bio

Peter Berkowitz writes about arts, culture and other mysteries for Velocity. He lives in the Schnitzelburg section of the Germantown neighborhood of Louisville, KY, USA. You can find his blog at www.courier-journal.com/velocity.

He has written cover stories on the music of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and My Morning Jacket, and interviewed musical acts Bowerbirds, Heartless Bastards, Heavy Trash, The Hi-Tops, Joe Manning, Kentucky Prophet, Lucky Pineapple, Markus, Matt Messina, Per Mission, Rachel Grimes, Ronald Jenkees, Sandpaper Dolls, Spirits of the Red City and Wax Fang, dozens of bartenders and chef Duff Goldman. He has written bios for the Louisville-based bands King's Daughters and Sons, Nautical Fox and Second Story Man. He has also written cover stories on local restaurants and public radio, and reviewed dozens of albums and bars. His column runs in Velocity every three weeks.

Question The Pop #5: Cozy up to some of our city's real treasures

When I was approached about writing a column, I was confused. I had become used to writing as a journalist, and my impression of most column writing was that most of it wasn't much better than Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes. Would I be expected to write items such as, "What's the deal with e-mail?" ("If I wanted Viagra, I wouldn't buy it from a prince in Nigeria!")

I decided to try writing this column as a look at pop culture as it is experienced in our everyday lives. Anyone can review a new record, and I have, many times. I wanted to try to contribute something a little unique — especially today, when millions of self-appointed critics blog all over themselves, I didn't want to have to write, "So, Letterman's in the news. He has a sex scandal? What's up with that?" Instead, I wanted to try to find a way to talk about, for example, how he has influenced me as a humorist, as a writer and as an aging and now-married man. (That's not what this week's column is about, though.)

Pop culture has always been a subject that I've understood easily, and the only one. Math and science come easily to some, but not for me. However, I once won $15,500 in a morning by answering trivia questions on a TV quiz show. (True story).

I spent most of my 20s failing to succeed as a writer in Hollywood. While there, I worked for several years as a product buyer for a record store. My area was anything that wasn't a CD or vinyl — DVDs, books, magazines, toys, candy — that fit into the pop-culture arena. (Our best-seller was a 2-foot-tall James Brown doll that danced to "I Feel Good." The Master P doll did not sell nearly as well.) That job didn't last, though, because many record stores don't, not anymore.

Having spent a couple of years prior at the University of Louisville, I knew this city well. If Louisville had been part of the movie business, I never would have left — and back then, we didn't have groups like the Louisville Film Society, which have been doing a wonderful job of providing us with many interesting movies that otherwise would never screen here.

I had to chase my dream, so I left. When that didn't work out, I returned to Louisville for some of the reasons that had brought me here originally: an amazing music scene, a fertile theater scene, many great restaurants, and numerous other examples of the kind of inspiring weirdness that has spawned heroes such as Muhammad Ali, Hunter S. Thompson and Warren Oates.

People who live elsewhere are always surprised at how much I brag about Louisville. Sadly, even more surprised are some people who have lived here for much longer than I have. So, please, visit Skull Alley (1017 E. Broadway) on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. The all-ages venue is hosting my favorite singer/songwriter in the world, Joe Manning — a guy who lives in our city. I love Joe's music so much that I asked him to sing at my wedding. But that's not all. Also performing are one of my other worldwide favorites, Joe O'Connell, who leads an Indiana collective called Elephant Micah; and Spirits of the Red City, a lovely group based in Minneapolis and featuring two erstwhile Louisvillians.

I hope to use this column to get people to think more about how culture affects our lives, and also to encourage people to discover local artists and entertainers who add so much to our lives here. Fourth Street Live will be there tomorrow. If you want more from life, though, come listen to some locally grown music. I guarantee that it will make you cry for the same reasons that Hank Williams makes you cry, or Nina Simone, or Sinatra — the good kind of cry that makes you feel glad to be alive.

c. 2009 Velocity Weekly

Rachel Grimes interview

Rachel Grimes is an amazingly talented pianist, best known for her work with the group conveniently called Rachel's. She is currently promoting her first solo record, and is playing tonight at 21C Museum Hotel. The concert begins at 7 p.m.; tickets are $12 at the door. She agreed to answer a few questions:

Where did you grow up? Is your family musical or artistic?
Grew up right here in River City - Prospect, Crescent Hill, Old Louisville, Highlands, now Clifton.

