Cynthia Plaster Caster at LOT tomorrow

the Infamous artist know as Cynthia Plaster Caster has been casting molds of rockstar dicks since the days of Jimi Hendrix and will be showing her endowed collection for the first time in Louisville at Land Of Tomorrow gallery; opening tomorrow night. 
as a special pep-rally, Cynthia will be a guest on  ARTxFM tonight, July 31st, at 10 PM.  stream the interview here: artxfm.com

Last Week of Fundraising for Louisville Zombie Attack

Louisville Zombie Attack comes up every year on August 29th, rain or shine, weekend or weekday since it's inception 9 years ago. Beginning in 2005 with just 100 or so zombies, last year saw over 15,000. No one could have guessed it would grow this big, but as it has it still remains a free event. The organizers want to keep this free but face mounting costs as the crowd grows, and are asking for donations to help offset some of these costs. the Crowd-funding campaign ends August 3rd and is supported by Rockethub. please visit the site here.

garyquick.com

Zombie Attack 2013: 

8/29 Pre-party at Back Door 6-8 pm 

Walk Launches from Mid-City Mall 8:29pm

Main Event at Monkey Wrench 9pm with Movies, Costume Contests and music

Bands include: The Revenants, Vice Tricks, All Dead, and more

Forecastle 2013 Photo Overview

Jeni's Ice cream from Columbus Ohio, and Heine Bros' Streamline were big vendor hits this year.

slight chaos on Saturday when Metro-safe called for evacuation. 

The Flaming Lips on the Boom Stage.

Wayne Coyne 

Class barriers still abound in the VIP section: air condition, free ice cream and swanky restrooms.

Matt Weir making good use of the one of dozens of full mattresses in the VIP section. 

El-P and Killer Mike doing their best on the Red Bull stage, inconveniently located under a steel and concrete overpass. 

on Sunday the Art Wall was cut up and sold per Sq. foot. 

Robert Plant playing before the severe rainstorm halted everything for an hour.

It isn't a Fest without mud play.

Datsik 

staff keeping order;Tennessee flag in the background.

Beer slingers at the Louisville Vintage Motorcycles tent.

Forecastle 2013 Day 3 Review

         

         

         On day three of the Forecastle festival, things kicked off with a performance by The Wild Feathers on the WFPK stage with Tennis picking up around 2:45 to bring their slightly-reminiscent-of-No-Doubt sound to a scorched waterfront. Temperatures were high, but things really picked up when Grace Potter and the Nocturnals took the Mast Stage, opening with Stop the Bus from their '07 album, This is Somewhere. The Nocturnals played through a lot of their self-titled album and The Lion The Beast The Beat for their set and, while I didn't expect too much from them, I have to say their leading lady can tear a guitar up. The band even covered Hank Williams' Devil's Train halfway through their set while the audience was in full participation.

         I'm not entirely sure anyone knew what to expect when Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters sauntered out onto the Mast Stage, but  I'm certain that nobody was disappointed in the music. The band got through nine songs, including four Led Zeppelin tunes, with Plant sounding nearly as good as he did the first time he sang Black Dog. The nostalgia of the old hippies in attendance didn't last long, as rain blew in, forcing a very angry group of British men off of the stage.

         Thousands of fans gathered under the overpass to seek shelter from the rain that started during Robert Plant's set, forcing the band off stage. The rain continued for nearly a half an hour before crews took back to the stage to remove the tarps they had set down to protect the musical equipment. As soon as the rain let up, the crowds rushed back out to get as close as they could for the Avett Brothers, who started an hour later.

      

         Despite earlier cancellations and thousands of soggy shoes, The Avett Brothers started on time to dive head-first into an energetic and audience inspired performance. Taking songs from their entire discography, the band hee'd and hawed and jumped up and down, taking breaks occasionally to cover traditional songs like Just a Closer Walk With Thee and Blue Ridge Mountain Blues. The music stopped at eleven o'clock on the dot, just as scheduled. But after only five minutes backstage, the boys came back out to thank the audience for "using their love to push the rain away" and played a four song encore that began with Townes Van Zandt's No Place to Fall and ended with their own fan favorite I and Love and You.

