Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Saturday September 19, 2015 - Louisville, KY

Road Blog – Louisville, KY
September 19, 2015

After a couple record stores and a pint at an adjacent watering hole we had a little downtime at our Air B&B before we had to take off for dinner and the show. We came across an article a few weeks ago about The 100 Things You Just Have To Eat In Louisville (or something like that). I sent it to the boys and asked them to pick one and we ended up at El Mundo, a little Mexican joint with ground buffalo as their staple filling for enchiladas, tacos, etc. The owner was a friendly but very direct guy who instructed us very distinctly on how the meal was going to work. Gabe and Patty got the enchiladas and I got the tacos. We shared a lamb quesadilla and we picked up our food at the counter, just as we were so succinctly instructed. It was really good and we left with smiles and full bellies and headed towards the Mag Bar.

We played the Mag Bar last year in October as the last night of our "Gonna Get Weird" tour with Those Crosstown Rivals. The bartender/owner Beenee is the best dude. We were greeted with a warm welcome and tales of our first record on regular rotation at his house. We promptly set him up with a copy of Above The Sweet Tea Line and he set us up with whiskeys and beers and the night was under way. Gabe played some Misfits and Iron Maiden in the juke box while Patty made conversation with the locals.

First up was The Crooked Beat Refuge, some younger dudes who had a great sound mixing ska and punk, including a killer cover of Hateful by The Clash. Nice dudes, great musicians, fun set! We were up next and things were a little askew. Patty was having technical issues for the first couple tunes and I was having a power issue that took a couple minutes to work out, but by the 3rd or 4th song we found our groove and stayed there till the end. The crowd was small but appreciative and there was some fun banter back and forth. Ghost Holler finished up the night with their folly-alterative tunes set to some reverbed guitar and bouncy drums. Great set! Then it was load out, nightcap and back to the AirB&B where Patty promptly crashed and Gabe and I finished the sixer we got in Columbus.

We left Louisville this morning with the goal to hit Cincinnati before the Bengals traffic got heavy. We managed to accomplish that, despite a stop and Waffle House along I-71 near the site of the 1988 bus crash that left 27 dead and many injured. That stretch always gets me for some reason, and we seem to pass by pretty regularly on our way home from the Bluegrass State.

We're home now, with ringing ears and dirty laundry, some sleep to catch up on, some new records to listen to, and some more stories. In the end it was a good run of shows. Lexington was amazing, Columbus was a lot of fun, and Louisville was the runt of the litter, I guess, but no regrets. We're off for a couple weeks to get things ready for the big "Below The Sweet Tea Line Southeast USA Tour" in October! Big thanks to everyone involved with this weekend. You know who you are. We love you. XO JP&T\