<MUSIC>
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23
The Whigs @ Waterfront Wednesday
You might think that it’s too early for Waterfront Wednesdays to start up. But you’d be wrong, because there’s just too much Derby stuff going on at the end of the month, so the free concerts start up one week ahead of the usual calendar.
You might also think that you should wait until headliners The Whigs take the stage. And though the Georgia trio’s thoroughly catchy and solid (NPR’s website is still ’casting their South by Southwest set opening for My Morning Jacket), you should also catch opener Griffin House. This folk-pop singer-songwriter hews close enough to Nashville that CMT takes notice, but that’s just because he’s real heart-on-sleeve with his emotions. Remember when that was country music’s claim to cred? Well, House puts sentiment and hook together with a substantial kick.
On his upcoming Flying Upside Down, producer Jeff Trott and a couple of Petty’s Heartbreakers help him nail very personal songs about where politics meets family (“I Remember”) and where gently rocking makeout anthems meet refreshing honesty (“The Guy that Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind”). By the way — making out in April down by the river is plenty of reason to bring along a blanket. –T.E. Lyons
Harbor Lawn at Waterfront Park
www.louisvillewaterfront.com
Free, 5 p.m.
<BENEFIT>
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23
ToeJam Spring Bash
Two years ago, Dave Young was diagnosed with diabetes, suffered vascular failure in his toe and had to have it removed. He didn’t have health insurance, and would soon discover he wasn’t the only working musician suffering from similar diseases.
Young began talking with physician friends of his, and soon formed the Musicians Support Fund. The fund, which is trying to become a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, will offer financial aid to players who don’t have health insurance and can’t afford to get treatment.
To raise money for the fund, which has roughly $1,500, Young and the Merry Pranksters are launching another ToeJam Bash at Longshot’s. Once enough cash is raised, the fund will be legally allowed to give musicians money.
“I’ve never gone down the road of philanthropy before,” he said, but “I am absolutely not the only person, especially musician, that this stuff happens to.
“The musician’s lifestyle is rife with the kind of things that lead to heart disease and high blood pressure,” he said. “The thing is, a lot of people are probably diabetic and they just ignore it.”
Alanna Fugate kicks off Wednesday’s benefit at 8 p.m. The Tim Krekel Orchestra, Stonewheel and the Merry Pranksters Festival Band also perform. —Mat Herron
Longshot Tavern
2232 Frankfort Ave.
899-7898
$5; 8 p.m.
<ART>
Friday, April 25
Promiscuous Materials Project
Actors Theatre has held The Late Seating for a couple of years now. The next event is Jonathan Lethem’s Promiscuous Material Project, which follows the 8 p.m. performance of “Doubt.”
Lethem’s songs and stories are available for people to change to fit their own creativity. As he explains on his website, www.jonathanlethem.com, “I like art that comes from other art, and I like seeing my stories adapted into other forms. My writing has always been strongly sourced in other voices, and I’m a fan of adaptations, appropriations, collage and sampling.”
Local visual artists, musicians and performance artists have done just that. Sculptor Brad White, photographer Lindsey Dobson, the band One Small Step and Necessary Theatre Co. are a few of the creative types revamping Lethem’s words.
Also at Actors Theatre is an exhibition featuring artists from the Lowertown Fine Arts District in Paducah, Ky., through May 11. —Jo Anne Triplett
Actors Theatre
316 W. Main St.
584-1205
www.actorstheatre.org/thelateseating
$10 ($5 with Actors ticket stub); 10:30 p.m.
<MUSIC>
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
South By South End, part 2
The inaugural South By South End Music & Arts Festival was supposed to happen on March 8, but mother nature put a stop to it when she dumped 14 inches of snow on Louisville Metro, and more specifically, in Bulldog Café’s parking lot.
Not to be denied, SXSE organizers Mike Foley of Screwface and former Glasspack tour manager Rico Rakutt retooled and rescheduled the fest for this weekend at Shooters.
Both want the spotlight shone on what South End bands, which are known for and take pride in their blue-collar, no-nonsense sensibility. “Usually if you wanna do something, you have to leave the South End,” said Foley, whose band joins Porno Fishtank, Thomas Medicine and a host of others for Saturday’s tilt. —Mat Herron
Shooters Bar & Grill
7092 Distribution Drive
933-7373
$7 (18-20), $5 (21+); 6 p.m.