         

WIRE tonight

Don't forget! 70's punk (and then Post-Punk) group WIRE  is playing tonight (with NATIVES) at the Clifton Center (2117 Payne Street). Starts at 8pm. $20 at the door.

Wire's 'Heartbeat' from Chairs Missing (1978)



Big Black's cover of 'Heartbeat' from Pigpile (1992) (recorded during 1987 European tour).
 fun (personal) fact, the first show I saw at Clifton Center was Shellac (with Steve Albini from Big Black).

Meet me at the Waterfront: Logan's Day 2 Review

The first show I saw on Saturday was Louisville’s own 23 String Band, who came out on stage to the lovely Marion Dries of 91.9 WFPK announcing “The 23 string band has informed me that they have added more strings, free of charge for the Forecastle audience.” I met with Scott Moore, fiddle player for the band, under the conditions of our previous interview, and he’s just as cool in person as he is on phone interviews. I was told that 23 string is working in studio right now for a new album.

            Following a suggestion given to me in the press tent, I did end up wondering over to the Foxygen show and was pleasantly surprised. Their psych-pop sound was a relief to hear as the four piece rocked the socks off of the crowd with great confidence. Later in the set Sam France broke the barrier, climbing into the crowd to sing an entire song. Their fuzzbox fueled guitars and time signature jumping rhythm section tied the sound together to deliver a grand performance to the Forecastle audience.

            After Foxygen finished their set, the grounds were evacuated due to a storm that was rolling in from the west with seventy mile winds and dime sized hail predicted to hit the city of Louisville. Hordes of attendees were set loose on the downtown streets, filling bars, restaurants and parking lots evenly. A little rain sprinkled over the city and the grounds were opened back to the public.

            Do you remember the cute girl from high school who wore floral skirts and started a band for the talent show where everyone found out that she shreds on a Stratocaster? Well some boy in Wales is kicking himself for never asking her out right now, and 37 Flood is right there with him, because she grew up and started the aptly named Joy Formidable. The Welsh rock trio had a sound as big as the river and as loud as the Fjords in a hurricane. Ritzy Bryan (the trio’s guitarist and lead vocalist) couldn’t sit still as she ran back and forth from the drum kit to the bass rig as she played her heart out, breaking those of all in attendance as she wailed through their hour and fifteen minute long set. The performance came to an appropriate halt as she smashed her guitar on the amps like a true grunge veteran.

            The highlight of the day was inarguably the Flaming Lips’ set. The band took the light covered stage to open with crowd favorite Look… The Sun is Rising through their new album’s title track and into The W.A.N.D., Coyne clutching a baby doll wrapped in strands all the while, kissing and rocking it to sleep. The band emphasized throughout that this was  “the perfect fucking night” for a Flaming Lips show, with Wayne shining a handheld lamp on the audience deemed “the pot smoking light.” He was dressed like he bought his suit from David Bowie's garage sale. 

            If you’re a band with the reputation that the Lips have, it’s really easy to tour promoting your current album, but that’s not what the Flaming Lips are about. The band played six tracks from The Terror, and two from Embryonic (Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast, and Silver Trembling Hands). Not only did they play from all three albums from their famous trilogy (including the obligatory Do You Realize), but they went as far back as to grace the audience with Unconsciously Screamin’ from their 1990 release In a Priest Driven Ambulance and a cover of Devo’s Gates of Steel.

            Overall, the evacuation was inconvenient for everyone, but who cares? The festival staff was trying to keep everyone safe and none of the performances were cancelled as a consequence. Day 2 in general was the highlight of my Forecastle experience, regardless of the overlap.

