Tag: Louisville

WATCH: Aaron Bibelhauser & Relic, “Loving You Again”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Aaron Bibelhauser & Relic
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Song: “Loving You Again”
Album: Lovin’ & Leavin’: A Bluegrass Tribute to Mickey Clark
Single Release: December 13, 2019

In Their Words: “After the passing of Kentucky songwriter Mickey Clark, I decided to produce a collaborative bluegrass album centered around some my favorite songs from his catalog, in particular his lovin’ and leavin’ songs — that was the way he would describe them. ‘Loving You Again’ is an emotional expression of this timeless dichotomy. Poignant lines like ‘There’s ramble written on my boots, there’s a map in my guitar’ capture the human longing to wander, while the resolving lyrics fly in the face of that free-spiritedness: ‘When I look into your eyes, I know I won’t go far.’ Recording this track with my twin brother Adam and our band Relic seemed like an incredibly special way to honor our old friend. We’ve been making music together with this band for over a decade and when we get the chance to share our take on such a special song, it seems our journey has only just begun.” — Aaron Bibelhauser

Photo credit: Winston Garthwaite
Video by Chris Witzke

Festival Founder Danny Wimmer Infuses Bourbon & Beyond with Bluegrass

Posted on by Editor

This month, Bourbon & Beyond will descend upon Louisville, Kentucky, for its third annual event, attracting tens of thousands for a weekend of music, food, and brown liquor. Alison Krauss, Greensky Bluegrass, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more top-notch talent are slated to grace the stages over a newly-expanded three-day stretch, but the bourbon and food lineups are just as impressive.

Bourbon aficionados can sample tastings from more than forty labels, as well as partake in workshops that range from cocktail-making to history lessons. Meanwhile, culinarians can spend an evening at supper club with acclaimed chef Edward Lee or sample local fare across the grounds.

To prepare for the weekend, BGS caught up with festival founder Danny Wimmer, whose namesake production company puts on more than a dozen annual festivals throughout North America. We spoke about how Bourbon & Beyond got its start, what makes it a must-attend event, and why he thinks the Louisville festival is here to stay.

Editor’s Note: Be sure to check out the Bluegrass Situation Stage at Bourbon & Beyond

How did Bourbon and Beyond come together in the beginning?

My love for bourbon is really where it started. About eight or nine years ago, we had the idea to start our own bourbon [label], and started meeting with master distillers. I spent a year in Louisville and I fell in love with the city — well, really, I fell in love with the community. So we put the bourbon on hold and we launched Louder Than Life, a hard rock festival. Through that, we saw an opportunity for something that centered around craft — music, culinary, spirits.

Making bourbon isn’t just something you can do overnight. It takes about four to seven years before you can even drink any of the product. It’s a true art form and it’s something that takes patience. Kentucky produces 95 percent of all bourbon, and we saw an opportunity to further connect the dots between the bourbon industry and the state. When you say “Napa Valley,” you think of wine. When you say “Kentucky” or “Louisville,” you should be instantly thinking bourbon. We wanted to create an event that incorporated bourbon, food, music, and this beautiful state.

You worked with two people who are really in touch with the bourbon and culinary scenes in Louisville — bourbon writer Fred Minnick and acclaimed chef Edward Lee, respectively. What made it important to have their involvement?

We really wanted to have a five-year festival in year one, from the way it operated to the way the community was to engage in it. When you’re talking about launching a bourbon festival in the heart of bourbon country, there’s going to be a lot of skepticism. These guys from LA. Why are they doing it?

It wasn’t like we had an idea and [Bourbon & Beyond] just happened. It took a lot of different players to bring this together and make it happen — the mayor’s office, the bourbon community. Bringing [Minnick and Lee] in as partners gave the festival the credibility it needed. They’re really our gatekeepers, between the city and the state and the bourbon and the culinary worlds.

Music-wise, what are your priorities when booking Bourbon & Beyond, and how does bluegrass fit in?

