Forecastle Festival announces pause in 2023 to “determine best path forward” Monday, Nov 14 2022 

forecastle festival and Jack Harlow and Louisville and music fest and music festiva and music, and News and tourism and waterfront Tate Luckey 3:56 pm

By Tate Luckey

For the first time in 20 years except a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, Forecastle Festival will not be held in 2023, the organization announced Friday.

“Forecastle Festival will be taking a pause in 2023. It’s incredible to see what this festival has become and how the Louisville community has grown around it over the past 20 years,” their press release states.

“There are some things that we want to work on and improve for the future, so we’re going to take some time to strategize and determine the best path forward for the festival.⁣”

After launching in 2002, the Foundation has donated over $700,000 dollars to local and global conservation projects. The 2022 festival had an estimated economic impact of 9.1 million dollars in the Lousiville area, according to Louisville Tourism.

“Louisville Tourism supports and respects the difficult decision announced by festival organizers and knows it was not one made lightly. Louisville is very supportive of our homegrown festivals and the Forecastle Festival can certainly be credited with putting our city on the musical map, positioning us to reach a national audience. Not only does this impact our music scene, but it is a significant economic loss as well. We look forward to welcoming them back in the future and appreciate their contributions in elevating Louisville’s musical brand,” Cleo Battle, president and CEO said in a statement.

So why put the show on pause?

While Forecastle Festival hasn’t announced a formal reason for the pause, several students and fans alike have contributed their theories regarding the apparent cancelation.

“I don’t know if they have the current infrastructure to support the artists, you know? The whole point is that it’s at the Waterfront,” a U of L junior Allison Niemeier said.

Senior Nick House agreed, arguing that there’s a level of consistency you can expect at other fests. “It’s not necessarily the same [for Forecastle], in terms of artists, planning, theme.”

“I think they completely forgot about the whole point of Forecastle. When you appeal to a primarily younger audience, the revenue they expect to bring in is going to be very small. I was a bit confused about why they took away Party Cove, too. I didn’t attend any other fests this past year, but I probably will with Forecastle being canceled,” senior Miranda Frazier said.

Junior Taylor Price had a similar thought- “If you look at other festivals like Bourbon and Beyond or Louder than Life, they’re having artists like Slipknot, Chris Stapleton, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, – my best guess is that they want more legacy acts that transcend generations to bring in a bigger audience, and likely need more funding.”

Last year’s lineup included headliners like Tyler the Creator, Phoebe Bridgers, and Louisville native Jack Harlow; turnout was just shy of 75,000 throughout the weekend.

If you’d like to read some interviews with some of last year’s artists, you can check out The Louisville Cardinal’s interviews with KIRBY, Dayglow, and Louisville’s own The Homies.

File Photo // Matt Stone (Courier Journal) //

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Louisville Live! kicks off basketball season with a bang, selling out Slugger Field Tuesday, Oct 25 2022 

Asia Durr and basketball and Dan McDonnell and Darrell Griffith and Jack Harlow and Jeff Walz and Kenny Payne and Pervis Ellison and Slugger Field and sports Spencer Laws 10:44 am

By: Spencer Laws

The energy around Slugger Field was unmatched as Louisville Live! opened Homecoming weekend with a bang to kick off the Kenny Payne era of men’s basketball. It was a sold-out crowd packed full of fans excited to see what both the men’s and women’s squads have to offer this season. 

The night was ushered by a combination of ascending hip-hop star Jack Harlow and basketball alumni Peyton Siva and Angel McCoughtry, who added a lot of fun and commentary throughout the night. 

Teams participated in events such as the three-point contest, the hot shot contest and  the Mountain Dew Slam Dunk contest. 

Along with both teams, many alumni and recruits were in attendance to experience the event and atmosphere on display. 

Pervis Ellison is a notable name in attendance that has been absent in recent years to the program. 

The former first-round pick of the 1989 NBA draft was roommates with head coach Kenny Payne when they were playing. 

Other noteworthy names in attendance include Darrel Griffith, Asia Durr, Dan Mcdonnell  and Master P.

The Men’s team before starts exhibitions o Oct. 30 against Lenoir-Rhyne. 

