New clothing store in Schnitzelburg: Vintage Banana rocks your socks off

Brittney and Josh Dunning know how to dress well and stand out in a sea of followers. For their wedding, the bride and groom chose a chapel in Las Vegas — the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel — on Halloween. The chapel ran through 265 weddings on that blessed day, but only the Dunnings defied Vegas Halloween wedding conventions by dressing him in a formal tuxedo and her in a conventionally beautiful dress. They let their dog, a Brussels Griffon named Count Chocula, steal the show in his own custom-made dog tuxedo.

“I’ve always been a connoisseur of vintage clothing,” says Josh, 32. As a younger musician, he was into trendier looks. Touring the country, he picked up vintage pieces along the way. Eventually, he found himself buying clothing that didn’t fit him — or any man — because he appreciated it too much to leave it where he found it. He turned to eBay, where he saw that he could make more money repurposing fashion than in rock ‘n’ roll.

After getting more good responses at the Flea Off Market, with customers inquiring about a store they could visit, the Dunnings decided to leave their jobs — Brittney in retail management, Josh as a bar manager — and try to make a brick-and-mortar store work in real life.

Vintage Banana Clothing opened March 6 in a small, dusty strip mall near St. X, next to the Tim Tam Bar at Poplar Level and Clarks Lane in Schnitzelburg. The Dunnings know the location lacks the foot traffic available on more obvious streets, but for the price, they’re in a well-traveled location close to many local vintage aficionados (including themselves; they live within walking distance). Their closest competition, Fat Rabbit, is on the other side of the neighborhood, a mile and a half away.

“I shop online very little,” Brittney says. “It’s a pain in the ass to ship stuff back if it doesn’t fit … I prefer shopping in an actual brick-and-mortar location, and I think a lot of people are still that way — especially in Louisville, where it’s so geared toward shopping local.”



Josh says it’s hard for them to pinpoint a favorite era in fashion because they love it all, especially from the 1950s through ’90s — the rock’ n’ roll era, roughly. The pair met outside a rock club; she was accompanying her younger brother to a show, and Josh was handing out fliers for his own band. She requested his MySpace friendship. He replied, “Hi?” Soon, they were inseparable.

Today, Josh is all over Louisville, handing out fliers all over again. But this time, he doesn’t have to worry about his place in the future of rock ‘n’ roll. While he’s out getting people to come shop at their store, Brittney works in it, with dog Count as company half the time. (He started out as a full-time presence but hasn’t found true peace there just yet).

Like another new local clothing retailer, Bermuda Highway, Vintage Banana — whose name and logo comes from the Andy Warhol-designed cover of the first Velvet Underground album, a pairing that fits the Dunnings’ aesthetic well (it also refers to a giant stuffed banana Josh won for Brittney at a State Fair that they often bring to parties) — is fueled by rock culture. They stand out primarily through their well-cultivated and stocked selection of classic T-shirts, covering everything from Loverboy to Loretta Lynn (their country music selection comes close to matching their rock options; they are Kentuckians as well as businesspeople).

Even their first day was marked by a visit from country-rock royalty. Shooter Jennings, whose manager had become friendly with the Dunnings, dropped in to see the shop before his Jim Porter’s show that night. One of the new items Vintage Banana carries now is a Shooter tour shirt that spells out something dirty and funny.

“Music makes us happy, and there is something about wearing a shirt with a band that inspired all the bands we hear today,” Josh says. “Those shirts came from a time when rock ‘n’ roll was real and your parents didn’t want you listening to it. That’s the throwback vibe we want to put out.”



Vintage Banana is located at 1016 Clarks Lane. Hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and noon-6 p.m. Sundays.

c. 2015 Insider Louisville

How to Tell a True War Story

Graham Shelby performing at the Norton Center for the Arts in Danville. Photo Courtesy of David Flores

Storyteller Graham Shelby’s birth father was a Vietnam War vet whom Shelby didn’t meet until he was 18. But at 12, Shelby saw his father, a Green Beret, on the “CBS Evening News” program, talking about his experiences. Shelby will perform his one-man show, “The Man on TV,” at the Frazier Museum on Tuesday, March 24 from 6 – 8 p.m. to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of that war.

