Courier-Journal Touts courier-journal.com Abbey Road On The River

The C-J’s cover story for this Saturday is a - surprise! - look back at Sgt. Pepper by J. L. Puckett with the required reference to the paper-sponsored event happening on the Belvedere. Puckett, an unrepentent rock ‘n’ roller, rates Revolver and The White Album higher than Pepper.

Of course, the paper is not the only medium with features about the event - all the television stations have crews on hand, with shots of very young boys dressed up as the Fab Four, cranking out cover versions of era-appropriate tunes. The Courier’s coverage includes a page-full of various blogs, photo gallery and tied-in stories from Ric Manning (about The Rutles and a brief interview with Jim James of My Morning Jacket about his memory of Sgt. Pepper.) Plus a linked list of all the stories they’ve run about the event since February.

Elsewhere, Puckett gives a big thumbs-up to the new Wilco CD.

The Flood of Music In Louisville Is A Bonanza For Listeners

This weekend in Louisville is quite packed with live music - The courier-journal.com Abbey Road on the River and the Kentucky Reggae Festival being the two big events, plus the usual array of performers in bars and clubs. Louisvillians used to complaining that there’s nothing to do simply aren’t paying attention.

Remember to put on your sunblock if you go outside and celebrate safely.

Yet More Opportunities To Vote, Hopefully With Good Music

CMJ’s OurStage has announced a music contest that could score you a slot at Bonnaroo and CMJ’s Music Marathon. The rules are familiar; if you’re interested, check it out via video. You can go vote, too.

If country is your thing, then check out “The Road To Nashville” contest has a $50k prize; voting is through the Yahoo.Bix community.

PC World Magazine Editorial On RIAA’s Claim That Radio Doesn’t Sell Records

The RIAA lobbying efforts to get radio’s exemption from performance royalties is drawing fire from some strange sources, in this case, PC World magazine, a publication devoted to matters digital. In an editorial, the mag describes the fight, then notes that RIAA’s claim that it’s only representing the artists is fundamentally bogus, since the artists are the last in line in the payment chain. You can read the article here.

Two Groups Considering Bids

The proposed sale of EMI to the private equity firm Terra Firma has stirred up the dogs; Warner Music Group appears to be readying at least an offer for the recorded music arm if not the whole company, according to The Financial Times, while hypebot reported that “today’s NY Post, former EMI CEO Jim Fifield is readying a bid for the company backed by Corvus Capital Investments and an unnamed Cayman Islands bank.” A subsequent update reported that Corvus announced that they would not make an offer.

Still, the ruckus is beginning to take on the feel of a scavenger assault on a downed moose.

As if you needed a reminder, Lefsetz lays it all out

Bob Lefsetzreally, really despises the music industry for what it does to the artists - and rightfully so. He lays out the reasons why no artists should sign a major record deal. Not that star-struck young rockers will pay the slightest attention - the real reason they wear those baggy pants is so they can drop them in a heartbeat and bend over.

Abbey Road Gets the Double Pump, Courtesy of Corporate Branding

Needless to say, the Velocity, which is the Courier-Journal’s unabashed lifestyle doppelganger, gives the courier-journal.com Abbey Road on the River the full treatment. Written by Joseph Lord.

Lord also has a nice feature on Louisville’s punk pioneer and now singer-songwriter Peter Searcy

The LEO website will be updated sometime this week. We’ll point you there then.

The May 24 show at Gerstle’s will feature Nashville’s Kristen Cothren,by request of several Louisville players, plus Justin Lewis. Show time is 8:30 p.m. and there is NO cover.

River City Blues Band, Cup O’Joe Acoustic, Kathleen Hoye

The post-production master for The Player’s Spot has uploaded more videos from recent Louisville players who’ve appeared on the show. Here’s the list:

River City Blues Band

River City Blues Band - 2

Mickey Clark

Cup O’ Joe Acoustic

Kathleen Hoye

Oh, yeah, your humble editor, too.Paul Moffett

Festival Rebranding By Courier-Journal Not Emphasized

While reading the morning C-J article about Denny Laine’s appearance at the Abbey Road on The River Festival, I noticed that the paper labeled it the courier-journal.com Abbey Road on the River Festival . I hadn’t noticed that change before today, nor had I read or heard any report about the title sponsorship. A bit of searching revealed that the Festival had made an announcement back on February 9, which I missed. A further search in the archives revealed that Tamara Ikenberg had made the announcement in an article about the festival the same day in the Courier-Journal. It was a single, short sentence at the end of the third paragraph. Darn, I must have read right past that. In the depths of winter, such things can be easily overlooked, it seems. It also seems that the paper’s coverage of the festival is now likely to be straightforward hype. It also accounts for why the C-J has been all over the festival as the date approached.

Clearly, I have to be more careful in reading the C-J. Of course, these days, everybody is seeking corporate dollars for every event, so it shouldn’t be a surprise, even if it is questionable from a journalism point of view.