Your Move, Harry Connick

Last month, Indianapolis rapper G-fresh created some buzz by becoming (I'm guessing) the first artist to get a video featuring Haughville showcased on MTV and  BET.

But as I learned today - via My Old Kentucky Blog - G-fresh is not one to rest on his laurels.  This is evident in a Colts-centric remix of his single "On My Momma,"  or as I like to call it, "The Greatest Thing You'll See Today."

Who's up for a game of shoe football?




Lil' Ronnie could not be reached for comment.

An open letter to the management of the Music Mill

Dear new management of the Music Mill,

I'm pleased to hear that you're reopening the Music Mill. While I no longer live in Indianapolis, I still feel an attachment to music venues and the overall art culture in the city. To this day, I always feel a twinge of sadness when walking past the rotating name adorning the rotting corpse of the Patio, and when the Music Mill announced its closing in January, I was disappointed. While the venue's location is less than ideal, it was one of the best-sounding rooms in the city, and the fact that it was a non-smoking venue was an added bonus.

I'm sure that in deciding to reopen the venue, there has been no shortage of conversations centered on what can be done to help the Music Mill be more financially viable than it was when it originally shut it's doors. There are several factors to debate. Should there be an age restriction on concert admissions? 21 and over or 18 and over? Should the scheduling cater more toward national or local acts? Should we focus more on private parties and band events?

The answers to these questions don't matter nearly as much as following one credo.

Schedule new artists. Stop booking the same goddamn bands over and over.

Seriously. It's the worst. So many times when I'm coming back ton Indy to visit, I check and see if anyone remotely worthwhile might be playing. And do you know who I find rolling through time and time again? Guster. The Samples. The Reverend Horton Heat. Rusted Root. Cowboy Mouth. Cowboy Junkies. Other bands with "Cowboy" in their name. Enough! It's all I can do to not open fire upon hearing the name "BoDeans!" And it has to end! In my final three years living in Indianapolis, I had reason to go to the Music Mill exactly twice - once for The Hold Steady and once for Hairbanger's Ball. This is a problem.

Understand, this is not an argument against shitty music. That discussion can occur at another place and time. This is about the same shitty music showing up time and time again. That is not a sustainable business model, and I for one would like to see this business succeed. The Music Mill as a venue is unique enough that it can create a comfortable niche in the city. There are plenty of talented people in Indianapolis who routinely book different high-level shows at smaller venues (coughRADIORADIOcough). Expand on this method and please, no more Edwin McCain. Honestly, that fucking guy...

Nuclear War

While watching the trendy Dayton Flyers fall from the ranks of the unbeaten this evening, I checked out Pitchfork for the first time this week and read the predictably uneven review of the predictably uneven Grampall Jookabox album. This review unexpectedly led to a savvy quick marketing scheme by label Asthmatic Kitty, and sparked a (relatively) thoughtful discussion on Musical Family Tree on the merits of the review, and of Pitchfork's review system as a whole. As I read the Pitchfork review, framed in the author's context of being a Hoosier himself, this final passage seemed most irritating (even more so than a normal P4k missive):

Ropechain isn't going to displace Margot & the Nuclear So-and-Sos as the standard-bearers for Indie-ana any time soon (though please, someone hurry up and do it), but the album can stake a claim to represent that ever-underrepresented subculture that the nineteenth state owns as well as the other 49: Fidgety suburban druggies.

Swish. Why just review the album itself when you can also take a pot-shot at a completely unrelated band?

Perhaps my sentimentality gets the best of me at times - this can happen when you live in a state preparing to send it's second straight governor to jail. But I don't get the point of ripping on a hometown band for no apparent reason in a review of someone else's album. Perhaps it has to do with where I now live. One of the biggest surprises I've found since moving to Chicago is that while this city obviously is a destination spot for national touring bands, the local band scene in Chicago is not supported anywhere near the extent that the same scene is appreciated in Indianapolis. Maybe that's a direct result of national bands being much more readily available, but as a whole, there's very little enthusiasm for local bands playing live within Chicago. Neither does there seem to be the same sense of camaraderie among bands supporting each other that is evident in Indy. This mentality no doubt further colors my disdain for watching a hometown band get thrown under the bus.

But the fun doesn't end there. The discussion continued on the reviewer's personal blog, where the comments section included this highly dubious claim:

I've talked to more people around Indy and Bloomington that resent them [Margot] than like them, that's for sure.

If true, then the people you've talked to are assholes. I know many people in Indy who find the band to not particularly be their cup of tea, but even those who don't necessarily like the band's music think it's cool that a band from Indy is making a name for itself. Who from Indianapolis wouldn't have been excited to see the Melody Inn t-shirt or shout out to Marmoset on national television? Shit man, I'm happy just hearing Conan say the word "Indianapolis." The very few people I know who actually resent them (I can think of 2 people total) are jealous musicians or wannabes, upset that they haven't gotten the well-deserved breaks Margot has.