The soul of Kentucky is bluegrass, and it was very important to have the genre be a centerpiece of this festival. We wanted the respect of the [bluegrass] community, but also to put these acts in front of a whole new crowd. One of the things we hope for is that artists can use our festivals as a way to really grow their awareness — as a vehicle to come back and headline a bigger room. Bluegrass, specifically, is something I’ve fallen in love with. It’s a genre that we’re going to stay very focused on, and focused on growing. Don’t be surprised if soon we’re doing bluegrass events in other places in the country.

You said you fell in love with Louisville as a city. Of course, a bourbon event there feels like a no-brainer, but what made you think this festival, with the music and culinary elements intertwined, would work there?

The people. Listen, I’m from Jacksonville, Florida. I’m a Southern boy. Louisville is a gateway to the South. Ever since we got here, the city, the mayor’s office, and now the governor’s office, has opened their arms. There are not a lot of communities that are so welcoming to the arts. The reason we now have three festivals here is really the community.

But Louisville also sits in an area that has five or ten major cities around it. We have Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Nashville. We have St. Louis that’s six hours away, we have Chicago that’s five hours away. We’ve got some major markets that are really close by. With the explosion of the bourbon industry, a lot of people really want to come experience Louisville — we believe it’s where Austin, Texas was ten to fifteen years ago; where Nashville was ten years ago. Both of those cities started with music. And I think we have the right recipe to help this city become the next [big music and food destination].

Are there any unique advantages to producing festivals independently?

I’m in a place where I can follow my heart fast. I don’t have to get approval. Sure, I have to run a business — me and my partner have a really great relationship between business and art — but I’m in a place where I can make a decision [based on what I’m aiming for] five years from now or ten years from now. I love independent companies. They’re usually great at creating niches; they’re specialists in certain genres. I think independent promoters are very crucial to the food chain of our industry.

[For example,] I don’t like that there are three radio stations that really control the listening and the programming of our country. One of the major downfalls is that we lost localization in markets. Before the [consolidation], I loved the local aspect that radio would bring to certain markets. [On the label side,] I loved that you had records signing certain genres — they were specialists. Right now, we’re missing that, but there will be a day when you see indies rising again.

Photo credit: Sam Shapiro

The Shift List – Edward Lee (610 Magnolia, MilkWood) Louisville

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Edward Lee is the chef and owner of three restaurants with unique identities in Louisville, Kentucky – 610 Magnolia, MilkWood, and Whiskey Dry – and is the author of two books. Smoke & Pickles – his first – is a cookbook that chronicles the story of how he was raised in Brooklyn in a family of Korean immigrants to his arrival in Louisville, and Buttermilk Graffiti, a uniquely inspiring read that is part food essay, part travel book, part memoir and part cookbook.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • STITCHER • MP3

Released in the Spring of 2018, Buttermilk Graffiti finds Lee traveling across America to learn how immigrants arrive, thrive, and influence the cuisine of communities all over the country, from the Cambodian community of Lowell Massachusetts to the predominantly Muslim neighborhoods of Dearborn Michigan.

In addition to his appearances on award winning shows like Mind of a Chef and writing and producing the Feature Documentary Fermented, Lee participates in the annual Bourbon and Beyond festival held in Louisville at the end of each September for the past two years.

Equal parts bourbon, music, and food, the festival shines a spotlight on the things that make Kentucky and Louisville a great place to visit and live.

chefedwardlee.com

WATCH: Amos Lee, “Louisville”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist name: Amos Lee
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Song:“Louisville”
Album: My New Moon
Release Date: August 31, 2018
Label: Dualtone Records

In Their Words: “I’ve had some great times in Louisville, and some zany ones, and I wrote a song about someone who wants to get back home after a rough go of it. I love the bridge, and the fellow who mixed the album, Tchad Blake, absolutely took this song to the next level. Very honored that [producer] Tony Berg and Tchad both worked on this album. This video was directed by [filmmaker and photographer] Aaron Farrington at Estouteville Farm outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.” — Amos Lee