John's Forecastle Day 2 Review

Saturday at Forecastle could almost have been called Crazy-fest for all the raucousness, some planned some not, that filled the entire day.
For me the day started about 2 pm when I showed up to try and sneak into The Flaming Lips press interview.. but as my Press Pass only got me into the Festival and no where else I was turned away (which I'm not complaining, compared to the big time press agents covering the Fest, it is kind enough that the Forecastle peeps even gave us a Junior Press Pass).
But shortly after this Metro Safe decided to evacuate the grounds due to threatening weather, which turned  out to be only a threat with no real punch, but better to be Metro-Safe than sorry.  The downside was that after the evacuation there were thousands and thousands of people still exposed to the elements wandering around downtown with no where to go (including the 37flood team).

displaced Forecastlers spilling into the streets during the evacuation

After an hour of evacuation and an hour of re-entering the metaphorical ship had righted it's self but with a little confusion as to what-where-who was playing and when.  But this set back was a blessing as my afternoon was freed up to catch the entire Freakwater set. The last time I saw them play was at Mercury Paw waaay back, and they haven't missed a beat. It was a great trip down memory lane, and great to know these guys (mostly girls actually) still have a following of die hard fans.

Freakwater of the WFPK stage

After freakwater was the onslaught of overlapping headliners: Jim James, The Flaming Lips, and The Black Keys all playing over top one another. with the 3 biggest names of the fest, I have no idea why these bands were not spaced out over the 3 days. on Friday I left after Big Boi ended at 9pm because the last band was The String Cheese Incident which isn't my cup of tea. (Sunday's Headliners are Avett brothers and Animal Collective, and the latter canceled).

Regardless, Jim James being the top notch performer, put on one hell of a show mixing My Morning Jacket songs with his Solo songs along with crowd favorite covers (He ended the night with Let It Be). On stage with him were Louisville favorites like Kevin Ratterman and Dave Gibbons drummer from Month Of Sundays.

Jim James Band

After Jim James wooed the crowd I caught some of the explosion that was The Flaming Lips, it would have been great to see the whole show, but when acts are scheduled on top of each other a man has to choose, and I chose Louisville natives... and I stand by it.

The Explosion that was The flaming Lips

I did see The Black Keys, which was an energetic trip across their entire catalog, which was great for folks like me who kept up with them for their first 3 records and then trailed off... They did have a second guitarist, a bassist, and a keyboard player which surprised me.   The first time I saw The White Stripes play with a bassist I was a little shocked, but playing live means bands get a chance to do things a little differently.  

Because of the evacuation the schedule was kicked back an hour which meant The Black Keys, being final band of the night, played for maybe 30 shorter than planned, but this was no ones fault.. when the city permits office says you end at midnight, you end at midnight (actually the Keys snuck past this by about 15 min..  but if they hadn't there might have been a riot). 

and that was DAY TWO!

Bob Mould Band Review

         When the Bob Mould Band took the Boom Stage, it was easy to tell that members of the audience had been with the frontman since the years of Husker Du, through the pop-fueled days of Sugar, and past the ’08 release of District Line and 2009's Life and Times. The band pounded through the first half of the set with the stamina of a teenager, pounding through track after track before apologizing openly to Louisville for his eight year absence.

           

         As if Mould’s own punk/indie rock reputation weren’t enough, joining him on stage to make the band complete were Jon Wurster and Jason Narducy, rhythm section of Superchunk, working with him to make one of the closest knit three piece bands around. Wurster showed his punk chops have not been lost over the past few years joining Anti-folk band The Mountain Goats on stage. Mould remarked that the band had been together for five years, nearing the mark set by Husker Du for the longest time Mould has ever spent with a single band. It was obvious why they’ve stayed with each other.

Their stage presence was full of energy as the aged punk rocker was well aware of the loyal fan base in front of him. However, the band’s setlist consisted mainly of tracks from their new release, Silver Age. Overall the Bob Mould band put on a fantastic performance, but the overflow of current material in the sea that is the frontman’s catalogue led me to believe that they were selling something.

John's Forecastle Day 1 Review

For anyone keeping track, Thursday I listed my hopes and concerns about this year's Forecastle, in What To Expect When You're Expecting (A Big Weekend). And now just a mere few hours after DAY 1, while lying in bed yawning and writing to you, I can I say I had a great time so far, and was more than pleasantly surprised when It came to some of my concerns.  The four stages were closer together, making it easier to run from one act to another.
Also in the past I had issues with the No Outside Water  Allowed; all but one park water fountain was turned off, and a 12oz bottle of water cost $3 (and drink tix came in $10 packs).

