More of some of the best of 2013

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Last week, we looked back at some of the best music Louisville offered up in 2013 — a number that is now mere history, as otherwise meaningless as 2003 or 1973. Unless, of course, you’re talking about Bruce Springsteen, who will always be filled with meaning and never get a gray hair or die.

In the first part of our look back, we relayed responses to our survey of the year past, confirming local love for the Debauchees, Old Baby, Cheyenne Mize, White Reaper and Anwar Sadat. Missing out on the top five were some of our globally recognized talents — Jim James, who released his first solo album while also playing some dates with My Morning Jacket (including a tour with Bob Dylan); Houndmouth, who released their debut full-length album on London’s Rough Trade label and celebrated “Houndmouth Day” in Louisville with a show at Iroquois Amphitheater; and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who continued to keep fans on their toes by making a new album in his house and then driving it around to local stores as his means of distribution, favoring neighbors and frustrating his thousands of additional worldwide fans.

Houndmouth did earn several mentions from their local scene mates, earning a solid sixth place. Next came heavier sounds from a pair of bands who earned the same number of mentions, but have only volume in common otherwise. Julie of the Wolves, an all-star quartet who have consistently rocked out in a variety of bands over the past 10-15 years and are now united in a catchy punk format, won acclaim with their album Create/Destroy (on Noise Pollution).

Black metal heroes Anagnorisis earned far-flung accolades for their self-released album Beyond All Light (the band plays the album live Thursday night at Haymarket Whiskey Bar); the Canadian magazine Exclaim! wrote, “… filled with thunderous drumming and pierced by moments of unexpected illumination, Anagnorisis have crafted a black metal album worthy of their name.”

Some other local acts praised by their peers included Tropical Trash, Nerves Junior, Wax Fang, Kaleidico, The Revenants, The Tunesmiths, Whistle Peak, Small Time Napoleon, Sapat, Ultra Pulverize, and the aforementioned Jim James and Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

Outside these bluegrass borders, LEO’s music writers also, somehow, found even more music to enjoy this year. Running away with the top honors in 2013 was one of the very first albums to be released, way back on Jan. 22: No Beginning No End (on Blue Note) was neither the first nor the last we’re hearing from hip-hop-inflected soul/jazz singer José James, but dang, it’s a great one.

In his LEO review, Damien McPherson wrote, “I’ll be damned if this isn’t in my top five 335 days from now. The jazzy singer from Minneapolis finally gets a proper U.S. introduction after two incredible records on DJ Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label and a quiet-as-a-whisper standards album on Verve. Those in the know have wielded his songs as secret weapons for several years, but now is the time the rest of the world gets familiar.”

Also taking up space in our ears was the modern country of Kacey Musgraves, the Central American grooves of the Garifuna Collective, Gregory Porter’s theatrical jazz vocals, Laura Mvula’s British soul power, the retro Cumbia of Maguaré, the revived concept hip-hop of Deltron 3030, Setenta’s Latin soul, the haunting indie folk of Spirits of the Red City, the electro chills of Jon Hopkins, anthemic indie rock from Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Bombino’s African guitar trance, and the pop/R&B of the Tennessee kid, Justin Timberlake. Oh, and we can’t forget Kanye (he won’t let us).

In a year that saw Brooklyn’s Red Baraat visit Louisville twice and release two new titles, some of us got deeper into the blending of brass bands with modern funk and hip-hop rhythms that continued everywhere from England to India to Wisconsin — plus, of course, New Orleans, where the Hot 8 Brass Band and Brass-a-Holics dropped solid collections, and Jim James produced a modern classic for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

None of us were sad when Mumford & Sons announced a lengthy hiatus.

We hope you had as much fun as we did in 2013, but we also hope for an even better 2014. (Fingers crossed for a Springsteen-led Forecastle Festival … hey, why not?) #possibilitycity

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

Working for the union

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Many people make music on the side, as a form of expression, never expecting to become part of the mainstream music industry. Many of those people work behind a desk or in front of customers. John Paul Wright is one of the very tiny handful of songwriters who’s working on the railroad.

Wright doesn’t just work for the company — he’s a timeless union man, an organizer and an agitator. He’s a locomotive engineer and a labor singer. Take a moment out of your day and imagine a contestant on “The Voice” singing a song like “War on the Workers,” or “Casey Jones the Union Scab,” and consider the hard lives many lead.

But also consider the joy Wright gets from singing his songs, paying tribute to his fellow travelers.