Photo credit: Brantley Gutierrez

Canon Fodder: Bonnie “Prince” Billy, ‘I See a Darkness’

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Will Oldham stands on the stage of the Odeon in Louisville, Kentucky, dressed up like a bruise: black pants hanging low on his hips, a blue shirt barely tucked in, hints of mascara around his eyes. He is gesticulating dramatically and singing about how death will come to us all, and behind him a large band kick up a larger ruckus. It sounds like chamber klezmer, its jazzbo rhythm section squaring off against a frantic string section and a clarinet that sounds like a gremlin in the works. The song is “Death to Everyone,” which originally appeared on 1999’s I See A Darkness, the first album to bear Oldham’s odd stage name Bonnie “Prince” Billy and likely his best-selling album.

“Death to Everyone” has never sounded quite like this before. The original is a low-key, heavy-quiet dirge, Oldham’s vocals measured and steady and even menacing, as an electric guitar mimics the sound of decaying flesh. It is a rover’s song, a justification for hedonism and rootlessness, and when Oldham sings the chorus—“Death to everyone is gonna come…”—he makes it sound like a threat. But the Odeon version of the song, from August 2018, backed by a sprawling band called the Wandering All-Stars & Motor Royalty, is starkly different. The tempo is ratcheted up, the lyrics sung like there is an exclamation point after every phrase; the energy is agitated yet gregarious, and Oldham stands on the stage, his hands flailing to the audience, as though inviting us to partake in every lusty pleasure before we perish. Oldham might be Falstaff or Caliban up there on stage, a figure of uneasy company.

All artists must live with their works, and most musicians maintain intimate connections to much of their catalog, performing the same compositions night after night. Few roots artists, however, take as many liberties with their songs as Oldham. He constantly revisits and revises, reinterprets and reconsidered, less out of obligation to fans than out of curiosity: How far can these melodies and sentiments bend? What will they allow? In 2004 he released a full album of Bonnie “Prince” Billy covering songs that pre-date that pseudonym, written when he was making art under various Palace monikers: Palace, Palace Music, Palace Brothers. Later this month he’ll release Songs of Love and Horror, which collects new versions of tunes from throughout his career, including the title track to I See a Darkness.

That album may be his most revisited, a set of missives from what he calls a minor place, comprising something like an Appalachian operetta. He writes lyrics as soliloquies, as monologues by characters in transit, wanderers and loners, sinners both defiant and humbled. The characters on I See a Darkness ponder the thin membrane between life and death, being and not being, this world and the next. On the title track the narrator confesses to a friend the abyss he sees behind everything as well as his desire for “peace in our lives.” It recalls Waiting for Godot or True West in its stark setting and sparse details, but that makes it easier for him to restage it, as he did on 2012’s Now Here’s My Plan. That version was sped up considerably, almost flippantly, as though the character were retreating from the darkness, confessing his deepest fears through a sidelong joke.

The most famous version of the song, however, features Oldham in a supporting role. Johnny Cash covered the song on 2000’s American Recordings III: Solitary Man, playing up the implications of his own Man in Black mythology as well as his own waywardness earlier in his life. But it also plays as a late-in-life reverie, and it gives Cash the opportunity to face down the impending darkness with dignity: “You know I have a drive to live, I won’t let go,” he sings, his voice bowed but not broken by age and illness.

This songwriting strategy—this idea of songs as short plays—echoes Oldham’s own actorly pursuits. As a teenager he appeared in John Sayles’ Matewan, about miners in Appalachia in the 1920s, and the TV movie Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure. In the 1990s he gravitated more toward music, but occasionally appears in independent films like Junebug and Old Joy. And there is in these songs a sense of dramaturgy, of an actor slipping into a role, which creates a very squirrelly strain of roots music. But it’s an inexact and not quite satisfying metaphor, one that suggests he is only acting, that there is none of himself in these lyrics and melodies, that he is merely pretending to see a darkness.

