Cover Story
Lonely in the kitchen: Restaurant worker shortage hits Louisville
It was a busy Thursday evening in early June at Lilly’s: A Kentucky Bistro, the venerable Bardstown Road restaurant owned and presided over by much-honored chef, Kathy Cary, and there was a notable difference in staffing. Cary usually exchanges her chef’s jacket for a more relaxed and fashionable outfit at dinner to lend a hand…
Our six favorite local songs from August
Doctor Girlfriend – “Photograph” It’s hard to attach any one sound to this band, as they are prone to jumping around from song to song. There are elements of Deerhoof on “Photograph,” but with more than a little Hail to the Thief-era Radiohead, as filtered through the manic insanity of Iggy Pop at his most…
Our favorite sets (and vendor) from Seven Sense Festival
As a surprise to no one, Saturday was blazing hot, but that didn’t stop the annual Seven Sense Festival from closing off Preston Street and holding down a good time. While Zanzabar was an air-conditioned oasis, I found myself out in the heat most of the time. I didn’t get to see everything that I…
A quick guide to pinball in Louisville
One of Louisville’s best kept secrets is pinball. All over the city are machines with bells ringing and score counters breaking hearts. Kids are making out against them. Longstanding friendships are being fostered and dashed one quarter at a time. It’s funny how popular the game really is in this city, yet how unaware many…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (8/29)
MONDAY Bourbon, Beer & Board Games Kaiju Free | 8 p.m. The headline says it all. Grab your friends and join Kaiju and for a night of bourbon, brews and boards games provided by Book & Music Exchange (Highlands). And don’t forget to add your own meta-drinking game on top of it all. TUESDAY The…
LEO Podcast #37: Frederick The Younger
Jenni Cochran, Aaron Craker and John Barrera from the band Frederick The Younger stop by to talk about how they formed, their writing process and two songs from their new EP “Feel Like You Want To Feel” and “Sister Was A Sailor,” both of which are played in the podcast. Suscribe to the LEO Podcast…
Curb Your Foodieism: How pretentiousness undercuts Louisville’s food scene
“What I always want, what is crucial for me, is casual. I want everybody to have fun,” said Bobby Benjamin, executive chef of Butchertown Grocery, to the Courier-Journal in the midst of a media bonanza around their fall opening. Local media, ahem, ate this place up. Fun tops the menu at Butchertown Grocery, exclaimed one…
Listen to LEO architecture critic Steven Ward talk about the Speed Art Museum
Listen to LEO architecture critic Steven Ward talk on architecture website archinect.com about his review of the Speed Art Museum.
5 things to do this weekend in Louisville (8/26)
FRIDAY Louisville Stop the Crime: Listen to us Rhyme UofL (Red Barn) $5 | 7 p.m. Louisville musicians from different parts of the city (Kevin Wayne, Velley Vev and more) are hosting a show they hope will bring the community together and encourage people to stop the violence. It may seem like a futile attempt,…
What Might Have Been: Unbuilt Louisville
[Editor’s note: Although Wiser, an architect, wrote this essay in 2011, it continues to resonate today with the recent failure of the ambitious West Louisville FoodPort project.] Towering high-rises clustered to form an overwhelming skyline. Train tunnels under the Ohio River. And a massive state capitol building dominating the city center. Sound impressive? If constructed,…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst & Best (8/24)
I don’t need no stinkin’ laws | Thorn Gov. Matt “Oblivious” Bevin seems to think he is above the law. He told WHAS-AM radio that his handpicked UofL trustees should meet, even though a judge said they cannot take any action. Why meet then? Bevin said the judge has “overstepped” himself in the case, which…
Joy and confusion: A Q&A with Low Cut Connie
Low Cut Connie, a rock ’n’ roll band based in Philadelphia, was formed in 2010 by pianist and singer Adam Weiner. In 2015, President Barack Obama included Low Cut Connie on his summer playlist. They have released three albums since 2011 and just announced a fourth album to be released in 2017. Low Cut Connie…
5 bands you shouldn’t miss at Seven Sense Festival
Cedric Burnside Project 9:35 p.m. | North Stage The grandson of hill country blues legend R.L. Burnside, Cedric Burnside began playing drums in his grandfather’s band when he was a kid. A traditionalist in many ways who honors the past, but, at the same time, someone who is able to modernize and throw some twists…
Twenty First Century Fox: Yr Welcome
