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Louisville Music History

Louisville Music History

When I was 15 or so, I started keeping a list of all the shows I played while in bands growing up. For better or for worse, here it is, transcribed in its entirety. I find it humorous that I wrote this in third person, as if it would be dug up years later and published somewhere…hey, wait a minute…!

Here it goes. All shows were in Louisville, KY, unless otherwise noted. Bands are listed in order they appeared at the show.

Substance

Substance was originally Will Chatham on drums, Jon Cook on bass, Duncan Barlow on guitar, and Jeff Mekolites singing. After the third show, Jeff was replaced with Sean McGuirk.

  • August 28, 1987 – Heather Cantrell’s Birthday party. Bands: Fist, Misguided Youth, Substance
  • September 1987 – Mae Pike’s Birthday Party. Bands: Misguided Youth, Substance, Spot.
  • September 26, 1987 – Dave Phillip’s farm in Clarksville, IN. Bands: Food Fight (Formerly Fist), Misguided Youth, Big Deal, Spot, Substance, Soul Side )from Washington DC).
  • October 30, 1987 – Dave Phillip’s Farm. Band: Substance.
  • December 7, 1987 – Tim Furnish’s birthday party. Bands: Deathwatch (with Duncan Barlow), Substance, Spot

Substance had actually broken up before their last show. Will and Jon had started Cerebellum with Joey Mudd (Spot) singing, Breck Pipes (Spot) in guitar, and Tim Furnish (Able to Act) on guitar. This was a reunion show for Substance.

Substance made a demo tape recorded by Scott Ritcher. Two of their songs were released on the Slamdek X-mas tape in 1987.

Lead Pennies

Cerebellum never got out of the practice room, so Will and Jon formed Lead Pennies with Steve Feckity (Food Fight) and Jeff Mekolites.

  • April 8, 1988 – Clarksville Sports Center, IN. Bands: Pussy Magnet, Lead Pennies, Hellride, Brain Dead.
  • May 7, 1988 – Clarksville Sports Center, IN. Bands: Kinghorse, Lead Pennies, Fugazi (from Washington DC). Steve Feckity was replaced by Duncan Barlow this show. Of course, they ended up playing Substance songs.

Cerebellum

Cerebellum decided to get back together. Spot broke up, so Breck and Joey decided they could concentrate more on this band. After Cerebellum’s first show, Drew Daniel was added on to do back up vocals and bang on metal stuff.

  • August 28, 1988 – Tewligan’s Tavern. Bands: Cerebellum, Soul Side.
  • October 9, 1988 – Tewligan’s Tavern. Bands: Cerebellum, Ignition (from Washington, DC)
  • November 6, 1988 – Tewligan’s Tavern. Bands: Destry, Cerebellum, Endpoint (formerly Deathwatch), Kinghorse
  • November 11, 1988 – YWCA – “Give Peace a Chance” Benefit. Bands: Cerebellum and many other local acts. Cerebellum only played half of their set. They got kicked off the stage because they were “Too Loud”.
  • December 31, 1988 – Swiss Hall. Bands: Cerebellum, Squirrel Bait, Didjits (Chicago).
  • Januray 29, 1989 – Tewligan’s Tavern. Bands: Cerebellum, Necropsy, Brain Dead
  • March 17, 1989 – Karen Sheet’s house. Bands: Bush League, Cerebellum, Endpoint.
  • April 15, 1989 – Race Street Shelter, Lexington, KY. Bands: Kinghorse, Cerebellum
  • April 28, 1989 – St. Francis High School “Battle of the Bands”. Bands: Trip, Shock ‘n Slick, Cerebellum, Kinghorse
  • May 26, 1989 – Cafe Dog. Cerebellum.

Crain

Cerebellum broke up due to musical differences. Crain played their first show the next day. At first, it was Will, Tim, Jon, and Drew. Drew only played the first show. After a couple of shows where Tim and Jon sang, Kristen Shelor was added on as vocalist. She never played a show. Tim and Jon kept singing until after the fall of ’89. Joey Mudd quit Crawdad and sang for Crain. Eventually, Joey ended up playing guitar, and everyone shared the singing. Crain recorded at Sound on Sound studios in Louisville in August of 1990. They released a split 7? on Slamdek/Scramdown records. Deathwatch was on the flipside. This record was given out free at the door at the Crain/Endpoint show on September 7, 1990 (Zodiac Club).