And perhaps that more than anything else—his long relationship with indie label Drag City, his use of antiquated or skewed syntax, or his headquarters in Louisville, just a few hours but many worlds away from Nashville—is why Oldham has not embraced nor been embraced by the Americana establishment: He stands slightly apart from his music, doesn’t inhabit his songs the same way Chris Stapleton or Margo Price or Sturgill Simpson inhabit theirs. That doesn’t mean his songs are personal or don’t expose something of the person singing them, but that he has radically different relationships with his songs.

Perhaps that’s why I See a Darkness still stands out in his expansive catalog: It gets at something profound about its creator and implies a darkness too dark, too enormous, too horrible to approach directly. He needs the scrim of a character, a decoy perhaps or a shield; a larger narrative emerges of an artist confronting depression without naming it. “So I become more lively to bury all the ugly,” he sings on “Another Day Full of Dread,” whose very title implies a black unnameable feeling lurking within these songs. To reinterpret these songs is to admit that the depression remains, even twenty years later, but his relationship to it has changed. Every time he sings these songs, he prevails against it, bruised but not beaten.

Photo credit: Jessica Fay

Traveler: Louisville, Kentucky with Ben Sollee

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We’re on our way to the Bluegrass State for this weekend’s Bourbon & Beyond, but there’s so much more to explore beyond the two day festival in beautiful Champions Park. For the very best local recommendations we spoke to Kentucky native Ben Sollee (who plays the BGS Bluegrass Stage at B&B on Sunday).

According to Ben, who was born in Lexington and moved his family to Louisville in 2015, “For me, the arts community is a little more cohesive, a little more collaborative. I never really had an instance where I had an idea that I couldn’t accomplish in this city. Whether that’s something as small as collaborating with some dancers for a storytelling event, or something as big as developing a virtual reality app for music. I’ve been able to pull all that off in this little city. And of course being able to travel – Louisville is manageable for me as a touring music. As an artist who is adventurous, I can live affordably. It’s not a hard hustle.”

EAT & DRINK

Ben says: “I’d start with stopping by Quills Coffee, probably the one in the Nulu area. It’s based out of an old firehouse. Pretty cool. In the fall and wintertime, I like getting a miele – a good, honey-based drink with cinnamon and nutmeg. It warms the belly a little bit. So I’d get that and pick up the LEO – the Louisville Eccentric Observer – and check out what shows are happening, and what artists are doing around town. And of course what silly business is trying to do something wild. That’s how I’d get my day started.

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Sunday mood.

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“Lately I’ve been going to an Ethiopian spot here in town called Abyssinia. They’ve got a really fantastic buffet. It touches on Louisville’s amazing international food scene. And if I wasn’t close to downtown, I’d probably swing by the south end of Louisville and hit up Vietnam Kitchen, which is probably our most famous international fare food place. It’s a really, really, really good spot! I like to order K-8 – their spicy pork noodle soup.

“The place that comes to mind for dinner is a place called MilkWood in downtown Louisville on Main Street. It’s a place by the chef Edward Lee, who was featured on Iron Chef. It’s a mixture of Korean and soul food cooking. I like to go there whenever I can. They have really good drinks, and it’s next to Actors Theatre so if the theater is in season, you can catch a really cool show.”

BGS ALSO RECOMMENDS:
Proof on Main (at 21c)
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse
Pizza Lupo
The Silver Dollar

STAY

BGS says: Louisville is the home base of 21c Museum Hotels and this location is one of our favorite boutique hotels in the country. While there are several 21c locations you can visit throughout the South, the original Louisville location is like none other (even if you just get a chance to stop in for a bite at Proof on Main, check out the modern artwork collection, and ogle the giant copy of the David out front…. It’s worth the visit).

 

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Good morning, Louisville.

