Saturday August 17, 2019 from 5pm – 11pm 1701 West Muhammad Ali Blvd Louisville, KY 40203 Brought to you by: by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Theta Omega Chapter  Tickets range $40-$600 available at eventbrite  Per Facebook Event Post: THE 4th ANNUAL “SUNDRESS, SEERSUCKER AND STILETTOS AFFAIR!” SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2019 @The African American Heritage Center 1701 West Muhammad Ali BLVD The Sundress, Seersuckers and Stilletos Affair” Is brought to you by The Theta Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., This is the most anticipated event of the year! This event will be held @The African American Heritage Center in Louisville, KY which includes both an indoor and outdoor space. The Louisville Ques have raised the bar for the summer by creating an experience you just can’t miss. The relaxed yet chic and colorful atmosphere along with friends, great music and weather. The best part is it’s for a good cause supporting our Men Of Quality Mentoring program.. For tickets and more info on this event contact the event Chair Dee Muldrow at 502 500-1911 Featuring: LIVE music and sounds by ~ DJ Z N-Nyce ~ DJ Always _ Food Trucks ~ VIP Lounge ~ Cigar Bar and More

There are many talented high school football players throughout the state of Kentucky but unfortunately the Bluegrass State is primarily known for producing high level basketball talent as opposed to football. That perception is perpetuated by the eight (8) NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships belonging to the University of Kentucky and one (1) NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship belonging to the University of Louisville. Coach Ryan Montgomery of Ohio’s Building Lives Through Sports Network and Curtis Blackwell of Detroit’s Sound Mind Sound Body Academy are attempting to change that perception with their recent collaboration – which brought an official college football training camp to Louisville’s Fern Creek High School.

The 2019 Bluegrass Showcase took place on April 1st from 6:00pm-8:30pm and brought some of the most knowledgeable high school and college football minds to the state of Kentucky, to educate student-athletes and their parents about the college recruiting process. The idea for the showcase generated from a conversation between Montgomery and Blackwell. The two football coaches thought that it would be an excellent idea to host a football showcase during Spring Break, that brings some of Michigan’s top student athletes to Kentucky – to workout and compete against local talent. Montgomery is currently in his third season as wide-receiver coach at Louisville’s Fern Creek High School and has a total of twelve years coaching experience. He’s a member of the non-profit organization Building Lives Through Sports Network and has coached football in the Bahamas, as well as at Canton McKinley High School (his alma mater) in Canton, Ohio. Blackwell co-founded the non-profit summer camp, Sound Body Sound Mind Academy in 2004, which has now evolved into a football organization that operates every weekend in Detroit. Blackwell’s resume is extensive. He served as the Recruiting Director for Michigan State University from 2013-2017 and his Sound Mind Sound Body Academy claims to have certified over 13,000 students since 2004. Sound Mind Sound Body Academy emphasizes on teaching students life skills in addition to football. The goal of the showcase was to educate Kentucky student-athletes and their parents about how the college recruiting process works, while simultaneously exposing local talent to some of the top talent scouts in the region.

“The focal point obviously is getting as many student athletes from the city of Louisville but also from the state of Kentucky to come out to this showcase to get in some early work.” A lot of kids wait until June football camps and that’s when they find out that they might need to get into the weight room or they might need to do more cone drills.” – Ryan Montgomery

Montgomery and Blackwell are aware that many college coaches travel to Ohio, Michigan, Alabama and Florida, in their quest of recruiting student-athletes. To reach most of these destinations requires traveling through the state of Kentucky – yet student-athletes from the Bluegrass State are rarely on their radar. Montgomery and Blackwell are hoping that this showcase, and future showcases, shed some light on the high school football talent in Kentucky.

“In the Midwest, Ohio runs the show because the pipeline for a lot of players runs through there. So a lot of coaches actually come through Ohio and then they might branch out. But if you look at the dynamics, from Ohio to Alabama to Florida – coaches have to pass through Kentucky. The biggest thing is that they are passing a lot of student-athletes within the state of Kentucky.” – Ryan Montgomery

During the showcase the student-athletes were exposed to combine style testing such as the shuttle and 40 yard dash – and were also given the opportunity to have fun competing against each other on the field. Specialty coaches were in attendance to work with groups of student-athletes in specific areas such as Offensive Line, Defensive Line, Wide Receivers, Running Backs, Quarterbacks etc. In addition, the showcase provided a parent recruiting seminar which informed parents about the truths of the college recruiting process. Guest Speakers for the seminar were Curtis Blackwell, Dr. LaLisa Anthony (CEO of Building Lives Through Sports Network, former NFL consultant and current International consultant for the Bahamas and Jamaica) and Head Coach Thomas Wilcher of Detroit’s CassTech High School. Uniquely, Anthony is also the mother of Ryan Montgomery, which allowed her to speak to parents about the recruiting aspect from an experienced mother’s standpoint.