“The heart of the story is a father and son trying to connect, to both understand and be understood by one another,” he says. “Their relationship is about more than just the war. At the same time, war is both the barrier to and the vehicle for the connection they need to make.”



Q: This show marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Tell me how the war had an impact on you as an American child.

A: As a kid, I thought of Vietnam as the place where my parents’ America went to die. That’s how it seemed just from the way grown-ups talked about it – or didn’t talk about it. Vietnam was kind of like a black hole, a name people couldn’t hardly speak without getting this kind of hushed, funereal tone in their voices. I picked up on that, but didn’t really understand it. I always felt like Vietnam was one of those things that people, particularly those who lived through it, talked about as if everybody knew and understood what had happened there, when I think many Americans have a very limited understanding of what happened in those roughly 10 years. I include myself among them.

Q: Do you deal with the war differently now as an adult, and as time has passed?

A: I see Vietnam as one of many important chapters in our history and evolution as a nation, and, frankly, a species. The passage of time and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have also changed our perspective as a society about Vietnam. We now understand that PTSD is real and that it’s a serious issue for combat soldiers. The term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder emerged in the late 1970s and ‘80s, a decade or more after my father was earning a crippling case of it in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in 1969.

In addition, I have to acknowledge that my father and mother met when he was in Special Forces training. He wouldn’t have gone into the Army without a war to fight. That’s just how he was. What that means is that if America hadn’t entered the war in Vietnam, I wouldn’t exist. I’m not sure how to feel about that, but it’s undeniably true.

Q: Did your father talk to you about it? If so, how old were you?

A: He and I didn’t meet until I was 18, and even after that, it was a gradual process. I was always interested in his war stories, fascinated, really, though he held back some of the tougher stories for quite a while. One way I got him to tell me more was that I started bringing a tape recorder when I’d visit him … with the tape recorder, I could guide the conversation, and that’s how I found out a lot of some of his more intense and revealing stories.

I should say also that before he died, he told me it was okay for me to share these stories, even the ones that don’t make him look good. We agreed that we wanted these stories to be useful to other people.

Q: What are some of your favorite other depictions of the Vietnam War, in any media?

A: I think the most important and beautiful depiction of that war – and maybe any war – is Tim O’ Brien’s (book) The Things They Carried. It’s an amazing work of art that tells stories about the war, but it’s really about people and also, to some degree, it’s about stories themselves, which are a big part of war.

In fact, that’s one of the things my research has led me to conclude about war – that it’s just as much a battle between competing narratives as nations. If you want people to volunteer to risk their own lives and kill strangers, you have to present them with an incredibly compelling story; otherwise, why would they do it?

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

Flavor Town U.S.A.

Writer and Louisville native Aimee Zaring has spent several years teaching ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to newcomers across this city. Working with immigrants and refugees opened her eyes to their often inspiring and sometimes tragic stories of leaving home countries, only able to feel as though they are still there by cooking their native cuisine in their new Louisville kitchens.

Zaring stumbled onto these stories after meeting a Bosnian refugee through a Leadership Louisville program in 2008. Zeljana Javork told Zaring about her journey of escaping war in Bosnia, coming to the U.S. before she knew much English, and working her way up to become the English Language Trainer manager at Catholic Charities’ ESL school.

“She invited me to volunteer at the school,” Zaring continues, “which I did, and I soon discovered that working with immigrants was a perfect fit for me, bridging my love of the English language and other cultures with my interest in helping some of the disadvantaged people in my community. I really love working with this population. Whenever I’m with them, I feel like a part of me is returning home.”

Zaring shares their stories and recipes in her new book, “Flavors from Home.” One featured immigrant is Omar Pernet Hernández, who was Zaring’s student at the Refugee Elder Program (co-sponsored by Kentucky Refugee Ministries and Catholic Charities). The political activist spent over two decades in Cuban jails defending human rights. Zaring says, “He and so many of the people featured in ‘Flavors from Home’ have sacrificed and lost much – including their homelands, because they wouldn’t, and won’t, compromise their beliefs or tolerate injustice. All of the contributors in the book are heroes to me, and their stories will forever resonate in my mind and heart.”

I asked Zaring if she thought altering traditional recipes for American palates was ever necessary.