My brother is a fantastic drummer, and singer. He also plays vibes and guitar. He was with Seluah (SUCH a great record...), and recorded and toured with Rachel's. My father and his mother taught me so much about playing piano by ear, and all the wonderful early stride and show tunes. There were two pianos in the house - at times with four people charging ahead on "St. Louis Blues". My mother is music lover and a closet pianist (I know this having walked in the house unbeknownst...).

What is your musical background / training?
I played by ear until I started lessons in first grade. Not the best student - I preferred to just play movie theme songs than to practice my lessons. In high school I finally got in the groove of really working on Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin. I went to the University of Louisville School of Music and got a degree in composition. I played in bands since I was 16 - Lemonade Hayride, Hula Hoop, Rachel's, King's Daughters & Sons. Spent a lot of time at local shows over the years - what a treasure.

Who are your musical favorites/inspirations?
An impossible list... so many favorites, here are a few:
- would love to have heard live: Ellington and band, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, Chopin, St. Columbe, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Evans
- so glad I heard live: Bjork, Kronos Quartet, Ralph Stanley
- how did their brain work?: Debussy, Bach, Stravinsky

What bands/projects are you currently involved with? How did you get
involved with them?
I have just helped to form, with Jane Halliday and Daniel Gilliam, "Hear + Now", a music series dedicated to local composers. Our first concert is being presented by 21C on Oct. 8th.
I am currently on tour with my solo record Book of Leaves, and will be playing a few shows with another pianist Sarah Cahill. We decided that even though we have never met, we ought to take the chance to play
some four hands music so we will be playing a Debussy piece called "Pour
L'Egyptienne".

I can't wait to get home and finish working on the King's Daughters & Sons record down at the Funeral Home. It has taken us a while due to schedules and life. We got together because we all knew each other from the lively, interconnected music scene and just had to make some songs and sing together. I have played with Kyle Crabtree before when he went on tour with Rachel's as the second drummer. Shared the bill with Joe Manning, and have recently put some backing tracks on a song of his, "Lately at a Lesser Table", part of the Karate Body White Belt split 7" series.

What do you hope to achieve with music?
I hope to translate honest feelings, textures, colors, imaginings through playing, writing and arranging and wish that the performance or recording will give the listener something unique, meaningful, and enjoyable.

Learn more at www.rachelgrimespiano.com or www.myspace.com/rachelgrimespiano

Rehearsal for Spring from on Vimeo.

Silent Retreat from on Vimeo.

Question The Pop #4: He's man enough to admit he loves McConaughey

Let us consider the “man crush.” According to the website Urban Dictionary, it refers to “a man having extreme admiration for another man, as though he wants to be him.”

Next, let us consider Matthew McConaughey.

I've concluded that I am fascinated with Matthew McConaughey because he is the complete opposite of me. He is handsome, rich, popular and beloved. He makes doing his job look effortless always — he never looks like he's trying to be someone he's not, even though that actually is his job.

I think, and I worry, and, frankly, it's gotten me nowhere. If 7-Up is the un-cola, he is the un-me. He is a tall, muscular Gentile. I don't know if he named his son Levi because of the Bible or because of the jeans, and I appreciate that it could go either way.

The first time I realized that there was something special about McConaughey — that he was no ordinary heartthrob like Antonio Sabato or and Josh Hartnett — was when he made an appearance on “The Daily Show” in 2001. His interview aired in two parts because… well, I'll let the show's website describe what happened:

1. “Jon Stewart shows the pt. 1 of his interview with Matthew McConaughey in which they discuss ‘getting ready' and emus.”

2. “Matthew McConaughey tells and acts out a nasty story about goat sex.”

The man represents the good life, ala Jimmy Buffett. His production company is called J.K. Livin. This is short for “Just Keep Livin',” which is his personal motto. Who has a personal motto? That's adorable!

I don't care much for his action movies. Anyone can do that. I don't want to be Harrison Ford — I'm already grumpy. Chuck Norris? We already know what Chuck Norris can do.

No, I love that McConaughey has carved out his own subgenre of romantic comedies. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Wedding Planner, Failure to Launch, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past — his rom-coms seem to be parts of a series, like his own private Bridget Jones. We know that he will play a charming cad who will refuse to grow up — until the end. He will charm parents and children, though he might smoke too much weed, and he will want to spend more time with his bros than with his chick. Christopher Guest might be better known for his unscripted comedies, but I can't imagine McConaughey sticking to anyone else's screenplay, either.

