In Music, There Are 31 Days of Christmas

By Bob Bahr

Forget 12 days, the Louisville music scene needs 31 days of Christmas to fit it all in. Appropriately, much of December's music will be made by local groups, who are evidently staying home for the holidays. For example, Christmas night has Nervous Melvin & the Mistakes and Murphy's Law in the familiar confines of Butchertown Pub, the War Hippies in the homey Golden Nugget, and Tempus Fugit biding their time over at Uncle Pleasant's. New Year's Eve, Hopscotch Army and da Mudcats fill the rooms at Butchertown Pub and Uncle Pecos plays — where else? — at the Sahara Club.

Not everyone will be home for the holidays, though. A copula handfuls of national acts sweep through the River City this month, notable among them the psycho dots, Bobby Blue Bland, the Bobs and the Winans. And of course, there's the rightful and requisite dose of Christmas music happening around town.

Mike Bucayu (Kinghorse bassist, Self-Destruct Records emperor-in-chief) has let down his guard and displayed that heart of gold with the organization of a Thanksgiving Benefit for Dare to Care on November 29. Who better to play the all-ages benefit at Tewligans than punk/hardcore players? Bucayu's benefit boasts a top-notch lineup: Crain, Sunspring, Endpoint and Evergreen (formerly Cinderblock). Between sets, local poets will read their works dealing with the homeless issue. Help the good people of Dare to Care help the good people who have no food. Pay $7 or bring S6 and a can of food.

A "Handel's Messiah Sing-Along"comes to Our Savior Lutheran Church on December l. If you'd rather just listen, or you'd rather be downtown than in Hurstbourne, maybe the performance at the Kentucky Center for the Arts is more your speed. Plunk down $11 for Handel's "Messiah" done in the Whitney Hall by the Louisville Bach Society on December 6. Its only performance is at three in the afternoon. The Our Savior Lutheran Church's Sing-Along is free and it's BYOSM (Bring Your Own Sheet Music).

For the patchouli-touched, Jim Morrison was (is) a messiah of sorts. The Back Doors will try to embody his nihilistic spirit in their performance on December 2 at Phoenix Hill Tavern. The band plays Doors songs exclusively, so join the rain parade down to Baxter Avenue — if you're a fan.

The next day, a Thursday, the Louisville Youth Orchestra will present "Deck the Hall – Christmas at the Whitney," a program of Christmas carols arranged by Arthur Harris for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The December 3 show starts at 7:30 and will cost you $7.50,$l0, or $2.50 if you are under 21 or a student.

Bobby Blue Bland is a smooth, idiosyncratic soul singer who could melt the heart of the toughest woman. He comes to Willie's 537 Lounge on December 3. Bland enjoyed his greatest success in the early '60s, with hits like "I Pity the Fool," "Turn on Your Love Light" and "That's the Way Love Is."

As recently as last year, however, WGZB was playing some new material from Bland that rang true. Formula with Herman Anderson will open the show.

Intelligent pop. Rock with a weakness for sweet melodies. Guitar pop laced with catchiness. How do you describe the psychodots? Led by guitar wonder Rob Fetters, the psychodots win fans across a surprisingly wide spectrum. They are coming to Uncle Pleasant's for your pleasure on December 5.

The critics love Blue Rodeo and their classic country-rock sound has gathered fans from their native Canada to the Deep South. See them at Tewligans on December 9.

They're not dead but they are incredibly Dead-like. New Potato Caboose is a band devoted to long extended jams with acoustic touches. The Washington, D. C., band is not a Grateful Dead cover band, although their name comes from an early song by the '60s diehards. Still, if you like Garcia and the boys, you'll probably dig this show. Born Cross-Eyed opens the December 9 show at Phoenix Hill with music very much in the same vein.

It's a tradition, like cranberry sauce. The Highview Baptist Church will once again build the apparatus, string the lights and don the robes for the Singing Christmas Tree, set to perform December ll through December 16. What's Christmas without a touch of the surreal?

Because somebody has to, the Kentucky Center for the Arts is bringing back The Bobs, the world's strangest a cappella group. Believe everything you read, folks. These performers are talented, adventurous and most of all, odd. Their repertoire ranges from Led Zeppelin to '50s do-wop. The Bobs beam down to the KCA on December ll.

Tim Krekel's talent has not gone unnoticed in the past, taking him across the country with Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and his band the Sluggers has enjoyed a measure of success as well. See what Buffett saw in him on December ll at Uncle Pleasant's.

Krekel's competition on the other side of town is the Blue Meanies at Tewligans Tavern. The funk-inf used, horn-accented Chicagoans have just released a new record, so check out the fresh material. That's December ll.

December's Homefront show features Lisa Noe and The Floating Men. Noe is a noted local folk singer and The floating Men make waves in Nashville, where they play alternative acoustic rock with a country tinge. The Floating Men were once known as the Little Saints. Homefront makes its home at the first Unitarian Church, behind the Louisville Free Public Library. The show is on December 12.

The Bellamy Brothers had a string of number one country hits, their best known being "If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me," "Let Your Love Flow," and "Kids of the Baby Boom." Now? Well, now they play for you at Louisville Gardens. December 14 is the date.

Chuck Jackson headlines a Midnite Ramble show at the KCA December 19. Jackson has enjoyed a long career in gospel and soul music, spawning solo hits such as "I Don't Want to Cry" and "Any day Now." Jackson will perform in the comfy confines of the Bomhard Theater.

Mixing modern genres freely (including hip-hop, funk, pop and rock), Sweet Lizard Illtet made a lot of friends last month at their Tewligans show. They return to Tewlies for a double bill with Lexington funksters 10 Foot Pole on December 19.

Indiana rocker Henry Lee Summer boogies into Phoenix Hill Tavern on December 27 for a refresher course on Midwest rock with pop leanings. Summer has an undeniable talent that hasn't properly been tapped yet. And his hit "I Wish I Had a Girl" from a couple years back showed his commercial potential. See what he's up to these days during Dead Week, the restless period between Christmas and New Year's.

"Evita"plays as part of the Broadway Series at the KCA from December 29 through January 3. See this classic again, or get a jolt of powerful gospel and soul from The Winans. This inspirational and talented family of musicians will play Louisville Gardens on the 29th. The concert would be worth the price of admission just to hear them tear up "I'll Take You There."