“To be the honest with you, that’s the highlight of the whole showcase. Yes, you want the kids to get out there and let them enjoy their talents but the benefit is that a lot of parents in the state of Kentucky really don’t understand the recruiting process.” – Ryan Montgomery

As a form of entertainment and community involvement – Louisville’s Taneka Bryant, of F3 Dance Chambers, brought out one of her dance teams to perform for the student-athletes during down time. During this showcase students were given contact information, websites and information about coaches and schools that can possibly assist them in becoming better student-athletes. The goal for everyone involved with this showcase is to use sports to build character, discipline and emphasize education within student-athletes, which will hopefully assist them in successfully attending college.  

Suspense, Drama and Social Awareness took center stage at Leslie Pryor’s, latest theatrical production – entitled “Deception.” The entertaining, yet thought provoking, stage play captivated its sold out audience at Louisville’s Old Male Auditorium on Saturday February 2nd.

Stage plays by Leslie Pryor Productions typically center around social, entertainment and faith based cultures that exemplify the black experience in America today. Uniquely, the scripts are often written in a manner in which the plot addresses a serious social issue, while simultaneously leading the audience to an unexpected plot twist. Staying true to form – Deception followed that format verbatim.

For this outing, Pryor decides to tackle the conversation of HIV/AIDS awareness. The first act of Deception opens with a loving married couple who are having their faith tested.

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Tyson and Victoria Jackson (played by Everett Ezell and LiAndrea Goatley) have been married for over a decade and have a teenage daughter together. Ms. Jackson was a virgin when she met her husband and has only been sexually intimate with him throughout the course of her life. However, Mr. Jackson has an extensive sexual background, prior to being married.

While participating in a HIV/AIDS awareness campaign at her church – Ms. Jackson decides to motivate others by getting tested – but never expects the results that she would soon receive.

Within a few weeks, a letter from the local Health Department arrives – informing the loving wife that her preliminary HIV/AIDS test is positive – and she needs to visit their office immediately, to undergo further testing.

Understandably, she is devastated. Believing that she has been infected by her husband – her emotions begin to roller-coaster from rage – to sadness – to disbelief. She eventually confronts her husband, who immediately denies having HIV/AIDS – but refuses to get tested. He considers her accusation and doubt of his faithfulness, to be an insult.

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As their marriage is being tested – friends and relatives rally around the couple with support and advice. The next several scenes use humorous moments to address common fears and misinformation associated with HIV/AIDS.

Pryor brilliantly uses her characters, throughout the play, to educate the audience about the facts surrounding HIV/AIDS, as well as advocating the need to constantly “KNOW YOUR STATUS.

The message of “Practicing Safe Sex” and the importance of “Frequent Testing” is further conveyed through heart-warming faith-based ballads and hilarious dialogue between characters. Pryor does an excellent job at balancing education and entertainment.

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As Deception begins to come to a close, Mr. Jackson finally decides to get tested. To everyone’s surprise – his test results are negative and it now appears that his wife may be hiding a few secrets. This is where the play takes one of Pryor’s classic plot twists.

After several suspenseful scenes, it is revealed that a long-time female admirer of Mr. Jackson – and member of his wife’s church – mailed a fake “positive result” letter to the couple, in hopes that it would result in their divorce. The audience gasps – as they never expected this to be the outcome.

As her “DECEPTION” is foiled – the admirer/stalker is immediately arrested and the Jackson’s begin repairing their marriage. Deception closes out its final scenes with more information about HIV/AIDS and further emphasizes the importance of practicing safe sex and frequent testing.

Two separate shows of Deception took place on Saturday Feb 2nd and Sunday Feb 3rd at the Old Male Auditorium.

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Follow Leslie Pryor Productions LLC., for updates on future projects.

Photo Credits in this article: Rodney Pitts Photography and Krystal Rice.

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In the 1970s and 80s, the first taste of entrepreneurship for many American teenage boys was either a paper route or a summer job cutting grass. The thought of earning $12 – $15 each week was plenty of motivation for young boys to wake up at 7am, on Saturday mornings – and hustle to complete their jobs before the blazing summer sun reached its peak temperature. But oh, how things have changed drastically over the last few decades. Paper routes are now jobs for adults with vehicles and large lawn care services have practically taken the grass cutting jobs away from neighborhood children. And let’s face it – the kids of Generation Z, who grew up on video games, i-Pods and the internet are not huge fans of working outdoors with their hands. They’d rather have much “cooler” jobs – and 14 year-old James Richards a.k.a. “DJ Richie”, of Louisville, KY, has done just that. After Djing for less than two years – a viral video of the young DJ, commanding over 750 teenage party-goers to get their Swag Surfin’ on – catapulted him to the top of Louisville’s DJ scene. The event took place at his first “self-promoted” (under 18) party at Louisville’s Highland Community Center in July 2018 – which would lead to him establishing his own company, RichBeatz Entertainment. Richie’s DJ career began two-and-a-half years ago, at the age of 12, while at his sister’s dance competition. Instead of focusing on the dance performers – his attention became fixated on the DJ at the event, who was playing all the hype music.