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BGS ALSO RECOMMENDS:
The Brown Hotel
Seelbach Hotel

SHOP

Ben says: “I certainly love thrifting and there’s the Flea Off Market that happens every once in a while. That’s a cool thing to look for when it happens. It’s a moving, modular market – Louisville’s bazaar in a way. And my favorite picking shop is over in Middletown (a suburb of Louisville) and it’s called the Middletown Peddlers Mall. I always find really good stuff in there.”

SEE & DO

Parks
Ben says: “Louisville’s got a huge, wonderful park system and we’ve got a bunch of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the very fellow who designed places like Central Park. He did a lot of park design in Louisville. You can easily swing up to Shelby Park, which is an Olmsted Park, and do a loop through there. If it was a nice day, you could hang out there for a little bit and then stop by Red Top, which is a new boutique hot dog place. It’s in Smoketown, which is a working-class neighborhood. They make some really fantastic hot dogs and they’ve got a lot of local beers on tap.

 

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Let’s be frank: these were pretty tasty. #redtopdogs #hotdogs #louisvilleeats #latergram

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“A lot of people like to go visit the Colonel and see where Colonel Sanders is buried, and now Muhammed Ali’s there too, in Cave Hill Cemetery. I think walking the Big Four Bridge is a nice tourist attraction. That’s a nice spot because you can walk over to Indiana.”

Museums
Ben says: “Everybody needs to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum. You gotta go see how the bats are made and you gotta get yourself a little bat. I think that one of our most unique museums is the Portland Museum. And of course the Speed Art Museum is incredible. They just finished that. It’s really, really beautiful.”

MUSICAL POINTS OF INTEREST

Ben says: “I like to go play music as much as I like to listen to it. So, I’d hop in the car, or hop the bus, and go to Guitar Emporium and check out their guitars and maybe some of the pedals, and see what they’ve got in stock. Right next to that is Louisville’s famed Books & Music Exchange. That’s a great place to get used records and movies and comic books and all that jazz. You can ruffle through the stacks as long as your heart desires. It just goes on and on and on.”

You can still join us this weekend, September 22-23, in Louisville for Bourbon & Beyond! Get tickets.

Check out Ben’s Sitch Session below, and discover more of his music at BenSollee.com.

Don’t miss the full BGS Stage Schedule for Bourbon & Beyond.

Photo of Big Four Bridge courtesy of GoToLouisville.com

Ride Along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail with Wild Ponies

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For the fourth year in a row, Doug and Telisha Williams will host the Wild Ponies Kentucky Bourbon Trail Ride on July 21-23, 2017. The trail ride is a bourbon-infused, musically inspired fan adventure through the bluegrass hills of Kentucky.

It’s a place where great music and the best bourbon come together. That sip … a moment that can take you from the sweet spice of amber goodness on your lips to the hands that planted and harvested the corn. Wild Ponies’ music transports in the same way. Sometimes you’re not even aware: You’re just listening and connecting to your own experiences through a song of universal truth made apparent through the telling of a specific story. So, yeah, you’re likely to leave the bourbon tasting room and a Wild Ponies’ show with the same feeling of being deeply connected and satisfied. Imagine combining the two in fun-filled weekend touring the Kentucky countryside, filled with horse farms, rolling bluegrass hills, and the world’s best bourbon distilleries.

The weekend consists of cocktail parties, concerts, jam circles (BYOBanjo?), great food, distillery tours, and a fair amount of product tastings. Participants leave the weekend pleasantly exhausted with more friends than they came with and an inspired love for the folk-art traditions of distillation and music … and, maybe, with a slight hangover.

We asked Telisha to tell us a little bit about the trip and give us some expert tips on a few of their favorite bourbons and distilleries.

