Bourbon & Beyond 2024-Day Two

After all the problems with hotels the day before, we were settled into the Tru Hilton in Louisville and getting ready for a busy day at Bourbon & Beyond. I had made appointments between all the music. I was looking forward to it all.

My brother, Mark, suggested lunch at Waffle House. He said it was on his bucket list. I hadn’t been in years and I’m never one to turn down waffles. It was actually very good, with big portions and reasonable prices.

 

We had no problem parking in the handicapped area and made it onto the grounds in time to pick up coffee in the press tent and watch Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, followed by Bruce Hornsby. It was a good way to start this bright day.

We then headed to the Big Bourbon Tent. We arrived a little early for our appointment with Tyler Rothenberg of Chicken Cock Bourbon and enjoyed the bluegrass while we waited.

Tyler set us up with the two cocktails made especially for Bourbon & Beyond:

  

Wildflower in Paris- Chicken Cock Bourbon, peach liqueur, iced tea, lemon juice, mint syrup, and candied syrup.

Bardstown Buck-Chicken Cock Bourbon, ginger ale, bitters, cane sugar reduction, and strawberries.

Both were so good we happily accepted seconds as Tyler told us about this small batch bourbon, which is actually one of the oldest bourbons in the country. It was originated in 1856 and has been reincarnated into this award-winning whiskey.

 

Next, I was excited to see Melissa Etheridge for the first time. It was one giant singalong as she had the crowd on their feet. She certainly knows how to get an audience involved. I definitely wished she could have stayed on longer, but there were strict rules to make sure the stages were turned over for the next performer.           

 

Mark and I decided it was time for dinner before the next stop. With so many options, it was tough deciding what to have for dinner. We ended up choosing pretty basic food that was terrific. Mark had Gus’s Fried Chicken, and I chose Meatball Sliders (there was no company name).

 

We sat at one of the communal picnic tables and the overwhelming opinion among the attendees was favorable for the food and music, and wishes that heat and humidity was lower.

Before the next appointment, we made a quick stop at the Workshop tent. Every time I have gone to one of those at a Bourbon & Beyond Festival I enjoyed it, but even with my brother helping out, there was just not enough time to stay long enough to write about them. Maybe next year.

 

Ansley Brown, the Media Relations Director, was waiting for us at the 1 Million Strong retreat. She explained how this area was a place to support and encourage those on the recovery journey, and those who wanted a break from cocktails prevalent at the festival.

Though the cocktail selection was delicious, it is a long day in the hot sun and non-alcoholic drinks are a break. This thought was supported by the crowd in the tent, and the fact that they were fast running out of mocktails.

 

The other reason for the 1 Million Strong presence at Bourbon & Beyond is the link between music and its tie to addiction. In fact, the organization admits 56% of those in the industry indicate substance abuse. Some of those stopped by during the event as festivals can be triggering to them too.

As we left the area, It was clear the crowds were getting bigger as the sun began to set. It was Friday night and I’m sure many were first arriving for the weekend.

 

I needed a break to put my feet up, catch up on social media, and caffeinate. I found a spot in the press tent to rest while Mark caught up with some more of the music, which included Matt Kearney, Chris Isaak, and Black Pumas.

Dave Matthews was the last performer of the evening. He was one of the acts I was excited about when I saw the list of musicians for this year’s Bourbon & Beyond. I have been a fan for years, but this was my first time seeing him live. He’s a wonderful live performer and the crowd was with him, especially for “Crash Into Me.”

 

We were definitely ready to call it a night when the Dave Matthews Band finished. It had been quite a day, but it was only day two of four at Bourbon & Beyond and time to pace myself.

Bourbon & Beyond 2024-Day One

The first year of Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville, Kentucky, had been wonderful, albeit ridiculously hot. The music, food, and bourbon were fantastic, and I was able to do many interviews for stories.

When I left Bourbon & Beyond the second year, it was in a muddy mess. The torrential rains in the hours before the end of day three left the long trip to the parking lot in my walker extremely difficult. Had I been in a wheelchair then, I would have been one of the people stuck for hours in the mud.

With the memories of 2018, followed by the event being skipped because of COVID, I didn’t think I’d return. Then my brother, Mark, brought it up.