The Women’s team kicks off their season hosting Cincinnati on November 7th at the Yum Center.

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The Homies talk about the “Louisville Sound”, Shake, and their “Louisville Mount Rushmore” Monday, May 30 2022 

Features and Forecastle and Forecastle 2022 and forecastle festival and hip hop and Jack Harlow and Jennifer Lawrence and local and Louisville and private garden and Quiiso and Rap and Reviews & Previews and Shake and The Homies Tate Luckey 3:16 pm

By Tate Luckey

Some consider Homies the 502’s next big rap group. They have close ties to Jack Harlow who headlined May 26, having opened for him during his “No Place Like Home” tour back in December. They have steadily built up a following with the locals, opening the first day of Forecastle Festival.

Before their show, The Homies sat down with The Louisville Cardinal to answer questions about their upcoming work and the pride they have for their city.

The group consists of Shloob, rapper/artist; Quiiso, the designated singer/songwriter for their hooks/melodies; Ace Pro, who takes on more lead visual creator roles, and 2forwOyNE, lead producer and engineer.

When you think about typical hip hop city “sounds”, they all are pretty defined. You have the East Coast with groups like A Tribe Called Quest, West Coast with producers like Suge Knight, or even Atlanta with groups like Outkast and TI. What defines the “Louisville Sound?”

Ace Pro – “It’s kind of funny, you mention collectives like Tribe. What the ‘Louisville sound’ is just kinda getting started, steadily evolving. You have artists like Bryson Tiller, EST Gee, and Harlow; With us, it’s more borrowing inspiration from lots of different places. We do have an identity, and try to color outside of the lines a lot.”

The Homies by Nathan Zucker for Forecastle

What is it about Louisville as a city to you that is so special?

2forwOyNE – “The city of Louisville is based on a sense of pride- we originally come from the home of Muhammad Ali, so it’s just the natural-born philanthropy and having the pride of being somebody from not that big of an ego city. It’s rare for someone to come here, make it to where we’re heading, we try to put the city on our back.”

Shloob – “Everybody here knows everybody. Everyone has groups of friends/cliques; we represent the group/brotherhood culture. I feel like we’re gonna make it catch on, it’s pretty cool.”

Let’s pivot to your newest music video that dropped, Shake, and your newest album. Can you detail a bit about the songwriting process? Do the verses come first, then the melody? Does someone in the group lead more of the creative control?

Ace Pro – “The Shake video was comprised of the vibe that we feel the song gives. It has that early 2000s bounce. We wanted to reflect that with a Hype Williams-esque video. So we have the fish eye, we have the light tunnel, and we built that up from scratch. We had a good team around us that helped build everything, but everything else comes straight from us.”

Quiiso – “The recording process for that song, we were winding down during a recording session, and wOyNE just started making a beat and I put that first verse out there. As far as our recording process for that song, it’s pretty organic, but sometimes some of us write before we hear anything, and sometimes we’re rapping as the beat is coming out. We’re trying to get more in a process of fluidity. As things are being made, hooks are written, someone’s doing this…everyone’s doing something.”

Do you guys get nervous at all performing? What’s next after Forecastle Festival?

Shloob – “I feel like it’s situational. For me, I’m used to performing, it’s like muscle memory, but if it’s winging it, I’m a bundle of nerves. Some people take shots, or meditate/pray. It’s situational.”

The Homies by Nathan Zucker for Forecastle

Last question for you guys: If you had to make a Louisville Mount Rushmore, who’s on it?

Ace Pro – “Well I mean, it’s gotta be Quiiso, Ace, Shloob, and 2fo.”

2fo – “Facts, haha.”

Ace Pro – “No, but, if we weren’t being biased, we’d say Static Major, Bryson Tiller, Jack, and… then the Homies, again.”

No Muhammad Ali?

Ace Pro – “Oh! I thought you were just talking about music. My bad, then uh, York (Lewis and Clark), Ali, Static Major, and Jennifer Lawrence. Diane Sawyer.

Shloob – “Charles too man, shoutout Charles Booker.”

More about The Homies can be found here. Their latest album, Honest Living, is available to listen to now.

Photo Courtesy // Forecastle Festival //

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