“On the one hand, my immediate response is a resounding ‘No!’ But I’m speaking from my own preference for tasting and experiencing food in its most authentic form, or as close to it as possible. That’s what I also tried to do in ‘Flavors from Home,’ keep the original ingredients and methods as close to what the cooks used when preparing the dish for me in their kitchens.

On the other hand, I just visited the Akramis at Shiraz Mediterranean Grill the other day, and they mentioned that they’ve made some minor adaptations to some of their native dishes to appeal to American tastes. I remember Huong ‘CoCo’ Tran (owner of Roots and Heart & Soy) also telling me that when she first opened The Eggroll Machine in 1981 (the first Chinese fast-food restaurant in Louisville) and tried to introduce her native Vietnamese cuisine on her original menu, she found that “Louisville wasn’t ready” yet. So, from a business standpoint, I don’t fault immigrant entrepreneurs whatsoever for doing what they feel is necessary to bring people in the door and appeal to a wide range of tastes.

That said, I think people’s tastes across America and right here in Louisville are evolving. Just look at our growing number of ethnic restaurants and grocery stores, and even American restaurants that are constantly introducing internationally-inspired dishes on their menus. And the more we are exposed to something, as research studies suggest, the more it grows on us and we acquire a taste for it, quite literally, in this case.”

An unexpected side effect of learning new foods was discovering that they would become her staples, too. “I actually crave them like I do my Mom’s German potato salad, cheese grits or chocolate chess pie. When I have a well-stocked kitchen and some time on my hands, I like to make the Persian dish tachin, Somalian sambusas, Vietnamese soft spring rolls and Nepalese momos.

But I also like the faster and equally flavorful recipes where you basically throw everything in a pot and let it simmer, like the Vietnamese green curry soup, Hungarian chicken paprikás, Bhutanese ema datshi and Burmese pork curry. I can honestly say there isn’t one recipe in the book that I don’t like.”



Part of the book’s proceeds will help support the efforts of local resettlement agencies. A reception will be held Monday, 6-8 p.m. at Simply Thai in St. Matthews.

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

Josh Johnson’s art needs to be read to be seen

"Unrest in the Park"

Artists need deadlines. Without them, they’ll keep making changes, always trying to live up to some hypothetical vision in their minds, never satisfied.

That’s why Josh Johnson is still working on pieces for his new show, “The Most Insufferable Miscreants and Nincompoops,” which will be unveiled Saturday night at the Barret Avenue art retailer Ultra Pop.

Unlike some, Johnson is happy for the deadline. A veteran of more than 20 shows since 2000, the 39-year-old New Albanian’s last show was almost a year ago. His latest, planned several months ago, is a departure, pairing his watercolors of recognizable but winningly absurd humans and animals with some of his limericks. The marriage of the visuals and the often bawdy form of poetry infuses the show with a rare example of cross-disciplinary freshness.

gherkin merkin
pickle beard
a brine-soaked wig
ain’t all that weird

Johnson’s response to the question “Are you all done?” is met with a nervous laugh. “No,” he admits. “But last night … I have it all worked out. I have a plan of what I need to do. I’m definitely in good shape.”

Johnson, whose day job is with The Courier-Journal, has a fondness for words, which he composes on a typewriter.

she stared at the sun for long hours
in hopes to gain magical powers
but after some days
fell into a haze
and expired while arranging some flowers

He studied studio art, focusing on graphic design, at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he also published a daily cartoon for four years. Johnson later spent nine years in Indianapolis before returning south. The past year has been one of his least productive, he says, another reason to be glad for the invitation to show at Ultra Pop.

It’s also the first time he’s found a way to incorporate his writing into an art show. “I write a lot — limericks, haikus, stuff like that. It’s the first time I’ve displayed them like they’re illustrated,” he says.

His writing method is more instinctual and subconscious than any way that could be taught, though he is also fond of flipping through well-worn dictionaries and a thesaurus he carries for inspiration.

“You’ve got to be careful, though,” he says. “There are some words that are just so arcane — really amazing — but if you used them, it would almost be, like, ‘What’s the point?’ But that’s the great thing about language. It keeps developing.”


