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Frank X Walker: ‘Organize, be informed, resist! And vote with your wallet’
You meet Frank X Walker in his Lexington home office, situated across the street from the campus of Transylvania University. In a conversation to come, the teacher/writer/activist will speak a lot about spaces. Here is a little about his: The elegance of the old rooms shares spirited proof that the bookworm and “nerd” descriptions he…
Reacting to the world: A Q&A with artist Aron Conaway
By way of introduction, here is one of Aron Conaway’s (aronconaway.com) favorite quotes by Dada founder and artist Hans Arp: “Revolted by the butchery of the 1914 World War, we in Zurich devoted ourselves to the arts. While guns rumbled in the distance, we sang, painted, made collages and wrote poems with all our might.…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (2/6)
MONDAY Mondo Video Night: “What We Do In the Shadows” and “Flight of the Conchords” Seidenfaden’s Free | 9:30 p.m. Mondo Video Night (the weekly “high brow, low brow, cult, doc and music” video series) is hosting a “Flight of the Conchords” -themed night. The first screening is “What We Do In the Shadows,” a film…
Easy, convenient and flawed: Postmates splits opinions in the Louisville restaurant community
In the interest of allowing the subject to speak freely, let’s call my friend Adam. As in “you don’t know him from Adam.” The old idiom. You know it, right? So Adam is an accomplished local musician. And as the United States unmistakably values its arts, he is able to earn a fair and living…
LEO Presents: Cher Von live in studio
Here’s the latest installment of our new video series, where we ask local musicians to come to our studio to perform three songs. This time it’s Cher Von, a soothing, powerful, minimalistic artist whose abstract approach makes her one of the most-unique and interesting musicians around. The first season of this series will run eight…
10 recently-released Louisville records to buy today on Bandcamp, which is donating 100 percent of its profits to the ACLU
Today, Bandcamp is donating 100 percent of its proceeds to the ACLU to help fight the growing tide of intolerance from the Trump administration. In so many ways, this is the perfect opportunity to support musicians, local or otherwise, while simultaneously doing your small part to give back. Here are 10 recently-released — or soon-to-be…
5 Things To Do This Weekend in Louisville (2/3)
FRIDAY Frederick The Younger “Human Child” Album Release Party Headliners $10 | 9 p.m. Frederick The Younger’s singer and keyboardist Jenni Cochran describes the new album, “Human Child,” as “feisty sunshine rock. Feisty, because the way that I sang some of the songs is very sassy sounding. Sunshine, because it’s upbeat.” And you can hear…
10 concerts you shouldn’t miss in February
Frederick The Younger (Album Release) Headliners Music Hall Friday, Feb. 3 The release show for their debut full-length record, Human Child, from Louisville sunshine rockers Frederick The Younger — a five-piece that formulates raw, catchy and wide-ranging indie rock that breaks and bends in different directions. Joann + The Dakota and Voodoo Economics open. Louisville…
Dancing for the future: ArtsReach connects local kids with professional, traveling dance companies
When the curtain went up Friday night on the Brown Theatre’s stage, it revealed 11 dancers moving with stunning fluidity and grace. “Art Songs,” the first piece in a full evening from Alonzo King Lines Ballet, starts at full speed, with every dancer in the company onstage — moving, flowing, turning and jumping. The piece…
What price can you put on a meaningful life? Or resistance through infiltration
For at least the first half of my career, I discouraged young activists from going to law school. There are a lot of good reasons not to go. A legal education in the United States is too expensive. Law schools tend to be a lint trap for fraternity/sorority types who don’t want the college parties…
Motivation and the future: A Q&A with Chanelle Helm of Louisville BLM
“I think one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing, and activities on the ground, that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power throughout which you…
Growing a culture: Carla Wallace of Louisville SURJ
I think one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing, and activities on the ground, that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power throughout which you…
8 local activist groups that you should help through volunteering and donations
Here is a short, albeit not-nearly exhaustive, list of local groups that could use your help through volunteering and donations of coins. ACLU-KY With almost 3,000 members, it works daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people by the federal and state constitutions. The ACLU accepts…
The resistance will be telephoned: Here are ways to reach your elected officials
They won’t know you are pissed off until you tell them. Here are ways to reach our federal and state bleaters… uh, leaders. We also like this website, which helps you organize your rage with prompts, scripts and phone numbers: 5calls.org U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell Louisville: (502) 582-6304 Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-2541 mcconnell.senate.gov Facebook: @mitchmcconnell…
Cutting state healthcare access is bad medicine