Wright’s latest album, Singing to the Choir, was released this fall. On Saturday, Wright and fellow local folkie John Gage play at the Rudyard Kipling with fiddler Kate MacLeod and singer/guitarist Duncan Phillips. The latter is the son of the late Utah Phillips, the iconic labor organizer, train-hopper and storytelling folk singer, and has carried on his father’s work.

Wright met Phillips last year at a hobo convention in northern California, learning that the son didn’t like his father’s music because it took him away from home. Wright’s job takes him to Nashville and back, but he spends as much time as he can with his son, Jonah, schooling him in many ways.

Jonah and wife Donna are Wright’s priorities, but nights like Saturday are special occasions to celebrate his world outside of their home. The family lives in a nice house in Middletown, but Wright has also known fellow workers who have been laid off, or even killed on the job. He sings their songs, and rails against a corporate culture that has taken over our nation, threatening democracy and poisoning children’s minds.

Wright knows he’s not alone in his fight, though. Like-minded members of his community will join together in song on Saturday, share stories and wish for a 2014 filled with solidarity and a more perfect union.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

Soul junk

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Black Diamond Heavies drummer Van Campbell was at the Air Devils Inn, sitting with bassist/vocalist Eric Makowski, formerly of Austin’s garage rock/soul band the Bloody Tears. They had just met and began talking about starting a new band, “something just for fun,” Campbell says. “Soul music was a part of the conversation, because we thought it would be accessible from a playing standpoint,” the drummer adds. “There are plenty of bands out there that are doing this ‘soul revival’ kind of thing, which is great. I’m glad that, though that was our starting point, we have kind of turned into something that is unique.”

Their seven-piece band, Junk Yard Dogs, has since made a name for themselves through their potent live show over the past couple of years, and now have a record available. The band plays WFPK’s New Year’s Eve show at Headliners, though Campbell clarifies, “There will be guests joining us along the way, and we will be more of a house band than a featured act.”

As a warm-up, they will play on WFPK’s “Live Lunch” Friday at noon. “Normally when we play, it is at various dives around town that are dimly lit and where the patrons are impaired by alcohol. If you like your dirty soul music with a bit more clarity and a sandwich, then you should come on down to ‘Live Lunch,’” says Campbell.

Their record evolved from contemplating covers to writing originals, both together and in smaller groups. They rode up to Detroit to capture their sound with engineer Jim Diamond, who had previously worked with both Campbell and Makowski. “It took a lot of planning ahead to figure out how to make it all work with seven people and a very short window of time, which I was worried about because trying to plan any aspect of a recording session can be ambitious. It turned out to be an amazing experience.”

Asked to name some favorite local bands that don’t include Dogs members, Campbell replies, “It is hard to mention ones we don’t share members with!”

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

People Issue: Franey Miller - The Photographer

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“I’m not really average,” acknowledges Franey Miller, the 18-year-old photographer. “I’m always working — whether it be planning shoots, getting up at 5 a.m. to call magazines in London, or doing all the bookings for every single shoot I produce.”

The recent high-school grad began shooting “with a fashion eye” at 15. She describes her work as “feminine, whimsical and soft but powerful.” Miller began by taking pictures of female friends. As she developed her skills, she found girls easier to use as subjects. “With male models, there’s this constant ‘manly’ vibe going on,” she says. “I’m not opposed to shooting guys, but I just feel more comfortable around girls.”

Some of her female subjects are shown wearing only lingerie; what might seem sketchy coming from a male perspective feels more loving and respectable coming from a young woman. Miller denies having an overt agenda.

“I find it pretty,” she shrugs. “I’m not really trying to subvert anything or make a statement — I just really like the visual of cute undergarments.”

Miller is not in school now, using her time to work on her budding career. “It is a lot of work,” she says, adding that her roommate, boyfriend and supportive mother are all “constant inspiration,” though it is her cats, Prudence and Tupac, who especially “work hard to make models feel at home during hair and makeup when I’m shooting in Louisville.”

She has published photos everywhere from the local zine Tobacco to the highly coveted Vogue Italia. Miller primarily uses social media and phones to make connections, and has recently spent time in the big city. “I have a serious love/hate relationship with New York,” she says. “I love it when I’m not in it.”

