Wednesday, April 25
‘The Cornbread Mafia’
Carmichael’s Bookstore
2720 Frankfort Ave. • 896-6950
Free; 7 p.m.
My favorite story-song is Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” — where the scions of moonshining families learn to switch over to pot growing. Well, if you’ve put your eyes on a newspaper in recent years or read novels in the burgeoning subgenre of rural noir, you know this plot has been playing out for real in Appalachia. Journalist James Higdon has been close to the biggest real-life version of this scenario, and his resulting book, “The Cornbread Mafia,” is receiving glowing reviews. Author Higdon will be signing and discussing the book at Carmichael’s, where he will presumably be much more outspoken than the rural in-the-know Kentuckians who have developed their own version of “omerta” (the mafia code of silence), bedeviling investigators for years. —T.E. Lyons
Friday, April 27
Bacon Ball
Water Tower
3005 River Road • 896-2146 ext. 100
$35 ($25 members); 6-10 p.m.
It’s time again to pig out at the Louisville Visual Art Association’s annual Bacon Ball fundraiser. Your ticket buys an evening of culinary bliss: access to 13,500 bacon bites created by some of Louisville’s top chefs, 800 gallons of side dishes, and two cocktails or beers. There is also a cash bar for those who prefer to get a little more buzzed before taking in the art. Restaurants such as Proof on Main, Zanzabar, and the New Albanian will be serving up the goods to put you in hog heaven. For dessert, The Comfy Cow has stepped up to create a bacon-brittle ice cream. Music and dancing will be available on the back patio, plus fun art activities and a silent auction for gift baskets and piggy banks. All proceeds benefit the JCPS Students Art Supply Fund, Children’s Fine Art Classes (CFAC), and Open Doors. —Simon Isham
Friday, April 27
Sammy Bananas
Zanzabar
2100 S. Preston St. • 635-9227
$5; 10 p.m.
Sammy Bananas is a disc jockey from Brooklyn who has a fairly prolific mixing portfolio available for download via SoundCloud. He spins for Fools Gold Records and, along with contemporaries Cool Kids, A-Trak and Kid Sister, invented the “Hipster Hop” genre for the label. The reviews he’s garnered from various bloggers around the country have raved about his ability to crowd-please. In addition to his stage career, he’s also a proponent of environmental awareness — as a member of DJs Against Climate Change, Sammy and friends have committed not to travel by plane to their gigs. For his Louisville show, he will be heating up the dance floor with AMTRAK and local duo OKDeejays. OK’s Aaron “DJ Narwhal” Chadwell will be another year older on Friday, so head down to Z-bar and wish him a happy birthday. —Simon Isham
April 27-29
‘Apassionata’
Freedom Hall
937 Phillips Lane • 367-5114
$25-$175; various times
Our last “European” Derby Festival was when Queen Elizabeth came to visit in 2007; the 2012 edition renews the tradition by adding “Apassionata” — Europe’s most successful live-entertainment show — to the official lineup for the 138th Derby Fest. More than 40 horses, breeds ranging from muscular Bretons to nimble Freisians, will participate in a new program written specifically for North America called “The Beginning.” The two-hour show will feature stunt riding chosen especially for debut here in the horse capital of the world. The producers have enlisted the artistic guidance of Scott Faris, an award-winning stage director who has worked on shows on Broadway and in Vegas. —Simon Isham
Saturday, April 28
War on Women
Fresh Start Growers Supply
1007 E. Jefferson St.
Free; 2-6 p.m.
Conservative legislators across the country have been busy over the past year trying to suppress a radical fringe interest group that threatens their homespun American values. You know, the majority of the country: women. This retro-patriarchy movement — seeking to turn back access to birth control, defund women’s health clinics, deny equal pay, and take away the basic constitutional right to control your own damn uterus — is being confronted all around the country Saturday by the newly formed UniteWomen.org, including right here in Louisville. Speakers at the rally will include proud Planned Parenthood defender Congressman John Yarmuth, as well as state Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, who has repeatedly spoken out against and voted down Kentucky’s own ridiculous sonogram bill. There will also be plenty of bands throughout the afternoon, food trucks, and smashing of the goddamn patriarchy. —Joe Sonka
Saturday, April 28
Schnitzelburg Beer Walk
Germantown/Schnitzelburg
Free; 5:30 p.m.
As a child, Candyland may have seemed like the ideal neighborhood, with its gluttonous, sugary streetscapes. Chances are your tastes have matured. Perhaps unfettered access to beer has taken priority. If this is the case, Schnitzelburg is the burg for you, and this weekend marks its finest hours. From whenever you feel like cracking one open to whenever you can’t hold down another, enjoy the annual Schnitzelburg Spring Beer Walk. Meet your neighbors. Pop into local bars. Lubricate your belly with delicious beer cheese. Trek down an alley and decipher cryptic graffiti. It’s your day! Have fun! Also, starting at 2 p.m., Nachbar will hold a flea market complete with live music and plenty of crafts, records and mint juleps for sale. —Anne Marshall
Saturday, April 28
‘Metal Up Your Eye’
Rudyard Kipling
422 W. Oak St.
Free; 8 p.m.