  • June 2, 1989 – Cafe Dog. Bands: Crain, King Kong, Krakh.
  • June 9, 1989 – Party Zone, Ramada Inn. Doan’s B’day party. Bands: Crain, some cheezy redneck band with no name.
  • July 14, (Bastille Day), 1989 – Cafe Dog. Bands: Crain, King Kong, Slint. The cops busted the place for being a fire hazard during the middle of Crain’s set.
  • August 4, 1989 – Braden Memorial Center. Bands: Crain, Antman, Slint. This was in retaliation to the bust at the Cafe Dog. The cops had made some racial slurs there, and this was the “Rock Against Racism”.
  • November 12, 1989 – Simon Furnish’s birthday party. Bands: Crain.
  • March 23, 1990 – CD Graffiti’s. Bands: Sholanda, Crain, Jawbox (from Washington, DC).
  • March 30, 1990 – Red Barn, UofL Campus. Bands: Crain, Oblong Box
  • May 12, 1990 – Tewligan’s Tavern. Bands: Crain, Jesus Lizard (Chicago).
  • June 9, 1990 – Red Barn, UofL Campus. Bands: Crain, Crown of Thorns.
  • June 14, 1990 – Louisville Zoo “Summer Safari”. Bands: Ubiquitous, Crain
  • June 26, 1990 – The Kentucky Theater. Bands: Crain, Fugazi (Washington DC)

Will started to practice with Scott Ritcher and Simon Furnish to form Sunspring. Will and Simon ended up quitting about three months into things. They never played a show with that lineup.

  • August 14, 1990 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Lettuce Prey, Circus Lupus (NY), Crain.
  • August 23, 1990 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Crain, Superchunk (Chapel Hill, NC), Geek (DC)
  • August 24, 1990 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Crain, Amenity, Urge Overkill (Chicago).
  • September 7, 1990 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Sister Shannon, Crain, Endpoint.
  • November 3, 1990 – Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH. Bands: Crain.
  • January 2, 1991 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Sister Shannon, Crain, Nation of Ulysses
  • January 18, 1991 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Dybbuk, Crain, Human Remains, Doas
  • January 30, 1991 – Zodiac Club. Bands: 7 More Seconds, Crain. 7 More Seconds was a 7 Seconds tribute band. Will played the drums along with Scott Ritcher (Sunspring) on bass, Chad Castetter (Endpoint) on guitar, and Lee Fetzer (Endpoint) singing. They recorded their show on DAT, and released it on Slamdek. It was a limited edition of 52 copies.
  • February 17, 1991 – Vogue Theater. Bands: Dybbuk, Crain, Kinghorse
  • March 1, 1991 – The Czar Bar, Chicago, IL. Bands: Control, Crain, Trenchmouth
  • March 16, 1991 – Zodiac Club. Bands: Crain, Anteitam (NY)

Crain’s first full 7? was released around April 15, 1991. The record had 4 songs, and played at 33rpm. It was released on Automatic Wreckords, a label started by Jon Cook particularly for this record.

  • April 28, 1991 – Snagilwet (formerly Tewligan’s Tavern). Bands: Crain, Evil Twin Theory, Superchunk (Chapel Hill)
  • June 26, 1991 – Snagilwet. Bands: Sunspring, Crain, Bikini Kill (Olympia, WA), Nation of Ulysses (DC)
  • July 31, 1991 – Snagilwet. Bands: Boris, Crain, Volcano Suns (Baltimore)
  • August 23, 1991 – Uncle Pleasant’s. Bands: Crain, Jesus Lizard. Will got to play drums for Jesus Lizard during their sound check.
  • September 27, 1991 – The Wrocklage, Lexington, KY. Bands: Crain, Bastro
  • October 6, 1991 – Uncle Pleasant’s. Bands: Erchint, Crain, Kinghorse
  • October 12, 1991 – The Rocket House (Jon Cook’s house on 3rd St.) Bands: Crain.
  • October 15, 1991 – The Rocket House. Bands: Crain, Sebadoh

On November 13-15 Crain went to Chicago to record in Steve Albini’s basement studio on 8-track. Crain did 11 songs there, 10 of which were relased on the Speed LP.

