J. L. Puckett has a review of the John Prine show at the Palace. Jim James made a brief appearance with Prine on “Paradise,” the first time he’s been onstage since injuring himself in fall onstage.

The Good Folk Fest at the Mellwood Arts Center returns on November 22 and 23, with a long lineup of ‘primitive’ artists and musicians. LEO has the story, focused on the eccentric Daniel Johnston.

‘Bonnie’ Prince Billie a.k.a. Will Oldham, is set to release a new project, Beware, courtesy of Drag City Records, ON mARCH 17. The preview press has some fancy things to say about it:

— “It blooms in low light and cold but thrives in the sun as well, showing enticing spots and eating small creatures as they wander into its jaws.”

— “Where fiddle and steel contribute their rustic timbre alongside guitars and voices, a thickening thud of low tone rolls beneath, giving the record a bottom that’s fun to watch bounce in new clothes.”

— “Song titles suggest half of a heated dialogue, perhaps just one side of a super-apocalypto phone call.”

— “Sometimes all you want to do is f**k.” (Publicist’s asterisks, not ours)

Check the Drag City website for performances around that time.

From the LEO blog: The Ladybirds will play a benefit for Louisville cyclists in hoinor of Jen Futrell, who was killed on September 30 after being rear-ended on Bardstown Road. Details at LEO.

The list of restaurant closures in Louisville grows ever longer each day, as the dismal economy takes its toll. Jennica’s Wine Bar on East Market will join that list on November 29. They have a good-by party planned, as well as a short of list of performers in the interim:

The all-new LEO website, running on Joomla!, looks much better than the old one and is faster as well. This week, they have reviews of the new Lords CD, Fuck All Y’all Motherfuckers; My Darling Asleep’s eponymous release; Broadfield Marchers The Inevitable Continuing; OK Zombie Do The Zombie; the Villiebillies’s newest From the Belly of the Beast; The Muckrakers’ The Concorde Fallacy; Ben Purdom’s Meets the Morning and Scott Mertz and His Panel Of Experts‘ You Wish.

The Courier-Journal’s J. L. Puckett has a big preview of Alanis Morissette’s show at the Louisville Palace on Tuesday.

Your humble editor caught the Squeeze-bot/Java Men show last night at the Pour Haus and I was once again reminded that Louisville music fans are simply over-saturated with music. How else to explain a fairly small crowd for such a show, particularly with the original Java Men, Craig Wagner, Todd Hildreth and Ray Rizzo, on hand? Rizzo, who’s currently living and working in New York City, has adopted a distinctly Rasputin-esque appearance, thanks a black bead that falls a third of the way down his chest, but don’t let that fool you - he beats the skins with a passion and style that’s more Gene Krupa meets Animal from The Muppets - but tastefully and to the point, musically speaking. I’ll upload a bit of video later today.

So what’s with the ‘Vote for Squeeze-bot” title? The band is trying to win an online contest to play at the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass and Blues festival, which comes with a $500 check as well. To vote for the band once a day, vote here. I mean, what’s a Blues and Bluegrass festival without a band that features accordion, banjo, tuba and drums?

The October cover story for Louisville Music News is the Troubadours of Divine Bliss. Check that out, along with all the latest columns, performance and CD reviews in the print edition.

The deadtree copies will be on the street beginning today - later than usual, due to the problems caused by Hurricane Ike.

The is the Original Highlands Festival, with a powerful lineup that include Tift Merritt and Love Jones, among a slew of others. J. L. Puckett at the C-J has a story about it, plus he plugs Grayson Capps and the Stumpknockers, Blue Sky Kentucky’s latest shot at promotion in Louisville.

Jeremy King wants everyone to know that The Dead City Rejects is breaking up; their last show is at Headliners on Saturday.