Also, I love that he spent some of his own money to finance a movie called Surfer, Dude, about a “longboarding soul-surfer… (who) returns to Malibu for the summer to find his cool hometown vibe corrupted.”

What happens next, Matt? “He must endure the insanity that comes with no waves or give into ‘The Man.'”

I've always had unpopular opinions about actors. Before McConaughey, I had Burt Reynolds. Burt, though, is much older. Once, I admired Burt for his effortless charm, quick wit and light touch with the ladies. It became too hard to cheer Burt on, though, especially when he does things like pass out in a pool of his own blood after a prescription drug overdose made him fall over and crack his head open. Matthew McConaughey would never find himself in that position — at worst, too many Coronas might make him miss some killer waves.

I can still remember telling a woman in 1996 that my favorite actors were Burt Reynolds and Don Johnson. She laughed at me. A year later, Burt was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Boogie Nights. (Okay, so Don Johnson never lived up to his potential.)

That's the other thing I enjoy about following McConaughey's career — he's 40 now, and I still can't tell if he'll one day be seen as the next Paul Newman. While I spend way too much time thinking about it, Matthew McConaughey just keeps livin'.

c. 2009 Velocity Weekly

The Brainy Bunch

Our resident pop-culture guru Peter Berkowitz offers up his ideas about the 2009 Idea Fest lineup:

I live in Louisville because unpredictable events happen here. One is the emergence and evolution of Idea Fest, a four-day celebration of big ideas, new ideas, weird ideas and (hopefully) helpful ideas that might make this world a better place. Or, failing that, a world in which physicists and mathematicians are treated like rock stars.

Given that the concept of an "idea" is a broad one, you can expect to see everything from child prodigies to elder statesmen, cooks to journalists and business executives to farmers.

If that's not impressive enough already, just tell yourself that you're cooler than those nerds, and that smart people get awful lonely 'cause they can't get chicks.



Julian Beever
Remember that time when you saw a crazy story about a European dude who draws 3-dimensional images on the sidewalk which look real but aren't actually, let's say, giant manholes, and you were all, "Woah!"? He's that guy.

Tiffany Shlain
A filmmaker whose very serious new film, Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence, is about being connected and a new dawn and a new era and... I don't know. At least Katherine Heigel isn't in it.

Kjerstin Erickson
My favorite people who appear at this fest are the ones like Erickson, who, at 26, have done more than I will ever do. Her organization works with African refugees. Just like Bono, but in much less annoying fashion.

Kembrew McLeod
The IF speaker whose name sounds most like a starter for the 1974 New York Nets, he's actually an media studies professor from Iowa. Huh. Okay, but he's talking about hip-hop and copyright issues, so that's pretty street, especially for Iowa.

Bert Hoelldobler
This German myrmecologist's topic, "The Superorganism," isn't what you thought it was if you read that too quickly. And no, I don't know what he does. Why do I have to do all the Googling in this relationship? According to the IF website, he is a past winner of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. So there's that.

Leslie Lyons
The photographer, known locally for her "I Live in Louisville" website, will be talking about the impact of T-shirts in our culture. She takes pictures of "real people," not models, which is why she's an artist and not rich.

Bob Berman
The thing about being the most beloved astronomy guy means that you mean a lot to people who obsess over astronomy, but very little to 97 percent of the human race. (Kind of like being the most famous writer for your local newspaper).

Daniel Roth
His ideas about how harsh economic realities can lead to bold new ideas is probably a year or two ahead of its time, but hey, any port in a storm.

Chris Turney
The topic is climate change. Go to this either to be terrified, or to yell right-wing taunts at him. Something for everyone.

A. J. Jacobs
You know that guy who wrote that Esquire magazine piece about spending a year reading the dictionary? That guy. (Actually, it was the Encyclopedia Britannica. Whatever.)




Ahn Trio
A song of theirs was used on So You Think You Can Dance. That's the classical music equivalent of saying that my mom knows who Kate Capshaw is because she married Steven Spielberg.

Moira Gunn
The host of NPR's Tech Nation will explain why my parents can't work their cell phone, and how the robots will enslave us all by the year 2020.



Daan Roosegaarde
From the Netherlands - as you might guessed - a discussion about architecture in the modern era. You people with ideas are really into how things affect us today, aren't you?

Marc Yu
A ten-year-old master pianist is great and all, but I bet he doesn't even have a clothing line or a reality show yet.

John McPherson
I clearly don't need to attend a lecture on the power of humor... even if his comic, Close to Home, is in 700 papers and I'm writing about... him. Maybe I can learn something after all.

Paul Osterlund
The former Intel exec now leads the Abundance Farming Project. If I had lots of money, I'd totally do noble things, too. Who needs a palace in the south of France, anyway?

Kulapat Yantrasast
The co-founder of wHY Architecture, which is renovating our Speed Museum, has a name that would be good for a British psychedelic band, which has nothing to do with what we're talking about here, but interesting nonetheless.

Anthony Bourdain
The chef, writer and host of the Travel Channel's No Reservations is many home cook's guide to a world of gastro wonders, with an endless curiosity and the attitude of an old New Yorker rocker.

Will Allen
An "urban farmer", Allen is the CEO of Growing Power, which has some good ideas about distributing healthy food. He even won a MacArthur genius grant. Someone needs to ask him why it's still so hard to find any healthy food in most urban neighborhoods.

Marjorie Garber
The Harvard professor's book, Shakespeare and Modern Culture, addresses the subtle genius behind modern interpretations of the Bard. I desperately want to know what she thinks of the movie 10 Things I Hate About You.

Po Chi Wu
If you want to be reminded that China is and will continue to kick our ass during this century, come listen to him explain why. Maybe he'll feel sorry for you and hand out $100 bills, just because he can.

Dana Canedy
Canedy is a senior editor for The New York Times, which means that I will never work for her. The Radcliff, Ky. native will discuss her memoir, A Journal for Jordan, about losing a loved one to war.

Naomi Tutu
Bishop Desmond Tutu's daughter will talk about human rights, violence against women and how much fun it is to be named "Tutu".

Daniel Jones
The co-founder of Louisville's 21st Century Parks program discusses green living and his vision for a future in which... I dunno, new trees will be made out of old tires and all litterers will be executed? I hope so, that would be awesome!

Lee Dugatkin
The U of L biology prof returns to discuss his new book, Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose, which is about "the evolution of goodness." Which sounds plausible until you realize that his book will sell 2 million fewer copies than Ann Coulter's last one.

Dr. Richard Kogan
Also returning with a new idea, the piano playin' psychiatrist will play some Tchaikovsky while exploring the relationship between "creative" and "batspit crazy". (Spoiler alert: what gets you arrested at the office supply store can also lead to some fresh tunes).

c. 2009 Velocity Weekly

Question The Pop #3: It's no sale for this bigoted businessman

It's hard not to notice a 60-year-old man with a white ponytail working at a shoe store. He's even harder to forget when he's pressing his phone number into your hand, urging you to call him directly next time you're looking for more Vans slip-ons.

Lester (not his real name) took an instant liking to me because he liked the Bob Seger concert T-shirt that I was wearing. He never asked my name, but immediately started rambling about the Rolling Stones in the early '70s, how the kids today don't know what good music is, etc.

Curiously un-self-conscious, Lester then began complaining about how, “These young people don't even know about Motown, even the…” He looked behind us at an African American clerk and gestured in her direction. “They only know about the rap. It's all noise with the screaming and the anger and all the…” He leaned in and whispered a curse word, as if, otherwise, I wouldn't have known that part of what's bad about rap is all the cursing.

It could've been worse. When the Aug. 4 flash flood overtook our street, it took my car with it. When the insurance company said that they'd send me a check, my sadness turned into sunny delight. Now, though, came the hard part: shopping for a used car.

At the first dealership we visited, in the East End, we saw a promising ride. After a few more trips across the county came up empty, we headed back to look at the first car again.

We took the promising car out on the road. The test drive was going along just fine for the first few minutes. I turned the radio on to my favorite station, Country Legends 103.9. I like most music, unless it's created by corporate pawns with silly names like Miley or Mraz. The salesman seemed glad to find common ground over our mutual enjoyment of country music, and told an overlong story about meeting George Jones.

Exchanging basic pleasantries isn't amongst the hardest chores one faces in life. From the age of 5 or so, we all get a lot of clues from society about how to talk to people we've only known for a half-hour. He was off to a fairly good start.

"Where do you all live?"

"Germantown."

"Oh, yeah? Bardstown Road?"

My wife confirmed this before I could clarify his error.

