Cover Stories
The Fightin’ 41st
Extending from 26th Street in the west, Hubbard’s Lane in the east, a swath of River Road to the north and large chunks of the Smoketown, Old Louisville, Limerick and California neighborhoods to the south, the resultant shape of Kentucky’s 41st House District is a strange one: It looks kind of like an hour glass…
The amazing race
On Feb. 15, 1984, a young lawyer named Jerry Abramson filed a letter of intent to run for mayor of Louisville. During the 1985 campaign, the upbeat candidate thumped his opponent, Republican Robert Heleringer, carrying 73 percent of the vote. Fast-forward a quarter century, and the “Mayor for Life,” who has never lost an election,…
City Slicker vs. Country Doctor
With less than a week to go until May 18, voters across the commonwealth are being inundated by a last-ditch media blitzkrieg courtesy of four wealthy white male politicians who want to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, who is probably taking a nap as you read this. While there are others running in this…
Council counseling
Below you will find a quick and dirty guide to the candidates seeking a seat on Metro Council. Be advised, we didn’t waste time or ink on candidates who are running unopposed or are registered as an Independent because they will not be listed on the primary ballot — but don’t worry, we’ll be sure…
An uncivil action
On Jan. 5, attorney Glenda Bradshaw, head of criminal prosecutions for the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, didn’t expect that before the day ended she would be escorted out of the Hall of Justice by security. The longtime prosecutor, who had served in the county attorney’s office for 16 years, had been fired and was immediately…
Travellers in Space and Time
It’s hard to imagine how much more ornate the Apples in Stereo’s albums could get, as Travellers in Space and Time seems to represent the pole most opposite from the lo-fi charm of the band’s early EPs. (Note: The band intentionally misspelled “travelers” in the album title.) But it’s a testament to Robert Schneider’s impeccable…
Lots to like about Bank Street Brewhouse
We arrived at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful late-spring afternoon. The temperature was in the balmy upper 70s, the breezes were gentle, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I looked longingly at the four round patio tables out front and whispered to my bride how frustrating it is that the outdoor dining…
Love and Desperation
Want to have it both ways? I’m not referring to both of the under-dressed babes on the cover. That’s borderline exploitation that harkens back to Roxy Music’s Country Life … but without Roxy’s subtext about glamour’s inevitable dark side. Sweet Apple just wants its debut noticed by its testosterone-heavy target audience. With biggest name J.…
Inbox — May 12, 2010
Blue History Attn: Phillip M. Bailey: I wholeheartedly agree with your City Strobe article about Todd Blue’s intent to demolish the Iron Quarter (LEO Weekly, May 5). Todd Blue suffers from the malady of GREED. He’s had years to “develop” that block, and all of a sudden he decides his only option is to tear…
Raze the roof
A herd of pedestrians is gathered in front of the Iron Quarter on Main Street, waiting to sign a petition aimed at salvaging the row of historic cast-iron buildings that have recently come under threat of demolition. Preservationists fighting to protect the 19th-century structures are peddling their petition in conjunction with the First Friday Trolley…
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. May…
Staffpicks
Friday, May 14 The Bermondsey Joyriders Skull Alley 1017 E. Broadway • 749-9541 www.myspace.com/thebermondseyjoyridersofficial $8; 7 p.m. The early punks in London were paragons of artistic purity, right? Guess again, Sherlock. Often they were pub-rockers who shifted their sound because it fit the mood at the moment when they called the music industry’s bluff. You…
A bridge too short
At last week’s meeting of the Louisville-Southern Indiana Bridges Authority, the name of the game was sports. “I’d characterize the laying of groundwork (for the project) as spring training, if you will,” says Authority Executive Director Steve Schultz. “People will say three months is a lot of time for spring training, but we’ve had a…
S/T
Former punk-rock frontman (Fading Out, Rising Shotgun) and current poet and creative writing professor Brett Ralph turned his back on rock (more or less) a few years ago when he mounted the Kentucky Chrome Revue. Here, with a fluctuating pool of talented friends (Catherine Irwin, Will Oldham, Todd Brashear etc.), Ralph has explored his country…
Memories Are Hunting Horns
Affectation as a metaphor for struggles with intimacy — people with acoustic guitars were hitching to that post even before the young Joni Mitchell began twiddling with tunings. If an emotional eruption can cause a heartrending break in the voice, then a full string of quavering, hesitant or fractured lines will bring the listener close…
Drinks with Tyler Allen