View from Forecastle's one water fountain in 2010

This year I was pleasantly surprised to find a free water station where anyone could fill up any container they brought with them. Of course it doubled as a sales vendor offering up Camel Bak hydration systems; but i'll take a win where I see one.

View from Camel Bak's 'Freshly Filtered' water Station this year 

Instead of a local stage this year they have a WFPK stage, and it broadcast live on 91.9 for those Louisvillians who may have not been able or afford to see the fest. Granted the headlining bands where on the other larger stages (and therefore were not broadcast), the WFPK stage held mostly hometown heroes (The Pass, Night Beds, Moon Taxi).
The first band to kick off the WFPK stage was Louisville darlings The Pass. I had actually been looking forward to seeing this performance due to rumors of special guest appearances, and they did not disappoint.

 The show began with an explosive version of Prince's I Would Die 4 U with guest vocals from Sarah (of The Ladybirds), J Perry (of The Deloreans) and Scott Carny (of Wax Fang), and they all returned with local hero Jalin Rose a little later in the set for When Doves Cry. I wonder if this wasn't a small hint from The Pass to the curators of Forecastle that more local artists needs to be included (the number of local bands being about 5 compared to 2010's  25).  It was a great show all around with some of Louisville's finest representing.

The Pass with J Perry, Scott Carny and Sarah Teeple

Another of the area's favorites,Houndmouth, were slated for the WFPK stage but got moved to the 'bigs' (due probably to they're recent explosion on the national level and also to some of the Forecastle headliners canceling at the last minute such as Animal Collective).  I caught the tail end of their show on the main stage (mast stage) but couldn't get very close due to the massive crowd that had showed up to cheer them on. So it shouldn't be a surprise that after their show I met them and had no idea who they were. I saw Louisville champion Sean Bailey (Louisville Music Culture) talking with some folks about a very strange vegetable drink that was available at Forecastle: Carrots, Ginger, and an entire jalapeno. A very lovely girl (who as it turns out is Katie Toupin the keyboardist) said despite it not being pleasant she couldn't stop drinking it and insisted I try hers, which I reluctantly did.. and i gagged and said it tasted like spicy dirt, all had a laugh.  It's nice to see hometown brothers and sisters do well, and maintain a humble personality to boot.

The Best part of Day 1 for me was BIG BOI on the boom stage. Before the show a large throne was placed in the middle of the stage and a long intro summoned Big Boi who seemed to be taking his time, which caused some speculation.. but when he did appear he had two crutches and a massive full leg brace on. "Don't know if y'all heard but had surgery six weeks ago.. getting stronger by the minute, but wouldn't miss Forecastle for the world" brought massive cheers from the crowd. He went on to explain that after sitting around watching TV after the surgery made him realize he needed to get back to work. He even did a call and response with the crowd, that was a message for himself: "Stop Watching TV! Bitch read A Book! Stop Watching TV! Bitch read A Book!" Even confined to his throne with his leg elevated Big Bio delivered with enthusiasm. In fact the entire stage was filled with singers, dancers, and musicians.. and children.. who all seemed very excited to be there. I can't imagine the show he puts on when he is fully mobile.

keep that leg elevated

 You know it's a good time when the folks who have to be there, such as the EMTs and stage security, are enjoying themselves! Watching the EMS team sing along and dance was great fun! And that was DAY 1!

