soak up the roots of where my family originally comes from — that northwestern region of the subcontinent.”

That trip, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, includes gigs planned in Mumbai and Bangalore, with additional visits to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. It will be really cool, Jain says, to see a whole other part of the world, to meet people and to see how his band’s music works so far away from home. The government won’t have any more involvement beyond supporting the band’s travels; Jain says they don’t plan to speak about diversity or politics, content as always to let their onstage music and interactions speak for itself.

He’s not worried much about music purists, though, noting that India, too, has its share of Western-style DJs and pop groups. “I think folks like that exist everywhere, and they have their beliefs … The idea of blending together different kinds of music, I think that exists all over the world.”

Most of his relatives reside in Delhi, and the band’s visit coincides with a Jain family event in Delhi that weekend. Trumpeter Sonny Singh and percussionist Rohin Khemani have family closer, as well as local musician friends, and the band hopes to see them.

The band has become popular enough on the festival circuit that they have already begun their own fest, Festival of Colors, which pays homage to India’s Holi celebration. Having already added a Philadelphia date on top of its Brooklyn home, the band hopes to expand it further next year.

By the end of this year, the band plans to take a few months off the road to work on their next album. In June, Red Baraat issued a bonus EP, Big Talk, which features new songs as well as remixes done by members of their Brooklyn neighbor bands, Antibalas and TV On the Radio.

The baseball fan is also looking forward to returning to Louisville and seeing where Sluggers are produced. “I’ve heard about (WorldFest) for a minute now, so it’s nice to be invited to come and play,” says Jain. The Brooklynites first heard about it when Appalatin, their local opener in February at Headliners, suggested it and helped connect the band and the fest.

Jain says he hasn’t yet woken up on the road and not known what city he is in — but he has woken up in his own bed and forgotten that he’s not on tour. He enjoys the chaos, and “When the normalcy of life sets in — that throws me,” he laughs.

WorldFest with Red Baraat and many more
Friday, Aug. 30
The Belvedere
louisvillewaterfront.com
Free; Red Baraat plays Friday at 9:30 p.m.

Photo by Erin Patrice O'Brien

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

Getting Zen with Angel Olsen

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The first thing you need to know about Angel Olsen is that she’s very funny. If you’ve heard her solo albums — especially her most recent, 2012’s Half Way Home — then you might have an impression of her as depressed, angst-ridden, dramatic. But that’s only part of her story.

She’s multi-dimensional and full of promise waiting to be revealed. A native of St. Louis who has lived in Chicago for six years, Olsen plans to move again soon. This week, she returns to Louisville, where she has already spent quality time due to her role as supporting vocalist with Bonnie “Prince” Billy for several tours.

So what’s her impression of our city and our people and our music? “I like your city and your people and your music,” she says. “There was a band called Humungous that everybody was always talking about that I wanted to see,” she notes, adding that they have a song called “Awesome” she likes, laughing as she shares that fact. “I think the line is Awesome, give her what she wants, over and over and over again. I think it’s pretty amazing.”

She’s enjoyed spending time in Louisville because it reminds her of her hometown, in parts — she enjoys the many hidden gems, the funky stores one can only find in the artsy neighborhoods, and being able to enjoy some natural beauty without having to travel far.

“I like Louisville,” she allows in a noncommittal tone. “Maybe I’ll live in a little cave there.”

When Olsen moved to Chicago, she made friends in the music scene, and they soon booked her to play house shows. Her powerful voice leapt out of what the Chicago Tribune called her “petite and moon-faced” body, leading to work with guitarist Emmett Kelly, who recommended her to Kelly’s frequent collaborator, Will Oldham of the Bonnie “Prince” Billy band.

This July, Olsen and her band recorded a third album in Asheville, where her previous label is based, with a possible year-end release date penciled in. She released a pair of songs earlier this year as a teaser. “Wellllll,” she begins with a fake drawl that somehow also works as a Valley Girl impression, “I put out some sonnnngs this year, and it was kinda funnnnn —” she cracks up, unable to continue the charade.

She got sick the day she arrived for recording. She had been unable to sleep, excited but also worried about all the what-ifs facing what will be her most scrutinized album to date. “It’s pretty common, I think. A lot of artists psych themselves out.”

“I’m really proud of the progress we’ve made. We’ve only been a band since last winter,” she explains. “There are things I’m learning about that process, because I’ve always played solo, and (her new bandmates) have always played in a band together, so they’re learning, too.”

She’s even been singing in new ways, or finding new ways to bring sounds out, as she develops her technique.

It sounds cheesy, she says, but it takes a while to find the right people to work well around. It’s less cheesy than a simple and common truth; she’s had to learn to play with others while the others learn to play more like her: sometimes off-kilter, able to veer from folky to operatic and back, sometimes scripted but appearing to be improvised.

Recording, this time, turned out well. “It was an amazing experience,” she says, having relayed tales to LEO of waterfall swims and homemade kombucha. “I’m really psyched that, with all the worry … as much as you can prepare for any situation, there’s no point losing any sleep over it. Something can come totally out of nowhere and mess it up for you.”

About the new album, she’s even willing to say it’s something she would listen to, though she doesn’t sit at home listening to her previous recordings. This leads Olsen to a recital of fake passions she assumes people would want to hear her talk about: “getting Zen,” “finding her shakra,” all of which sound funny to her. She adds, “I would recommend you do yoga and go on a raw-food diet … and then talk about it nonstop. And then … start rock climbing. Actually, I don’t know how you get Zen. I think it’s what you do when you watch ‘30 Rock.’”

Angel Olsen with William Tyler
Thursday, Aug. 22
Zanzabar
2100 S. Preston St.
zanzabarlouisville.ticketfly.com
$10-$12; 9 p.m.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

Reverse Menudo

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Indie pop-rock band Deer Meet has returned with a new seven-song EP, Drums and Impressions, and to celebrate, they play Saturday at Zanzabar. LEO checked in with vocalist Jimmy Angelina and guitarist Morgan Keator.

LEO: How did you get Better Days Records involved with this album?

Morgan Keator: (Better Days owner) Ben Jones and I go back over 25 years. He has always been interested (in) and supportive of my music … When the topic came up of Deer Meet recording again, he simply told me he would put it out for us. He didn’t even have to hear it. To me, Ben is family and is one of the most influential Louisvillians in my life.

LEO: How does the writing happen?

Jimmy Angelina: I do most of the songwriting. (Drummer) Nicholas (Layman) and Morgan write, as well. As far as my stuff is concerned, I bring in a more or less finished song — in a basic, structural sense. Tunes and lyrics. Then everyone throws their parts in. Then we hash all that out and work toward an arrangement. It’s always great to hear what everybody brings to a song. Some of the songs have undergone massive reinterpretations, thanks to everyone’s input, which is great.

LEO: How do you think the band has progressed?

JA: I think — I hope — the band has progressed over time. If so, I think part of that is due to my becoming more comfortable with the process of writing songs. I’ve gotten much more confident as I’ve gone on, and with that confidence comes more of a willingness to stretch out a bit. The other thing that’s perhaps made us progress is the fact that the band has changed line-ups with each album. It’s gotten a bit Menudo-y at this point (although, maybe a reverse Menudo, as I’m the oldest member, and I’m still here). The changes have kept things sparking and have meant that a wide variety of creative voices have gone into the mix.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly