An interview with Alejandro Escovedo
Alejandro Escovedo’s career has gone from California punk to the birthing of alt-country to much-lauded eclectic singer-songwriter records, tours, and even theater collaborations. But his personal journey took harrowing turns in recent years, with the loss of his father and a long and difficult struggle to survive Hepatitis C. For a year after his diagnosis…
Van Hunt  so nice, we get him twice
Do you want proof positive of Van Hunt’s versatility? Just look at what he’s doing in town this week. Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m., attendees of the NON-COMM radio programmers’ convention can see a live performance by this young polymath of rock and funk and R&B. (The results will be broadcast later on World Café…
COMM back here: Musical showcase returns, and other comeback stories
This weekend at the Brown Hotel, it’s all about the comebacks. Thursday marks the return of the convention for radio programmers who work with noncommercial stations and the triple-A (“Adult Album Alternative”) music format. This three-day event — which includes a couple of opportunities for the music-loving public — had gone to Philadelphia last year…
FOR’s Friendship Delegation to Iran: May 2006 – Report One: An Early Start to Peace-Making
BY FOR IRAN DELEGATION Note: A story in last week’s LEO discussed a group of seven Louisvillians taking part in a Fellowship of Reconciliation peace mission to Iran. The following is part of the group’s first report, filed late last week. Please visit www.forusa.org to read more of the group’s updates. Our chance to connect…
Rumor & Innuendo: Rumblings From the World of Sports
Osborne cornhuskered! A couple of football seasons ago, Nebraska moved into the modern day when they rejected a legacy and hired pass-happy Bill Callahan as football coach in Lincoln. It’s been a rocky start. But those Big Red fans showed last Tuesday they are truly ready to move on. Former pigskin coach-cum-icon, Tom Osborne, lost…
Long ride to freedom
The language being foisted on the debate over Derby cruising has shown a profound range, from righteous indignation to benign denial. Words like “apartheid” have entered the discourse not sideways but head-on, as in accusations thereof, as city and police officials continue to call the lock-down on West Broadway a “success” in unmitigated terms. It’s…
What a Week
Dull man walkingGovernor Ernie Fletcher was indicted in connection with the merit-system scandal that’s plagued most of his term. The misdemeanor charges include criminal conspiracy, misconduct, political discrimination and getting the verbs in his promises to “end waste, fraud and abuse” and “restore hope” backwards. The charges stem from accusations of political shenanigans at the…
Your Weekly Reeder: Arena Authority closed to requests
“Freedom of information is a constant battle, after all, and denial is far too often the norm rather than the exception to the rule, which should be transparency.”—Charles N. Davis, University of Missouri School of Journalism I’m disappointed that the members of the Louisville Arena Authority apparently have no interest in holding Chairman W. James…
Bluegrass Report: Real right-wing conspiracy
As the attention of horse-racing fans turns from Kentucky to Maryland this week, another oddly parallel connection is happening relating to each state’s Republican governors, both of whom are mired in merit-system scandals. While we’re all familiar with last week’s indictment of Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) on political corruption charges stemming from his administration’s manipulation…
The Tear Sheet: If poverty is a disease, it’s catching in Kentucky
“Still I can point to one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the…
Culture Maven: A noteworthy survival in the Gulf
New Orleans JazzFest celebrates city’s spirit despite the scattered ruins Bob’s back at Galatoire’s. Sumptuous and gracefully worn, it’s New Orleans finest old-line eatery. Both survived Katrina. So far. For the last several years, Bob has waited on our gang at an annual Galatoirean feast the night before the first day of JazzFest. That the…
What will the neighbors think?
