Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

• Days of Wine and Rosen. As most music fans in Louisville know, harmonica meister Jim Rosen has lost a kidney to cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. Like too many players, he is without medical insurance. Several events are scheduled to raise money to help him out. It is entirely too ironic that Jim has been a steady supporter of MERF and that MERF can only help some. Go forth to these events and give good help.

There will also be a benefit show for Rosen in Lexington at Blues on Broadway on Oct. 10. Performing will be The Mudcats, the Metro Blues All-Stars, Kelly Richey Band and La Vida Loca. The music starts at 8:00 pm.

• Granted, It's Only Money. The Kentucky Arts Council will conduct a workshop at the Kentucky Center for the Arts on Oct. 5 to introduce their new Program Guidelines and Applications Handbook, which you need to be familiar with if you want to submit an application for various arts activities, including Arts Education, Community Arts, Artist Fellowships and so on. The workshop is free and open to the public.

There will also be workshops on Oct. 2 in Florence and Oct. 10 in Paducah.

Call Lori Meadows, Technical Assistance Coordinator, at 502-564-3757 for more information.

While we're at it, not that applications for the Community Arts program are due on Oct. 15.

• Call your Congressperson today. For those of you not enraged at the government for wasting money on useless things like music and art, your phone call / letter / fax / telegram is needed to let your congressperson know your views, particularly with regard to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The rest of you can be assured that the current Congress is doing it's best to keep Robert Maplethorpe's pictures from ever being shown again and you may go back to sleep.

• West Caldwell, New Jersey Checks In. Tar Heel Pete, a radio personality in the above-noted town dropped Jean a note complimenting the paper. He was particularly high on the bluegrass issue and likes Berk Bryant's column. Thanks Pete.

• We Get Around, Part II. One of Mercury Records' people called and asked if we would send a comp subscription to the high honcho of their West Coast office. He could only get it when he was in the New York office. Sure thing, friends.

• That's Dr. Tim Lake to You. Fans of the banjo will want to get Tim Lake's new CD Jazz with Bluegrass and Blues. Tim called the LMN office the other day to report in on his various activities. We hadn't heard from him since his last appearance on the Homefront show way back when. In the interim, he earned his doctorate, has been traveling all over the planet, or some it seems, and has set up a record company Padraig Records. (What do you do in your spare time, Tim?) His doctoral dissertation has been released on CD as An American Concerto for 5-String Banjo and Orchestra, recorded with the Atlanta-Emory Orchestra. Watch for reviews of his new stuff in upcoming issues.

• The Ursuline School of Music and Drama would like all string players, grades 7-12, to join their new string orchestra. Call Anna Jo Paul at 897-1816 for more information.

• Pickin' Those Strings Dept. Bardstown's Pat Kirtley came in 1st in the annual National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship held at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas on Sept. 14. Kirtley prevailed over 38 contestants and won a Gallagher guitar from J. W. Gallagher & Sons in Wartrace, Tenn. Gallagher makes Doc Watson's guitars. This was his third time to compete in this championship. He placed first and third in his previous attempts. Pretty fair record, eh? Pat has a new CD, Kentucky Guitar, if you want to hear his winning style. It's available at ear X-tacy Records, as well as other record stores around town.

• Gary Brewer and the Kentucky Ramblers performed live on the Grand Old Opry radio show in the middle of September. The television show will be broadcast on a later date.

• Paul McGarry called at the last minute to relay the news that he, Steve Holmes and Bob Rutherford are going to be be gigging as Buster Brown. Their first date in the Louisville area will likely be at the Butchertown Pub during the first weekend in November.

Club News

• Zena's Moves. Mary Jean Zena dropped us a note to say that the popular blues / jazz club will be moving to 122 W. Main Street, with a planned re-opening in mid-November. The last night at the old location was Sept. 23.

• Big Heavy's Blues and Dance Club opened in September at 227 E. Market. Check out the story on page 11.

• The Velvet Rose Supper Club is open at 519 E. Jefferson. See that story on page 25.

Key Changes

• Sally George, Louisville's first lady of dulcimers, died on Sept 1.