Bubbleicious

Local indie-psych-pop practicioners Plastic Bubble have returned with their latest modern classic album, with a Will Oldham-starring video to help turn heads on. The band plays a release show on Friday at Haymarket Whiskey Bar. I asked visionary Matt Taylor to tell me the tale.

First, tell me about putting this album together – and how did you decide it needed two dozen or so of Louisville’s best musicians to come in and add cameos?

We started recording Big Day Parade less than a week after the release show for our debut album, Treble Treasure Chest (in 2012). The plan was to do this one as more of a band effort than the first one, as the debut began with me assembling recordings with a loose and shifting collection of friends, before a band name or identity was in place.

By the time we started recording Big Day Parade, the four of us that had played the most stuff on the first album – Jason Dudgeon, Elisa McCabe, John Kleemeier, and myself – had been playing live and had become a real band, rather than just a name for people to record under. We recorded this new album in multiple environments and with different recording setups … the overdubs on the bulk of the other material on the album were recorded in one of our homes, or at a friend’s home on a laptop. Almost everything was done digitally, but a few songs were built on top of things recorded on cassette 4-track. This material was more collaboratively written by the live line-up, and tended to be a little more developed from a performance angle before we started recording, rather than figuring out how to play the songs live after creating them as a studio band. But still, all along we knew we would have people outside the band make appearances on the recordings.

On the first album, I had a lot of fun just having people come over and play overdubs on things to put their personalities on it and give each song its own unique vibe. I’m a music nerd who gets into reading liner notes and seeing who plays on what, and I especially like it when I see a complicated combination of people contributing and interweaving on a project. Because we did so much recording at home and over a long period of time, it was natural to have friends just add an overdub here or there when they were over hanging out. Sometimes it was to have a community chorus kind of vibe, sometimes because we knew someone who could play an instrument we couldn’t, and sometimes just to put a touch of someone else’s energy on something.

Tell me about things you’ve learned in the journey from starting the band to where you’re at now.

While it doesn’t feel like we’ve learned any lessons or anything, it does seem like we are a very different band, or are coming at things from a different angle now compared to when we first started playing out as a band. I can’t speak for the others, but I feel like we are more confident now. It helped that people seemed pretty responsive, from the beginning.

I think we learned that we don’t have to be too serious, and that we can be ourselves. Not that we are overconfident and think that people will like whatever we do. I just feel like we don’t have to go out there trying to keep a straight face and be all “Louisville” about everything. I think we feel pretty free to quirk out. The people that like us probably like the lighter, silly side.

Maybe I personally have learned a few lessons; mostly to not ramble so damn much and getting my wannabe stand-up comedian on between songs. I’ve learned to shut my mouth and keep a little mystique. The main thing I’d like to learn is how to move and look human onstage. I love doing this so much, but I don’t think I look like I’m having much fun from my stiff presence onstage … when not making Nancy Kerrigan jokes, that is.

Hear examples at www.hopeforthetapedeck.bandcamp.com/album/big-day-parade.

C. 2015 The Voice-Tribube

A Cure for What Ales You

“Tailspin Ale Fest is even bigger and better than ever in our second year,” says Tisha Gainey, co-founder of the popular festival.

Last year’s Tailspin, a celebration of craft beer, attracted attendees from Louisville and beyond – as far as Florida, New York and Alaska. Gainey and co-founder Trevor Cravens have expanded, adding more to the popular mix of beer, food and music. Last year’s attempt at Bowman Field was actually too successful.

This year’s opening night, a VIP-only evening called “The Barrel Roll,” will take place Friday with The Pimps of Joytime, a soul and funk band from Brooklyn, NY. The founders saw the band perform at both the Forecastle Festival and Zanzabar, so “We were so happy when we were able to book them,” says Gainey. “It just made sense. Even if you don’t dance, they are so fun, you’ll wiggle a little.”

Barrel Roll is a night of all things from a barrel, she says. “Barrel-aged beers, bourbons, spirits and wine … We went beyond extremely limited barrel-aged beers and are showcasing some of the spirits or barrels in which these beers are aged.” Flat 12 Bierwerks will present their Pinko Russian Imperial Stout, aged in Willett bourbon barrels, “at a table with Willett bourbon that you can sample or have in a featured cocktail,” Gainey says. Copper & Kings will be pouring their brandy, while the Lexington brewery West 6th shares their Transy Brandy, a Belgian-style tripel aged in Copper & Kings barrels.

Food options are coming from the Ole Group (El Taco Luchador, Cena, etc.), who will offer bacon-wrapped goat cheese stuffed dates, empanadas, Korean BBQ wings and other deliriously delicious bar-appropriate items. On Saturday, the founders plan to increase the number of food trucks on-site from last year to give patrons more options and more chances to secure food before it all sells out.

Saturday is the big day, of course, and so the fest will be bigger in many ways on that day. “Where to start?” asks Gainey. “Last year, we had around 45 breweries and over 150 beers. We are up to 56 breweries now!” Mayor Greg Fischer will appear to bless the fest on Saturday.