That notion is crystallized further later in the comments:

it's easiest to understand where i'm coming from if you're from indianapolis, have been attending shows in the area for about half your life, have seen hundreds of great bands come and go, and still, the only band ever mentioned is the one which gets popular because they sound like arcade fire and cop a wes anderson reference. it's frustrating, and a lot of people i talk to admit it. i don't hate that band, and i don't want to bully them out of existence. i'm just expressing frustration, again from an "insider" perspective, that it's got to be *them.* point granted, though. i know it seems shitty.

Welcome to the real world, friend. I fit every one of your listed stipulations there, and yes, until the day I die, my inner 14-year-old will be outraged that SuperFatFlyBoy never went on to headline Lollapalooza. We've all seen bands galore that deserve that big break but never quite get it because in the end, success is a lottery. Most bands will never get that notoriety, but this bullshit about "that band doesn't deserve it" is a joke. Should more bands from Indy have broken through? Of course they should have. But trying your best to throw rocks at the one band who is doing things the right way while finding a measured amount of success is lazy and more than a little disappointing. This is not a band who has earned notoriety through easily optioning their songs to air on "The Hills" or "Grey's Anatomy." This is not a band that has shamed it's hometown the way Nickelback has shamed all of Canada. This is a band that has consistently praised other local acts in interviews and on stage, much more than they've needed to.

Luckily, the majority of people supporting music in Indianapolis aren't doing so while talking with others about how much they hate one band in particular. Most fall in line with Dodge, praising the local acts that more people should know about, and simultaneously refusing to take cheap shots at one of the successes of a scene that means a lot to many people. This my friends, is true Hoosier hospitality.

Locals Only

From the Watson's girl to Bob Rohrman, Indianapolis has a fine tradition of local commercial celebrities. But I think we can all agree that no one comes close to the perfect combination of costumer service, 2nd Ammendment patriotism, and good old fashioned crazy that is Don Davis.

He's even made it nationally, recently being featured on ifilm's series of great (and by great, they mean creepy) local commercials:



And even though ifilm is unaware that Don has retired from advertising guns on television, as he now "just looooves sellin' matresses," we're FINALLY getting some positive press for Indianapolis!

What Can Stop the Bleating?

I'm from Indianapolis.

We're pushing 800,000 people, three marquee auto races a year, great cost of living, a ridiculously beautiful minor league ball field, a Final Four every five years or so, the Pacers and since 1984 the Colts.

Those same Indianapolis Colts will take on the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs this afternoon, yet matchups have not been dominating the coverage. Sure, there's been the requisite talk of Ray Lewis's defense versus Peyton Manning's offense, but too much time and ink have been devoted to the indignation Baltimore has against Indianapolis for the 1984 departure of the Colts.

If you don't know how moment-to-moment and profound that instance was, take a listen to this audio.

Evidently, Baltimorians-ites-philes-ists still hold a grudge for the Colts's move 22 years ago - When Reagan was president, Thriller was king, stamps were 20 cents, and both the Raiders and Redskins could make it to the Super Bowl. Who could blame such disgust when the team slips out in the middle of the night? Who could blame them then? But as of now, Baltimore really should have moved on. Some reasons for closure

• Rohn Stark, punter and last Baltimore Colt to wear the blue and white in Indianapolis, left the organization in 1994 spending three more seasons with Pittsburgh, Seattle & Carolina.
• February 8, 1996 Art Modell moves the then Cleveland Browns to Baltimore filling the 13 year NFL-less void.
• Robert Irsay, the man who moved the team to Indianapolis, died on January 18, 1997.
• The Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.
• Johnny Unitas openly swore his allegiance to Baltimore and not the Colts organization.

Whether or not Baltimore decides to move on is up to their fans. I've been to Baltimore - and not just the inner harbor mind you - and I've trapsed through many of its 4,000 or so documented neighborhoods (the actual number may be lower). I've had crab cakes at Phillip's. I've been openly gawked at for being the only white man on the street car. I've had beers in some awesome pubs while meth heads are being rounded up on the curb. It's a neat town, a unique town, a place most people would visit but only a select few would stay. And those few are the Baltimore loyals, committed to their city's image even more than Hasim Rahman.

So what will it be Baltimore? Will a loss today finally settle the score? Will a victory prove your inherent dominance? Will Ed Reed return a pick-six and point at Unitas and Art Donovan's numbers enshrined at M&T Bank Stadium?

Or will Robert Irsay continue to be a spook story you tell your kids - "If you don't eat your meat, ole' Bobby Irsay will come and move your parents to Indianapolis in the middle of the night. And you won't have anyone to love you for 13 years or until some other team craps on their city and moves downtown."

It's really looks like Baltimore is too happy with disgust. So, what's it gonna be?