#kentucky music

[hillbillyhippiemusicreview]

KENTUCKY MUSIC HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM TO HOST BOOKING 101 MASTERCLASS FOR CURRENT AND ASPIRING MUSICIANS

—Lyssa Culbertson

Despite how exciting it may look to the outside world, a musician's gig is never easy and seemingly never done whether they’re a Top 5 Billboard artist with a full team backing them or they’re fully independent in every sense of the word while wearing multiple hats as the manager, booking agent, merch guy, sound tech, etc. For those artists with without a management team, some aspects of the career can be especially daunting. Enter booking shows! One would think the advent of the internet—and especially social media—would make such a stressful task less intimidating and a bit easier with a wealth of information at the fingertips; unfortunately, that is rarely the case.

Luckily for struggling artists looking for the "magic" solution and/or talent buyers themselves in need of a little refresher, there are resources available to help! Look no further than the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum: Executive Director Jessica Blankenship and her team have curated an exemplary meeting of the minds with three top tier industry professionals from the Eastern Kentucky region who have either been involved with booking shows for musicians or booking musicians for shows they put on for many years. On the afternoon of August 10th, the KMHOF brings the esteemed Tiffany Finley (Black Mountain Management, Masters Musician Festival, NIVA Kentucky President), Tim Parks (Manchester Music Festival, Ponderosa Pines, Manchester Tourism), and Jon Grace (Laurel Cove Music Festival, Bell Theater, Bell County Tourism) to Mount Vernon to hold a panel discussion on the ins and outs of booking within the music industry, with focus on the not only the Appalachian region they are located in but also circuits beyond. In this music business course, the three experts will discuss what musicians should have and should do prior to approaching venues/talent buyers to be booked for shows, as well as an inside peek at what venues and events are looking for in the artists they enlist for entertainment. When asked about the purpose of the event, Blankenship expressed:

"One of the things that the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame wants to do is to encourage musicians in improving their skills and learn more about the music business. We've been working on music business workshops featuring topics as social media, songwriting, and more. Kentucky is blessed to have an abundance of musicians, as well as music venues and festivals to perform their music. Unfortunately, some may not understand how to be booked, or what booking agents look for. By bringing in the experts in the field that encompass venues, large and small festivals, and more, it helps bridge that gap of understanding. This event will be an open discussion between venues, festivals, and musicians to get a better understanding how they can partner together for a better experience. It is open to musicians as well as those that do booking for events and venues. Coming together helps build a better music community here in Kentucky. Also - we have learned how diverse our community is and which act fits best for what environment."

The class is FREE to attend, but interested attendees must register for a spot. Whether you are a novice musician just starting out or a seasoned troubadour who knows the ropes, this class can certainly be beneficial…don't miss the opportunity! There is a possibility the event may be either livestreamed or recorded to share online; however, space at the event is limited so be sure to secure your spot today to gain valuable insight from industry leaders in person. To register, simply complete the registration survey by clicking HERE.

For more information about the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum as well as upcoming ev, visit them online at their website or Facebook.

[steddieas-shegoes]

cw: discussion of past parental death due to overdose, mention of drug use

Steve stumbled upon the article when he was helping Robin collect articles for a project for her Industry Studies course.

He didn’t think much of reading about another small time musician getting caught up with the wrong crowd, and overdosing or getting in a drunk driving accident. It seemed like a pretty common theme. It was terrible, sad, horrible, but he’d seen about 30 stories like that in the last two days and he was kind of getting numb to it all.

Until he saw the name Munson.

Until a picture of a woman with long, curly hair and Eddie’s smile stared back at him next to a headline that read: “Kentucky Country Queen Dead at 27.”

He read the article with tears in his eyes.

Elizabeth “El” Munson, a hopeful country singer and guitarist, was found dead in her home by her six year old son, Edward. The boy reportedly tried calling his father at work with no luck before finally calling his uncle, Wayne Munson.

Toxicology reports show that she overdosed on multiple illegal substances. At this time, it is believed to have been accidental and no foul play is suspected.

It has now been made clear that Elizabeth was seeking a divorce from her husband, Al Munson, but had not been successful as lawyers were unable to locate him until her funeral. Their son has been put in the care of Wayne until further notice.

Robin found him 20 minutes later, staring at the page with swollen, red eyes. She took the paper, read the article, and put it back in the files wordlessly.

“I don’t think he wants us to know,” she finally said.

She was probably right.

But Steve had grown pretty close to Eddie over the last six months, had opened up to him about his parents, his fake friends, his concussions and nightmares. Eddie had started opening up to him, too.

He thought he had, anyway.

He told him about how his mom died when he was young and his dad was awful so he moved in with Wayne. He told him about how his dad appeared every couple years looking for money or a place to stay and Wayne always turned him away.

