Cover Stories
Pride and prejudice
When the Kentuckiana Pride Fest parade rolls down Main Street Friday night, you can be certain of two things — there will be rainbows, there will be smiles. KPF is celebrating 10 years of the Pride Festival this weekend, a milestone by any measure. But all was not always rainbows and drag queens — many…
‘Open and affirming’
When the Rev. Ryan Kemp-Pappan began calling around to area churches in 2008 to solicit membership for the then-dormant group Faith Leaders for Fairness, the response was mixed. Clergy — at least the ones who returned his phone calls — said that while they supported gays, lesbians and transgender people showing up in the pews…
Film: Family drama
Shortly after a breakdown that included suicide attempts and genital amputation, Philadelphia street artist Isaiah Zagar discovered a talent for mosaic making. As if trying to reassemble his life’s million little pieces, Zagar worked fragments of broken glass, crockery and mirror into wildly vivid murals. Four decades later, his work — which tends to depict…
Book: Strip-mining history
Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland By Jeff Biggers. Nation Books; 320 pgs., $26.95. If you take away anything from the work of playwright, journalist, historian and activist Jeff Biggers, it should be this: There’s no such thing as clean coal. He is not merely talking about coal from…
I Will Be
At first blush, I Will Be seems like a day lily of an album: blooming, colorful, brief and prone to wilting. After an hour with it, the subtleties start to emerge from the unfocused sea of fuzzy guitars and dreamy vocals. Lead vocalist/songwriter Dee Dee Dum Dum (a.k.a Kristin Gundred) has a knack for crafting…
Mug Shots: It’s Christmas in July
Did you know that it will be Southern Indiana Night at Louisville Slugger Field on Friday, June 18? Are you wondering whether Southern Indiana beer, food and hand-stitched baseballs will be available at the Louisville Bats game? Me too, but before returning to these pressing questions, it appears we’re almost halfway through another Year in…
South Carolina, Snooki and other things that make you say, ‘Hmm’
When George W. Bush was reelected in 2004, a British political critic cogently observed, “When Bush won in 2000, many of us believed there was some mistake or the election had indeed somehow been stolen. Now that Americans have chosen him again, we know that no mistake or theft happened. Bush is America and America…
Staffpicks
June 16-27 ‘Showtime at First Baptist’ Bunbury Theatre, Henry Clay Building 604 S. Third St. • 585-5306 www.bunburytheatre.org $10-$20; 7:30 p.m. (Wed.-Sun.), 2 p.m. (Sun.) When First Baptist of Ivy Gap gets struck by lightning and most of it burns down, the men of the congregation are still standing around inspecting the damage with…
New Frontier(s)
Frontier(s) will release its debut 7-inch The Plains June 29 on No Sleep Records. The newest vehicle for Elliott/Falling Forward singer Chris Higdon, Frontier(s) also features Matt Wieder (Mouthpiece, The Enkindels) and drummer Eagle Barber (Stay Gold). The two songs on The Plains were recorded by former Elliott and current Wax Fang drummer Kevin Ratterman…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: DEATH RACE 2000 1975; $19.95-$26.95, R The pinnacle of Roger “The Rajah of the Rod-Flick” Corman’s driving career — now on Blu-Ray! Fast bucks meet faster wheels in this legendary dark comedy about a rolling transcontinental roadkill-race in near-future America — the year 2000! — where points are scored by mowing…
New House
In 2005, few Louisville bands generated as much buzz as Cabin. They earned the ear of promoters who put them on supporting slots du jour with Von Bondies and VHS or Beta; they nearly sold out Headliners for the release of their debut, Govern The Good Life, WFPK had them in constant rotation and sales…
The Grape Escape: Summertime, and the red wine is coolin’
White wines should be served chilled and red wines at room temperature. This is one of the most basic of the many rules about wine, and like most of the rules, there’s a practical reason for it. Experience shows us that most red wines seem dank and flavorless if they’re served ice cold, opening up…
Message for the future
Outside my window right now, nothing seems terribly out of place — holly, oak, elm, hydrangea. House finch, cardinal, robin, squirrel. Buddhist, biker, sky-blue-sky. Mostly things are just how you’d expect them to be. With only scraps of news media exposure and subsisting on a diet of country music, work and as many honest good…
Inbox — June 16, 2010
Unwavering Unseld With the passing of George Unseld, Fairness has lost one of the most persistent, wise and genuine “friends in high places” we have ever had. George was never an elected official we had to “convince” of every human being’s right to equality. He never put his finger to the wind to see if…
Plugged In
Readers are strongly encouraged to call ahead to verify these listings. To get your club, comedian, musical act or karaoke listed, please send e-mail to mherron@leoweekly.com with PLUGGED IN in the subject line. The deadline is NOON THURSDAY the week before the show happens. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed. June…