The term “heavy metal” has a place in the worlds of chemistry, music and art. Forget the chemistry part for the moment. “‘Metal Up Your Eye’ was started due to a conversation that (took) place a couple of years ago between (me) and (artist) Dave Pollard,” says Eric "Rico” Rakutt. “This show’s purpose is targeted to make people aware of the level of thought that brings these (art) pieces into existence. Many of the clichés about metal are unfortunately what people associate with this type of artistic expression.” Artists in the exhibition are Scott Webb, Patrick Thompson, Linda Carmella, David McDonley, Matt Anthony, Pollard and Rakutt, as well as other special guests. There’ll be a DJ playing, in Rakutt’s words, “easy listening metal, doom, stoner and rock ’n’ roll.” —Jo Anne Triplett
April 28-29
Cherokee Triangle Art Fair
Cherokee Triangle
Free; 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
With all the attention on Derby, I almost forgot about the Cherokee Triangle Art Fair this year. Shame! Good thing I get as many press releases as I do to remind me of such things. This weekend, Cherokee Triangle is the place to be, as more than 240 artists set up booths alongside food and beer vendors. There’s also live music, a handful of informational booths, and a children’s play area. New this year, Bicycling for Louisville, a nonprofit advocacy group promoting bicycles for transportation, will offer free valet parking for bikes. As always, pets, skateboards and Justin Bieber T-shirts are discouraged. And please keep your strollers off my ankles. Thanks! —Sara Havens
Sunday, April 29
Crisis
Bunbury Theater
604 S. Third St. • 585-5306
$5; 6:30 p.m.
Ken Clay is a Louisville arts scene veteran, and he has announced a new jazz and world music series in the Bunbury Theatre at the historic Henry Clay Building. His goal is to provide a space where jazz and world music can be presented as the feature, not as background. His opening concert features the reunion of much-loved Louisville band Crisis. Fans from across the city used to go to Joe's Palm Room in the 1970s to hear saxophonist Bennett Higgins, keyboardist Pete Peterson, guitarists Kevin Keller and Billy Clements, along with bassist Tyrone Wheeler and drummer Jonathan Higgins. The band’s music was always more friendly than the name would imply. Because the musicians have all gone on to other endeavors, Clay says this will be a one-time-only event. Opening the show will be singer Carly Johnson. —Martin Z. Kasdan Jr.
Sunday, April 29
Argonauts
Cahoots
1047 Bardstown Road • 454-6687
facebook.com/CahootsLouisville
$5; 9 p.m.
Newly formed supergroup Argonauts are here to crush your ears with a metallic hardcore assault unheard of since Burnt By the Sun. Seeing as guitarist John Adubato and drummer Dave Witte were both members of that band, it makes sense that there’s a similarity in style. They’re joined by bassist extraordinaire Brett Bamberger and vocalist Chris Alfanso of East of The Wall, with Alfanso replacing original vocalist Dmitri Minakakis (ex-Dillinger Escape Plan). Minakakis left recently, unable to commit to touring. Though Argonauts don’t have any releases under their belt yet, the demo and live material online shows they are already a well-oiled machine of sonic devastation, whether it’s fast technical passages or slower hardcore grooves. Plus support by local yokels Nixon, All Dead, and Ohlm. —Austin Weber
Tuesday, May 1
George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
Derby Fest Chow Wagon
Waterfront Park
Free (w/ Pegasus Pin); 9 p.m.
Do you want the funk? You gotta have that funk? If so, you’re in luck, as the musical master of the craft is heading to Louisville’s waterfront to funk up the pre-Derby masses. The colorful, outspoken and at times politically charged George Clinton will lead Parliament (the funky ones, not those stuffy Brits) in a free night of funk, rock and psychedelic soul that’s sure to make you dance off the corn dog and elephant ear you washed down with several sudsy adult beverages before the show. Now say it with me kids: Bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah! —Sarah Kelley
Through May 12
‘Wake the Sleeping Birds’
Swanson Contemporary Gallery
638 E. Market St. • 589-5466
“I did not begin by saying ‘I want to be a Symbolist,’” says artist Laurie Doctor. “I didn’t even start out wanting to paint.” Those words were my introduction to her work. Doctor, showing for the first time in Louisville since her move here from Boulder, Colo., perhaps can be best described as a poet who paints. The almost 30 paintings in the exhibition express her wish to “communicate moments of fluidity between this world and the world of dreams. I want to share the sense of confirmation that happens when a dream steps right through the daytime door. I am no longer interested in being representational. It is the attempt to discover what the painting is trying to be.” —Jo Anne Triplett