"Gertrude"

Johnson also solicited limericks from three friends, for which he is also creating illustrations. While his own limericks are somewhat subversively adult in theme, he notes that younger eyes won’t be able to notice any obviously unseemly words. But, “I wouldn’t want to have to explain what it was to a kid.”

quite fond of reciting Hegel
whilst practicing her Kegels
the strained contractions
and mental abstractions
left Gertrude craving a bagel

“I’m a big fan of Edward Gorey,” he says, quickly clarifying: “Not because of the limericks. My work doesn’t look like his, but he’s the only artist people say, ‘Your work reminds me of him.’ To me, that’s an honor.”

Citing the recent lawsuit that declared musicians Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams guilty of intentionally copying a Marvin Gaye song, Johnson says he tries to avoid emulating his heroes so literally, though he has seen peers fall into that trap. “To me, it’s just heartbreaking,” he says. “But some don’t care.”

He calls his old home of Indianapolis “kind of an odd city,” saying its art scene is a bit different from Louisville’s. “Oddly, Indy’s a little more organized, but Louisville, there’s so much happening … It’s more disjointed. That’s not a negative criticism. I’ve felt a little out of sorts here, but that’s just my experience.” He adds that the many festivals during the year can often bump up against each other, potentially oversaturating the market, but at the same time showing how much interest there is in local art these days.

Johnson, who has shown in galleries as well as at comic book conventions, also works in letterpress and linoleum-cut printmaking, in addition to the watercolors he processes digitally. His future plans, once he can get through this weekend, also include a six-book series, following up on his 2006 title “The Spindletons.”

“I’ve got three lifetimes of projects in the works,” he says. “Left to my own devices, I tend to flounder and get overwhelmed by all the possibilities.”

“The Most Insufferable Miscreants and Nincompoops” runs at Ultra Pop, 960 Barret Ave., from March 14-April 3. The opening reception is Saturday, March 15, from 5-9 p.m. For more information, check out the Facebook page.

c. 2015 Insider Louisville

A Bastion of Music

Jonathan Bastian has a voice familiar to fans of WFPL, Louisville’s NPR News affiliate. As the local host of “Morning Edition,” he eased us into the day; now, in an unexpected departure, he’s leading us into the night with a new album of electronic music … called Morning Edition.

His label, sonaBLAST! Records, calls it “10 tracks that balance both intense bass and blissful organic sounds.” Released under the artist name Bastion, Bastian says, “In Louisville, I realized that my identity was defined as a local NPR and PBS host. So when I started creating electronic music, I wanted to keep it private, as something I could do freely, openly, without worrying what people might think … Obviously ‘Bastion’ is a pretty transparent disguise, but it provided just the separation I needed.”

Q: How did you get from NPR to EDM?

Jonathan Bastian: Before I was a journalist, I was a musician. My best friend from high school started a successful Americana band called The Low Anthem, which I played in throughout high school and college. I also minored in music at college, studying a heavy dose of music theory and classical composition. But paths diverge and interests change. In my 20s, I wanted to write and work in public radio. Still, music lingered. It was this kind of unavoidable voice in the background, whispering, “I’m still here! You can’t get rid of me!” What I never expected, though, was that the music I would eventually make would be electronic.

It happened like this: for two years, I woke up at 4 a.m. to host “Morning Edition” on WFPL. It’s a demanding, fast-paced four-hour program, and coffee will only get you so far. At some point, I began to listen to electronic music on my drive to work to get the adrenalin flowing. It filled me with energy. So I went deeper into the many EDM genres, only to realize that the music was shockingly interesting, complex and diverse. Moreover, the possibilities of electronic music are endless. I knew I had to try and make this stuff. So last June I invested in a music software program called Ableton Live and stumbled down a long strange rabbit hole I’ve yet to emerge from.

Q: How did you put this album together? Who are some of the voices on it?

JB: I’m especially proud that there are no samples on this album. Everything you hear is original. I’m not averse to sampling, but it can be a crutch in electronic music. Producing your own raw material is an important battle. I worked with one female vocalist on two tracks. She asked to remain anonymous on the album, so that’s all I can say. Aside from those tracks, they’re all instrumental. The album was influenced by two of my favorite electronic producers: Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner. I listen to these guys almost everyday and remain overwhelmed by the sheer creativity of their songs.