But he never really talked about his mom, always said he barely remembered her.

Did he know what happened?

——

Steve asked Wayne the next morning.

He’d come by to pick Eddie up for a day with the kids, but Eddie hadn’t set his alarm and was still asleep.

Perfect opportunity to find out more.

“So. Eddie’s mom.”

Wayne tensed over his plate of toast and scrambled eggs. He didn’t look up, just took another bite of food.

“Does he know how she died?”

“Do you?”

“Newspaper said overdose,” Steve tapped his fingers nervously against his thigh. “Says Eddie found her.”

“Trauma messes with your memory.”

It was final, a statement that left Steve with more questions, but a certainty that he’d get no answers.

“Yeah.” He gulped. “I’ve heard.”

——

Steve doesn’t bring it up to Eddie for a while.

He figured Wayne’s reaction said a lot about what Eddie knew or would be willing to share.

But they were a little high and alone and Eddie’s hand was warm in his and his filter was broken.

“I’m sorry you had to be the one to find your mom.”

The air around them was thick. The silence was deafening.

“Me too.”

Eddie’s voice was quiet, nothing like his usual playful tone.

Steve immediately wanted to put this conversation in reverse, pretend his curiosity didn’t matter.

“I’m sorry.”

Eddie moved closer to Steve, his arm a constant pressure against Steve’s. His head leaned against Steve’s shoulder.

“Wayne doesn’t know I know how she died. He doesn’t know I know my dad gave her bad drugs, convinced her all the up and coming musicians were doing a new strain of heroin. She’d kicked him out of the house,” Eddie’s breath caught. “She shouldn’t have let him come back that day. I heard them arguing before I left for school. She told him she was finding a manager and recording an album and that she was divorcing him. I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew it was bad.”

“Eds, you don’t have to tell me.”

“I know, Stevie. But you know everything else.” Eddie’s face turned until his nose and mouth were pressed against Steve’s arm. “I went to school. Didn’t think about it. Figured my dad would be gone when I got home and might come back in a few days once they cooled off. But when I got home, he was gone and my mom’s bedroom door was closed. And I opened it and there she was.”

Steve turned so he was face to face with Eddie, cupping his jaw and rubbing his thumb along his cheek in encouragement.

“I don’t even know why I tried calling the store first. I didn’t even know if he still worked there. But then I called Wayne and it’s like he just knew.” Eddie’s eyes closed for a moment. “Don’t think he’d ever gotten to our house so quick.”

“Did he know all this?”

“He knew enough. I stayed with him and then my dad gave up his rights. Lied to the counselor about what I knew so Wayne wouldn’t freak. Kept it up for a while,” Eddie let out a small exhale that slightly resembled a laugh. “I read the article about eight years ago. A kid in my class made a joke about me being an orphan because of the drug problem in America as if he even knew what that meant and I decided to see what the newspaper reported.”

“Do you play because of her?” Steve asked.

Eddie blinked back at him.

“I play for a lot of reasons. But I started because of her, yeah,” he whispers. “You’re the first person to ask me that instead of give me that look of pity.”

“I’m sad about how it happened, but giving you pity doesn’t change it. I’d rather hear how it changed you,” Steve whispered back.

They were close, legs intertwined, hands touching bare skin under shirts and on faces and necks.

“It changed everything for me. Wayne packed us up and moved us here as soon as he legally could. Probably for the best. Well,” Eddie gave a small smile. “Definitely for the best. Wouldn’t be here with you if he hadn’t.”

“Do you ever go back?” Steve did his best to ignore the fluttering in his stomach.

“Her birthday every year. She’s got a nice spot near her mom.” Eddie bit his lip. “It’s actually coming up in a couple weeks. Maybe you could come with me?”

“Me? Are you sure?”

Eddie nodded. “If it doesn’t weird you out that I talk to her. I like to give her updates on my life, Wayne’s life, music. Think she’d find it quite funny that I bring the guy I’ve had a crush on for two years.”

It takes a minute for the words to sink in.

“Two years?” Steve’s lips curled up into a smile. “I hope I live up to expectations.”

“I think she’d like you. She’d definitely make fun of me for having a boyfriend who wears polos though.”

“Is that how you’d introduce me?”

“If you’re okay with it.” Eddie leaned his forehead against Steve’s. “I know we haven’t talked about what we-“

Steve pressed his lips to Eddie’s, nearly knocking their noses together painfully in the process.

After the initial shock, they both relaxed into the kiss.

“I’d love to go. As your boyfriend,” Steve said after pulling away for air. “What was her favorite flower?”

“Gardenias. Always wore perfume that smelled like it. Why?”

“Because I have to impress her, right?”

“You realize she’s not gonna actually see or hear you? She’s definitely dead.”

Steve snorted. “I know. But she can still have nice things. Maybe us bringing her nice things in death is a way to apologize for the not nice things she had in life.”

“You’re a pretty incredible boyfriend, sweetheart.” Eddie kissed the tip of his nose. “And you now know more than Wayne, so it’s time for a pinky promise.”

Steve giggled before holding up his pinky. “I swear I won’t tell Wayne anything.”

“And you’ll kiss me whenever I want…”

“That’s a guarantee.”

“And you’ll let me win at Go Fish…”

“Not a chance, Eds.”

Eddie laughed. “Worth a try.”

Steve curled his pinky against Eddie’s. “So do you think she’d like me?”

“Oh. Oh god. She’d love you. You’re exactly who she’d want for me,” Eddie rolled his eyes when Steve flipped his hair back confidently. “And she’d braid your hair every night while you gossiped and sipped tea.”

“And what would you do?”

“Probably just soak it in. Appreciate having her and you around. You’ll just have to gossip with Wayne.”

“Wayne doesn’t strike me as-“

“Oh, he’s got you fooled! He’s a worse gossip than the ladies at the hair salon. Just ask him about the mailbox at the end of the road sometime. Make sure you’ve got an hour to spare.”

“Really?” Steve’s eyes lit up. “Is he home now?”

Eddie pulled Steve forward until he was flush against his front. “No and I have much better plans than gossiping with my uncle.”

“Oh?” Steve’s brow raised.

“It involves my bed and handcuffs. You in?”

“Hopefully you’re in.”

“God, you’re ridiculous. C’mon, now I’m even harder from your stupid flirting,” Eddie sat up and tugged until Steve followed. “Can’t believe this is how my night’s going.”

“Believe it, baby.”

[atomic-chronoscaph]

[coffinwebs]

happy world goth day!! :) 🦇🕸️🖤🎵

[mikkeneko]

If we're all pretty much on board by now with "media consumption is not activism," are we ready to move on yet to the necessary corollary of "failure to consume media is not failure of activism?"

[all-yourn]

“In Your Love” by Tyler Childers

[subwaylesbians]

very very cool context re: make way for cyrus, from sasha hutchings’s (cowgirl’s) instagram. there’s an incredibly interesting article on step and gumboot dance and their intersections here https://encompass.eku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=2&article=1000&context=ekuopen&type=additional for anyone interested!

[ibetittering]

FREAKING OUT THE MUSIC IS BACK I'M SO HAPPY

[plenilune]

happy TEN FUCKING YEARS since @gaslampsglow and I shared the only bed, bit each other platonically, fell asleep curled up against each other, and only finally kissed and admitted we were into each other after waking up later that day. (then we had sex like forty seven times.) three months later I moved into their house, and today we made bacon and toast with jam and bingewatched the series finale of ARCANE and screamed and took the dog for a long walk and showed each other things on the internet and went out for dinner and affogato in a favourite neighborhood. tomorrow we make our Sunday morning trek to the farmers market. love you, let's do this a thousand more times. we can cronenberg's-the-fly the genders around again; I bet we can still make some new ones.

[intheholler]

if any of y'all know spanish, there's this song that always makes me feel kentucky pride bc it really strikes the appalachian chord. it's called "hijo del pueblo" and it's all about loving being from a small town. here's a bit:

pero cuantos millonarios / but how many millionaires

quisieran vivir mi vida / would want to live my life

pa' cantarle de la pobreza / to sing about poverty

sin sentir ningun dolor / without feeling any pain

es por eso que es mi orgullo / that is why it is my pride

ser del barrio mas humilde / to be from the most humble barrio (usually translated as neighborhood or town)

alejado del bullicio / away from the hustle and bustle

y de la falsa sociedad / and the false society

yo compongo mis canciones / i compose my songs

pa' que el pueblo me las cante / so the people can sing them to me

y el dio que aquel pueblo me falle / and the day that the people fail me

ese dia voy a llorar / that day i will cry

i've never heard this but man i love the sentiment so much. i searched it up by title and i was wondering if you had a particular artist's rendition you like the most so i can check that one out?

thanks for sharing fr <33

[radioactvunicorn]

i am thinking about kentucky route zero again...

[todayinhiphophistory]

Today in Hip Hop History:

The Cunninlynguists released their second album Southernunderground April 1, 2003

[nugothrhythms]

2024 single "The Fallacy of Worth" by Louisville, Kentucky-based darkwave solo act Scary Black

[sonicandvisualsurprises]

1954

Vocals and sound effects by Salty Holmes.

[discover-underground-bands]

Anemic Royalty from Louisville, KY. They’re a party punk four piece and their sophomore album has 2 singles out right now.

bandcamp//soundcloud//spotify//youtube//youtube music

(spotify and youtube/yt music are the most up to date but i’m pretty sure there’s stuff on soundcloud that isn’t anywhere else)