Hello, Louisville! This month I'd like to start out by taking a little detour from our regular topic of bands to tell you about a musician I recently worked with. His name is Kory Caudill and on the surface, he is an average 17-year-old high school senior from Prestonsburg, KY with one exception - he is also an expert pianist.

For the past six years, Kory has been a member of the Kentucky Opry and even the seasoned veterans of the Opry are quick to notice that Kory has many amazing skills. Some his most unusual talents are his ability to fluidly play in a wide variety of styles and to play intricate passages with the speed and ease of a player well beyond his years. Combine that with his personal, highly melodic improvisational style and you have one great piano player.

Kory just completed the Governors School For The Arts that offers advanced classes writing, dance, drama, music, musical theatre and visual art. Acceptance to the GSA is very limited and out of 200 students, only eight piano players in the state are chosen for this honor. This year Kory received the Ryan Sink Award, given in memory of fellow GSA student Ryan Sink. The award, in the words of the GSA, represents the "collective contributions and goals of building and sustaining a vibrant and cooperative artistic community." When Kory was asked what it meant to him, he said that it is "given to someone who exemplifies the quality an caliber of students in GSA."

For more information about Kory and to hear a sample of his playing, you can visit him on the web at http://www.lirco.com/korycaudill and if you would like to know more about The Governors School For The Arts, you can visit their website at http://www.kca.org/gsa/ or email them at gsa@Kentuckycenter.org. I'd like to thank Long Island Recording (www.lirco.com), The GSA and Kory himself for providing me with information for this article. We now return to our regularly scheduled article...on with the bands!!

This month I thought I'd bring the rock to ya, so we're going to start out with the 2003 winners of WKQQ Decent Exposure: Circlefour (http://www.circlefour.com). Circlefour hasn't been around long, but have already made quite a name for themselves in the area. Their sound is hard to define precisely. They definitely have the modern rock sound of a Hoobastank or Puddle of Mudd, but the vocals are much stronger than either of the aforementioned bands. Just check out the song "Consequence" on their site for a good example of this and the laid-back groove of the verses in the song "Waste" for some possibly Alice in Chains-inspired riffing. I can see why these guys won Decent Exposure and I can't emphasize enough your need to catch them live (Sorry - I don't have any August dates!) as soon as you can. And if you dig Circlefour, then I know you'll like Beautiful.

Beautiful (http://www.beautifulonline.net) is also a newer band, but this deck is stacked with seasoned musicians including Bobby Burns, formerly of Primer55 and Vlad Parachiv, vocalist for local favorites Anika Minor. What can I say about this band except that they rock hard! One listen and you'll agree that their songs scream out for the radio (that's a good thing, by the way). Whether it's the straight-up rock of "Remember Me" with it's killer harmonies and hooks or riding the wave of the "loud/soft" dynamic in "Don't," with its wall of guitar choruses, Beautiful has what it takes to take it all the way. You can check out Beautiful live on August 1 at the Twice Told Performance Café in Oldham Co.

And now, some shameless self-promotion...

If you're the kind of music fan who craves it louder and heavier than most, then you'll want to check out my band, Skullcap (http://skullcap.indiegroup.com). We bring straight hardcore metal (Check out "Gravelface") mixed with a pinch of groove (or "Forget Me Not") that is sure to get ya lookin' for the nearest mosh pit. We have finished our debut full-length CD "Hatred Runs Deep" and have planned the release around the end of August. Not having played in Louisville for quite a while, I'm glad to announce that we'll be hitting Pappy's Pub on August 16.

That's about it this month, Louisville music fans. If you're a Lexington band, or just a Lexington band fan who wants to get in touch with me, you can get me at thelexscene@hotmail.com. Check back next time when we'll take a look at more of the best bands in Lexington.