Lindsay Ronay has two small children and works part time for Eco-Cell, a company she and her husband started that recycles used cell phones. She has never been to the Darfur region of Sudan, which is ravaged by genocide. Her travels became irrelevant, however, after Ronay heard a BBC radio broadcast about a mother in Darfur who was forced to shoot one of her own children. “For three days, I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
Ronay wanted to do something. She knew musicians, public relations and marketing pros, and her background in event planning led to brainstorming. That brainstorming led to Darfur at Dusk. The benefit concert will raise money that in turn will be sent to the American Refugee Committee (www.arcrelief.org), a charity that caught Ronay’s attention because it focuses on gender-based violence.
“Their last report shows that 90 cents out of every dollar goes to direct aid,” Ronay said, so she was reassured the donations would make it to Darfur.
Collection boxes will be placed on the trolleys at the trolley hops so people who don’t go to the event can help.
Drag City recording artists and hometown act King Kong will perform, as will the mighty Love Jones, three of whom are traveling from Los Angeles to be here. Minnow, which features members of Second Story Man, Black Cross and the early Louisville punk band Your Food, performs, as does honky-tonker Johnny Berry.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center (1860 Mellwood Ave.). Tickets are $25 for general admission and $15 for students and can be bought at the door or at www.darfuratdusk.org. Maybe afterward, Ronay can get some sleep.
London, Ky., native Darrell Scott learned at an early age what it meant to be a pro. In his mid-teens and early 20s, he and his brothers traveled from town to town, club to club, playing for anyone who would listen. Then, Scott quit and went to college.
“For a very long time, I just felt like it was preordained (to play music),” Scott told LEO, “and that bothered me for a while.”
At age 23, Scott enrolled in school, studied abroad in Europe and earned an English degree until he was ready to pick up a guitar. “The irony is that I did come back, but I came back under my rules. Those 4-1/2 years were basically what that turned around.”
Scott was raised on a healthy regimen of country, blues, jazz-fusion and rock, but said that “at the end of the day, the thing that really gets me is when I combine all of that.”
He has gravitated toward a singer-songwriter approach but hasn’t given up guitar solos by a long shot. “It needs to have a good shape. I remember back in college talking about writing, and a story having a beginning, middle and end. I don’t think exactly of guitar solos that way; but it has a shape to it.”
Scott performs Friday at Bluegrass Brewing Co. in Theater Square (660 S. Fourth St., 568-2224). Tickets are $15.
Friday, Sept. 28
The New York City foursome Sugarhill Gang haven’t missed the beat since 1979. Their biggest hit, “Rapper’s Delight,” marked the beginning of a new era in urban music and helped usher in the genre of hip hop, a style later popularized by the likes of Run DMC.
Since then, Sugarhill Gang has continued, albeit sporadically, to record music: 1982’s follow-up 8th Wonder, and a children’s album, Jump on It. The group appeared in NBC’s hit comedy “Scrubs” as Zach Braff’s alarm clock.
They play two shows at Gerstle’s (3801 Frankfort Ave., 899-3609), at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 (advance), $25 (door). If you’ve tired of Li’l Jon and wanna revisit hip-hop’s roots, this is it.
Friday, Sept. 28
If you’re glued to your TV playing Guitar Hero, one of the riffs you hear might be that of The Last Vegas, a whiskey-soaked rock act that joins The Glasspack Friday night at Longshot Tavern (2232 Frankfort Ave., 899-7898). The pair is a match made of chemicals and raunchy, bluesy rock that’s rough on every edge.
But as John Wator describes it, the band is more than video ephemera, touring relentlessly over the last year in its quest to forge connections with fans in towns big and small. They’ll take the recognition, though.
“We’ve been getting a ton of feedback,” Wator said. “It’s been great; most of the people who get into it are kids, and that’s always kind of a tougher market to break into. It’s just kids who get turned onto rock ’n’ roll and turned onto The Last Vegas.”
The group is out promoting a new EP, High Class Trash, while The Glasspack is touting its latest release on Small Stone Records, Dirty Women. “We’ve known those dudes for quite a while, so there’ll be plenty of hard rock to go round,” Wator said.
Probably some alcohol, too.
Saturday Sept. 29
Living in a spectrum similar to Sleater-Kinney and Velocity Girl, Venus Trap unveil their debut 10-song album, The Key, Saturday at Lisa’s Oak St. Lounge (1004 E. Oak St., 637-9315). Pals Vampire Squid and Logos are in on it, too.
Trap bassist Salena Filichia said the group, which has been around in various incarnations since 2001, spent several weekends in June cutting The Key before immediately heading out to the Midwest for a week and a half.
“It was our first tour, and there was definitely a lot of learning experiences,” said Filichia, who works in Humana’s IT department by day. She said the band is looking forward to more shows and more touring in the coming months. Cover for Saturday’s show is $5.
Wednesday, Sept. 26
Sean Hoots and the rest of the Philly folksters in Hoots & Hellmouth have been making regular pilgrimages to Louisville. This time, it’s free, at WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday concert (5 p.m., 129 River Road, weather permitting). The Tim Krekel Orchestra, which headlines, and Kim Richey Band are also on the bill.
“This is the one that seems to be picking up steam rather quickly,” said Hoots, a longtime musician whose group has appeared on its hometown radio show, “World Café” with David Dye, a feat they do not take lightly.
“Being from Philadelphia, we were very well acquainted with the show. Even though it is a local institution, it’s worldwide. You look at it as a real milestone,” he said. “And David Dye is a sweetheart and fellow bourbon lover.”
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