  • November 20, 1991 – The Rocket House. Bands: Unwound (Olympia, WA), Crain
  • November 21, 1991 – The Print Stop, Atlanta, GA. Bands: Bikini Kill, Crain, The Nation of Ulysses.
  • November 22, 1991 – Warehouse Billiards, Chattanooga, TN. Bands: Children of the Root, Needle, Fiddlehead, Crain
  • November 23, 1991 – The Orpheus, Knoxville, TN. Bands: Unkown 1, Unknown 2, Crain, G.G. Allin (yes, THE G.G. Allin…now I shall go vomit again…)
  • November 26, 1991 – DC Space, Washington, DC. Bands: Quill, Crain, Chris Blad 96.
  • December 31, 1991 – 1919 Bonnycastle Ave. (Will, Scott Ritcher, Greta Ritcher, Breck Pipes, and Joey Mudd’s house). Bands: No Comply, Sunspring, Crain

Around December of 1991, Will started playing with Undermine, whose drummer, John Causey, had quit. Undermine was Sean McLoughlin singing, Tak Tsuji playing guitar, and Chris Layton doing the same, and Scott Bryant on bass. This outfit practiced for about a month, when Tak decided to quit. Will, Sean, and Chris kept practicing, and recorded a 1 song demo at Falk Studios on January 26, 1992 (see Undermine’s page.

  • March 3, 1992 – Another Place Sandwich Shop. Bands: Hula Hoop, Crain, Sebadoh
  • March 15, 1992 – Tewligan’s. Bands: Dybbuk, Crain, Big Wheel

Crain and Circus Lupus Tour

Crain kicked off this tour by recording 3 songs at Inner Ear Studio in Washington, DC.

  • April 2, 1992 – Khyber Pass, Philadelphia, PA. Bands: Railhead, Crain, Circus Lupus
  • April 3, 1992 – The Middle East, Boston, MASS. Bands: Edsel, Crain, Letters to Cleo, Hypno Love Wheel
  • April 3, 1992 – Radio show on WMBR, Boston. Engineered by Bob Weston. (downloads at this page)
  • April 4, 1992 – Hampshire College, Amherst, MASS. Bands: Mr. Jones, Crain, The Lunachicks, Circus Lupus
  • April 6, 1992 – The Euclid Tavern, Cleveland, OH. Bands: Crain, Gobblehoof, Circus Lupus
  • April 9, 1991 – The Czar Bar, Chicago, IL. Bands: The Moon Men, Circus Lupus, Crain, Dog
  • April 10, 1992 – O’Cayz Corral, Madison, WI. Bands: Big’n, Crain, Circus Lupus
  • April 12, 1992 – Speed Boat Cafe, St, Paul, MN. Bands: Crain, Circus Lupus, Plaid Retina
  • April 13, 1992 – Exit 99, Fargo, ND. Bands: Godhead Silo, Crain, Circus Lupus
  • April 17, 1992 – John’s Alley, Moscow, ID. Bands: Mighty White Meal, Circus Lupus, Crain
  • April 18, 1992 – OK Hotel, Seattle, WA. Bands: Unwound, Crain, Anteitam, Circus Lupus
  • April 19, 1992 – The Capitol Theater, Olympia, WA. Bands: The Spinnanes, Unwound, Crain, Circus Lupus
  • April 21, 1992 – The Vogue, Seattle, WA. Bands: Spike, Crain, Circus Lupus, Nothing
  • April 22, 1992 – Mother’s Pub, Spokane, WA. Bands: Butt Tuba, Circus Lupus, Crain
  • April 23, 1992 – Belmont’s, Portland, OR. Bands: Crain, Circus Lupus, Drunk at Abi’s
  • April 24, 1992 – The Chameleon, San Francisco, CA. Bands: Crain, Circus Lupus, Jawbreaker
  • April 25, 1992 – The Gilman Street, Berkely, CA. Bands: Backwoods, Circus Lupus, Crain, Supersuckers, Gashuffer
  • April 26, 1992 – Mansion Cellars, Davis, CA. Bands: The Winona Ryders, Circus Lupus, Crain, Drop Acid (Kevin Second’s band)
  • April 29, 1992 – Mercury Cafe, Denver, CO. Bands: Lilawatt, Crain, Circus Lupus
  • May 3, 1992 – Another Place Sandwich Shop. Bands: Sunspring, Circus Lupus, Crain

End of tour

  • May 7, 1992 – Uncle Pleasants. Bands: Crain, Circle X
  • May 22, 1992 – The Brown School Alumni Showcase
  • June 21, 1992 – Tewligan’s Tavern. Bands: Sancred, Ennui, Sunspring, Crain
  • June 27, 1992 – Bogart’s, Cincinatti, OH. Bands: Crain, Mule, L7

I went on to play in bands once I moved to Asheville, NC to go to college. I wish I had kept track of all of the shows and bands, but alas, I didn’t