Distillery: Angel’s Envy
Whiskey Sampled: Angel’s Envy Rye finished in a rum barrel
Neat or Iced: Either way is beautiful
Bottle Design: Sleek and sexy, reminiscent of angel’s wings.
What We Love about This Whiskey or Tour: I don’t typically fancy myself a rye fan because it’s a bit bitey for me. The rum barrel finishing smooths away any of the harsh, leaving a caramel candy and vanilla spice cherry wood bloom with each sip.
Effects on Songwriting and Other Meaningful Magic: This is the kind of whiskey that you share with friends. Sure, you waffle between hoarding every drop for yourself and shouting its glory from the mountaintops, but this is something to be shared and discussed amongst a circle of close friends. If you find yourself with a bottle of this stuff, it’s your responsibility to let your buddies try it.

Distillery: Woodford Reserve
Whiskey Sampled: Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Neat or Iced: I prefer this over a large ice cube. The flavors are more open and exposed over ice.
Bottle Design: Sturdy and professional. This bottle says that shirt and shoes are required when sipping this level of bourbon.
What We Love about This Whiskey or Tour: The Woodford Reserve Campus is one of the loveliest along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Imagine picturesque stone buildings planted along rolling green hills dotted by grazing thoroughbreds and you’ll have the idea. This is the vision that bluegrass bourbon dreams are made of.
Effects on Songwriting and Other Meaningful Magic: We have a song called “Learning to Drink Whiskey,” and the first verse describes the first shot burning like the memories of a lost love, the second shot being easier, though the love is still missed, and the third shot makes everything a-okay. During our first Woodford Reserve tour, without prompting, our guide explained that we were actually pretty close to right. The first sip burns, awakening the taste buds with a peppery tingle, and it’s not until the third sip that the full and robust flavor of the bourbon is truly appreciated. Science!

Distillery: Wild Turkey
Whiskey Sampled: Wild Turkey Bourbon
Neat or Iced: Neat and from a flask
Bottle Design: Traditional bourbon bottle shape. This is the kind of bourbon that you’re sure to find at any family gathering or tailgating event. Wild Turkey = Tradition.
What We Love about This Whiskey or Tour: Wild Turkey is our final destination for Wild Ponies Kentucky Bourbon Trail Riders to complete their full Bourbon Trail passports. Like the smell of your grandmother’s perfume, the essence of Wild Turkey resides deep in our bones, carrying memories of good times with family and friends.
Effects on Songwriting and Other Meaningful Magic: The “Learning To Drink Whiskey” song that I mentioned above? I was drinking Wild Turkey while writing that. Wild Turkey was my first bourbon and, like a first kiss, it holds a special place in my heart.

Distillery: Knob Creek
Whiskey Sampled: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Neat or Iced: Neat or iced, depending on the weather and my mood.
Bottle Design: Rugged, refined, and rectangular. The shape and feel of a Knob Creek bottle is like a giant glass flask, making you long to grab your flannel and sit by the campfire.
What We Love about This Whiskey or Tour: The Knob Creek tour takes place on the Jim Beam campus and you get to BOTTLE YOUR OWN WHISKEY! You rinse the bottle, place it on the line, watch it get filled with amber goodness, corked, and dipped in wax. When you retrieve your bottle after the tour, you can even have your memories from this fantastic experience etched into the side of the bottle. Knob Creek is probably the most fun and educational tour on the trail.
Effects on Songwriting and Other Meaningful Magic: Knob Creek is a go-to. Everybody likes it, so you can kind of consider it a bourbon with super-powers.

Distillery: Jefferson’s Bourbon
Whiskey Sampled: Jefferson’s Ocean
Neat or Iced: Over Ice
Bottle Design: Sleek and serious.
What We Love about This Whiskey or Tour: This bourbon is ocean aged, which brings a whole new meaning to “rocking the boat.” The movement on the ocean and humid conditions forces the bourbon in and out of the oak barrel, resulting in a salted oak flavor and intense amber color.
Effects on Songwriting and Other Meaningful Magic: Our first experience with Jefferson’s Ocean came from a fan of our music. She created a sample box of some of her favorite bourbons with stories to share. As we tried each one, we read over her words, sipping and enjoying the connection that we share. Songs inspire bourbon inspire more songs, and songs make me thirsty. The circle is beautiful.

Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Whiskey Sampled: Blanton’s Original Single Barrel
Neat or Iced: Either way is stunning
Bottle Design: Squat and round with a race horse on the cork. How could it NOT be our favorite bottle?! There are eight different ponies you can collect.
What We Love about This Whiskey or Tour: We didn’t do the ghost tour at Buffalo Trace, but you definitely get the feeling that there are spirits (pun intended) running the place. The setting is historic with a lovely café that will do pre-ordered boxed lunches for large groups. We’ve collected a number of the lettered corks, but we’re still missing an “n” and an “o” if you’re interested in sending us a bottle: PO Box 160644, Nashville TN, 37216.
Effects on Songwriting and Other Meaningful Magic: I hate to play favorites, but we always keep a bottle of Blanton’s in our bar. It’s the bourbon that I reach for when we’re setting up to play some tunes around the house, so I’d say there’s a little Blanton spirit in most of the songs we’ve written.

 

Joining the Wild Ponies Bourbon Trail Ride is the perfect warm up for this year’s Bourbon & Beyond Festival. Music, food, activities, and lots of bourbon will collide in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 23-24, and the BGS will be there presenting two days’ worth of great roots music.

Lede photo: Barrels of Woodford Reserve bourbon age in a rickhouse. Photo credit: Ken Thomas (public domain).

Traveler: Louisville

Posted on by Editor

Loo-a-vul, Lou-e-ville, Loo-a-ville, Looey-ville: Ask a local and you might get mixed responses on the correct pronunciation of its name, but anyway you spin it, the city boasts a lot more than their slugger. Louisville is proving itself as a destination, not just a stop along Highway 65. In addition to the unmistakably Kentucky traditions of bourbon and basketball, the town has a storied cultural history, a thriving food culture, and an evolving music scene. Derbies and juleps are great, but we did a deep dive of Louisville’s local spots.

Getting There

Smack dab in the middle of the eastern U.S., Louisville’s geography lends itself well to a quick weekend trip from various surrounding cities, like Nashville (two+ hours), Cincinnati (four hours), and St. Louis (four hours). Take the Bourbon Trail through Lexington to Louisville or, if you’re feeling ambitious, bike it. Louisville International Airport is 10 minutes from downtown.

Accommodations

Photo credit: Seelbach Hilton

If you like your accommodations with a side of cocktails and modern art, check out the 21C Hotel. If a hotel with an art museum isn’t in your budget, you should still stop by for cocktails and art browsing. For the lit nerds, F. Scott Fitzgerald hung around the Seelbach Hilton’s bar, meeting a gangster who inspired his socialite character, Jay Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby.

Eats

Photo credit: Rye on Market

UPS is headquartered in the town, so local chefs have extra speedy access to fresh ingredients overnighted, thus fostering a killer food scene. From restaurants which have endured the times — like Jack Fry’s — to new kids on the block — like Rye — Louisville’s food scene is rooted in Southern food with a finger on the contemporary foodie pulse. Chef Edward Lee’s 610 Magnolia is also a great choice for a fancy meal that’s worth it.

Drinks

Photo: Please & Thank You

Bourbon. And lots of it. Declared “America’s Official Native Spirit,” more than 95 percent of the world’s bourbon is distilled and aged in Kentucky. Downtown Louisville has a free Urban Bourbon Trail, which consists of bars which all serve at least 50 different kinds of bourbon. For the hops enthusiasts, Falls City Brewery is in the midst of reinventing itself and has been a Louisville staple for years. Apocalypse Brewing has quality brews made in an environmentally conscious process and a Yappy Hour for you and your pup.

For your coffee fix, Quill’s Coffee and Please & Thank You will fit the hip coffee bill of big cities. Head to the back of Please & Thank You to shop for records, while you sip their Thai iced coffee and eat “Louisville’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie.” Wander over to Bardstown Road for local shops, food, and bars in one spot.

