Professional musicians love to complain about the direction the music industry is headed. David Byrne of Talking Heads fame thinks that the internet threatens to suck all creative content out of the world, Prince files lawsuits against his fans, and Jay-Z struggles to change the future of music streaming with his own paid-subscription-only streaming service. These guys paint a bleak picture. If no one pays artists for their work, the argument goes, then artists will have to stop producing it.
This kind of argument ignores the fact that the overwhelming majority of artists in the world weren’t making money in the first place–and in many cases, they didn’t expect to. The expectation that music could be a realistic avenue to fortune and glory has been on the way out since the 90s. And while some musicians even then could still make a living without a day job, their success depended as much (if not more) on sound engineers, producers, and dumb luck as it did on their own hard work and artistic merit.
By now you should be wondering what all of this has to do with Louisville music. Remember those artists who aren’t doing it for the money? Well, they’re all over town. The New Old Highlands Taproom offers free live music on Metal Mondays and Keep Louisville Live Tuesdays. Four Pegs Beer Lounge holds an open mic every Thursday. On select Fridays throughout the Summer, RYE hosts its Back Porch Sessions, showcasing some of the best musical acts in the city. Between these and events at ReSurfaced, Kaiju, Nachbar, Decca, and too many others to list, nearly every night there are multiple free music events in Louisville.
Thunder Under Louisville 
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