The next thing you want to say probably isn't what he said next: "I like it over there. There's a lot of good, wholesome white folks there."

To clarify his perspective, he added, "Yeah, I don't care much for darkies myself."

Though you might think that we should've immediately told him how hateful he was, we didn't. We both knew that there wasn't anything we could say to make him understand just how wrong we thought he was. We also both knew that behavior like that catches up to someone pretty quickly. And we both knew that I have the power of the press behind me, to tell this story.

When I admit to stereotyping, it's usually with generalizations such as the following: When I think of people in the East End, I usually don't assume that they might be blatant, unrepentant racists. I also usually forget that country music fans are thought of, by some, as racists.

I like country music, but I also like reggae, salsa and not being a racist.

We left, and found another car for $1,000 more on Dixie Highway. That salesman might have been a racist, too, but if he was, he didn't burden us with his ignorance.

I don't expect to find bigotry in a business where thousands of dollars can depend on personal relationships. Here's an example: I would not buy anything from a blatant, unrepentant racist. I do not care if such a person loses his job — in fact, I look forward to it.

c. 2009 Velocity Weekly

Question The Pop #2: My life as a stand-up guy

The first joke I told to a group of strangers, onstage, was about O.J. Simpson. The only good thing I can tell you about it is that it was in 1997, not last weekend. Well, the other good thing is that they laughed. A little. A little is enough, though, for a fledging comic who has been waiting for this moment for months, years or decades.

There are a few people who know what I did between 22 and 25, and they all want to know if I've seen the new movie Funny People. Are soldiers asked if they've seen G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra? Do cops get asked if they see cop movies? Do you assume that every teacher has seen Kindergarten Cop? Whatever your trade is, if Hollywood has made a movie about it, it probably has only a superficial resemblance to its reality.

I fell into stand-up by accident. I went to L.A. with a simple plan: Get a job writing for a great TV series, then move on to writing and directing movies.

Sounds easy, yes? I was 22 and didn't know anyone there except for some relatives, who, like your relatives, lacked clout in Hollywood. After years of being the weird one, suddenly I was surrounded by 100,000 other guys who looked, thought and talked more like me than I was comfortable with. (The fun house mirror is inaccurately named.)

Where does a writer go? When your task is to stay in a room, alone, producing universally beloved works of art, how do you transfer them from your thoughts into multiple Emmys, Oscars and... hey, do novelists even get awards?

I quickly discovered that in L.A., there are so many people desperate to be seen performing that anything can become a stage: a theater, bar, coffeehouse, book store, hookah lounge — even a laundromat. I also learned that a lot of performers were desperate in general, bitter and exhausting. I didn't want to be sentenced to that life.

I also suffered from stage fright. You know how public speaking is everyone's biggest fear? Imagine doing that in front of a hundred strangers, nightly, for years. It doesn't necessarily get easier. I saw myself improve as a writer the more stand-up I did, but was never able to perform my material as skillfully as it sounded in my mind.

Some people I came up with have had success. Why, only two months ago Zach Galifianakis became a movie star in The Hangover, after 15 years as a comic. Maria Bamford has been on TV a lot lately, thanks to The Comedians of Comedy. Who doesn't find Stephanie Courtney effortlessly delightful as the wacky gal in the Progressive Insurance commercials? Have you ever heard of Elizabeth Beckwith, Jimmy Dore, Martha Kelly, Jordy Fox or Manuel Gallegos? Neither have most people. After that, it gets even less glamorous. Three of the guys I worked with died young, from drugs or obesity.

Elizabeth had a roommate who was a young actress. Linda Cardellini soon landed the starring role in a TV series called Freaks and Geeks. Through her, I met most of the cast. Today, some of those people make a new Judd Apatow movie every month. And though I could see his latest movie, Seth Rogen will probably never again be as funny to me as he was in 1999.

A few hours before I went up onstage for the first time, on a Saturday in April 1997, I rented a movie called Punchline. Bitter veteran Tom Hanks is teaching suburban mom Sally Field how to become a comic. She tries out a joke involving 1970s serial killer David Berkowitz, and he shakes his head.

"Manson is funny - Berkowitz isn't funny." Then, as if I needed to hear his warning again, Hanks repeats, "Manson is funny! Berkowitz isn't funny!"

I don't regret trying, but I'm in no hurry to revisit that world.

c. 2009 Velocity Weekly