The July issue of Louisville Music News is on the street, with Alanna Fugate on the cover.
Here’s a sneak peek at the story.

Denise Porter sent in a batch of photos from the Saving Abel show at Club Oasis from last month. Better late than never.

The manic but insightful Bob Leftsetz does an analysis of how CD sales start … and end.

The annual round of “Did we get any money from the city?” this year left a lot of small arts organizations shocked - rather than getting less - because the pie is smaller - they got nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. The Fund for the Arts, which just posted a one million dollar increase from its fundraising, will pocket an additional $280,000. The Louisville Orchestra, which draws so many to its shows, scores $180,000. The Partnership for a Creative Economy - whatever that is - gets $120,000. Actors’ Theatre of Louisville pockets $59,400 and Kentucky Public Radio and Kentucky Public Radio (Public Radio Partnership) ended up with $75,000. Other organizations picked up smaller amounts.

Off the list entirely was Kentucky Homefront, the WFPK-broadcast radio show, headed by musician John Gage. As a result, Gage has joined forces with Nancy Johnson Barker, producer of the Kentucky Music Weekend show at Iroquois, to stage a joint fundraising event on July 25 and 26, which will feature a paid concert each night. Friday night features Bardstown fingerpicking champion Pat Kirtley; Saturday will feature Tom Chapin, brother of the late Harry Chapin and folksinger of note in his own right. There will be other performers but as of this writing, the lineup is not set. Tickets will be $10 a night.

Whatever your favorite local performing group is that might have been defunded, step up and toss some dollars their way. It’s part of what keeps Louisville weird, even if the Metro government can claim that adjective all to itself. Alternately, put some pressure on your Metro council member to restore some of that funding.

It was bound to happen - gasoline prices are throttling indie tours in the crib. When it costs more in gas than a band will make at a show, there’s no way to stay out on tour. CNN.com Entertainment has a piece on a San Francisco band but it could just as well be someone from Louisville.

It’s hard to find the music items in the Saturday Scene, which has morphed into a “Buy-This” section for the Twenty and Thirty Something female set, so I missed J. L. Puckett column, in which he touts the news that My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges CD debuted at #9 on the Billboard charts plus a bit on Sid Griffin’s book on the “Basement Tapes” recording session, titled Million Dollar Bash. Griffin lives in London, England, these days and I haven’t seen him since his mother’s (Bunch Griffin) funeral a few months back, so I’ll figure that’s why I didn’t have the info.

Marty Rosen got the short straw to review the Melissa Etheridge concert at the Palace on Saturday.

J. L. Puckett has a phoner with drummer Clem Burke of Blondie, scheduled to play at the Kentucky Center on Tuesday.

Brigid Kaelin’s latest project, West 28th Street, got a positive review from C-J Music Writer J. L. Puckett. Bon mots, indeed.

Bonnie Prince Billie a.k.a, Will Oldham has a new CD Lie Down In the Light that’s garnering some reviews. Here are a couple: