Cover Story
A guide to Louisville’s neighborhoods, two hours at a time
The Derby isn’t until Saturday, but your Airbnb is in… Germantown, or St. Matthews, or… and you are not sure what to do with your time. Don’t worry, gentle visitor. Take our LEO hand, and let us lead you on nine, two-hour, neighborhood-specific adventures of wonder, gluttony, imbibing, shopping and just plain fun in a…
RYE Announces 2017 Back Porch Sessions
RYE’s Back Porch Sessions, a free, monthly concert series that kicks off on May 18 and ends on Oct. 19, is using its sixth year to focus on local arts organizations, with each installment acting as a fundraiser. This year’s local musicians include Brooks Ritter & The Lower Lights (May 18), Joann & The Dakota…
Rooftop access, infield excess and the most unpredictable day in sports: Three LEO writers recap the 143rd Kentucky Derby
Michael Powell: The middle of Race 10, a little over two hours before the day’s marquee event, is approximately the time I realized I might’ve made an error in judgement — not an uncommon feeling with regard to the Derby. A heaping plate of smoked ribs sat on my lap. My cohort noshed on a…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (5/8)
MONDAY Yoga + Beer Goodwood Brewing $5 donation | 5:30-7:30 p.m. Still not ready to give up on your raucous weekend? Combine your detoxing/intoxicating into one event with Yoga + Beer at Goodwood Brewing. Just bring a yoga mat and your yogi friends for an all-levels session with instructor Abbey Brooks. Bring a $5 donation…
Cinco de MAMMOTH, a five-year celebration and fundraiser
The MAMMOTH is marking its fifth anniversary by holding a fundraiser, which runs through tonight, Friday, to keep this collaborative art, music and creative space open and expanding. The fundraiser could not be held inside the 152-year-old warehouse, because, city officials say structural work is needed. Thus, the fundraiser.
Louisville DJ breaks Guinness World Record for longest set
Chauncey Graves, otherwise known as DJ Colossus — a producer, beat maker and open-format DJ — broke the Guinness World Record for longest DJ set, which lasted more than 10 days. Graves started on April 20 at noon and continued until 5 p.m. on April 30, beating previous record holder DJ Obi, of Nigeria, by…
LEO Podcast #50: Shakespeare Off the Page
Eli Keel talks with Kentucky Shakespeare actor/dramaturg Gregory Maupin, who is hosting “a combination geek session/book club/behind-the-scenes look” about the Kentucky Shakespeare series called “Shakespeare Off the Page: Discovering Richard II.”
The House healthcare bill and the Republican lies that may kill you
The swift passage in the House of the latest effort to unravel Obamacare is based on a series of lies. The first: A free market will deliver the best healthcare to the nation. The closest America has ever been to a “free-market healthcare system” that the GOP wants was in the years leading up to…
5 Things To Do This Weekend in Louisville (5/5)
FRIDAY Old Louisville Oaks on Oak Oak and Second streets $10-$25 | 4-10 p.m. The weather may be shitty, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on celebrating Oaks. Head over to the courtyard at Oak and Second streets in Old Louisville for a neighborhood shindig. Three local bands will be playing (Curio Key Club,…
LEO Podcast #49: Recently Released, w/ new music from Maximón, Howell Dawdy and Local Haunt
Scott, Syd and Nik talk about their favorite songs that were recently released in Louisville, featuring music from Maximón, Howell Dawdy and Local Haunt.
Nightlife… and a lot of day life, too. Our picks for fun and time-wasting in the Derby City
Welcome Derby, visitors! Spend money in our bars, restaurants and shops. Lots of it… Don’t cause trouble for us residents. Leave Louisville as soon as possible after Derby, but clean up after yourselves before you do. While you are here, however — have fun… the way we locals do. Below is a non-exhaustive list of…
Kentucky Derby: bet the long shots for Derby day financial bliss
Picking the winner of the Kentucky Derby is viewed by some gamblers as the Holy Grail. It is invariably the one race in any year where a winning selection is continually mentioned by a proud handicapper and worn as a badge of honor, all because of the unpredictable nature of the race. Yet for the…
Syrian immigrant, ‘Thinking that ISIS is us is wrong’
This is the third of seven stories LEO will publish about immigrants in Louisville who came from countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — that President Trump initially hit with bans. Documentary photographer Amira Karaoud said about her series of photographs and interviews that candidates for immigration to the U.S. undergo…
Thorns and Roses: The Worst, Best and Most Absurd
Go Ricky, go! | Rose A Metro Council panel unanimously voted to send Ricky L. Jones’ nomination to a police oversight panel to the full council, after he gave an impassioned retort to claims he is biased against police. Jones told the committee he did not “wish to live in a society without police or…
A proud history: Kentucky’s LGBTQ pioneers
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is synonymous with any number of features from its loud and proud culture. Among them, horse racing, bourbon, basketball and Bluegrass come to mind – “masculine,” traditional pursuits peppered with a few less-flattering stereotypes. It may be surprising to some, then, that Kentucky is home to the first and only statewide…
Wax Fang goes in a new direction on ‘Victory Laps’
Before Wax Fang could finish recording Victory Laps, their fourth full-length album, Scott Carney had to, more or less, relearn to sing. A few days prior to tracking vocals, Carney’s air conditioning went out, and a friend had an extra window unit, but it had some black mold on it. “Not knowing any better, I…
Joan Shelley talks about her new self-titled album
This past December, Joan Shelley and longtime collaborations Nathan Salsburg and James Elkington traveled to Chicago to record with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy in his loft studio, where Mavis Staples and Richard Thompson have made albums in recent years. The result is Shelley’s latest release, a self-titled collection of melancholic beauty, which will be available Friday,…