Miller feels lonely there now — after traveling alone, she tries to occupy herself with shoots and meetings, but unless a friend is available, she eats, gets around and then goes to sleep alone. Skype calls can only do so much. The city adds its own inspiration and, as one of the fashion and media capitals, it can’t be ignored, but it’s either too busy or too quiet. It’s not home yet.

“The last time I was in New York, I had 16 shoots in 14 days. It’s a lot of hard work, but I know it’s going to be so worth it one day,” says Miller. “I plan to relocate to New York sometime soon. It’s where everything happens, and it’s naturally where I need to be.”

Photo by Serene Conaway

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

People Issue: Daniel Cole - The Promoter

It all started with a “Boogie Nights”-themed birthday party. Daniel Cole enjoyed a night out, and throwing a big party sounded like fun. But Cole quickly realized he was also filling a need in Louisville’s social scene.

“I think it’s fair to say it was fairly risqué for the Fourth Street Live crowd at the time,” says Cole. “Male go-go dancers and dance music DJs were not really commonplace in that circle, especially not in 2007.”

The party was a success, and Cole credits veteran promoter Joey Wagner, then marketing director for Lucky Strike and Felt, for encouraging him. It led Cole to the Fourth Street Live club Hotel, where he was hired as their marketing and events director. “It was a great deal of work, changing the perception of Louisville nightlife,” says Cole, “but that was a great vehicle to do so.” Working with attractions from DJ Steve Aoki to fashion labels to curiosities like Paris Hilton, it was on trend with the MySpace/celeb culture of the time and taught Cole many valuable lessons.

“Of course, not every weekend was a giant event,” he acknowledges. “Many times, it was $100 of decorations from Caulfield’s and a motivated staff who liked throwing a theme party.”

After an LGBT networking group hosted a party there, Cole saw a window to expand the club, and the city’s options. “Hard Candy” was born this way there. When Hotel closed, Cole went out on his own as a freelance promoter. “It was quite an adjustment,” he says, as every dollar spent on an event was now coming from his own bank account.

Wagner offered to re-launch “Hard Candy” at the club he now runs, Prime Lounge. It took time to rebuild, but Cole says 2013 was one of his best years. Today “Hard Candy” is again on trend, bringing in many stars of the groundbreaking “RuPaul’s Drag Race” reality series as headliners. The event also expanded to Cincinnati and Lexington this year, with more planned.

Cole will also produce his first large-scale Derby event soon, a dream come true for him. He plans a party catered toward an audience wanting something other than a Maxim/Playboy-esque event at Derbytime.

Meanwhile, he still works part-time in retail management. “One month could be terrific and the next could be underwhelming. You plan and promote as best as you possibly can, but there are always factors you can’t predict.

Photo by Marty Pearl

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c. 2013 LEO Weekly

Some of the best music of 2013 — Part 1

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LEO’s music department asked dozens involved in this city’s scene to share lists of their favorite local music of 2013. Our selection committee was, admittedly, intentionally random — but each is a trusted member of our community. We didn’t exactly stop people on the street (even though many of them are probably in bands, too) for their two cents.

As it shook out, we got many great responses back. Two things we had already suspected were confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt: Louisville loves music, and this year, everyone loved the Debauchees.

Among the people who contributed, almost half put the Debauchees and their debut album, Big Machines and Peculiar Beings (on sonaBLAST! Records), on their list. Whistle Peak singer Billy Petot said, “The Debauchees! Duh! These guys are so much fun. Usually young folks tend to exude a bit too much rage for me, but these young ’uns are just plain f-u-n.” WFPK disc jockey Marion Dries mentioned their song “I’ve Got Energy” as one of her favorite individual songs of this year, noting, “Love the primitive punk ethic in their work.” Bryce Gill, guitarist for the Tunesmiths, called them “great, young talent and sincerely sweet kids. They will make Louisville proud.”

While this might be a surprise to some in a year that also included new albums from Jim James, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Houndmouth, it shows how our community continues to develop new talent and support it, never sitting still even though there’s a deep bench to rely on.

It’s not a popularity contest, in the literal sense. We here at LEO like to take each song, each record, each show as its own thing; all have unique strengths and weaknesses. We don’t believe there can be a “best” or “worst” when it comes to artistic expression. In this case, we’re just sharing some recommendations.

