"What did you do last night?” you ask.

"I saw another great concert in Louisville, fool."

My terse response leaves you a bit stunned. As you gain a little composure, you plan a witty comeback. But all you manage is a meek "Well, where did you go? And how'd you find out about it?"

"Jesus, don't you listen to the radio? That's where they tell you about these things. 'Roots and Boots' on Sundays on WFPK. The Domino Kings. The band was on the show Sunday, talking about their gig yesterday at The Rudyard Kipling. But I can't blame you. Nobody else was there."

"Oh. How may were there?"

"Maybe twelve. But that's counting eight people who came to perform at the open stage night after the band. And the one guy who was there hosting the open stage. So, that makes three paying customers. Some guy who also listens to the radio, me and the girl I was there with."

"That's pretty pathetic. I bet the band was pissed."

"Not at all, man. They were happy to have people there. They played like the room was packed. And we had a hell of a time."

You obviously regret not listening to the radio at this point. I can see you making a mental note to do so in the future. Just to rub it in a little, I continue:

"And on top of a great show by those guys, the open stage thing was by far the most entertaining group of performances I've seen in a very long time. First, there was some really earnest guy and his guitar. He had obviously spent a lot of time with his Pearl Jam records. Next was a really square looking guy. When I saw him take the stage, I knew I was in for something special. If I had to guess, I'd say he was a network admin, or maybe a bank teller. It looked as if he hadn't changed after work. He was probably too nervous. Or maybe he thought the powder blue button-down shirt and navy Dockers were slimming.

"But anyway, he had a neatly arranged binder with all of his music and lyric sheets in plastic, protective inserts. He had several footswitches and pedals. He tried really, really hard. But, God Almighty, this guy was the most awful thing I've ever heard. I think maybe he knew two chords. I won't even try and describe how hard it was not to laugh when he broke into his 'solo'."

I must have hit you a little close to home, as you take a defensive posture.

"Come on, lighten-up. I bet he put a lot of hard work into those songs."

"Oh, without a doubt. He probably practiced for months. Lord knows who told him it was a good idea to do them in public, but they should be thanked. I really enjoyed the whole scene. I'm going to go see that guy wherever he plays."

Again, you seem to take it all a little personally.

"Are you always so sarcastic?"

"I'm not being sarcastic. I'm telling you, this open stage night was the most fun I've had in weeks. I haven't even told you about the best acts yet. The next guy didn't even bother to bring an instrument. He just brought some sort of digital tape machine contraption. But he had a good sense of humor about it all. He even introduced himself and then his band, pointing to the little grey box covered with buttons and dials and lights.

"When he hit play, it was like Nine Inch Nails meets Limp Bizkit. He did a bunch of screaming and jumping around; keeping the mic pressed to his mouth with one hand, the other holding-up his pants. He literally cleared the room. I was the only one left sitting there. The guy at the door pulled it tight at the request of the restaurant patrons just downstairs.

"And after that kid was a guy who brought what looked like his mom, dad, brother and grandma down to see the show. Which might not have been as odd if this guy didn't look like he was probably in his mid-thirties. He had what he claimed was a $10 guitar, a karaoke machine and Casio keyboard missing one key. After at least five minutes attempting to tune the guitar to no avail, he pressed-on. He had a startlingly good voice. He had no idea what to do with his guitar, but he sang with a voice that sounded like a mix between Magic Sam and Sam Cook. His set kind of fell apart when he tried to tune the guitar again while singing a soulful version of 'Maggie May'.

"Man, I kind of wish I had gone now. That sounds cool." Judging by the regret in your voice, I can tell you sincerely wish you had been there.

"Of course you do. You missed the event of the week. You should listen to your damn radio. You don't find out about these things on TV. And you probably won't even find them on the Internet until after it's already over."

"I guess radio is good for something these days."

"Well, public radio, maybe. You've just got to know when to listen."

Posted 11:37 AM by Jackson Cooper |

I just posted the following as a comment / response to Matt Welch's response to this column from the LA Times. Read each of those and the rest of this will make sense.

Holy crap! This guy may be on to something here. I was hoping that there was some explanation for that choppy dialogue in the love scenes. And the Emperor's clone army power-play trick as a metaphor for Bush's clearly out-of-control military build-up! That's genius insight if I've ever read it.

But then again, maybe the love scene dialogue sucked because Lucas is a reclusive weirdo who imagines people really talk that way. And maybe Palpatine was just doing the kind of evil stuff that he became famous for in the first four movies.

