Cover Story
Dancing toward diversity: Louisville Ballet raises its barre
“You don’t feel that most of the people in these incidents do not like black people, but simply are a product of their white supremacy and are exercising it on you without caution, care, or thought. Many times the tone just simply says, ‘I do not feel you belong here.’” —Singer Solange Knowles It was…
Comic Book Reviews: ‘Dry County’ and ‘Infidel’
‘Dry County’ No. 1 Writer and artist Rich Tomasso Review by Meredith Harris, Great Escape Louisville If Rich Tomasso is going to take a break from a book as amazing as “Spy Seal” to work on something else, that something else better be pretty freaking good. Fortunately, “Dry County” No. 1 (which he writes, draws, colors and letters himself) is more…
Taking it to the hills: Jared Swilley on the making of Black Lips’ ‘Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art?’
For the creation of Black Lips’s eighth studio album, the five-piece band from Atlanta took to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York where they recorded in the secluded “magical mountain” home of Sean Lennon and his mother, Yoko Ono. Even after nearly 20 years together as a band and traveling the world, the band…
10 under $5 – What To Do This Week In Louisville (3/26)
MONDAY Rose Ette, Secondhand Candy, Plastic Melodies, and Quality Cable The Cure Lounge $5 | 9 p.m. Join The Cure Lounge for what promoters promise will be a night of “blissful lo-fi, garage rock, dream rock, shoegaze, alternative music from bands near and far.” Featured acts include the indie rock band Rose Ette, rock ‘n’…
A Q&A with singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx
Haley Heynderickx excels in folk minimalism — the raw, melancholy power of her voice is front and center, while plenty of space hangs between her guitar’s chords. But, Heynderickx can also quickly build that base into a wall of sound, with pivots into catchy guitar-pop, subtle noise-rock or experimental indie. That push-and-pull, paired with Heynderickx’s…
Talk about the unknown: A Q&A with Alex Maas of The Black Angels
Black Angels frontman Alex Maas sings everything with his eyes closed, although you wouldn’t ever know it behind the ever-present amalgamation of colors and visuals during their concerts. Their live performances, highlighted by the psychedelic Mustachio Light Show, are heightened sensory experiences paying homage to the mixed medias employed by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and…
Behind-the-scenes photos of ‘American Tales’
No, this isn’t a play about Fievel and his wacky journey out West (that’s An American Tail). While equally endearing and adventurous, American Tales works three different tall tales from frontier days. They are threaded together by a substitute art teacher, Esperanza (played by Alisha Espinosa). She is expected to teach a history class, but what…
5 Things To Do This Weekend In Louisville (3/23)
FRIDAY Drag Fundraiser for Indiana Congressional candidate Dan Canon PRIDE bar + lounge (New Albany, IN) $5 | 9 p.m.-midnight It’s not every day you see a political fundraiser filled with drag queens, but Dan Canon isn’t your usual candidate. Canon is a civil rights lawyer who helped argue the Supreme Court same-sex marriage case,…
Looking Under the Alt-Right Rock
In a scene from a B-list TV reality show, last Monday white supremacist Matt Parrott and his step-daughter staked out the Indiana trailer home of Parrott’s wife watching for Matthew Heimbach, the leader of the Traditionalist Worker’s Party, a man The Washington Post once dubbed “the next David Duke.” The pair didn’t have alt-right politics…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best & Most Absurd
Old-man county schools | Thorn and Absurd Students from Oldham County who joined National Walkout Day were warned they would be disciplined, including detention, suspension and revoked parking and prom privileges. The district claimed a student walkout would be dangerous for students. “Defiance of authority has to have consequences,” district Director of Communications Lori McDowell…
Kim Davis wrote a book, anti-gay rhetoric ?hits a new low
Writing about Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is a delicate dance for someone who believes in punching up, not down. Yes, she uses her platform to punish and shame gay people, all while playing the victim, but she would have faded into oblivion by now — a sad, superstitious, mediocre oblivion — if she didn’t…
Drag City is rereleasing Your Food’s 1983 ?album ‘Poke It With A Stick’