The name dropped second-most by a jury of their peers was Old Baby. After putting their first record together after only a few months of existence, the all-star rock quintet took longer to make their second album, Love Hangover (on Karate Body Records), achieving a leap up from an already stellar debut and clarifying that this band is for real, not a mere side project (members also play solo and in Young Widows, Jaye Jayle, Sapat and Second Story Man). In his review for LEO, Syd Bishop wrote, “Given Old Baby’s penchant for dark, Americana-tinged songwriting, this is a surprisingly spry album, maintaining an unexpected momentum (given both the subject matter and material) … this Hangover succeeds as a well-crafted testament to the skill of its constituency.”

Following closely behind was a pair of artists who take a different approach to pop and rock, though less differently than it might look on the surface. Cheyenne Mize’s second solo album, Among the Grey (on the North Carolina label Yep Roc) also saw her step up her game. In this week’s music section, WFPK and LEO’s Kyle Meredith shares his thoughts on her achievement.

The young garage-rockers White Reaper received as many mentions as Mize, with “Night Visions Radio” DJ Sam Sneed raving, “My favorite local release of the year is White Reaper’s Conspirator (a 7-inch on Earthbound Records). I am just stoked people in Louisville are making this kind of music!” McKinley Moore, guitarist for Natives, said, “I’m sure someone else has said it already, but White Reaper is awesome.”

Also beloved locally lately was Anwar Sadat. The young punk trio’s first full-length, Gold (on Sophomore Lounge), had singer/guitarist Mark Kramer of Tender Mercy saying about it, “Loud, abrasive and catchy. Who else can do this?” Zach Hart, from the blog We Listen For You, called it, “A thunderous record that doesn’t pocket creativity for the sake of being ‘just another loud band,’” and added, “It’s a perfect artistic document to get the listener ready for Anwar Sadat’s live show ... one of the best live bands going in town today.”

Join us again next week for more of the best of 2013, locally and internationally.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

Over the Rhine and through the woods

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Based around the married couple of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, the folk-pop band Over the Rhine has been together long enough to build a fan base strong enough to support their own label, Great Speckled Dog, enabling them to survive and thrive outside of the system. While they have released two Christmas albums, the band’s current tour supports their new double album, Meet Me at the End of the World, which is their second album produced by Joe Henry (who recruited Bergquist to act with him in the Louisville-shot movie “Pleased to Meet Me”).

LEO: You’ve had 20 years of making songs together. How do you still have so many songs on one record?

Linford Detweiler: We both write. Karin likes to say it was easier just to put all the songs on the project, rather than arguing over whose got left off. Maybe there’s some truth to that. But actually, we knew we had a good number of songs that loosely revolved around the little hideaway farm in southern Ohio that we’ve called home for the last nine years. We wanted to collect this particular song cycle onto one project, if possible, and we needed a little extra musical real estate for that to happen. We weren’t married to the idea of a double album, but it sort of fell into place in real time.

LEO: How does the environment around your home influence your songs? Do you see a squirrel and get inspired, or is it more abstract?

LD:We haven’t written a song called “Squirrel!!” yet. But it’s a song that definitely seems to play in our dogs’ jukebox …

When we moved out here to this pre-Civil War farmhouse and this particular piece of land, we realized we didn’t know the names of much of anything — the trees, the songbirds, the weeds, the wildflowers. My father helped us fill in a few gaps before he died — he was always a bit of a birdwatcher and knew his trees. He said he heard birds out here he hadn’t heard since he was a boy growing up on his family farm in the 1930s — bobwhite quail, indigo buntings, bluebirds, killdeer … After he was no longer around to do the naming for us, we began to do the work of calling things by name, and they began to appear in our songs.

Naming is an act of respect, and love, and I think when we began affording our surroundings our careful attention, this place became our home. We had never written an album about home before. As we were fixing this place up, my father also encouraged us to “leave the edges wild,” and that became an important metaphor for us. That line found its way into several of the songs on the project.

LEO: What’s your relationship with Cincinnati like these days, especially now that you’ve moved farther out?

LD: We still do all our business in Cincinnati and have lots of friends who live there. Our three godchildren live in Cincinnati. And we still feel drawn to the neighborhood of Over the Rhine. Maybe someday we’ll have a little crash pad back in the neighborhood. It’s still the old Ohio River town that very much feels like the birthplace of the band.

LEO: Now that you — we — are all older than we were 20 years ago, does “maturity” sound more like a compliment if someone describes you or your music that way? Do you feel any older inside? Do you still get excited about making the next record or setting out on the next tour?

