Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

When I was growing up, way down in Northeast Texas, early March brough the onset of Spring: the grass was richly green and thick in clumps – though cold to lie on – there were various spring flowers cropping up and generally nature was astir. Of course, a bit of cold weather still might slide in but generally, that didn't last long.

Fast forward to the current place and time: 500 or so miles north and early March is here. Spring, however, is still hiding in Puxatawny Phil's burrow. The remains of the last big snowstorm are still around and the crocuses that had begun to poke their heads up earlier this month have been, accordingly, frozen. The forecast is for a single day or two of fifty-plus weather over the next ten days or so, which is not at all Spring-like.

Having seen it snow on Derby Day, I know that Spring is a late-comer to the party in these parts, so I'll just crawl back in my editor's cave and pour myself another cup of coffee and hope I can hold on until it warms up enough to melt the remaining stuff on the landscape.

Meanwhile, Louisville is a-bustle with plans for Spring festivals of various sorts, including, of course, the Derby and related activities, Abbey Road On The River and Forecastle Fest, both downtown by the water. Looks like the Waterfront will have at least one day of a 4^th Of July celebration, if things go as planned.

On the regular live music scene, Mercury Ballroom is a month shy of its first full year and no other major venue has called it quits yet, though Live Nation is putting a bit more money into general purpose advertising than previously, both for Mercury and The Palace. Bands keep on coming to town, so I can only assume there is at least some audience for them.

Two low-power FM radio licenses have been issued, one each to ArtxFM and Crescent Hill Radio, which is now broadcasting at WCHQ 100.9 FM. CHR continues to add to the programming, with live DJs during morning and evening drive times, playing Louisville and regional music (almost) exclusively. Gary Sampson, who is on the CHR Board, the MERF board and is President of the Kentuckiana Blues Society, has a blues show during he will occasionally play a tune from some out-of-town band that is coming to town to play, thus accounting for the (almost).

You might or might not have heard that Willis Music on Hurstborne Lane will be closing toward the end of March. Competition from Guitar Center seems to be at least part of the problem.

The White Glove Test: Louisville Punk Flyers 1978-1994" exhibit is at the Kentucky Musieum of Art And Craft, 715 W. Main Street, through April 6.

Codas

Knoop, Frank Richard Sr., 80, died in Louisville on February 11, 2015. He was a trumpeter who played with the Holy Name Band, Holden-Baker Orchestra, the Don Krekel Orchestra and the Phoenix Seven. He was also the composer of Bellarmine University's fight song.

Muench, James P., 65, died suddenly 0n February 9 , 2015, while on vacation in Ft. Myers Beach, FL. He was a musician who played with Louisville bands Magna IV, Brothers Pride, Louisville and the Muench Brothers.