What to expect when you're expecting (a big weekend)

Mucca Pazza @ Forecastle 2010

Here we go, this weekend marks the biggest music event of the summer. I went last year just for one day, The girl I was seeing wanted to see Beach House, and a very nice person donated a ticket so i could join her. In 2010 the Forecastle peeps were kind enough to give us press passes and we covered it extensively (day one review, Day two review, Photo review, as well as previews and spotlights)   It was a lot of fun, and we all enjoyed running around playing Journalist. I really enjoyed the amount of local acts as well as evergreen acts like Devo and Cake mixed in with the popular acts you expect at a fest like Beach House, as well things like Bassnectar that i don't understand at all but consistently drew the biggest crowds.  The best time for me was running into friends and getting to talk with our local music heroes. After all this is what a home town fest is all about. But those of us who have supported Forecastle over the years have seen many changes since the beginning (back when it was free and not $180).
as I mentioned in  Memory Of A Free Festival  I had a few issues with Forecastle in 2010. I mentioned things I really liked such the over 25 local bands playing that weekend, but wondered why they were exiled in the far reaches where many people didn't wonder into. I proposed why not make every stage a main stage where local bands could play along side headliners; which is exactly what Forecastle is doing this time, but the number of local bands is only about 1/5 of the 2010 line up.
I also thought the Art and Activism was all but non-existent. the following year Forecastle launched "The Forecastle Foundation." It's mission being "to preserve the final remaining areas of extreme biodiversity that are among the most threatened on the planet." The website says in 2013 they "will contribute to up to two global hot zones." we will have to see how this plays out, but it's good to know they are still keeping Activism somewhere on the map. As for Art, they have invited artists to design posters for individual bands and displaying them at the fest. The few I have seen (by Mad Pixel ) are pretty nice and I am looking forward to seeing this show, but I haven't seen any other Art events listed or off the wall events like they have had previously like Mucca Pazza or Cirque Berzerk. 

But we might be kidding ourselves in thinking this a "Louisville" fest for us instead of for 'summer fest hoppers'. With the addition of AC Entertainment the focus has lead to more "Festival" type bands like String Cheese Incident and Flaming Lips, but there are still some great surprises on the roster that I am excited to see like Freakwater and Killer Mike.
Maybe it is time for me to come to terms that Forecastle is no longer a Louisville Fest but now a Fest in Louisville, and be happy about that. I am still surprised at the  price gouging and lack of re-entry at the gate, but these are norms in the Big Time fest world, but JK seems to want to hold on to the original theory in some respects so who knows.. maybe next year they will take some of these concerns to heart too.

Interview: Scott Moore of 23 String Band

37: So you guys have a new album since the last time you talked to us, Catch 23, when did that come out, how’s it being received?

Scott: It came out in Fall 2011, it’s been received really well. Really positive reviews, it’s been played on the radio all over the world, it debuted at number nine, I think, on the U.S. Folk charts. We’ve sold a lot of them. People seem to like it.

37: I gotta’ say, I’ve heard a lot of Bluegrass bands in my day, but one thing that I think is really special about your sound is that you guys have some intangible element of really hard rock n’ roll that’s kinda’ hidden in the works, How do you pull that off? Where does that come from?

Scott: Oh man. Part of it’s just the music that we all enjoy. Obviously, we all listen to really different kinds of music. To answer your question, I grew up listening to a lot of 60’s and 70’s rock n’ roll, that’s what my dad would have on the radio and I always loved that music. I grew up with that even more than Bluegrass and Folk, even though I play in a bluegrass band.

I think that’s kind of true with all the guys. Several of us have played in rock n’ roll bands over the years and we’ve all come to bluegrass in our own way. On the one hand, we’re all from Kentucky and we all love the traditional music of the region, but on the other hand we have a lot of different influences. We’re all younger guys who came of age in the 90’s and I think almost everybody who came of age in that time gets excited about rock n’ roll.

            But also from a technical perspective, we have a lot of focus on energy. Early on we’d go out to shows and play, and the one word that keeps coming back to us throughout the years no matter who we’re playing to is “energy.” So we’ve always tried to put on a good show and known that that was one of our strong suits. We like to be a little edgy, which is similar to rock n’ roll.

37: This is a really big month for you guys. You’ve got Forecastle coming up, you’ve got the Grey Fox and Bowery Electric all in the next couple weeks. Are you excited for that?