LD: We’ve been having more fun on this recent “Meet Me at the Edge of the World Tour” than we’ve probably had ever. I think we’re probably a little less conflicted at this point in our lives. We’ve embraced a calling. We know we’ll probably never be famous in a pop-culture sense, and that’s probably a really good thing. Hopefully, the work will speak for itself and continue to find a growing audience that’s real. And we’re crazy enough to believe that we’re still growing as writers. If we didn’t believe a record contained our best work, we wouldn’t put it out.

We’d like to think that some things get better with a little age. Good wine, good songs, good friendships … We’re in it for the long haul.

Over the Rhine with Matt the Electrician
Friday, Dec. 13
Kentucky Center for the Arts
501 W. Main St.
kentuckycenter.org
$25; 8 p.m.

Photo by Darrin Ballman.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly

You’re a good pianist, David Benoit

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He knows, OK? David Benoit’s been around for a while. He’s been doing all kinds of stuff since 1977, and he knows you’re coming to this show to hear the Christmas music you love from the “Peanuts” TV specials. He knows his real music — what some call smooth jazz — isn’t the hippest trip, but it’s what he loves, so if you don’t love it, that’s OK. He’s not especially rich or famous, but you know what? He’s done pretty good for himself. And if it takes playing “Peanuts” music every December, or having his music used by the Weather Channel to make sure the mortgage gets paid, well, whatever. It’s all music, and if it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad, right?

This week’s show “is a happy show,” Benoit agrees with a laugh. “If you don’t feel good after this show, then something’s wrong.”

His involvement in the “Peanuts” world goes back to his childhood. He was a fan of the daily comic strip, but when the first special aired on CBS in 1965, he fell in love with composer/pianist Vince Guaraldi’s score. “One of the reasons I became a jazz pianist is because I wanted to play like Vince,” he says now, the influence still looming almost a half-century later.

Benoit made his first foray into Christmas music in 1983 with his Christmastime album, which featured some of the same pieces used by “Peanuts.” His recording of the “Peanuts” favorite, “Christmas Time Is Here,” attracted their TV producer, Lee Mendelson. The producer asked Benoit to score music for the eight-part miniseries “This Is America, Charlie Brown” in 1988. (Guaraldi died of a heart attack in 1976, after scoring the special, “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown.”)

“They were looking for someone to replace Vince and had been using the more traditional film-score people, and they wanted a jazz guy,” Benoit says. “I just hit it off with Lee immediately, and pretty soon, I got to meet (strip creator) Charles Schulz. I wound up scoring at least 15 CBS specials — a lot of it (featuring) the music of Vince Guaraldi, and a lot of it my music.”

Though Schulz died in 2000, Benoit has remained close with Schulz’s family and with Mendelson. “It’s something I’m very privileged and honored to be part of.”

Benoit has read the controversial 2007 biography of Schulz and says, “With me, he was a complete gentleman, and really nice. I can see with Lee — he was probably a little tougher on Lee, but he respected my music, and I had so much respect for him. It was a mutual admiration society … My experience was always really positive.”

Benoit has had a slightly weird career, noting that its highlight might be the accidental hit he had in 1981 in the Philippines. “Take a Look Inside My Heart” touched a chord with the melodrama-loving listeners there, who greeted him like a king and gave him the ability to pursue music as a career.

Benoit acknowledges that the average person on the street who knows “Peanuts” music, as played by anyone, probably might not know some of his other music, which includes compositions for symphonies as well as straight-ahead or smooth jazz. “It would be harsh to say, ‘Well, (‘Peanuts’) just pays the bills,’ but … it does pay the bills. Also, I do love that music, so I do come by it very sincerely. It’s not like, ‘Let me jump on to this bandwagon, I can make a lot of money …’ No, I love the music truthfully. It’s sincere, and I always feel very grateful to have that association.”

And, he laughs, it’s very tough in this world to become a famous jazz musician. “So thank God for ‘Peanuts’!” If anyone leaves the show wondering what else this guy Benoit has for sale, he’ll be happy if you check that out, too.

He will play a couple of his originals during the show, but audiences will more likely remember the participation of a local children’s choir, here borrowed from Noe Middle School. It’s part of the show in every city, making what’s already fun for the whole family something those participants will remember always. “How cool is that?,” Benoit says. “That’s what makes the show really unique.”

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ with David Benoit
Thursday, Dec. 5
Kentucky Center for the Arts
501 W. Main St.
kentuckycenter.org
$25; 8 p.m.

c. 2013 LEO Weekly