 

Mark lives in California and we don’t get a lot of time together so it gave me a pause. Then, there was a lineup filled with performers I really wanted to see, such as Sting, Dave Matthews, Beck, Melissa Etheridge, and Larkin Poe, whom I had interviewed at the first Bourbon & Beyond.

My first step was to contact the media staff at Danny Wimmer Presents, the company producing the event. I knew there was a new venue, and I wanted to know more about it. I listened carefully as I was told there were accessible cement walkways throughout, and a large area of handicapped parking.

I decided we would go and cover the event together. I was still a bit nervous and checked the weather every day before I had nothing to worry about in the weather that first day as it was warm and sunny, with no sight of rain.

 

It was nice that there weren’t too many people when we first arrived, so we had a chance to look around and get something to eat after getting our press credentials.

We were able to get handicapped parking and, as I had been told, there were cement walkways for me to easily ride my wheelchair to the venue.

 

All of the major bourbon companies had their own tents. They also have tents with Bourbon & Beyond merchandise, as well as those with general clothing and hats. The Workshop was the scene for cooking demonstrations and bourbon seminars. I regret that I didn’t make it over to any, but it was away from the stages and there never seemed to be enough time.

I broke protocol, but the heat really had me in the mood for a cold glass of wine. The Wine Garden had a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc—and shade—which worked well for me.

 

I have seen Matchbox 20 four times (three in the last three years). I believe Rob Thomas is greatly underrated as a singer and songwriter. I can continue to listen to his songs every chance I get, even better if it’s in concert. Judging by the growing crowd, I was not alone.

While I was at Matchbox 20, Mark was checking out Tedeschi Trucks.

I took a break in the press tent. The Drip coffee bar  kept me going this first day and every day after. They provided us with complimentary coffee drinks, and I took full advantage. I think I tried just about everything. My favorite was the Dirty Horchata, made with cold brew, cinnamon, vanilla extract and bean, and milk.

The crowds on the main lawn increased dramatically as the sun began to go down. The Angel’s Envy VIP seating also filled up for the evening performances. I had heard a lot about how good Beck was live and had to agree. I really enjoyed him, especially “Loser,” which had the crowd on their feet singing along.

 

One of the reasons I wanted to go to this festival was Sting, who I had never seen perform live before. He did not disappoint. I was blown away by his stamina, as he hardly took a breath between songs.

We left as Sting was on his last song and we were both tired. This is the part where I usually say we went to the hotel and got a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, that story is much bigger.

 

In my previous coverage of Bourbon & Beyond, the Louisville Tourism Board would take care of getting me a hotel room. This worked well for me and them, as I would also spend time exploring the city and doing additional stories beyond the festival.

I had presumed it would work the same way and didn’t look into hotels. By the time I heard back from Louisville Tourism that they couldn’t supply the accommodations, there wasn’t a lot left around the festival locations.

We were able to get a two-bed accessible suite at an Extended Stay* about 20 minutes away. Even though I had a confirmation, they contacted me the day of check-in to tell me they did not have any such room, or anything accessible! We frantically called around town and had another similar experience with Wyndham, who gave us a confirmation for a room that did not exist.

It was after midnight before we got to a Hilton Tru, a half hour from the Bourbon & Beyond Festival, in an actual wheelchair friendly room—at nearly twice the price originally planned for. It was an experience I have never had before and to think it happened at two different hotels makes me more concerned than ever about accessible travel.

We tried not to let it put a damper on the positive festival experience we were having so far.

 

 

 

*I have never even received an apology from Extended Stay.

Underground Trams and Ziplines in Louisville

It had been a busy and fun-filled three days in Louisville. The first annual Bourbon and Beyond Festival had been a blast, and we really enjoyed the downtown attractions when we first arrived.

We had another great breakfast in the Executive Lounge of the Louisville Marriott East and packed up to go.

Before we left Kentucky we had one more unique place to go, Mega Caverns, where you can take a tram ride and go ziplining underground.

Mega Cavern claims to be the only place in the world with underground ziplines and I have yet to see any place argue that point.

It’s certainly a unique attraction that shouldn’t be missed.

Brittany and Jamie went ahead to complete the Mega Quest rope course and do the ziplines underground. I started a bit later for the tram ride, which took me through the caves.

It was a unique experience since these caverns are about more than scenery of the caves and undersea fossils. They have been used for practical purposes, such as s
torage and bomb shelters.

