Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

• Wanted: Skilled, Dependable Audiences Dept. The array of music available to the Louisville music fan this summer has been truly dazzling. National, nostalgic, regional, special interest and up-and-coming acts have been pouring into town. Some weeks it's a case of go out every night and still miss lots of good music.

Howsomever, there has been a noticeable thinness in the audiences. This has been commented on before about Louisville ("Where is everybody?" being the usual form of the comment) and butts up against the other pretty common statement about the Louisville entertainment scene:

"Man, nothing ever happens in this town."

The obvious contradiction is partially explained this way: Louisville audiences are not sufficiently skilled at being audiences. (Their dependability is also open to question, but that's another column.) The first requirement for being an audience member is to show up where there is live music going on. This obvious skill is the single-most overlooked part of becoming an audience member and the one that can be influenced most by publicity.

We clearly need other audience skill improvements in order to keep the music around, since it goes away when not nurtured by the sound of many hands applauding.

While I have one or two answers of my own, I'm really interested in hearing what other Louisvillians have to say about this matter. Write me at LMN, 7505 Cambridge Dr., Crestwood, KY 400014, or call 241-2699 or fax me a note at 241-2291 or leave me a message on the LASC/LMN BBS at 241-3888. (2400,, N, 8,1)

• David La Duke dropped a note mentioning that he has a new tune on the Foundations Forum Compact Disc Sampler. The tune is "Satisfaction: A Stones Tributeis in Down." The '94 Foundations event will be held in Los Angeles on September 8-10. The CD sampler will be given to every industry registrant.

Tunes by Phil Naro and The Yardbirds Experience, both signed to La Duke's SB label, will appear on the upcoming "Powerload" ROK/Postage CD Sampler. La Duke also has a new tune, "Psychedelic Sandwish" on this CD.

• The Velcro Pygmies' Cam Flener faxed us a note recently. (That boy is up-to-date, fer shure.) The Pygs are featured in the commercials for Monday Night Football on ABC. I'll have to look.

Also, Cam asked us to remind readers that the Rough Diamond Music Network will once again have a booth for original music at the State Fair in August. Participation is free. (Tapes are not.) Call 569-1724 for more information.

Also II, Cam plugged the Monday night Local Music Show on QMF 2 105.9, at 7:00 p.m. Keith Sloane and Flener host the program. I like to plug local music shows myself. Listen to it.

• Artists, Start Your Imaginations Dept. Ut Gret is calling for proposals from guest artists to work on a project grant received from the Kentucky Arts Council. The project is entitled "The Phone's for You!" The grant is administered through Artswatch and will fund Louisville's Second Annual New Music Festival. For more information – and there is considerable – contact Gregory Acker at 585-5134 or write to him at: 518 E. Kentucky St., Louisville, KY 40203.

• Better Days Empire Dept. Ben Jones gave us the nickel tour of his expanded (so to speak) record store recently. He now has rooms dedicated to punk & hardcore (The Underground), dance music (The Basement) and rock 'n' roll (the Main Floor). Better Days is located at Bonnycastle and Bardstown, for you non-Highlands types.

• Word has it that James Kottack and Rick Steier have joined Warrant, which is scheduled to play the Tiger on August 6 with Kings X.

• The Louisville Orchestra's Albert-George Schram has accepted the position of Music Director of the Lubbock, Texas, Symphony Orchestra. Schram will continue as Resident Conductor of the LO for the 1994-95 season.

• Mo' Blues and BBQ Dept. Kenlake State park will have their Hot August Blues & Bar-BQ Festival on August 27 and 28. Ko Ko Taylor is the headliner on Sunday. Call 800-325-0143 for tickets and information.

• The International Bluegrass Music Museum has hired a full-time staff person. Dr. Thomas A. Adler, a folklorist and former University of Kentucky Professor from Lexington, has been selected as the museum's Executive Director. Bill Evans, an ethnomusicology Ph.D. candidate from Berkeley, California, is the new Assistant Director.

• We Do it Locally Division. WFPL FM 89 picked up the first place award for Special Events at the Local Public Radio Development Conference, held in San Diego, California, July 14-17. WFPL was recognized for the 1993 Mardi Gras celebration at Lynn's Paradise Cafe. Bob Edwards of NPR's Morning Edition was crowned King of Mardi Gras. (Hey, he signed my t-shirt! The Cajun cuisine was wonnnnnerful!) Good going, WFPL!

Key Changes

• Annie Mae Willis, a blues singer whose stage name was Annie Ophelia, passed away on July 13. Annie Ophelia sang at the opening of Kentucky Center for the Arts.

• New Department Dept. While in the alpha state at the Chuck Mangione concert at the Palace, I decided to add the following section to the paper. For this issue, it will be in this column, but if the response is good, it will be on its own. Club owners with news items and such should call me at 241-2699 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. weekdays.

NiteBites: Club News, Tidbits & Gossip

• Kamran Javid of the Village Pub in Jeffersonville mentioned that the Village Pub's 15th birthday is in August. Happy Birthday, Village Pub.

Kamran also said that Mike Lunsford has joined the Neon Cowboys, the Village Pub's house band.

• Courtland Rose of Jim Porter's said that Jim Porter's is going disco on Tuesdays.(Ooh, oooh, stayin' alive!)

• John Lang of Dutch's Tavern reminded LMN that Shannon Lawson is now singing with the Jim Wilson Project on Tuesdays.

• Paul McGarry called to announce that he will be holding down Wednesday nights at the Blue Bird Cafe with the McGarry Blues Band.