Q: Is this a new career path for you? Are you still in Louisville, or will you be hitting the road and hitting up festivals?

JB: While I don’t see myself jet-setting around like Avicii (although it does sound pretty sweet), I like the idea of it being an important, viable part of my life. I like the idea of playing regularly at certain venues where people care about the music ... maybe taking an occasional tour when the time is right. The music brings an important balance to my life.

I’ve taken a hiatus from public radio and TV, but I’m about to return to the airwaves in Louisville. What I love about public radio and television is the intellectual intensity of the work; it’s very cerebral. But there comes a point where I need to shut off that part of my brain and engage in something different. I’m finding electronic music provides that outlet for me. The beauty of this music is that you can make it alone, on your own time, with just a synthesizer and a laptop. The simplicity of the process, coupled with the limitless nature of electronic music, is very empowering.

C. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

The Women of Bourbon

Eve Theatre Company co-founder Susan McNeese Lynch has written a new production, “Bourbon Babes of the Bluegrass.” The Brown-Forman sponsored show about women in bourbon history runs March 5-8 at the Bard’s Town theatre. Optional tastings are offered, Thursday through Saturday, before each performance.

How is this one-hour production structured?
“Bourbon Babes of the Bluegrass” is a compilation of seven monologues that outline the lives of seven different women who figured prominently in the bourbon and whiskey business. The monologues are woven together with a series of short scenes and songs that we call “mixers.” The “mixers” focus more on the contemporary scene and feature recipes, cold remedies, funny stories and some unusual facts and figures. The show is designed to gently inform while entertaining.

How did you get the idea for this show?
As a co-founder of Eve Theatre Company, I am always on the lookout for a good story to tell. But believe it or not, the idea for “Bourbon Babes” came to me while I was at the Kentucky Derby last year, I still have the notes and ideas that I scribbled in my program. I was looking at the ads for bourbon and other distilled spirits, and many of them were clearly talking to women. I wondered why we didn’t have any bourbon heroines. I started asking around after that, and I was pointed toward several books including “Illegal Odyssey: 200 Years of Kentucky Moonshine,” by Betty Boles Ellison; “Kentucky Women: Two Centuries of Indomitable Spirit and Wisdom,” by Eugenia Potter and “Whiskey Women,” by Fred Minnick. All of these books helped, particularly in identifying who might be good subjects for a play.

Which women have been especially inspirational to you?
Each of these Kentucky women have important stories to tell, but my favorites tend toward the ones that operated a little out of the mainstream, like Maggie Bailey, who was a highly successful bootlegger in Eastern Kentucky; Carrie Nation, who carried out many a “Hatchetation” as she swung her temperance message through the Midwest; and Mary Murphy Dowling, who fought against Prohibition by moving her entire operation to Mexico. These were all strong and smart women who made a difference. The other women portrayed in the show are Mary Myers Beam, Elmer Lucille Allen, Catherine Spears Frye Carpenter and Marge Samuels.

Is the industry more gender-balanced today?
I am no expert, but I would have to say that the industry is definitely more gender-balanced today. For one thing, women consume more bourbon, and that makes them more interested in working in the industry. We have a growing number of female Master Distillers and Master Tasters, and this is all a good thing!

Tell me about how you set up the tastings, and how you recruited the masters.
We are so pleased to be able to offer pre-show bourbon tastings for each of our evening shows and even more pleased that we can offer the experienced tasting skills of Carla Carlton, the original Bourbon Babe blogger (who generously let us use the term “Bourbon Babes”) on Thursday; Susan Reigler, award-winning bourbon and travel writer, on Friday; and Marianne Butler, former Master Taster at Brown-Forman, who just recently took a leadership position with the Old Taylor distillery, on Saturday. Each of these experts selected their choices of three bourbons to taste, and the service will be provided by our host, The Bard’s Town.

September is Bourbon Heritage Month. Will you revive this production then?
We would love to! We are already scheduled to perform the show at the Bourbon Women Association’s Taste Affair at the Governor’s Mansion in June, and we have been approached about doing the show at various sites around the state. The show was designed to be pretty flexible so that we can take advantage of these kinds of opportunities.

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune