It was dark when I walked in the door here at Safai Coffee shop on Bardstown Road in Louisville.  At 7AM just myself and two baristas compose the crowd.  There is comfort to darkness.  The relative quiet of morning with slight traffic noise leaves the mind undisturbed.  We need darkness.  Darkness is context for the minds light.

I attended Pride Fest on Saturday afternoon.  On a late summer day in full sun, Bardstown road was resplendent with rainbow flags.  The street was blocked off for three or four blocks to make room for booths offering services to and by the Gay community in Louisville.

The main stage was at the end of the end of the festival space looming above everything else.  If the music is good (I don’t care about anything else) life is good.  A friend who was with us, mentioned that he had never attended an event like this one.  I assured him that he had a treat in store because the music was almost certain to be fine.

I am not a country music fan.  Don’t know much about the genre, because I happened to grow up loving Rock n Roll.  Glenn Stewart and his band were booked into the Pride Fest stage.  Glenn Stewart is a Louisville native and is “making it” as a song writer/performer out of Nashville.   I was “blown away” to use the cliche, by the songs that he delivered in his 45 minute set.  He has outstanding vocal pipes. His wicked sense of humor didn’t hurt either.  He introduced the lead guitar player of his band as “Jesus.”  The joke was that if we’d all hang around until a bit later, “Jesus” would be turning water into wine.  Seriously the musician was laying down some “miraculous” riffs with that guitar.  Glenn Stewart covered the Bon Jovi song “Living on a Prayer” at the end of his set, –a tune which always gets to me.  The lyric is one way of saying that life comes down to uncertainty, and that grace and faith are indispensable.  Stuart’s concluding exhortation from the stage was that we should always, always love one another.

Quite by chance after the performance I had the opportunity to shake Glenn Stewart’s hand.  I thanked him for his art, and told him that I really liked the “Jesus” joke.

If you are into Country Music and want to know more about Glenn Stewart, CLICK HERE