Local bands, musicians headline Cats Den fall concert series

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By Kelly Wiley

When the Dame closed its doors many thought the music scene in Lexington had died, but Zephaniah Bostow, co-curator for the Cats Den Fall Concert Series, said he wants to keep the music scene alive.
Bostow said this concert series is an opportunity to revitalize Lexington’s music scenes.

“There was nothing that we could do to keep the Dame alive because it was out of our hands,” Bostow said. “This is a second chance to really start something in place of the Dame. This is a chance for students and Lexingtonians to support something that has a chance of surviving.”

The Cats Den has done the concert series in the past, but this is Bostow’s first year as co-curator, and he has a new goal for the venue. He wants to offer new, upcoming artists what “dead and dying venues cannot” — a nice space, with good sound equipment and an audience ready for a show.

The first concert of the series will feature Bostow, as the opening act, along with Bedtime and Noisycrane.

Bostow said Bedtime is a successful band out of Ashland, Ky., that writes catchy music accompanied by the skilled piano playing of James Friley.

“I started taking piano lessons when I was 7 years old,” said Friley, a music senior and member of Bedtime. “I also spent most of my childhood listening to the rock music my older brother and dad listened to.”
Bands like Emerson Lake, The Beatles, Radiohead and Modest Mouse inspired Friley. Even with the older bands he says his music doesn’t go over well with the older generation.

“College students always seem to be into the show, they’re a good audience. Younger kids are often too stiff and older people are just hard to win over,” Friley said.

Bedtime features music that has dark qualities but, at the same time, is loud and upbeat, while Noisycrane features a mix of rock, fuzz, classical and psych elements that tend to compliment that bands name.

Cody Swanson, a topical studies senior and member of Noisycrane, said he started throwing random words together when he was thinking of a name for his band.

“You know, cranes aren’t usually noisy. They just sort of stand in the water and are generally the image of serenity,” Swanson said. “So, I figured, a noisy crane would be a fun idea. One that just stood around with the other cranes but screamed all the time.”

Music means different things to certain people, but for Swanson, it is an outlet to “pour all this junk from my head” into. For Friley, it was inspiration from family that grew into a passion.

The Cats Den Fall concert series is free and kicks off Thursday at 9 p.m. in the Cats Den, located on the first floor of the Student Center.