Back in November, the LAGERS Homebrew Club held a competition to brew the first Official Tailspin Ale at Apocalypse Brew Works, whose owner Leah Dienes is a longstanding member and success story. That product, the Spit Fire Ale, will be available from title sponsor Liquor Barn, which is also donating money to the Dare to Care Food Bank on behalf of Tailspin. A raffle will also benefit the Bank.

More American music will be pumped out by the Whiskey Bent Valley Boys and the Solid Rock’it Boosters on Saturday. A Kentucky Heritage Section will feature brewers statewide. Gainey notes that they are also working with Uber, and ends on a more sober note.

“Please note that we want people to drink responsibly … Guests will be able to leave their vehicles until noon the following day.”

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

Off to Dreamland

What if? What would happen if we extended our thinking and kept trying new things? It’s a question that’s pushed Tim Barnes moving forward for decades.

Barnes grew up in Southern California, where he could have carried on his mom’s love of the surf. Instead, he moved to New York City, where he established a sterling reputation as a percussionist, playing along indie rock and avant-garde acts like Sonic Youth, John Zorn, Milford Graves, Jim O’Rourke and MV+EE. Now 47, Barnes has lived in Louisville for eight years, where he runs the music and visual arts space in NuLu called Dreamland.

It’s another chapter in a life spent trying to help introduce others to fresh sounds and ideas, a practice which goes back to a suburban high school existence where he felt different from the average kids who went along with the trends. Barnes says he’s merely another link in a chain going back to his mom and uncles, who first turned him on to new sounds. “I was ruined,” he laughs.

He went on to spend 15 years in Manhattan, where the “softening” of indie rock, as he calls it, led him further afield from even their mainstream. “It was wonderful, I had a great time and met some great people, got to play on some great records – but then when it hit ’97, ’98, it all turned towards electronic music and stuff, and then all those bands that I loved: Polvo, The Grifters, all those classic indie rock bands from that time – it stopped everything. No one was interested any more. There was the Chemical Brothers instead.”

Witnessing artists like Stereolab, Tortoise and the Rachel’s reinvent the independent music scene inspired Barnes, who had been playing in a band, Ditch Croaker, with a short-lived major label deal. “It was a weird time, but it was a cool time. ‘There’s a fresh canvas here’.”

He was working for a film editor who took his turn opening Barnes up to some of that freshness – ambient, industrial, darker tones from Throbbing Gristle, Zoviet France and other provocateurs. A visit to New York’s Vision Festival pushed him forward again. “I didn’t know what to expect, except that there would be a lot of free-jazz. [Influential bassist] William Parker curated the first couple of years. And there he was, standing behind a table, dishing out chicken and black-eyed peas and greens; you’d get a plate of it for, like, two bucks. You ate, and all the artists were selling their records – it was the first time I’d experienced that, in that kind of setting. Everyone was so nice … I was, like, ‘My people!’”

Barnes brings that warm, welcoming vibe to Dreamland, where the experience feels more like a visit to someone’s home than a sponsored, corporate business-driven nightclub. Due to their location, the venue starts and ends events early so as to not keep their neighbors up. Having toured around the world, it’s a different environment than the one he had previously mastered.

In Manhattan, “For some reason, I felt like I should do something else,” says Barnes. He transferred some energy into running and other healthy pursuits, “like… what’s the movie about the guy who runs across the country – ‘Run something’…?” Forrest Gump? “Yes, that’s it!” he says.

On his journey, Barnes says: “It has led me to this place where I’ve been able to connect with a lot of different people, but also have the sense of having a passion for – I hate always using the term ‘experimental music’ – ‘fringe’ or ‘extended thinking,’ not stopping at a certain point, but the constant ‘what-if?’ sort of thing.”

Having booked musicians in offbeat venues in Manhattan, setting up Dreamland shows wasn’t the hard part. The financial realities have kept him on his toes. For this second year, Barnes is planning more film screenings and lectures and hopes to include modern dance performances. Their next music showcase, this Saturday, celebrates a new compilation by a local electronic label. Barnes isn’t planning to slow down this year. “I just said ‘yes’ to my biggest (financial) risk to date,” he says. “I’m a little nervous. Because you never really know.”

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

Folk You Very Much

An Owensboro native, Dave Howard has been a leader in Louisville’s folk-and-more music scene for over a decade now, having played mandolin in The 23 String Band and Relic, worked at Music Go Round and now, in his latest and boldest undertaking, founding the Louisville Folk School, which hold classes inside Shine studio in NuLu. He schooled me on the project.

Q: How did you get this idea? Are you financing it all yourself?

A: The St. Louis Folk School hosted The 23 String Band for a concert and a workshop a couple of years ago, and my bandmates and I were all impressed by the way their Folk School engaged their community with education and performances in a wide variety of traditional American music. We later played at a Folk School in Brooklyn that was the epicenter of old-time and folk music for the area. Louisville didn’t have a home for this music, and it’s something I wanted the community to have.

My motivation for starting a Folk School here was primarily as a service for the community. This project can only thrive if it is done for the community – it must be supported by the people it is intended to serve. We are making something out of nothing. To say that anyone financed this project would be an exaggeration. I have invested many hours traveling to music conferences and folk schools around the country over the last year-and-a-half to study how this project might get off the ground, and what could make it successful, but I hesitate to say that I financed this.

