Cover Stories
An ode to Cherokee Park
Cherokee Park has seen many phases of my life. My primary activity over the years at Cherokee Park has always been walking. I’ve taken all kinds of walks in that park. I’ve taken reflective walks in the woods. I’ve taken glorious morning walks with a fresh cup of Highland Coffee. I’ve taken somber walks, while…
LEO’s big list of outdoor delights
November’s surprise election results left many in the cold, and the dark days have stretched on, long and bizarre — to put it mildly. But now, with the warmer weather and longer days, we can all try to better our moods and strive to break free from some of the political madness. So keep the…
LEO’s Road Trip Map: Our staff breaks down the best ways to get out of town
As soon as the witch hazels start sending out those crazy, yellow, furry blooms (maybe sooner than expected, this year), we’ll all begin to think about shaking off that winter blah by getting out of town — Road Trip! Here’s a collection of places and trips you might not know about, or maybe you just…
Photos from Friday’s “Hunt for Mitch” protest
After facing protesters at two town hall meetings in Lawrenceburg and Louisville, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell spoke at the annual Lincoln Dinner on Friday, where more demonstrators showed up outside the doors. The crowd of protestors standing across the street from the Republican fundraising dinner carried signs and had questions for the senator. They also…
Our six favorite local songs from February
Memory Gloss — “Porch Ghost” With “Porch Ghost,” Memory Gloss offers up colorful melodies juxtaposed against stormy vocals for something that brushes on the angst of emo, without ever firmly committing. There is common ground with Don Caballero and American Football, although filtered through Helmet or Unwound, if only for the intensity of the vocal…
Observation and Intuition: A Q&A with artist Lisa Simon
Lisa Simon (lisasimonart.com) is a born-and-bred creative. Currently, she’s a resident artist at Kentucky Mudworks and loving it: “This is a really thrilling time for me because I have access to the smartest brains in the clay community and amazing materials and tools. It is definitely helping me step up my ceramic game.” LEO: What…
Listen to Wax Fang’s dense, atmospheric new single “Pusher”
The second single off of Wax Fang’s forthcoming record Victory Laps (out May 5), “Pusher” is a dense, atmospheric and emotionally-driven piece of psychedelic-leaning rock that will burn strange and compelling keyboard lines and emphatic vocal hooks into your brain. There’s some of those stormy and unpredictable elements — that still manage to feel cool…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (2/26)
MONDAY Engage Series: A Night with Teddy Abrams Marketplace Restaurant Free-$5 | 5:30 p.m. Have a beer with Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams at this event hosted by the Young Professionals Association of Louisville. YPAL works with young professionals to create “a community where people want to live, work and play.” So it’s easy…
LEO Presents: Quiet Hollers 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, acoustically (although our version of acoustic is a little loose, basically meaning no electric guitars). This time, it’s the Quiet Hollers, who stopped by to play two unreleased songs from a forthcoming…
Who to bet on for Kentucky Derby futures this weekend — and how to do it
It’s still nine weeks to the Kentucky Derby, but Churchill Downs offers a Kentucky Derby Future Wager this weekend — so those who just can’t wait another day for Derby Day, like me, can place a future bet on the outcome of the 143rd Run for the Roses right now. It’s a bet that might,…
LEO Podcast #46: Comedian Kent Carney on the Trump Survey
Don’t you hate it when you’re at the mall, and one of those survey takers bugs you about coming in to answer a few questions? What if the questions were from the Mainstream Media Accountability Survey released last week by the Republican Party? The GOP survey is insanely unscientific and rife with leading questions and…
5 Things To Do This Weekend in Louisville (2/24)
SATURDAY The 5th Annual Gravy Cup Benefiting Boys & Girls Haven Mellwood Art Center $5-$15 | 11 a.m. The Gravy Cup is a chance to eat an unhealthy amount of delicious biscuits and gravy, but not feel bad about it because it’s all for charity. This year’s three gravy categories are traditional, nontraditional and veggie/vegan…
‘Three Tall Women,’ a script and acting ?at their apexes
Because the quality of acting is generally high on Louisville stages, it’s easy for a theater-goer to become a bit jaded. But every once in a while, a performance comes along that completely resets the scale. So it is with Rena Cherry Brown’s mind-boggling performance in Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Three Tall Women,” which opened…
Aj Finney: ‘If you can expose your flaws, then no one can hurt you’
AJ Finney is a hippy. A true-to-life, self-proclaimed, jam band-loving, energy-stone buying, Volkswagen-driving hippy. He’s a Gen-X flower child with an arsenal of stories that have been featured on festival stages and television shows all across the country — stories that often get broken up by impassioned, lengthy rants he improvises in the moment. Finney…
Ask Minda Honey: X-Rated With A CoWorker?