The Bush-as-Palpatine metaphor argument is a little faulty too. If Lucas was saying that Bush (Palpatine) is leading America (Yoda?) to build a big army, wouldn’t that mean that the Trade Federation was the equivalent of Al Qaeda? Does that mean that we should or shouldn’t be fighting? I think Yoda knew that bringing-in a big army was a pretty sad thing to have to do, but he did it. He knew that, regardless of the consequences of militarizing the Republic, it had to be done to keep it from being over-run by the bad guys. Unless Lucas thinks that Bush is secretly leading Al Qaeda, and will eventually name himself Emperor of America, the metaphor seems to have a pretty pro-war tilt to me.

I don’t know for whom this guy is interning, but maybe he needs a little time on the couch himself.


Posted 4:48 PM by Jackson Cooper |

And speaking of Rockabilly festivals, I should also mention that the giant, end-all, be-all festival to end all festivals is also this summer. Scheduled at the Oneida Casino and Bingo in Green Bay, the humorously titled "Rockin' 50's Fest" promises to be a gigantic spectacle.

First of all, it is free. The casino is sure to make a killing off of liquor and gambling, so they are just opening their doors to all the greasers for a week. There are three stages and a mind-bending line-up. I've been trying to resolve the logistical problems associated with trying to be in three places at one time ever since I saw this list. Neo-Rockabilly legends High Noon and Restless are both re-forming to play this event. Original artists like Glen Glenn, Sonny Burgess, The Collins Kids, Narvel Felts, Charlie Gracie, Billy Lee Riley, Big Al Downing, The Crickets, The Comets, Rudy Tutti Grayzell and more will all be there.

I get excited just writing about this thing. It's monumental.

My friend Jeremy referred to this event as the "Rockabilly Ragnarok": The event that will, both literally and metaphorically, end the worlds of the gods and man. See, chances are, half of the older guys playing will pass-on before anything like this ever happens again. And given the longevity of most neo-rockabilly bands, they will all have broken-up before they are all assembled in this fashion again. Rockabilly has been a big part of my world for years, and it is becoming less and less important to me by the day. I can see this as a logical end to that portion of my life.

Posted 2:41 PM by Jackson Cooper |

This weekend is the tenth annual Rockabilly Rebel Weekend in Indianapolis. This will be my fifth time at this event. That means I've been going to this thing every year since the summer I graduated High School. The show goes-down at the newly-renovated Fountain Square Theatre.

It's a trip to see one of these things. Imagine taking every ex-punk greaser you've ever seen and cram them into one hotel for a weekend. It's like Disneyland for hipsters. And although that might sound like I'm putting a negative spin on it all, I really enjoy myself. I wouldn't go back if I didn't. I've met some incredibly friendly and talented people in Indy.

And you just can't beat lounging around by the pool, drinking beer and playing music. Much has happened since my last weekender. I thought that I might loose interest in this type of event as I grow older, but that's not the case. I'm looking forward to the weekender as much or more than I have in the past.

Posted 1:54 PM by Jackson Cooper |

There was an amazing, yet sparsely attended show this past Saturday at The Lighthouse. Once again, Louisville's up-and-comers Fire The Saddle put on a great show. They even did one of my personal favorites, a duet called "Jackson" originally done by mister and missus Cash.

The headliner for the evening was an excellent new group from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Their name is Porter Hall, TN. They play a lively honky-tonk kind of music with one Gretsch electric guitar, one Martin acoustic guitar, a Fender A-style mandolin, a Fender electric bass and a Yamaha drum kit.

In addition to being really good musicians and singers, Porter Hall turned-out to be really fun people. My friend booked the show, myself and the band all hung around and talked for a while after the show. It just so happened that they knew a couple of other excellent Tennessee bands, The Legendary Shack Shakers and The Old Crow Medicine Show. After they packed away all of their equipment, their rhythm section went home. The remainder of the band went with us up to the bar above El Mundo for a few Falls City Beers. There were lots of really trendy drunk folks packed into the tiny room. But we had a good time in spite of all that. They even had some very entertaining Jane Fonda workout videos on the tv.

I lost my energy around three o'clock. The rest of the party moved-on to a bar with a four o'clock liquor license. It must be nice to have a gig where you can stay out partying all night like that.

Posted 11:56 AM by Jackson Cooper |