I’ve always been told not to discuss religion or politics in a bar, which means I pretty much avoid the subjects altogether. Sure I vote for the president, but I also bet on the Derby — they’re both games of chance and are more about luck (and money) than skill. So when it was brought…
Theater: Pandora’s ‘Pageant’ is no drag
Pageant Presented by Pandora Productions. Directed by Steven Jones. Continues through May 16 at the Bunbury Theatre at the Henry Clay Building, 604 S. Third St. For tickets or more info, call 216-5502 or go to www.pandoraprods.org. It’s hard to believe “Pageant,” the droll, drag beauty pageant parody that Pandora Productions is staging at the…
4
In music’s most shameful days of unencumbered materialism and greed, the praises of said sins proclaimed by hip-hop artists, country pop stars, boy bands and rock ’n’ roll acts alike, it is like a breath of fresh air for a long-distance runner to hear someone sing about things that really matter. Dead Sirius, or simply…
The Lip
A pretty impressive effort from the Louisville-bred New York resident. Able to parlay his networking (to say nothing of his microphone) skills into collaborations with producer CHOPS (Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, etc.) and Nappy Roots, Johnny has made a solid effort, one that is far worthier than to give away for free digitally (thanks for…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: INVICTUS 2009; $27.95-$35.95, PG-13 Imagine you’re Nelson Mandela. You’ve been jailed for 27 years for protesting apartheid … then freed and made president! What do you do next? Well, we’d be putting heads in a bag, but Nelson takes the high road and focuses on national unity through a rugby match.…
Comedy: Kristin Key’s got big love for Louisville (drinkers)
Kristin Key was raised in Texas, the daughter of an ultra-conservative preacher, with big dreams to one day become a stand-up comic. “I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of dirty comedy, so the first stand-up I ever saw was Bill Cosby. But as I got older, I started watching people who actually got to…
Art: Bubble gum or local art?
It’s springtime, and in addition to daffodils, a new crop of Vend-A-Pin! machines have been popping up all over town. The machines, which dispense nickel-sized buttons designed by local artists, can be purchased from retrofitted gumball machines at various locations around town. “We have about seven out now, but we’re working on getting five more…
I think we’re alone now
“Citizen Kane” is widely regarded as the greatest American movie ever made. Any legitimate survey will include it in the top five, at least. Still, like many people, when I saw “Citizen Kane” for the first time (as a teenager in the ‘80s), I didn’t get it. A victim of one of the most notorious…
The Grape Escape: Playing the (wine) market
The Dow goes up, NASDAQ goes down, the Greeks riot, and the market plunges. Let’s face it: The stock market can be a scary place to play with your money. But wine is always appealing. It’s no wonder that just about anyone who gets serious about their wine eventually thinks about hoarding a bunch of…
Swill, baby, swill
As oil spreads across the Gulf of Mexico, oozing a greasy sheen on the Redneck Riviera not seen since Uncle Kracker appeared on “MTV Spring Break 2000,” it’s important to look on the bright side: As horrible as the devastation is, it’s bound to open some eyes. Although we are perpetually dripping in poison —…
Southern ‘Living’
If it’s true that great artists steal, Lain Carney could be destined for fame. Rest assured, that quarter-inch reel-to-reel TEAC machine he absconded with from college is being put to good use in bucolic Warrenton, Va. There, inside the 10-by-14-foot home studio, Lain and brothers Van and Jennings captured Living, the trio’s fourth self-produced album.…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
As Kinghorse, drummer Kevin Brownstein, bassist Mike Bucayu, guitarist Mark Abromavage and singer (and ex-LEO columnist) Sean Garrison epitomized hardcore. Their lineage extends to Louisville’s earliest stabs at punk — Malignant Growth with Abromavage, Bucayu with Solution Unknown, Sean Garrison with Maurice. But by the late ’80s and ’90s, Kinghorse surpassed those origins by way…
The Non-Endorsement
I once had a friend* who habitually brushed off homework in freshman Spanish class, consequently resulting in her begging for a glimpse of my workbook minutes before the bell rang. Being an impressionable teenager, I typically acquiesced, giving her just enough time to frantically fill in the blanks. Needless to say, my friend grew lazy…
Endpoint
This weekend’s time warp won’t yield a new single, record or tour from emo forerunners Endpoint. At the core of a reunion the band swore would never happen is an effort to help an old friend. “I don’t remember the exact moment, but we probably met at a show,” singer Rob Pennington says of Jason…
Far And Near EP
Pretend for a second you’re making the playlist for your super-fun, hip dance party. You’ve already moved through some groovy tracks, but everyone’s a little winded. You don’t want to ruin the mood with an actual slow dance, but you aren’t ready to just let it drop. What do you do? Answer: Put on the…