Scott: *laughs* Is Bowery Electric still on our website? We actually had to cancel that show but we are gonna’ be in New York for the first time, so that’s exciting. We’ve got a couple shows there. We’re playing at the Living Room and the Jalopy Theatre in addition to the Grey Fox Festival which is a little bit north of the city. Kinda’ upstate. So yeah, it’s exciting. We’ve had the opportunity to travel the mid-south and over to the Rockies and we usually do about two or three trips a year where we’ll take a week or two and go out on the road.

            We’ve got three guys in the band with full-time day jobs that they’ve had for a long time, a lot longer than they’ve been in this band, and another guy who’s going back to school so that makes it hard to get out on the road for any length of time. Any time we get to travel, I consider myself fortunate and I’m pretty sure everyone in the band does. Going to New York is going to be a lot of fun. I grew up outside of the city and our Bass player got his Master’s Degree in the city. So it’ll be a little bit of a homecoming for me and Marty, and none of the other guys have ever been. It’ll be exciting for everybody for different reasons, I think.

            Forecastle is obviously gonna’ be a lot of fun. I’m stoked about all the other bands on the bill. I’m stoked about all the bands that I do know and excited to see a lot of the bands that I’ve never heard of. Hopefully, I’ll come away with some new favorites.

37: That brings me right into my next question. What bands are you specifically looking forward to seeing at Forecastle?

Scott: I don’t have the bill right in front of me, but I know I’m excited about someone everyone else in the universe is excited about, which is The Black Keys. These days, they’re killin’ it. I’m looking forward to that, because I’ve never seen them before.

            Dawes is another band that I’ve never seen live, but I fell in love with their first album. I’m not as familiar with their stuff since then, I’ve heard some of it on the radio. But I’m a really big fan of their harmonies and their sound and their songwriting.

            My girlfriend turned me on to Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I’m a fan of their lyrics and songwriting

            I’m also excited to see Old Crow Medicine Show. Obviously everybody in a sting band would be interested to see their performance, I think. They’ve helped open a lot of doors with this younger generation with this gradual movement that all of a sudden string band music and Appalachian music and just Folk music in general has kinda’ become cool. It was always cool, but people have been able to find out about it because of groups like Old Crow Medicine Show. The genre in general has benefitted from them and it’s fun to see their songs.

            Flaming Lips are always killer. I saw them when we played Forecastle 2010 and that’s when Wayne Coyne went out into the audience in that giant balloon and they had a crazy light show and all that stuff. I’ve not heard their new album, but I understand that it’s kinda’ stripped down a little bit more. Just kinda’ old fashioned rock n’ roll… as old fashioned as The Flaming Lips get. I’m really looking foreward to see what they can do without all the bells and whistles. Although that was a lot of fun too.

37: Yeah I’m really excited for them too. I’ve been a fan ever since I was an angry teenager and still haven’t got to see them yet.

Scott: Oh! I played on Jim James’ record and I got to see him and his band when they played at the Brown Theatre in Louisville and I’m looking forward to seeing how their sound has evolved. That was one of the first shows on their tour. I think they’ve come together a little bit more since then.

37: When’re you guys going on?

Scott: We will be playing at 3:30 on Saturday. 3:30 PM on the WFPK stage and we might be able to wiggle into a slightly earlier time slot and just play for longer. We’ll definitely be playing by 3:30 and it’s possible that we might start playing before then.  So I’d suggest getting there a little early and finding a nice spot in the grass to cheer us on. We’d definitely appreciate it.

37: For people coming into the city for the festival, what is your favorite place in Louisville to get a bite to eat?

Scott: Wow. Man, that’s a tough question. I’m a foodie. I love cooking and eating good food, and Louisville is… it’s almost a cliché to say it at this point, but Louisville is a great food town. Especially for its size, it’s got so many good places to eat.

            Man, that’s a tough one. That’s way tougher than any musical question you could ask me.

37: Well what’s a really good meal to have in Louisville?

Scott: I mean, you can’t go wrong with… um… can I give you three?

37: Yeah that’s fine, give me three.