The two other things offered here we did not do, although we got a little preview.

The Fat Tire Bicycle trails looked like a lot of fun.

Also, during the holidays, you can drive your car through these caverns and see all the Christmas lights and decorations.

I would like to thank Go To Louisville tourism for helping to arrange this trip.

We are hoping to be back in September 2018 to once again cover Bourbon and Beyond, and to see much more of this wonderful city.

More Stars Come Out at Bourbon and Beyond

We enjoyed a nice spread in the executive lounge at the Marriott East Louisville before loading up on sunblock and thin clothing.

Day two of the Bourbon & Beyond Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, played out quite different than the first. I was able to catch up on the food and bourbon aspects of the event, as well as hear some more incredible music.

I met up with Dan Cohen of Jim Beam first thing in the morning. Although bourbon is in the title of the festival, I hadn’t had any to try yet. He brought Brittany, Jamie, and me over to the Beam setup behind the stage for a tasting.

They were showing off Jim Beam and Jim Beam Black (I had hoped to try the Vanilla, but it wasn’t available yet). Black is a bit smoother and more taste-filled than the original. It’s aged longer, but in white oak, so it’s flavors of vanilla and caramel are more blended.

Beam was also mixing to cocktails backstage for the VIPs and performers, the Jim Beam Black Smash (Jim Beam Black, Mint, lemon, simple syrup) and the Jim Beam Arnold Palmer (Jim Beam Black, lemonade, iced tea). They were both quite refreshing in what was already becoming another hot one.

The first act of the day was one I was really looking forward to when I saw his name on the performer list. I knew and enjoyed Kiefer Sutherland as an actor in shows such as 24 and Designated Survivor, but I didn’t know he was also a singer songwriter.

In fact, Sutherland surprised us all with his rockabilly country. He was also a very gracious performer, constantly thanking the audience for coming to see him.

I really was hoping to interview him, but he was in a hurry to get back to Los Angeles to film for Designated Survivor and only did one interview, a video for The Daily Beast.

I caught some of the Johnny Lang performance before focusing more on the drink. There had been bourbon seminars taking place all weekend for free. I went over to see “The New Age of Bourbon.”

It was quite interesting, whether or not you had a lot of knowledge on the spirit, to listen to Corky Taylor (Kentucky Peerless), Kaveh Zamanian (Rabbit Hole), and Fred Minnick, author, Whiskey Women, Bourbon Curious and Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of An American Whiskey).

I enjoyed listening to these men discuss the changed in Kentucky bourbon over the years and the comradery of the competitors in the field.

I then made my way into the VIP Tent to escape the sun. There was a large screen in there showing the main stage and Chicago Blues performer Buddy Guy was playing.

I decided it was a great time to sit and watch a few songs. Guy was spot on as usual.

While I was doing all this walking around, Brittany and Jamie were on their on quest on the grounds for their ideal lunch. With so much food offered it was hard to choose. They came back to the press area with some lunch from the trucks, including two types of chicken wings, and boiled shrimp from Big Easy Boil.

The Bourbon Glazed Wings, from Boss Hog's BBQ, were the winner. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get to sample more of the food during the festival.

We walked around and saw some of the tents we didn’t catch the day before, such as the chance to record a song, smokeless tobacco offerings, and more handmade goods.

We also witness quite a line at the cooling stations, but we decided to take off for a bit and find some real cooling, as in air conditioning.

An Uber driver suggested Comfy Cow a few miles away. The ice cream was delicious and the chance to sit in ac for a while was priceless.

The three of us returned to see the final cooking demonstration of the festival, “Love and Fried Chicken” with Carla Hall. 

The author and star of The Chew turned the demonstration into a lot of fun for those in the crowd, and especially for those who were able to go up and taste.

The grounds were filling up quickly for Stevie Nicks. I had never seen her before and was pretty excited myself. We were thankful for the bleachers in the VIP area as it was tight standing room on the grass.

She sang all her hits, including “Gypsy” one of my favorites, “Landslide”. She also did a heartfelt rendition of the song she created with Tom Petty, “Stop Draggin My Heart Around.” He shockingly died about a week later.

Before we left Bourbon & Beyond we bought a few baked goods from Sugar Daddy’s.