Said And Done
A Lion Named Roar should rename themselves A Cat Named Meow. Right off the bat, they fall into the same trap of most Christian rock bands: staying a decade behind in terms of relevance (the only notable exceptions to this trend are Third Day, Derek Webb and Caedmon’s Call). I’m sure these well-crafted songs are…
Split personality
Uncle Merle loved the ladies, but his relationships with them were anything but 50-50. In the grand tradition of law-skirting lotharios like Iceberg Slim, Merle was a 100-percent, grade-A Los Angeles pimp. By comparison, Wayne Thorn lived wholesome as a Pentecostal preacher, divining his beliefs and perspectives from above. These two men inform the whole…
Secret Transit
Crafting a sophomore full-length, from genesis to final note, is a dicey proposition. Stick with what works but avoid stagnation, cover new ground while maintaining identity — not an easy balancing process. Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel have evidently achieved this equilibrium, and the result is Secret Transit. The alterna-folk acoustic warmth and bouncy playfulness…
Kindred Spirits
Acclaimed jazz saxophonists Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano and Lew Tabackin share the same instrument, and they all appear on pianist Jimmy Amadie’s latest release. Amadie’s career began in the 1950s, before he was derailed by severe tendonitis. With medical advances, he has returned to playing and released six other albums since 1995. Kindred Spirits might…
All the Pride we can get
The word pride itself has several definitions, some of which seem to oppose each other. Pride can be considered “an unduly high opinion of oneself; exaggerated self-esteem” or “haughty and arrogant behavior.” Then there is the other meaning of “proper respect for oneself” and “sense of one’s own dignity or worth.” Which kind of proud…
‘That was George’
Whenever George Unseld was about to make a point in City Hall, the usually reticent lawmaker stood up slowly. Known to be reserved and introspective, the 6-foot-7, all-state center from the Newburg neighborhood understood that in politics, as with basketball, size does matter. “George certainly knew how to use his large stature and persona in…
Cracked Love And Other Drugs
Is heady, dirty punk over already? In less time than it takes to make Hamburger Helper, Unnatural Helpers cobble together 15 songs in a half hour. In that time, though, drummer-frontman Dean Whitmore is contradictory and playfully jaded. His bandmates join him to deliver damn good straightforward rock, modifying an amped-up rendition of The Strokes…
Red mercury
When Miranda Brown was a student at George Rogers Clark High, a chemical accident in the science lab temporarily shut down the school. “A student had brought a thermometer from home,” recalls Brown, now a junior Spanish major at Murray State University and member of the progressive grassroots organization Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. “The thermometer broke,…
Comedy: Chris Franjola & Sarah Colonna
Five nights a week, Chris Franjola and Sarah Colonna write and regularly contribute to the roundtable on E!’s “Chelsea Lately.” On weekends, they perform all over the country opening for their comic ringleader, Chelsea Handler, or on the Comedians of Chelsea Lately Tour, or headlining their own shows in clubs from coast to coast. This…
The Twistable Turnable Man
Shel Silverstein started his road to fame with Playboy magazine, and his career ended with just play. Browsing through a few of his bios, it’s evident that Shel’s talent was unique, eccentric and, in a way, accidental. Flashbacks of my mom enacting being eaten by a boa constrictor flood my brain as my foot taps…
Jerry’s kids
Under the radar of most political observers, Republican mayoral candidate and Metro Councilman Hal Heiner, R-19, flirted with the anti-tolling sentiment among residents in a discussion about the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project. Earlier this month, during an appearance on 84 WHAS radio, Heiner made it clear that scaling back the public works project…
Cajun-style breakfast at J. Gumbo’s
I’ve just finished a delicious breakfast, and I’m so full that I’m pretty sure I won’t need lunch today. In fact, I’m not so certain about dinner. J. Gumbo’s Frankfort Avenue branch in Clifton, an amiable eatery so known for its generosity that the standard size for entrees is the “big bowl,” recently added a…
Undercover of Brightness
Toronto’s Fjord Rowboat takes its shoegaze seriously. 2007’s Saved the Compliments for Morning introduced the band as students of late ’80s-early ’90s Anglo-rock, but it allowed space for quieter moments. Arrangements on Undercover of Brightness are tighter and flood that space with reverb, compression and more reverb. From start to finish, every corner is filled…
‘Curse’ is a blessing
On their forthcoming album, House with a Curse, Coliseum sheds many of the loud, fast rules found on No Salvation and opts for depth. Singer and guitarist Ryan Patterson is still leveling a few demands at the world around him, only this time his lyrics are more introspective, universal and ambiguous. Myriad guests — including…