When I started getting into bluegrass music, it was a bit of a challenge at first because I didn’t grow up listening to that type of music. There are dozens of tunes that are standards – many people that play bluegrass music appear to instinctively know all of these songs, and the non-verbal language that goes along with playing the music. If you have not had years of exposure to the music, it’s a challenge to learn to play in that style. The Folk School helps interested musicians jump that hurdle by letting people immerse themselves in different disciplines related to bluegrass, old-time, jug band and other folk genres.

Q: What are some classes you’re offering?

A: Each of our eight-week sessions will offer beginner classes in banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and guitar, as well as classes for non-beginners. I’m excited about the beginner classes because they will be bringing new people into our music community. Our ensemble classes are also proving to be incredibly fun! We have a jug band ensemble and a bluegrass band ensemble this session – both of which are having a blast learning to play tunes just as a band would. The bluegrass ensemble class is also learning how to jam in informal groups, which is a huge part of the bluegrass music community worldwide.

Many of the best traditional music instructors in Louisville are teaching at Louisville Folk School. We are really lucky to have such a solid group of instructors with many years of performance and instruction experience, almost all of whom I have studied under, and performed with, myself.

Q: How many bands are you in today? How many need schooling?

A: Zing! Ha ha! Relic is a bluegrass band that I’ve played in for the last 10 years. We perform a free show every Wednesday night at the Monkey Wrench. I’ve recently been playing bass guitar with Scott Carney and Heavy Friends, which has been a fun departure from my other projects. I have a progressive bluegrass band called Esteemed Colleagues that plays weddings, dances and private events. There are a couple other contra/square dance bands that I play with when they call me, and that’s always fun for me.

I am currently taking fiddle lessons as part of a Kentucky Arts Council Masters Apprenticeship Grant with Scott Moore, who is also the fiddle teacher at Louisville Folk School. Taking lessons is fun for me. We are all on a path toward improving ourselves as musicians, performers, writers and teachers. I wouldn’t tell anyone they need schooling in that respect, but I hope we will never stop learning.

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

Films Français

Quai de O’rsay

The University of Louisville brings the French Film Festival back for its 2015 series, beginning Feb. 5 and running through March 6, at the Floyd Theater on campus. For this year’s pick, the panel of 10 experts (from the French, film and digital media studies, and humanities departments, and others from the local French alliance group) has selected five films.

All of the full-length movies offer something very different from one another, promising that those with the broadest thoughts on film will be exposed to a plethora of promising portraits. Those with more specific tastes will find something to their liking, even if not all hit the same sweet spots. There is comedy, drama, animation and documentary.

The movies will show Thursdays at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Fridays. The 5 p.m. screenings will also include discussions after each screening with local experts on French film and other cultural hot topics. Tracy Heightchew is one of the driving forces behind programming series like this, through U of L’s Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society.

“This year, we picked some films that are pretty recent, and a couple classic films about France right after World War II,” she says. This year’s films include “Bande de filles” (aka “Girlhood”), “Ernest & Celestine,” “Quai de O’rsay” (aka “The French Minister”), “Le Joli Mai” (aka “The Lovely Month of May”) and “Tu seras mon fils” (aka “You Will Be My Son”).

“Le Joli Mai’ was directed by Chris Marker and released in 1963. The paleofuturist Marker is best known for his 1962 short “Le Jetee,” which later inspired the American movie “12 Monkeys.”


Bande de filles

For Heightchew, one important concern when selecting films for the festival was to ensure that at least one director involved was a woman. “Girlhood” director Celine Sciamma has also directed “Tomboy” and “Water Lillies.” The French title of “Girlhood” translates as “Band of Girls,” but as Heightchew notes, “That sounds like a girl gang … Even though there is violence, it’s not a ‘girl gang’ like we think of a girl gang.”

“It’s about a population of people we don’t normally see,” Heightchew says, “which is the sons and daughters of immigrants that live right outside of Paris, who have limited opportunities. You get to follow (a 16-year-old), and she’s this fabulous girl! Although actors in the film were just people on the street they picked out, it’s a beautiful movie.”

She adds, “I also like that the women are just chattering all the time: ‘chatter chatter chatter’ – and then men show up and … silence. That’s totally true!”

The French film fest also includes a wine country Shakespearean family drama, “Tu seras mon fils” (aka “You Will Be My Son”), is about “an old, crotchety man and his grapevines. He’s near the end of his life, and doesn’t think his son can take them over, so he decides another kid can do it.” It’s King Lear in France, or in modern terms, Empire on the big screen.

There’s also a political comedy, “Quai de O’rsay” (aka “The French Minister”). Heightchew calls the animated “Ernest & Celestine” “a beautiful, wonderful tale,” noting that “You can see it in English, dubbed by famous American actors – or you can watch it in French!”

It’s hard to see foreign cinema in Louisville these days, Heightchew says sadly. With Wild & Woolly Video soon joining The Vogue Theater in our memories, places like UofL’s Floyd Theater are needed now more than ever.

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune