Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

The music news for June offered up a few new record announcement, several video releases plus lots upcoming live shows and festivals. Music fans should be approaching complete musical nirvana (the state, not the band) by the end of September.

New Releases

SonaBLAST! Records announced the release of Mickey Clark & Blue Norther's newest project, Reasons & Rhymes. It's available at the usual Louisville record stores and on iTunes.

Little Heart Records released Skyscraper Stereo's new single, "American Dollars." It's the first release from the new album Scrape or Die. A street date for that will be announced as well. Find out via the label's Facebook page here.

Jukebox The Ghost, featuring Louisville native Ben Thornewill, has released the first single, "The Great Unknown," from an upcoming new album. You can hear it on Spotify.

Upcoming Concerts

Mondays have become the day to announce new shows and this month was no exception. Here's a summary what was announced:

The Pat Metheny Unity Group will play the KCD Theatre on July 27.

Wynton Marsalis will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on October 1 at the KCA.

The Head And The Heart will bring it to Iroquois Amphitheatre on September 25.

Keb' Mo' and G. Love & Special Sauce will co-headline a show at Mercury Ballroom on August 22.

Out at the Iroquois Amphitheatre, Sherpa Concerts will bring the Drive-By Truckers with special guests the North Mississippi All-Stars in to the amphitheatre on September 12. Tickets are $27 adv/$30 DoS.

At the Mercury Ballroom, Danish alt-rock New Politics with Bad Suns and SomeKindaWonderful are scheduled in on November 19. Tickets are $18 adv./$20 DoS and go sale Friday.

Additionally at the Mercury, on August 9, the Mercury Rising Series will feature Vice Tricks, The Hot Wires and Your News Vehicles. Tickets will be $5.

On August 13, Bob Marley's son Stephen "Reggae' Marley will be in concert as a solo artsts, Tickets are $25 and it's an all-ages show.

Finally, on September 12, glam metal will be in the house at the Mercury, with Appetite For Destruction (Guns N' Roses Tribute Band), Red White & Crue (Motley Crue Tribute Band) and Poison'd (Poison Tribute Band). It's called the Kings Of Hollywood Tour. Tickets are $8.

At the Palace Theatre, Foster The People will be in concert on October 20. Tickets will run $29.50 – $39.50, with fees of $12 and $12.50.

At the Mercury Ballroom, Social Distortion with The Whigs and Jonny Two Bags will play open September 16. Tickets will be $32 plus fees.

Also at the Mercury, Cherub will perform on September 6, tickets $15. This show was previously announced, then pulled. Now it's back.

One more for the Mercury: Fitz and Tantrums with Big Data pop in on November 3, with tickets are 7:30 p.m.

At the Louisville Palace, Chevelle with Middle Class Rut and Dayshell will be in concert on August 13. Tickets will run $25.50 to $45.50 plus fees.

Headliners has announced that OK Go will appear there on September 23, tickets $15.

That's the tally so far.

My Morning's One Big Holiday 2015

My Morning Jacket has already begun to reveal details of next year's One Big Holiday event, which will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, about an hour south of Cancún, between January 31 and February 4. Some of the performers scheduled include Band of Horses (who will perform both separate electric and acoustic shows), the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, War on Drugs, Dr. Dog, Dawes, Sylvan Esso and Biz Markie. tickets for the event go on sale June 27. More details are at: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/my-morning-jacket-detail-one-big-holiday-concert-in-mexico-20140619#ixzz356hzCF5d

Festival Announcements

Poorcastle Festival

The Poorcastle Festival 2014, scheduled for July 12 & 13 at the Apocalypse Brews Works at 1612 Mellwood Ave., has announced the schedule of bands. The festival costs only $5 a day, with proceeds going to Crescent Hill Radio. More information about the event is available at https://www.facebook.com/Poorcastle/timeline

Here's the lineup:

Saturday, July 12 | Doors at Noon

1:00 Sean T. Johnson

1:45 The Waves

2:30 New Bravado

3:15 Solenodon

4:00 Huh Robots

4:45 Lady Pyramid

5:30 Violet Knives

6:30 The Uncommon Houseflies

7:15 Monolith

8:00 Cher Von

8:45 Plastic Bubble

9:30 Tall Squares

10:15 Mananabango

Sunday, July 13 | Doors at Noon

1:00 Blue Soul Gypsies

1:45 Tender Mercy

2:30 The Bottom Sop

3:15 Family Dog

4:00 Blackbirds of Paradise

4:45 Brent Mathis

5:30 Phourist & the Photons

6:30 The Hart Strings

7:15 Dream Eye Color Wheel

8:00 Twenty First Century Fox

8:45 Twin Limb

Louisville Outskirts Festival,

The multi-venue Louisville Outskirts Festival, scheduled for October 10-12, announced the festival's list of performers:

Abiyah (Cincinnati)

Absolutely Not (Chicago)

Antietam (NYC)

Bridge 19 (Louisville)

The Cell Phones (Chicago)

Cher Von (Louisville)

The Fervor (Louisville)

Juanita (Louisville)

Lady Pyramid (Louisville)

Mahogany Reign (Cincinnati)

Maiden Radio (Louisville)

Sandpaper Dolls (Louisville)

Shannon Wright (Atlanta)

Tara Jane O'Neil (Los Angeles)

Trophy Wife (Philadelphia):

Twenty First Century Fox (Louisville)

Twin Limb (Louisville)

To Sir With Love Mini-Festival

The just-announced pre-Paul McCartney concert mini-festival that Gary Jacobs of Abbey Road On The River has planned for October 24-26 now has a title – "To Sir With Love," a movie starring Sidney Poitier that is familiar to all baby boomers, and some guests, specifically, Denny Laine of Paul McCartney and Wings, who will be performing the complete Band on the Run album, and Peter Asher, who will be presenting his multimedia show, "Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the 60s and Beyond." It'll happen at the Galt House and on the Upper Belvedere. Ticket prices will be announced shortly.

Louder Than Life Festival

You should be rested up from Forecastle Fest and, perhaps, the State Fair, by the time The Louder Than Life Festival smacks you up side the head on October 4 and 5 (as if there wasn't already enough extra stuff to do in October).

First, to the music, which is comes in three flavors: loud, really loud, and put both hands over your ears. The lineup looks like this:

Saturday, October 4: Judas Priest, Korn, Stone Temple Pilots, Limp Bizkit, Alter Bridge, Mastodon, Theory of a Deadman, Flaw, Of Mice & Men, Steel Panther, Thousand Foot Crutch, Memphis May Fire, Pop Evil, Fuel, Otherwise, Nonpoint and Wilson.

Sunday, October 5: Kid Rock, Fiver Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Papa Roach, A Day To Remember, Bring Me To Horizon, Buckcherry, In This Moment, Hellyeah, Chiodos, Motionless in White, Nothing More, Butcher Babies, Crobot, Avatar, Monster Truck and Islander. Interestingly, only a half-dozen performers from this list have not played here before.

Louder Than Life happens at Louisville Champions Park, 2050 River Road, just west of Zorn Avenue. Pre-sale tickets for both days will go on sale next Tuesday, June 10 at 10 a.m. and cost $79.50. Tickets for the non-privileged folk go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 13, at $99.50. On June 16, those go up to $109.50, so make your decisions early. Single day tickets will cost $59.50.

As is the trendy thing in Louisville festivals, bourbon will be available at Louder Than Life. Kentucky staples like Woodford Reserve, Maker's Mark, and Buffalo Trace will be on hand, as will twenty-one different varieties of craft beers (so far). Local brews will include four from Bluegrass Brewing Company, four from New Albanian Brews, and three from Falls City Beer. The food is tagged as "gourmet man food," including food from Rye, Spinelli's Pizza, The Monkey Wrench, Momma's BBQ, Lil Cheezers, and more Louisville restaurants to be named at a later date. [Read Kevin Gibson's take on the " gourmet man food" marketing scheme here.]

For more information visit http://louderthanlifefestival.com/index.html

James Kottack Apologizes

Scorpions drummer James Kottack issued this statement after his stint in jail in Dubai for "Drinking without a license" and insulting Islam:

"After years of drinking alcohol, on April 3rd, 2014 my addiction finally caught up with me/ During a 5-hour flight from Ekaterinburg, Russia to Bahrain via Dubai, during which I consumed 5 or 6 glasses of wine. While at the airport in Dubai I approached an airline representative to check on status of my flight. The representative informed me that I was in the wrong place and I replied 'WTF?!.' The representative then called the police and reported that I was intoxicated (which I was) and that I made a lewd jester.'

One of the police officers recognized me as drummer of 'The Scorpions'. When the police asked me to show my ID., I showed them the 'Rock & Roll Forever' tattoo on my back, instead of my actual ID, which was in my back pack my friend was carrying for me. Apparently, the police did not find this funny and I was charged with 'Drinking Without a License', for which I pleaded guilty and received a one-month sentence and a 2,000 Dirham (300 USD) fine. I was also charged with insulting Islam/Muslims by making a lewd jester for which I pleaded not guilty and did not actually do.

Upon returning to the United States on May 6th, I immediately reached out to Bob Forrest, an addiction specialist known for his work with musicians and Celebrity Rehab. I have been meeting with Bob on a regular basis. He has guided me to the MusiCares Organization, which provides musicians with help for mental health and addiction issues.

I am determined to come to grips with my alcoholism and am doing everything on a daily basis to beat this relentless disease. This entire incident caused me to realize that it is time to stop drinking once and for all so that I can become the father, musician, and friend that I know I can be.

I am glad to put this unfortunate incident behind me and move onward and upward with my life. I would like to send out a HUGE thank-you to my family, friends and fans around the world for their incredible loving support. you kick ass! I would also like to send a sincere apology from the bottom of my heart to everyone I have affected and look forward to seeing you all!!"

With love, James Kottak ' Tomorrow is a brand new day!

Coliseum Summer Tour

Coliseum has announced the Summer 2014 Tour.

Fri 6/20/14 – Louisville, KY @ The New Vintage w/ Xerxes

Fri 7/18/14 – Dover, NH @ Sonny's Tavern w/ Trap Them

Sat 7/19/14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar w/ Trap Them (FREE SHOW)

Sun 7/20/14 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary w/ Trap Them

Wed 7/23/14 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East – DW Fest w/ Converge, Trap Them (SOLD OUT)

Fri 8/15/14 – SPECIAL SHOW TBA

Sat 8/16/14 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen

Sun 8/17/14 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme

Mon 8/18/14 – Hamilton, ON @ The Doors Pub w/ TV Freaks

Tue 8/19/14 – Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar w/ Burning Love

Wed 8/20/14 – Detroit, MI @ PJ's Lager House

Head Cleaner Solicitation

Gubbey Records is soliciting material for the 2014 version of the two-cassette Head Cleaner compilation. We'll let them do the 'splainin':

"We are very excited to announce that we are now taking music submissions for our annual Louisville music compilation, Head Cleaner 2014. Last year's edition featured 46 diverse Louisville music acts on a double volume cassette with a playing time the boasted over 2 ½ hours. We want to meet or exceed that turnout for the 2014 edition, but we can't your help. Louisville bands please send us your music, all it takes is a song and the song info. The purpose of this compilation is to document and take a snapshot of the Louisville music community as a whole. This compilation is open to all styles of music from the Louisville area. The deadline for submitting a tune is August 15th. All the information about submitting a song is below, it is a very easy and pain free process. Please share this with as many folks as you can, we need to get the word out.

What we need from you:

1. Your Song- We are asking for you to submit your song in WAV format. MP3's typically sound like shit; they are compressed, so please send over in WAV format if possible, any issues let us know… Keep songs in the 1- 4 ½ minute range if possible; if your song is longer please just let us know in advance! Use a free service like Sendspace to upload and send the track to us. WAV files are usually too large to send in a regular email. Go to www.sendspace.com to upload and send us the link to download the file to GubbeyRecords@gmail.com. Any questions on this let us know. We are asking that you have your song to us on or before August 15th, if you think that there will be any issues getting us a song by the deadline, just let us know and we will see what we can do about extending.

2. Your Band/Act Recording Info- We need the following info for the credits: everyone who played on the recording and what they played. Also we need the recording information: where and when the song was recorded and by who. Please also include a contact email/website for the band.

We are really looking forward to this compilation! We will be putting together a huge release show as well, so stay tuned for details. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact us at GubbeyRecords@gmail.com or give us a call at 502-468-2184 (Dave)."