Scott: I’ll just stick with downtown ‘cause Forecastle is downtown. Mayan Café… Fuck. I’ve got a soft spot for Harvest because I used to work for the owner. I worked on his organic farm for a year. Then I worked for his company called Grasshopper which helps grow good, natural food and sell it to restaurants in Louisville and elsewhere. It’s great food, great food, and a great… cause is the wrong word, but I think it’s important.

            I hate to go Latin again, but I’m a big fan of El Mundo, ‘cause they’ve got killer margaritas and the food is really good. It’s a fun vibe. It’s one of my favorite places.

37: So Mayan Café, El Mundo, and Harvest?

Scott: Sure, I’ll go with those. I could give you ten more in a heartbeat. *laughs*

                                       Note: Scott emailed me later to add: 

We partnered with Rye on Market last year and came up with the Back Porch Sessions, a four-month residency. It was a blast, and we had a great time collaborating with some very special guests too. The food was amazing. Thought Rye should probably be on that list too. (Holy Grale, Silver Dollar, Roots, Queen of Sheba, Kashmir...I could go on...)

Let me know if you need anything else. See you at Forecastle!

Cheers,

Scott

Editor's Note: Logan Nichols is an English Major at Berea College joining 37Flood for this year's coverage of the Forecastle Festival. He is very excited about this. If you see him around this weekend, feel free to say hello. He likes strangers. and most likely beer too.

Interview: Will Roberts of The Pass

37: it looks like you will be kicking off Forecastle this year, first band on the WFPK stage, how does that feel?

Will: Get the party started right!

37: The Pass is one of only a handful of local bands asked to play this year, how do you feel about being in the select few?

 Will: We're honored for sure. Forecastle is a great time and were looking forward to it. We'll bring our "A game".  It is surprising though with the abundance of local talent and great musicians that there aren't more locals on the bill.  

37: Agreed. any surprises in store for this performance?

Will: Yes. We go hard or go home and there's no better place to go hard than a musical festival in your hometown. Got some cool stuff planned. 

37: this isn't your first time playing this fest, what were some effects of playing before?

Will: Definitely gained some exposure in the past. It's a great place for people who don't normally attend your shows to check it out.

37: who are you looking forward to seeing at Forecastle? I'm really looking forward to Toro y Moi, Kurt vile, Alabama shakes, and Robert Plant. Amtrac is a buddy of ours too that throws down so people should check him out. And I'm a long time Flaming Lips fan. Damn, I'm going to be busy this weekend. 
37: what else is on the horizon for you? 

Will: NEW MUSIC! New EP hopefully out before this summers end. And I know people say this but seriously I think these are the best songs we've written. We'll be doing some new stuff at Forecastle. 

Thank you sir

Will:Everybody where your sunscreen!

Cropped Out 2013

Our favorite Louisville DIY underdog music fest has just announced it's line up! Cropped Out is a festival championed by local record label Sophomore Lounge. We are big fans of these guys and have reviewed many of their offerings in the past. you may not have heard of many of these bands, but don't let that stop you; it's the heart of their work that has grabbed us over the past few years. as their press release says: "What our festival intends to define is a renewed sense of enthusiasm about Kentucky’s cultural offerings by pairing some of our favorites from the Bluegrass State with similarly progressive and expressive examples from alternate alleys of the world." These guys are also the heroes that are bringing us WIRE on July 18th at the Clifton Center. 

interview: John King (is back in town for summertime fun)

37: You've been gone awhile.

John king: You said it. I moved to Berea Ky in 2011.

37: just after the end of the Louisville Is for Lovers Valentine’s series. Was that on purpose?

John king: somewhat. I was really hoping to stay in town and continue doing projects full force. But even after a decade slinging records and putting on events I still couldn’t figure out how to make money. I’ve never been much of a business guy, so I always had to work on the side. After the economic crush of 2008 finding work got tough. At the end I was doing temporary work in warehouses, 7pm-5am. It was rough. So I decided apply for work across the globe and take the first thing that came along.

 37: what types of work did you apply for?

