Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

• The folks running Spotlight Productions occasionally (okay, most of the time) are late getting concert info to LMN. This month, the show news arriving at the last minute include the annual return of Love Jones from California. The Lounge Lizards of Louisville will play at the Phoenix Hill on December 22 with Cooler.

All you MTV fans should be thrilled to know that "Band On The Run" winner Flickerstick will be at Headliners on December 6.

In the The Show I Most Wish I Could See Dept., former Jody Grind singer Kelly Hogan will open for Alejandro Escovedo at the Phoenix Hill on December 6. Hogan's voice on Lefty's Deceiver really caught my attention before a car crash killed two members of the Jody Grind, resulting in their breakup. She's been working with a variety of artists since, include Will Oldham and has several CDs to her credit. Since I'll be otherwise occupied on that Thursday (damn!), it looks like a trip to ear X-tacy for her new CDs.

Oh, yeah, Escovedo's real good, too.

• Attention songwriters and artists: The Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy^® (The Grammy People) and the Louisville Music Industry Alliance (LMIA) will present "Songwriter Café" in Mom's Music Theatre in Jeffersonville on December 11. The workshop is billed as an opportunity to learn about the art of writing and the business of publishing.

The event will feature an assortment of Nashville music industry folks, including Anita Cochran, Warner Bros. Recording Artist; Pat Higdon Sr. VP/GM, Universal Music Group Nashville; Rivers Rutherford, writer for Universal Music Group (Gary Allan, Clay Davidson, Chely Wright); Karen Staley, writer for Acuff-Rose Music Publishing (Faith Hill, Patty Loveless, Trick Pony) and Jody Williams, President, Jody Williams Music. Nancy Shapiro, Recording Academy Vice President, Southern Region, will moderate the session.

Mom's Music Theatre is located at 1710 E. 10^th Street, Jeffersonville, IN 47130. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the event begins at 6 p.m. It'll set you back $15 for members of the Recording Academy and $20 for non-members.

You can pre-register by email at nashville@grammy.com or send a check to: Recording Academy, 1904 Wedgewood Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212. Call 615-327-8030 for further information or go to http://www.grammy.com/.

• From the Indie-Music.com Indie News. Issue #64, comes these tidbits about various online CD selling services:

"After countless funding denials, beta tests and bizarre technology partner twists, DownSlam is now actively signing unsigned artists and independent labels. DownSlam is an open source music label. Signed artists retain all rights to their name, music, lyrics and other rights. http://www.downslam.com/"

"SoundExchange, record labels & artist groups reach agreement to pay artist performance royalties directly to performers and to change SoundExchange structure; pays $5.2 million directly to artists and labels in historic first distribution http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=29565 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/new_media/newsid_1646000/1646811.stm"

Indie News is a musician's tipsheet of sorts, available for free at www.indie-Music.com. Now you know, kiddies.

• In case you didn't know, MP3.com is now owned by Vivendi Universal. Vivendi owns Universal Music Group, EMusic, and Getmusic, among others.

• Are you a fan of MTV's "Total Request Live"? To find out how our friends the major labels are attempting to stuff the TRL ballot box, log on to this Salon.com article and be enlightened: http://salon.com/tech/feature/2001/08/28/trl/index.html

• From David LaDuke comes this word: his webzine site, BallBusterHardMusic.com, has been given a Golden Web Award by the International Association of Web Masters and Designers (I.A.W.M.D.). The award is given for excellence in design, originality and content. The other site to receive a Golden Web Award? Godsmack.com.

• Leslie Stewart Hears Things I Don't Dept. From our esteemed colleague, we learn of the formation of Blue Sky Kentucky, a new not-for-profit organization assembled by attorney Steve Kriegshaber and headed by event planner Rand Harmon, which is working on staging a major 3-day festival a la the old KFC Bluegrass Festival. Sam Bush plus several heavyweights in the Louisville business community are on the steering committee, which says good things. If you have an interest in volunteer (not-for-profit, remember?), contact Becca Krall at ohbecca26@aol.com . You can also log on to the organization's website at www.blueskykentucky.com.

• Ramcat Studios is moving to a new as-of-yet finalized location(s). Contact Ben Andrews or Sam Gray via the website for more information on the new Ramcat setup.

• KnotRadio.org is a web-based radio station for Indie music. They are soliciting submissions in CD form, including demos and MP3s recorded on CD, in any and all genres. You can check into the submissions section of the website for more info at http://www.knotradio.org or contact: Hotchy Kiene, Music Director. Ph: 480-585-8245. Fax: 480-585-3047. 414 S. Mill Ave., Suite 106, Tempe, AZ 85281. E-mail: hotchman@knotknown.com

Codas

• Ruth Hearin Lamy, 102, died in Flemington , NJ or October 27. Ms. Lamy was a graduate of Louisville Conservatory, where she studied voice and piano. She sang in the Carnegie Hall and Metropolitan Opera Chorus.