Pissed On: The Hanged Man
It should come as no surprise that a band named Pissed On comes out of the gate swinging, hitting hard. To continue this metaphor, the band connects on every level, with a blast of black metal fury. This is heavy, with an emphasis on enormous, de-tuned guitar riffs — sludgy, but never slow. It’s easy…
I Have A Knife: Of Criminals and Kings
Led by the always-entertaining Sean Garrison, I Have A Knife — which disbanded after this record — was a force to be reckoned with, combining punk prowess and the attitude match. Its sophomore album, Of Criminals and Kings, is gleefully self-aware, as much a vehicle for Garrison to push buttons and pose the big questions,…
Touch AC + Dr. Dundiff: Live from Anatta
Part two of the ongoing series of EPs from Touch AC and Dr. Dundiff, Live from Anatta, has an energy not unlike the Jay-Z unplugged set. It’s hard to determine what is and isn’t composed by live instrumentation, but that’s the magic trick here — the illusion that it even matters. Touch AC is on…
A Lion Named Roar: Is It What It Seems: Indigo
The first in a series of four EPs, Is It What It Seems: Indigo dives into haunting, electronic-centric pop that walks the line between early ’00s, calculated and confessional indie rock and a carefree bubblegum sensibility. In four songs, they step across that line on different songs, and sometimes within one. “Hypnotized” comes out of…
Young Playwrights with sharply written scripts
For over a decade, Actors Theatre of Louisville has produced the New Voices Young Playwrights Festival. Each fall, submissions are invited from students in grades six through 12 who live in Kentucky or Indiana’s 812 area code. The plays go through a blind review process: No information about the identity, age, gender or school is…
What It’s Really Like to Make Hats in Derby City
“Hats are about emotion. It is all about how it makes you feel. I like hats that make the heart beat faster.” —Philip Treacy, couture hat designer Full disclosure, I am a hat maker. I design and make men’s and women’s hats, so clearly, I have a vested interest in educating people about hats, how…
…and they are off! Derby art, photographs, jewelry and clothing
If Derby visitors and locals go to only one museum for Derby art and memorabilia, make it the Kentucky Derby Museum (derbymuseum.org). This year’s Derby-themed temporary exhibition is “Photo Finish,” on display through September. The star is “Fighting Finish” by photographer Wallace Lowry. And a fight it was — it shows the battle between jockeys…
Post Derby, Cinco Sunday
Most years, the Sunday after Derby is citywide hangover day. Not this year. You can shake off your post-Derby malaise with Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. In conjunction with Derby Festival, the Fourth Street Live! event is Louisville’s official Cinco de Mayo celebration. It is a delayed fiesta, taking place May 7, because May 5 falls…
Why we ride: River Road is for people
I’ve heard it before from more than a few people. “I can’t stand it when you cyclists ride on River Road!” Then, a sentence or two later: “It sure is a pretty road. I love to drive it.” The River Road Corridor, designated a Kentucky State Scenic Byway in 1994, is a seven-mile stretch offering…
Fork & Barrel’s warm vibe surrounds fine, pricey fare
When a restaurant launches in the springtime in Louisville, the owner faces a difficult decision: Rush to open the doors before Derby? Or open gently in post-Derby calm? The issues involved are not trivial. Opening in time for Derby may pay off, but it poses challenges, too. If things go poorly, the train wreck happens…
Mint Juleps and wasabi … Say What?
On the first Saturday in May, two distinctive fixtures of Louisville’s skyline converge for America’s oldest continuously held sporting event. The Twin Spires of historic Churchill Downs and the 64-foot tall Old Forester bourbon bottle (once a water tank) hovering over the headquarters of Brown-Forman Corporation, both preside over the Kentucky Derby. Old Forester is…
Stolen pint glasses, and new beer releases
Many breweries have a growing problem — customers stealing the glassware. In a recent story by Cincinnati-based WCPO, a few of the brewery owners interviewed indicated that some visitors seem to somehow feel entitled to walk out with their logo pint glass. MadTree Brewing even reported being out thousands of dollars every year due to…
How and where to cure a Derby hangover
The day after the Kentucky Derby is often like waking up in Vegas after having lost everything. You’re missing a tooth, there’s a tiger in the bathroom, there’s empty bottles strewn about a hotel room… wait, am I describing another scenario? Still, the same accouterments apply. Locals and tourists alike will commonly find themselves facing…
Savage Love: The Leftovers
Nancy, the tech-savvy at-risk youth, two gimps, Christ on the cross, the Easter Bunny, two weeping women, and the Easter Bunny’s smoking-hot leather master took to the stage at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon, for a live taping of the Savage Lovecast on Easter weekend. Audience members submitted their questions on cards (I take my…
KY Medicaid becomes ‘The Hunger Games,’ Kid Rock needs Kentucky teeth
Great comedy is all about the timing, isn’t it? A remarkably clichéd insight, most notably because you wouldn’t know a joke if one came along and punched you in the face. But I’ll indulge you. What are you gibbering on about? So the Frazier History Museum opens its “Hunger Games” exhibition just as our learned…
Hands Up! Don’t Tweet!
I’m a brand. Are you one, too? If a social media disaster finds you, what ya’ gonna do? Every brand needs a strategy. And in the Age of Nefarious, a public relations crisis management plan better be part of yours: knowing when to respond to negative media and how that can make you or break…
Ricky Jones’ bias makes him the best choice for the Citizens Commission on Police Accountability
Ricky L. Jones is the exact person the River City Fraternal Order of Police should want on the Citizens Commission on Police Accountability — and so should the Metro Council and city of Louisville. The Council delayed the appointment of Jones after objections from FOP President David Mutchler, echoed by Republican Councilwoman Julie Denton, whose…
