Mo Money, Less Problems

Part boutique, part gallery, Revelry has succeeded as both. But it wasn’t always easy – their original location in the Highlands on Barret Avenue suffered from the closure of neighbor Lynn’s Paradise Café, which led to their current location on East Market Street in NuLu.

Fueled by a mission to make local art accessible and further supported by sales of handmade jewelry, home decor, screenprints, photography, gifts and more, Revelry boss Mo McKnight Howe is celebrating her fifth year in business this Saturday evening from 7 to 10 p.m. with a party and new art featuring Mike Maydak’s “Heritage” exhibition. Maydak was an artist who took a chance on showing at the fledgling business from its earliest days, and this weekend’s activities will highlight how both the art and the business have evolved at Revelry. I caught up with Howe to ask why, where, which and when.

Q: How has a unique, locally focused business survived in these crazy times?
A: Hard work, a local-loving community and a new location. It’s not always easy, but no small business is. Louisville has a wealth of incredible artistic talent and a strong contingent of people who support local arts and business.

Q: Have you learned some painful lessons along the way? Was the post-Lynn’s period on Baxter the worst of times for the shop?
A: Every small business owner goes through thin, challenging times. Every day is a lesson. Moving to NuLu drastically changed the course for Revelry. It’s been an incredible journey, and the future for Rev is bright.

Q: Who are some of your personal favorite artists who have shown and/or sold there?
A: Right now, Ewa Perz is killing the oil game. She just dropped off 10 of her newest oil paintings and I covet them all. Julio Cesar, a master oil painter, is constantly going to impress me with what he is creating. And, of course, Lyndi Lou, who helps me curate quite a few shows at Revelry, is always going to be a favorite. Honestly, we have over 115 hand-selected artists showing in here at one time. We chose them because we love their work and admire their talent. They are all my favorite!

Q: Tell us about Mike Maydak and his relationship with the business.
A: Mike Maydak was the first artist we featured at Revelry’s grand opening five years ago. He’s most known for his painting of an exaggerated 400 W. Main building (the Aegon building), which sold the night of the grand opening. I asked him to come back for the five-year anniversary to go full circle with this thing. I’m looking forward to showing his newest paintings and prints.

Q: What kind of special treats will you be sharing with the people to celebrate this big birthday?
A: Five days of discounts leading up to the anniversary. We never do discounts because it’s hard with handmade things, but we want to say thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years! We will also have cupcakes, drinks and a special art project for those who want to partake. Should be a night of revelry! Get it?

Q: How do you feel about the evolution of the NuLu area? Has it peaked or is there still more room for growth?
A: NuLu’s growth is far from over. Louisville’s urban core is key to the city’s growth, and NuLu is the natural gateway to a downtown that’s rapidly evolving. There’s five new businesses opening here in the next month! It’s an exciting time to be a part of this community. My husband Scotty and I recently bought a home in Butchertown and have fully embraced NuLu, both professionally and personally. I’m glad we made the move.

Q: Where do you buy art outside of Revelry?
A: I buy art in all sorts of places. I bought a small Shane Hull two weeks ago at Chuck Swanson’s because I like supporting other local galleries. I’ll pick up pieces at Mudpies Studio, the Flea, Louisville Visual Art to support them, and I buy art when I travel to remember the places I’ve been. Scotty and I are still working on our collection; we’ve got a long way to go!

Photo by Sarah Katherine Davis for LVA.

c. 2015 The Voice-Tribune

Houndmouth: A local band’s crazy week of both great and terrible adventures

Photo by Julia Rickles.

This week began badly for Houndmouth. The Louisville quartet woke up after a gig in Springfield, Mo., where they had opened for the Drive-By Truckers. A thief had smashed into their van and stole its GPS, an iPad, a Blu-ray player and personal items, including clothing.

“They took my favorite yoga pants!” keyboardist/vocalist Katie Toupin laughs with a true yogi’s lightness. For a touring band, such thefts are terrible and extremely inconvenient, she notes. It’s happened to several of their friends’ bands. “Not to point fingers, but it seems like every single one has been in Missouri,” she notes. While the band’s gear survived, presumably too heavy to take, the thief went through dirty clothes and selected favorites, leaving some behind.


Katie Toupin checks out the damage.

At least the thief had good taste in clothes. Toupin and business partner Addie Mills are behind a new store, Bermuda Highway, which will open at 811 E. Market St. on Nov. 8, coinciding with the annual NuLu Holiday Open House shopping event. Their music-themed shop will focus mostly on men and women’s clothing, new and vintage.

“I don’t like stores where you have to go in and look through 8,000 vintage things to buy one thing that’s cool. So the vintage is just unique pieces that are all cool,” Toupin explains.

Vintage band T-shirts will be a specialty of Bermuda Highway, which took its name from an early My Morning Jacket song. “It’s my favorite My Morning Jacket song. It’s obviously a tribute to my friend Jim James,” says Toupin. “He’s been a big brother to our band from the very beginning. So I really loved the whole idea of it … And the line in that song, Don’t let your silly dreams / Fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall, is incredibly fitting for doing something kind of risky,” she laughs.

So she wasn’t inspired by the previous line, Your ass, it draws me in like a Bermuda highway?

“Your ass — yeah, it’s a clothing store, so it works either way!”


Bermuda Highway takes its name from an MMJ song.

James wasn’t the only two-decade music veteran who helped inspire them. Houndmouth met Jack White and his Third Man Records crew in July at the Newport Folk Festival. “I fell in love with them as people,” Toupin says, “and I really loved the idea of just carrying their products, mainly. Also, not to compete with other local record stores. I’m doing a niche sort of thing, so everybody’s winning here.”

While the Nashville-based Third Man’s roving record truck has popped up in front of NuLu neighbor Please & Thank You, what the two shops do will be very different, as Bermuda Highway will only carry all of Third Man’s records, as well as their offbeat knickknacks.

Keeping with White’s penchant for surprises and his celebration of objects, the owners will present an artist-curated section in the store. In December, Dr. Dog guitarist/vocalist Scott McMicken is “actually making these special records, and hand-making clothing and all kinds of things, art, for his section,” says Toupin.

But each month will be something different. “It’s this open format for them to have a presence — a direct, exclusive relationship with the fans out of the store.” Some bands will also play in-store sets.

Houndmouth’s week went on to include a day spent doing tasks like fixing their van’s windows, followed by their debut at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium — “a huge thrill,” says Toupin. On Halloween, they joined the Drive-By Truckers for a show in that band’s hometown, Athens, Ga. After tonight’s Charlotte performance, they’re done for 2014.

Bermuda Highway began taking shape this summer after Toupin decided to stay in Louisville instead of moving to Nashville. It seemed like a way for her to give back to the community that has given her so much, she says.

Toupin and Mills met at General Eccentric, where Mills worked with Toupin to pick out clothes for Houndmouth tours. While Mills will run Bermuda Highway during Toupin’s tour time, Houndmouth’s three-month break means fans should be able to see plenty of the musician at the store for now. And possibly her bandmates.

“The boys in the band just talk about how they want to steal clothes from me!”

C. 2014 Insider Louisville