As our grand and august governor, Matt Bevin, does all he can to strip hundreds of thousands of his constituents of Medicaid, and he lobbies to eliminate Obamacare, we find ourselves waiting for Congress and Donald Trump to find an alternative. Or not… In the meantime, the doctors and healthcare workers, who understand firsthand how…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst & Best
A pro-truth state | Thorn Ripping a page from Donald Trump’s… no, Hitler’s “Propaganda for Dummkopfs,” Gov. Matt Bevin used Faceook Live to accuse a Courier-Journal reporter of lying in a story about the state’s new abortion-ultrasound bill. It is an old tactic: First you discredit the press, and then you use your bullhorn to get…
Frederick the Younger’s coming-to-age record, Human Child
At first listen, you might never guess that Frederick the Younger is barely the sophomore stage of singer and keyboardist Jenni Cochran’s career. After moving to Louisville in 2011, Cochran caught the band Dr. Vitamin live — the vehicle for her now-longtime-collaborator Aaron Craker. Approaching Craker at the end of a set one night, the…
Knocked Loose headline this weekend’s Midwest Blood Fest
The aptly-named Knocked Loose — a band made up of masters of heavy and unforgiving metalcore — has steadily garnered a national following through extensive touring. “In 2015, we did, like, nine U.S. tours in a year,” Isaac Hale, guitarist for the Louisville-based five piece, said. “It’s almost constant. You basically just have to live…
Buy these compilations, for good causes
In his first week in office, Donald Trump showed us that the road ahead is going to be bumpy at best. As he continues to attempt to silent and discredit those who oppose him, as well as test the limits of his power by instilling fear and disregarding basic human dignity, how we resist falling…
This Is Not America
You can’t say they’re coming. They’re already here. They’ve been arriving in growing numbers for a while now. Songs of objection. Songs of disapproval. Songs that challenge. Fight songs. Demonstration songs. Protest songs. They came with fire and fury when black men and women were gunned down. They came as a reflection of the tragedies…
‘Circle Mirror Transformation,’ extraordinary?‘; Heathers: The Musical,’ a guilty pleasure
The title of Annie Baker’s 2009 play “Circle Mirror Transformation,” which opened last week at Actors Theatre of Louisville, refers to a theater exercise. As actors stand in a circle, one person starts the game with an action and sound. The others mimic the first, until all are moving in unison, at which point the…
‘#BlackArtMatters,’ works of art for connection and familiarity
Black Lives Matter is a national movement that unites, enlightens or disrupts, depending on your point of view. Art has the ability to do the same. And when one is based on the other, as in “#BlackArtMatters,” enlightenment is hopefully the characteristic that’s strengthened. That certainly was Daniel Pfalzgraf’s starting point. As the new curator…
Red Hog does meat the way meat ought to be done
We’ve made it through January, Groundhog Day is this week, but we’ve probably got six more weeks of winter regardless of what Punxsutawney Phil sees. Let’s face it: Winter is no fun. But one of the best things we can do to brighten the season is to settle down near a warm fireplace! Some of…
Making hot sauce at home
I may never have to buy hot sauce again. I will, but I likely won’t have to. I was gifted a hot sauce kit for Christmas by my girlfriend’s mom, and it might just be the best gift I’ve ever received. As you may know, I’m a hot sauce fiend, to the point that I…
The Fluidity of Definition: Queer
Nailing down the definition of the word “queer” is a bit like wrestling with an umbrella on a windy street corner. Just when you think you have everything situated, another gust of wind comes along and turns everything inside out again. For those who use the term to describe themselves, however, it is a blanket…
Savage Love: Advice Columnists Without Borders
Q: I am a 26-year-old heterosexual European man. I have been for four years in a monogamous relationship with my girlfriend. Recently she cheated on me. When she told me what she did, I felt a very strong pain, even stronger than I expected. After a few days of pain, however, I found that the…
That Pussy Hat, Though
Q: If Becky spends three hours knitting a pussy hat, how long has she been a feminist? I was lucky to be able to go to the Women’s March on Washington, D.C. Our numbers were astonishing. It was even scary, at points, wondering if people would be crushed under a stampede of UGG boots. Everyone…
Why resistance is important now, and Yanks love a good unfair scrap
I’m thinking about homeschooling the kids. You don’t seem the type. Why would you even think about it? Bible classes in Kentucky schools, that’s why. Not religious studies, or what passes for the general academic study of religion, which in principle has some merit… no matter what a contrary heathen like you believes. Rather, it’s…
‘I’ve had Enough, Enough is Enough’: 12 ways to resist Trump
I skipped the peace rally in Louisville and went to the protest in Lexington, because I didn’t want to hold your hand and light a candle. I wanted to scream “F*&k you and your patriarchy!” with the like-minded and change the power dynamic. Because as we all know, the world can’t resist an angry woman.…
Your Voice
on Editor’s Note: Don’t tweet me, show me The Democratic Party just forgot one thing, to have a viable candidate. And they just cannot get over that. —Randy Scott on Bus Love — Short Fiction: first Place The story makes me smile. Thanks. —Dennis Hill on The Unlikely Fix of Jacqueline Du Pre — Short…