[On March 23, the record label Drag City is set to re-release Your Food’s Poke It With A Stick. The 35-year-old record was pivotal for Louisville punk. Below, Sean Garrison — formerly of the bands Kinghorse, I Have A Knife and Maurice — explains why the record is so important.] In the early 1980s, the…
A wide-ranging talk with Alice Cooper
The prototype for modern provocateurs in rock and roll, Alice Cooper recently released his 27th full-length album, 2017’s Paranormal. Five decades into his career, Cooper, now 70, remains active, continuing to make records and tour the world — plus he landed a TV role in the upcoming NBC production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” as King…
‘Evocation,’ fearsome grandeur, gut-busting humor
“Evocation to Visible Appearance,” the title of Mark Schultz’s new play, alludes to magic. Not the sweet eco-friendly, Wiccan magic found in, say, Dar Williams’s song “The Christians and the Pagans,” but a powerful strain of ancient magic that summons powerful spirits or demons to appear before and act directly on behalf of the witch.…
Goodrich Gevaart: Using comedy for good, not evil
At first, comedian Goodrich Gevaart appears to be someone who might teach Bible school, which he says is an image he constructs purposely — “because when I’m mean, I’m too mean. I don’t know how to play the balance between fun and mean. Someone once told me, ‘When I see you make fun of somebody,…
La Lupita stands out on Clarksville taqueria strip
Can a dining decision be political? You bet! When nightly news shows horrifying images of immigrant parents ripped from their families while partisans shout for a border wall, it’s time to call B.S. The best way I know to do that is to take my dining business to local restaurants run by Latino neighbors, such…
Hoosier beer on Sunday, Wild and Sour
When I was still living in Southern Indiana many years ago, I remember crossing the Second Street bridge on Sundays a few times to pick up cold beer at Mike Walsh Liquor & Beer in Louisville. The joke among my friends always was that on Sunday, three-fourths of the cars in the Mike Walsh parking…
Ask Minda Honey: Sexless Marriage with My Husband Has Me Hot for Women
In a relationship or life jam? Lemme unstuck your life — send your questions to: AskMindaHoney@leoweekly.com. Minda, I am in a sexless marriage, but I still love my husband very much. I have fantasies about being with another woman, and I even watch lesbian porn. I tried it once before, but I was so nervous…
Savage Love: Ace & the Hole
Q: I’m a 26-year-old cis queer woman. My best friend has identified publicly as asexual for the past two years. She constantly talks about how, since she doesn’t “need” sex, this means she is asexual. She does have sex, however, and she enjoys it, which I know isn’t disqualifying. But she also actively seeks out…
News of the Weird
The Weirdo-American Community A co-ed dormitory at Hunter College in New York City has become the site of a dispute between the college and 32-year-old Lisa S. Palmer, who won’t vacate her dorm room despite having discontinued her classes in 2016. Palmer, who works for an architecture firm, has “racked up a staggering $94,000 in…
SCALA, Wal-Mart fallout: On being a self-appointed? busybody
A couple of weeks ago before his fellow SCALA members at a Rotary Club luncheon, Mr. David Jones, Sr. publicly called me and the other plaintiffs in the Wal-Mart lawsuit “self-appointed busybodies” and “officious interlopers.” Mr. Jones has admittedly never met us and, after speaking with him, it’s clear he knows little of our position.…
Ricky Jones: Trump’s crony is a black sellout
Recently, a group of folks gathered at a private meeting to discuss “economic investment, development and revitalization” in West Louisville. The headliners included Kentucky Gov. Matthew Bevin. For readers unfamiliar with Bevin, he is the uber-conservative politician who had the brilliant idea that violence in black communities could be cured by prayer teams marching along…
Oldham County wankers, Christian heritage and medical pot…
Did you ever walk out of school? Chucked out, more likely. I did my fair share of running out as fast as I could when the bell went off, especially in the last couple of years, but, overall, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t until college over here that I became more of a militant. I…
Protect The Fur
Kentucky is the worst state in the country when it comes to animal protection laws, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund. We have been at the bottom of the list for 11 straight years. An examination of the politics blocking Senate Bill 8 tells us why. SB 8 is just over a page in…