 Despite a few first-year glitches, the Bourbon & Beyond Festival ranks among the best I’ve been to. The gathering of talent, food, and drink was a brilliant idea. Chances are pretty good I’ll be back for more in 2018. It's something every music and food lover should put on their schedule. 

Although the festival was over, we still had one more day to enjoy Louisville before heading home.

On stage photos by Brittany Lambright. 

Check out my videos from Bourbon & Beyond on my YouTube Channel. 

Music, Food and Celebrities at Inaugural Bourbon and Beyond Festival

When I was first approached to cover the first Bourbon & Beyond Festival, I was attracted to the unique combination of music, food, and bourbon, in a city known for the latter.  

Once I received the itinerary, I was sold, and contacted Louisville Tourism about making a trip.

The huge list of performers for Bourbon & Beyond had a lot of great names, but there were two in particular that sealed the deal for me: Stevie Nicks and Eddie Vedder, both on my bucket list.

Brittany, Jamie, and I had breakfast in the lounge at the Louisville Marriott East. Lounge access for breakfast and snacks before dinner was a great benefit to staying on the executive floor.

We drove over to Champions Park so we could arrive and get settled early for the first day of Bourbon & Beyond. It was a good thing we did.

The only major complaint I had about this festival did not change during the weekend: the parking. It was just a giant mess.

Fortunately, just about everything between getting to and from morning parking and night departing were one-of-a-kind experiences.

We were lucky that the press headquarters was located in the VIP section.

Since we were early, I decided to grab something from the food trucks in the VIP area before I got too busy.

I picked up a coffee from Blackbird Espresso and picked a place to get something for lunch.

I decided on the Zoom Zoom Yum Truck and got a Gyro Bowl. It was absolutely delicious.

The press tent was a bit of a reunion in with Danielle Eddy and Dan Dunn, who were on my very first press trip to Cognac, France.

Dan was there with his Drinky Time Radio Show crew and we caught up for a few minutes before the first performer came on.

I had also seen them both at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and, ironically, in Kentucky on the American WhiskeyTrail press trip.

Dave Cavalier had contacted me prior to the Bourbon & Beyond Festival to make sure I caught his act. I really enjoyed it and the crowd agreed with me as he opened up the festival.

Dave and I had a great chat for this Beat article I wrote before I headed to the Main Stage (the festival had a great system of alternating stages so that you weren’t waiting for setup between acts.

Chris Robinson, formerly of the Black Crows, was on stage with his Brotherhood band. I caught some of the act before I had to head back to the press tent.

The other interview I arranged was with Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

It went great and I especially loved what he said about his most famous song, which also happens to be one of my favorites – Blue on Black. You can read the whole interview here.

I got to see Kenny Wayne perform a few minutes later, doing that song and Heat of the Sun with his band. He really is one of the best guitarists out there.

It was really hot and there was a break before I had other artists to see, so we decided to head back to the hotel for a while.

On the way out, we stopped to check out some of the interesting booths around the grounds.

I was happily surprised to see a lot of charities and a lot of places with handmade goods.

We stopped at the Rock Out for Rescue booth to buy some tee-shirts.

Given the fact that the word “bourbon” was clearly stated in the title of this event, there was no shortage of bars set up at Champions Park.

You could get just about any bourbon you desired, straight or in a cocktail, as well as cocktails at the Tiki Bar and some beer outlets.

The Water stations were also welcome in the heat of Louisville, as was the gelato.

After some snacks at the hotel and a change of clothing, we were back at Bourbon & Beyond for the headliners.

First up was former Pearl Jam lead, Eddie Vedder.

He sang quite a few of the band’s songs, including Wishlist, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter, and I Wish I Was.

He also did a fantastic rendition of Neil Young’s Rocking in the Free World.

I have to say Eddie Vedder was even better than I expected him to be.  

The Steve Miller Band came on next with many of the hits he is famous for, including Take the Money and Run. 

He kept the crowd singing and dancing. He also brought in Kenny Wayne Shepherd for Stranger Blues.

We left right after Steve Miller finished. It had been a long, but, fun, day and we knew we had to return to the Louisville Marriott for a good night’s rest before day two of Bourbon & Beyond.

On stage photos by Brittany Lambright.

Check out my videos from Bourbon & Beyond on my YouTube Channel.