John king: I looked for work in my skill set, which there isn’t a whole lot out there, but lots of people wanting the work. I applied for music industry jobs, mostly writing. There was a job producing for a record label in Australia. But they decided in the end that bringing in an American was risky. They said in the past Americans tended to go back home. But they represented a lot of US bands including Louisville bands like My Morning Jacket and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, so that might have helped me from being too homesick.

The first solid YES I was offered was a full scholarship to Berea College. I was also given a job at the Berea College Sound Archives. They have the largest collection of non-commercial traditional music, and I work mostly in that.

37: So in some way you are still working in music?

John king: Oh, yes. It’s actually not so different from what I did with the Valentine’s series. I go through the recordings and pick out a good sampling and create specific collections along with biographies I write and put it on our online library.

37: and how are you adjusting to school life?

It’s tough. I’m a Louisville boy, you know. But I’m starting my 3^rd year in the fall so it’s slowly getting easier. I didn’t expect college to completely alter my life, but hoped it would at least give me a few years of gainful employment until I figure out how to pay the bills.  The school it’s self is interesting. It’s been around since before the civil war, and has always been free to Kentucky and Appalachian students that show promise but without means to attend to school. But they can only accommodate about 13% of applicants so I’d say my biggest complaint is that they aren’t pulling a DMX and opening up shop all over the country.

37: The Ruff Ryders’ Anthem. Classic.

John King: Yeah, “It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot” is one of my favorites. “How’s It going Down” is always a great go-to tough guy love song.

37: agreed. What’s that guy up to these days I wonder?

John King: I don’t know. I think since his jail stints he has been performing some.  I sorta met him once. In 2004 I was living in Brooklyn and was walking down the street with a friend and he said “look it’s DMX” and there he was standing in the road wearing only a pair of rubber wader overalls. It was interesting. I said ‘Hey DMX!’and He might have nodded back us intentionally.

37: So, what have you been up to this summer?

John King: Good question. I have been in Louisville mostly. It’s really the first time I’ve spent any amount of time here since I left. I was here for a few weeks to get Zombie Attack together last year in between summer school, but this year I opted to do an internship based in Louisville so I could be home for a while.  

37: What’s the internship entail?

John King: I am working with Magnolia Photo Booth Co. along with a grant from Berea College to travel across the Southern Appalachian Mountains with my buddy and Magbooth founder Daniel Sanders taking portraits for the College Archives. They have a Volkswagen Westfalia that we sleep in and is also outfitted with a photo booth and printing station. It’s pretty fun and we document it on our travel blog. We have been all over; Asheville NC, Appalachia VA,  New River WV, Black Mountain KY, Clinch Mountain Tenn. To name a few.. 

Hatfield and McCoy fest in WV

37: Seems like fun. And quite amount of work. Anytime for Louisville?

John King: Ha, yes. Since I haven’t been back in so long, I wanted to make good use of my time at home and do as much as possible. We have been cooking up some new exciting releases at Louisville Is for Lovers including a new full length album by Team Totoro in August and a ‘Louisville Is For Covers’ album for the 20^th anniversary of the Palace Brothers ‘There Is No-One What Will Take care Of You’ in the fall.

37: That’s quite a lot.

John King: yeah, well I have to make up for lost time. I was hoping to keep more of a presence when I moved to Berea but quickly became overwhelmed with school and an office job. Before I went back to school I never liked when people said school was keeping them too busy for anything else, but now I’m eating crow over that. I totally get it now.   

37: Anything else?

John King: Oh, yes, Zombie Attack of course. 

37: Of course. How is that shaping up?

John King: It’s always crazy jumping through all the hoops and getting all the permits and keeping everyone happy.. And finding the funds to pay for it. Louisville Traffic Safety put last year’s total at 15,000. If we grow like we have in the past, then we expect this year to be around 18,000.  We are looking for sponsors and have set up a crowd funding campaign through Rocket Hub to help raise funds: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/29156-louisville-zombie-attack-2013

37: Anything else?

John King: I’ll let you know when I remember. Oh, I'll try and post here more often, and we'll be covering Forecastle here too.

37: Yes sir.

John King: Thank you. 

Johnking Mag Booth style