Any game show contestant takes the audience along for a suspenseful ride in the time leading up to the announcement of the grand prize. Imagine the stiff-grinning host cutting the tension in a booming voice, “You’ve won a free all-expenses-paid trip to Louisville!” What could the winner imagine of this prize — especially if the…
The cover-up always is worse than the crime
After 12 months of secret grand-jury testimony, a spate of search-and-seizure raids in the Capitol and other state government buildings, a steady process of fifth-amendment takers, 13 controversial pardons, untold small fortunes in lawyers fees, and a zillion editorials, the principal combatants in the commonwealth’s humiliating merit-system scandal haven’t budged an iota. To the contrary,…
Fletch wounds?A Look at Anne Northup’s Ties to the Doomed Governor and How They Might Affect Her This Election Year
A snake with a mortal wound can still discharge its venom. This is a natural, proven fact, and for some, a hard-learned lesson. Any properly trained gamesman knows you’ve got to watch the thing if you want to keep from getting holes in your ankles, or some kind of flesh menace from haphazardly spurted animal…
Monster Mash: Governors vs. Attorneys General – Chandler says Fletcher ‘Guilty of Fraud on the Public’
Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s angry reaction to his indictments last week had a familiar ring to anyone who paid attention to the end stages of his embattled predecessor’s tenure. On Friday, Fletcher denounced the indictments as mere political maneuvering by a man — Stumbo — who is widely considered a likely candidate for governor in 2007.…
Aftertastes
Quality of Meal: 3 = Good; 4 = Very good; 5 = Extraordinary. Price Range: $ = $10 or less; $$ = $20 or less; $$$ = $30 or less; $$$$ = more than $30. (Per person for a meal without tip or tax.) HA = Wheelchair accessible. Descriptions are summaries of previously published dining…
LEO’s Eat ’N’ Blog
Derby and Mother’s Day are behind us, proms and graduations are winding up, and we assume that most of us have had our fill of celebratory gatherings and white-tablecloth dining for a while. Let’s give our battered wallets a break this week, as the Eat ’N’ Blog crew fans out over the city to check…
Video Tapeworm: Releases through May 23
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: THE GOEBBELS EXPERIMENT2004; DVD $29.95, UROverrated ham Kenneth Branagh reads from the diary of Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. The Karl Rove of his day, Goebbels was the man who spun his insane boss’ maniacally cruel edicts into palatable — nay, patriotic! — fodder for the masses, cementing his place in…
Arts & Entertainment Listings
Special Events Louisville Urban League — Celebrating 85 years of empowering people, 2006 Diversity Soiree, May 20, Galt House East Ballroom, $200, 566-3417.Jefferson Memorial Forest — Forest Fest celebrates bluegrass music and nature, features food, live music and more, May 20, 11am-8pm, free, 368-5404 or www.memorialforest.com.KY Shakespeare Fest fundraiser — “All the World’s a Stogie,”…
Community Listings
Special Events Friends School — Open House May 17, 9am-2pm, May 18, 9am-2pm, 901 Breckenridge Ln, 899-1822.National Alpaca Show — Hosted by the AOBA, May 19-21, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center, free, 216-831-0440.••River Life Festival — journey from 1852 to the present, May 19-20, 10am-3pm, Cox Park East River Rd. 589-6419.Antique Appraisals — Sam Cox…
Five Important Questions With Dallas Alice
A few years ago, Garth Brooks hosted “Saturday Night Live” and there was a sketch where the country star was sitting around a campfire with a group of real cowboys and describing his live show (wireless headset microphone, being hooked to a cable and flying out over the audience) and then declaring: “I love being…
Club Directory
19th Green 1740 Williamsburg Dr., Jeffersonville (812) 284-9088 19th Hole Pub 5603 Greenwood Rd. 933-4858 717 Studios 717 Market St. 609-9317 1135 S. 7th St. 1135 S. 7th St. 589-4978 A Little Peace Café 1860 Mellwood Ave. 895-3650 Air Devil’s Inn 2802 Taylorsville Rd. 454-4443 Akiko’s 1123 Bardstown Rd. 459-8020 The Alternative 1032 Story Ave.…
Karaoke Korral
WED MAY 17 Akiko’sBrewskees Brickyard Sports Bar Creeker’s Bar & GrillGaslite Tavern Good Times Pub Jim Porter’sJoker’sJT’s Variety Club Mac’s HideawayMain MenuMonon Station New ViewPhoenix HillR Place Pub Reflections Lounge Ro-Joe’s Karaoke BarSeidenfaden Cafe Shooters Sid’s Pub SkivviesSmyrna Inn St. Andrew’s PubSteinert’s T.K.’s Pub Union Station Wick’s Pizza, DixieZaZoo’s THU MAY 18 19th Hole Pub…
Pop on XTC: Willie Wisely gets back to his power-pop core in Parador
I’ve heard it said that bad news is always better received when given by a pretty messenger or placed in an attractive package. Willie Wisely must have heard the same thing, because his most recent record, Parador, is a collection of some of the most heartbreaking stories of lost loves and life’s defeats told through…
God save the King: King Britt and the remix that reincarnated Sister Gertrude
When it began to gain both popularity and credibility about three years ago, the mashup represented a specific kind of cultural revolution: it was, by definition, a mixing of two things never supposed to be fused, a sub-mainstream (and sometimes illegal) appropriation and reformation of popular music. Perhaps the most illustrative example is DJ Danger…
Staff Picks
Thursday, May 18Ellery The roof’s fine at Uncle Pleasant’s — but it wouldn’t be bad if, just for one evening, that weren’t the case. You see, Tasha Golden is a wonderful rainy-day singer. Working with her husband as the duo named Ellery, Ms. Golden lets disappointment and resilience ebb and flow. Meanwhile, her keyboards echo like…
Theater Review – Measure for Measure
Reading Shakespeare can be daunting: The first few pages can seem about as decipherable as Chinese. Even a devotee of the Bard’s works will admit a readjusting of sorts must take place before meaning begins to sink in. Fortunately, plays are meant to be seen, not read, and the body can translate any language. Still,…
Theater Review – The Wizard of Oz
There’s nothing small about the Clarksville Little Theatre’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Community theater is alive and kicking its heels just a short hop across the bridge. Fifty actors (including an adorable ocherese puppy) gave their all in a rousing opening night performance. Although the plot of “Oz” is an American cliché, this…