In a relationship jam? Lemme unstuck your life: AskMindaHoney@leoweekly.com. Q: My husband and I are 11 years apart; he is 51, and I am 40. We have been together for 10 years, married for 9. I love this man with my heart and soul, he has been nothing but wonderful and supportive of me since…
Savage Love: Fantasy Scenarios
Q: I am a straight married man. My wife and I have a 4-year-old and a 3-month-old. We’ve just started having intercourse again. For Valentine’s Day, we spent the night in a B&B while grandma watched the kids. We had edibles, drank sparkling wine, and then fucked. It was amazing. After we came and while…
Bicycle Tours Aplenty in 2017
It’s the time of year when cyclists get motivated. Whether you race, tour or just plain ride a lot, regardless, you’re packing in the time and the miles. Base fitness and endurance is what you’re after when, day after day, three to six days a week, you try to squeeze out enough time to suit…
No song remains the same: Jaye Jayle’s stark minimalism dives deeper into experimental sounds
Evan Patterson began Jaye Jayle, a plodding, indie-blues outfit that favors stark textures and minimalism, during trips to visit an ex-flame in New Mexico. With the help of a broken guitar, and inspired by the solitude and beauty of a land of enchantment, Patterson brought his vision to life — a sound that seems to…
9 outdoor music festivals and events you shouldn’t miss this year
GonzoFest — April 15 gonzofestlou.com This year will be GonzoFest’s first year at the Louisville Free Public Library, featuring indoor and outdoor activities and celebrating the life and work of gonzo journalist and Louisville native Hunter S. Thompson. The music lineup features an all-local lineup: Nellie Pearl, Otis Junior, Brooks Ritter, Satellite Twin, Sativa Gumbo…
Maximón and the road to releasing their debut full-length record, ‘If Yes Do’
Maximón’s debut full-length, If Yes Do, is an ambient, winding dream-pop collection of hazy layers and jagged leads that still manages to build and fall in a dramatic and compelling way. Back in 2015, “Flame” (which is not on this record) and “Feels Like I’m Falling” (which is) were the first songs Maximón released. Before…
Wycliffe Gordon talks about teaching jazz, playing with Wynton Marsalis
Trombone takes the lead this Saturday at the University of Louisville Jazz Fest, with a performance from Wycliffe Gordon (he’ll also teach a master class). A son of the classical jazz era, Gordon enjoyed an extensive run with Wynton Marsalis before going on to become a bandleader. LEO spoke with the Augusta, Georgia, native (and…
How big of a scandal would it take for the GOP to investigate Trump?
When I heard that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul had said, “It doesn’t make sense for Republicans to investigate Republicans,” (over Trump administration ties to Russia) my first thought was, well, OK, let us Democrats do it. My second thought was a recollection of 43 years ago, when I was a staffer for Republican Sen. Marlow…
Thorns & Roses
Thank you, O’Trump! | Thorns Twenty three hate groups. That is how many the Southern Poverty Law Center recently reported were based in Kentucky last year. On the national list, we ranked 14th, and Indiana was 13th with 26. We could name these groups, but… nah. If you really need to know, go to: splcenter.org/hate-map…
Another epic Tailspin, and kumquats in my beer?
Intermittent spatters of rain, combined with windy and cool conditions, threatened to put a damper on Tailspin Ale Fest 2017. The weather proved no competition, as craft beer lovers braved the elements and came out in force. OK, so it wasn’t exactly a torrential storm, but it certainly wasn’t the 65-degree, sunny afternoon many weather…
A Tribe Called Us
I got a call recently about a memorial wake for a fellow industry worker who had died unexpectedly while working at a city he’d moved to out west. The man who died wasn’t elderly, but he had been feeling poorly in the weeks leading up to his death. He didn’t seek medical help because he…
The Barkeep’s current favorites: The best cocktail list, patio and more
I talk frequently about our town being replete with options for imbibing and how we Louisvillians are spoiled when it comes to watering holes of all kinds. We’re lucky, yes, but this vast number of choices will often leave my partner and I verbally sparring on which direction we’ll head once we leave our driveway.…
Let’s keep the peace, y’all
“I think God will bless me to get the machine done” —Marvin Heemeyer America is madness unfettered, and I have never been more flabbergasted in my entire supercalifragilisticexpialidocious life. We seem to not be a divided nation, but a shattered one, like a disco ball that has been fired from a cannon by the ghost…
America the garden
Let’s talk about insects. Insects are small, in comparison to humans. Their interactions with us generally come from a hand wave or the heel of a shoe. They don’t get much time to know us as anything more than annoyed murderers. They don’t spend much time with us, though sometimes they try. What they know…
The ‘Blue Lives Matter’ bill is arrogance behind ignorance
Thanks to the Kentucky House of Representatives, police lives officially matter. We can all sleep safer tonight knowing that lawmakers want to protect police officers. The “Blue Lives Matter” bill would make attacks on police officers a hate crime. It is important to note that an attack on an officer already brings a harsher penalty…