<MUSIC>
Saturday, April 26
Global Rhythms World Music Ensemble
The Louisville Youth Choir hosts the Global Rhythms World Music Ensemble Saturday at the Brown Theater, with more than 200 musicians and dancers performing in a concert that celebrates ethnic music from around the world.
Global Rhythms, founded and based at Miami University in Ohio, performs non-Western music using Western instruments. Saturday’s concert features guest appearances by cellist Pansy Chang, trombonist Morales Matos and percussionists John Marque and P.R. Chandy, combining in specially orchestrated and choreographed music and dance that is not often heard away from its native locales. The Louisville Youth Choir, in residence at the Ursuline School for the Performing Arts, is made up of nearly 100 student-age singers from the Louisville area. —Bill Doolittle
Brown Theater
584-7777
www.kentuckycenter.org
$10-$20; 7 p.m.
<COMEDY>
Saturday, April 26
Comedian ANT
Standing at 5’4” or 5’8”, depending on when you ask him, ANT shares stories of tragedy and triumph with his fans, intolerant of intolerance, and he does it with one of the quickest wits on stage. One of cable’s fastest rising comedians (a regular on “The Tonight Show,” contestant and judge on “Last Comic Standing,” host of “Celebrity Fit Club,” and his own LOGO series “U.S. of ANT”), he makes a one-night appearance in Louisville at Fuzion Night Club. You can buy tickets at the door, but ANT sold out the Kentucky Center on his last visit — so grab tickets in advance (he goes on at 10 p.m.). His blog gets more than a million hits a month (nbc.com/ant), and he’s talking his Louisville visit up. The night also includes: The Blue Umbrellas, DJ James Blair and the Miss FuZion 2008 drag pageant. All proceeds from an unforgettable night of comedy and dancing go to the Louisville AIDS walk. —Jason Sitzes
Fuzion Night Club
1335 Story Ave.
588-8861
www.fuzionnightclub.com
$20 (adv.), $25 (door); 5 p.m.-4 a.m.
<FEST>
April 26-27
37th Annual Cherokee Triangle Art Fair
More than 350 artists competed for 220 spots at this year’s 37th Annual Cherokee Triangle Art Fair, which always sets up shop in the historic Highlands neighborhood the weekend before Derby. Along with booths and booths of original art for sale, browsers can entertain themselves with live music, beer and food, and there’ll be children’s activities alongside as well. It’s free. It’s pretty. It’s art. Do you need another reason? —Sara Havens
Cherokee Triangle
www.cherokeetriangle.org
Free; 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
<DOGS>
Monday, April 28
Derby Fest-a-Ville HappyTail Hour
The second annual Metro Services Animal Services HappyTail Hour is Monday night, and it has been welcomed as an official part of the Kentucky Derby Festival. The pet-friendly cocktail event invites dog owners to bring their pets to the Great Lawn on Monday as part of Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront. The theme for the event is Margarita-Ville Monday, and live music will be provided by Parrots of the Caribbean, a Jimmy Buffet tribute group. Booths and games will be part of the event, and the Flying Houndz of Louisville will perform Frisbee demonstrations. For anyone looking to adopt a dog, Metro Animal Services will have adoptable animals at the event as well. One word of warning: Watch where you walk. —Kevin Gibson
Waterfront Park/Great Lawn
361-1318
www.louisvilleky.gov/animalservices
Free; 5-9 p.m.
<ART>
Through May 16
Frank Martinez
The Urban Experimental Art Project, aka the “Legal Graffiti Wall,” on Market Street is gone but not forgotten. You can still see glimmers of it in the art of Frank Martinez, now on display in the Bridge Gallery at Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center.
Martinez specializes in large portraits, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. image he created on the wall, done with aerosol paints, stencils and an X-acto knife. These bold, Pop Art-style images should lay to rest any discussion about whether graffiti is art.
The artist’s reception is April 25 during the F.A.T. Friday Trolley Hop from 6-9 p.m. Also at Mellwood in the Pigment Gallery is “In America’s Wake” by printmaker Erica Meuser through May 5. —Jo Anne Triplett
Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center
1860 Mellwood Ave.
895-3650
www.mellwoodartcenter.com