Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Grass-roots music could use a little green
From the Louisville Courier-Journal
John Gage was sitting on the stage of the nicely worn Kentucky Theatre on Fourth Street, talking about a lot of things — including how difficult it is for him to ask for donations to keep his good Louisville work going.
Meanwhile, just a few blocks toward the Ohio River, the Louisville media are falling all over themselves to freely promote 4th Street Live's newest kid on the trendy, partially public-funded block — the upscale Lucky Strike Lanes.
The comparison is all mine, not Gage's. And both of us want to see the continued revitalization of downtown Louisville; we all benefit from that. But Louisville should not forget the people who worked so hard to keep its homegrown music alive long before bigger hitters brought back bowling.
"It was a secular form of ministry," said Gage, 59. "I'd get a bunch of kids together and sing, and we'd talk about what the music talked about."
He discovered the exuberance of Kentucky's bluegrass music. He played with a band, began writing songs, taught music, held workshops and still plays with his group, EarthHeart. Along the way he saw firsthand the number of talented musicians and entertainers in Kentucky and Indiana.
About 25 years ago he began a series of "Homefront" shows in an auditorium in Old Louisville near Central Park. The show, featuring local talent, ran its course, but the concept lived. Six years ago, Gage and friends decided to try it again in a then-closed and thoroughly trashed Kentucky Theatre at 651 S. Fourth St.
Thus was born the nonprofit "The Kentucky Theatre Project" and the "Kentucky Homefront" radio show — which can be heard every Wednesday at 8 p.m. on WFPK-FM 91.9.
Read the article
Louisville Courier-Journal
John Gage was sitting on the stage of the nicely worn Kentucky Theatre on Fourth Street, talking about a lot of things — including how difficult it is for him to ask for donations to keep his good Louisville work going.
Meanwhile, just a few blocks toward the Ohio River, the Louisville media are falling all over themselves to freely promote 4th Street Live's newest kid on the trendy, partially public-funded block — the upscale Lucky Strike Lanes.
The comparison is all mine, not Gage's. And both of us want to see the continued revitalization of downtown Louisville; we all benefit from that. But Louisville should not forget the people who worked so hard to keep its homegrown music alive long before bigger hitters brought back bowling.
"It was a secular form of ministry," said Gage, 59. "I'd get a bunch of kids together and sing, and we'd talk about what the music talked about."
He discovered the exuberance of Kentucky's bluegrass music. He played with a band, began writing songs, taught music, held workshops and still plays with his group, EarthHeart. Along the way he saw firsthand the number of talented musicians and entertainers in Kentucky and Indiana.
About 25 years ago he began a series of "Homefront" shows in an auditorium in Old Louisville near Central Park. The show, featuring local talent, ran its course, but the concept lived. Six years ago, Gage and friends decided to try it again in a then-closed and thoroughly trashed Kentucky Theatre at 651 S. Fourth St.
Thus was born the nonprofit "The Kentucky Theatre Project" and the "Kentucky Homefront" radio show — which can be heard every Wednesday at 8 p.m. on WFPK-FM 91.9.
Read the article
Louisville Courier-Journal
# posted by Dave Sichak @ 10:23 AM 