Yr Welcome, the second full-length record from Twenty First Century Fox, still contains the core sensibilities of their brand of experimental pop-rock, but it opens up a few new creative avenues. “Shark Week” is a surf-rock freakout, “Sgt. Peppers” is a psychedelic trip and “Snakes Don’t Do This” is a stormy, post-rock Slint-style song —…
TinyForest: S-4
Over the last year or so, producer Dave Carroll (aka TinyForest) has gone through a bit of a creative renaissance. What once was a hazy cloud of sound and color is now replaced with something a bit slicker — leaning a bit more to the trap side of the equation than before. There is still…
Newds: The Demo
On these nine songs, the production is as raw and unfettered as the garage grunge that informs the band. It’s the kind of middle finger that punk has grown up with — solid hooks, viscous distortion and references to 20-something life that plenty of people can relate to. Nothing about this is fresh or new,…
J.G. Wood Ensemble: ?J.G. Wood Ensemble
It’s hard to know what to expect with a release from the interminably brilliant Jonathan Glen Wood. Over the last several years, Wood has proven himself a creative force, as a member of Old Baby, a contributor to Freakwater and via his solo work, which covers a vast amount of sonic ground. If the J.G.…
Painter Gaela Erwin, ‘Reframing the Past’
With a self-portrait, you think you know what you’re getting — the face of the artist. Well, yes and no. You get the version the artist wants you to see, and the story the artist wants to tell. In that vein, Gaela Erwin doesn’t paint self-portraits — she paints stories. Erwin has said in the…
Creed Bratton, ‘I’m not allowed ?to talk about it’
You probably know Creed Bratton for his hilarious turn as Creed Bratton on NBC’s “The Office.” And when you see that Bratton is coming to town to perform a night of music and comedy at Headliners — you might be inclined to that think this is some kind of vanity project for a network star.…
Why we ride: Kentucky State Fair, unfair to cyclists
Imagine riding your bicycle to the Kentucky State Fair and enjoying all of the convenience and safety offered to people arriving in other vehicles. People in cars, motorcycles, trucks and even scooters pay a parking and admission fee and then drive around until they find a good parking spot. For several years, that was the…
Shaker Village shakes things up with first-rate food
Kentucky’s beautiful Shakertown at Pleasant Hill is one of my favorite places anywhere. Nestled in the shady lanes and meadows of a Mercer County hilltop, this 200-year-old restored Shaker village is a living museum and peaceful, serene getaway. And, completing the lure, it also boasts an excellent dining room, with first-rate, upscale bistro fare served…
The spectrum of rude
Whether you’re a service industry veteran or simply a restaurant goer and frequent patron, we’ve all fallen victim to, or witnessed, the asinine behavior of some folks whilst dining out. When we encounter patronizing ignorance or downright harassment, we industry professional have to decide: “How shall I respond to this?” I believe there’s a varying…
Foodport: sham or a shame? Student-Athletes: sham and shame?
Got to admit I am somewhat perplexed. Your permanent state of mind. What don’t you understand now? This FoodPort collapse. Can’t work out when it became clear to the developers that it wasn’t going to happen: before or after Possibility City went public with the $7-million Housing and Urban Development loan deal and made itself…
Slippery slopes
When I was in law school, in 1992, I was horrified when eugenics, or forced sterilization, came up in our constitutional law class. Having never encountered the 1927 Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell, it was a new proposition for me, and one that made me recoil. How dare the state determine who shall have…
Help protest Kentucky Farm Bureau hatred at state fair
The Kentucky Farm Bureau still hates gays. The insurance company, and its lobbying arm, which proclaims to be the “Voice of Kentucky Agriculture,” continues to promote discrimination and oppression, targeting the LGBTQ community, women’s reproductive rights, teachers and organized labor … among others. In its annual policy book, sent to state legislators, the Farm Bureau…
Your Voice
on new hud rules may hurt homeless Let’s stop relying on government and start taking action as individuals. I might be an atheist, but there are a couple of churches in this area that do an amazing job in delivering no-strings-attached support for the homeless. Maybe LEO Weekly could use its platform to organize something…