Cultural Sights

Photo credit: Muhammad Ali Center

Pay homage to the greatest of all time at the Muhammad Ali Center, a spot well worth the $12 price tag. It’s just as much about civil rights as it is his career, plus we could all take a cue from his motto, and the museum’s tagline: “Be great. Do great things.” It’s not open on Mondays and has spotty hours, so check before you go.

If you’re planning on geeking out on museums, consider getting “The Main Ticket,” which bundles admission to six downtown Louisville attractions, including the Frazier History Museum, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Kentucky Science Center, KentuckyShow!, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, and the Muhammad Ali Center for 30 bucks.

On top of that, the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is a great day hang and hosts all kinds of nerdy plant events, like wildflower walks and updates on the American Woodcocks’ nesting.

Photo credit: louisvillemegacavern.org

Louisville Mega Cavern boasts the world’s only underground zipline. Yep, that’s a thing, and they’ve got six of them which run year round.

Music

Louisville’s upped its festival game with Forecastle every July, and Bourbon And Beyond in September. If you’re looking for low-key, down-home Kentucky bluegrass, look no further than Barret Bar. For bluegrass with your bloody mary, check out the Monkey Wrench. Louisville’s quirky Zanzabar brings under the radar artists to their pinball arcade/venue combo, and has been open since the ’30s.

Lede photo credit: Scott Oves

7 Holiday Maker Markets to Up Your Gift Game

Posted on by Editor

Thanksgiving is about to rear its tiny, turkey-shaped head, and you know what that means: It's time to tackle that nagging holiday gift list. While it might be tempting to say, "Screw it, you're getting a gift card and you're getting a gift card!" like a maniacal, Scrooged-out Oprah, there's no denying that folks love a unique, thoughtful gift. Luckily, the growing popularity of holiday "maker markets (the Artist Formerly Known as "Craft Markets") makes finding one-of-a-kind gifts for everyone on your list far easier than actually sitting through a holiday meal with them, especially with that big, orange elephant currently taking up residence in all of our families' dining rooms.

To help you out, we've rounded up a few of our favorite upcoming markets. Now get to shopping!

Austin — Renegade Craft Fair — November 26-27

This free event at Austin's Fair Market features over 125 makers. Go for the holiday shopping, stay for live music, local food and drink, and a photo booth.

Brooklyn — Brooklyn Holiday Bazaar — November 26-27

The fourth installment of Brooklyn's free, annual Holiday Bazaar is its biggest yet, with 40+ makers on site at 501 Union. Sip a craft beverage while you browse handmade jewlery and home decor and, if you have little ones, be sure to stop by the Kids Craft Corner.

Chicago — Made in Chicago Holiday Market — December 18

As if a free event with dozens of makers, local food, and local drinks weren't enough, this holiday market at Chicago's Plumbers Hall also allows guests (while supplies last) to create their own free terrarium ornaments. 

Los Angeles — Artisanal L.A. Holiday Market — December 3

A $10 admission gets you unlimited re-entry into this weekend-long event at Los Angeles's CMC Penthouse. More than 150 makers will be on-hand, with 30+ opportunities for attendees to indulge in little on-site DIY of their own.

Louisville — Made Market — December 16-17

This holiday market at Louisville's Frazier History Museum is free, but if you want to check out all the goods before the general public, you can buy a ticket to a special preview event the evening before the big day. And, with vendors like BGS pals 1767 Designs in attendance, getting there early may not be a bad idea!

Nashville — Porter Flea Holiday Market — December 10

Nashville's Porter Flea gets bigger and bigger each year, and the holiday market is not to be missed. Held at Skyway Studios this year, admission is free, although, as with Louisville's market, there is a ticketed preview market the night prior.

Seattle — Fremont Foundry Holiday Makers Market — December 18

Seattle has a strong maker community, with markets popping up across town throughout the year. This particular holiday market happens later in the season than most, so it's perfect for all your last-minute shopping needs.

Lede photo via Porter Flea/Garner Blue