“One time I was watching my sister’s dance coach’s husband – his name is DJ Deuce… I went to her dance competition and I was just looking at him – and was like, ‘I want to do this’… He told me everything I needed to get, so I called my daddy and told him that I want to be a Dj and he got me the stuff.” – DJ Richie

In support of his son’s dream – his father immediately went out and purchased the equipment his son requested but it would end up sitting around the house for another year because Richie didn’t know how to work the music board.  Eventually he would begin to play around with the equipment and DJ’d his first gig at his godbrother’s Sweet Sixteen party. Richie admits that the event didn’t go well but it was all part of his learning process. At this time, he was only 12 years-old and still had plenty of room to grow. Since that time – he’s mastered his craft and has been booked for over 100 shows.  As he takes a look back over the past two years, Richie appreciates all the success he’s experienced but says that he will never forget the day that he got his first big break – by being asked to DJ a party by popular Louisville teen party promoter, Young Commercial a.k.a. YC.

“I DJ’d this Christmas Party for this dude named YC (Young Commercial) and after that, people have been looking at me ever since… Now every time he has big parties, he calls me but I’m also throwing parties for myself now so my followers and likes have been going up on Instagram.” – DJ Richie

Richie’s mom, Tayvonda Page, has been very hands on and instrumental with his growth and transition from DJing as a hobby – to becoming a responsible entrepreneur. After recognizing that her son’s popularity was growing in Louisville’s DJ community – it was her who suggested that he throw his own party, which resulted in the footage of the Swag Surfin’ viral video. By nature, her son is a very shy young man – so she stood in awe as she watched Richie transform into a confident “Showman”, once he hit the stage.

“At this point he had been doing a lot of other people’s parties. In one weekend, he had three gigs in a row… So he had earned a nice amount of money so I told him that it was time to throw his own party. He paid for the venue himself.. He paid for the flyer himself… He paid for security… He paid for everything… So I’m just trying to teach him how to make his money, make money for him.” – Tayvonda Page

Being that it was his first party, as an entrepreneur – Richie and his mother were hoping that 50-100 teens would be in attendance, for them to consider the event a success. Ms. Page was always confident that her son’s reputation was established enough to bring out a small crowd – but she had to consistently pep the young DJ up, because he was doubtful that anyone would even show up. After months of tedious planning – it was now “Party Day.” This success of this party, or lack of, would determine the fate of Richie’s new business venture. He was understandably nervous. This was a huge amount of pressure for a 14 year-old kid, from a college town that prides itself on throwing legendary parties. Louisville is the type of the city that doesn’t give party promoters second chances – it’s either do or die. Most promoters establish their reputations with their first event. If it’s a success – it will be the talk of the town. If it’s a failure – it will be the talk of the town. A failed party in Louisville is often accompanied by viral social media posts and pictures, ridiculing the empty venue. Richie and his mother would arrive at the venue early to set up and decorate. His father and grandmother would also come along for emotional support. The party was scheduled to start at 8pm. Ms. Page (Richie’s mom) would make a store run to grab some last-minute supplies before the party started. To her surprise, she would get a call from someone at the venue, informing her that a line of teen party-goers had formed outside. It was now just shortly past 7:00pm. At 7:45pm, there were now over 200 kids in line. When the doors opened at 8:00pm, there were 400 in attendance and by 9:13pm, the party was packed with 589 kids. Before the event would end at midnight, the occupancy had reached to over 750 teens. The party was a success! From that moment on – DJ Richie was solidified as a professional DJ/Party Promoter. His mother now knew that she had to adjust his fees, as a hired DJ, accordingly. Since that first party, Richie has continued to elevate his craft, as well as his brand. In the months following, things began to take off fast for the “In-demand” 14 year-old. Several veteran Louisville DJs, noticed Richie’s movement and reached out to offer him pointers and guidance. Popular nightclub DJ, Lil Jerry passed down his moniker “The Youngest In Charge” to Richie. DJ Z- Nyce and DJ Deuce would become very instrumental in mentoring and opening doors for the up & coming youngster. As a result, DJ Richie would become a member of the prestigious Midwest DJ crew, The Elitegiance. However, the highlight of his career thus far has been working with popular Louisville-based rapper Bblasian. Richie has been a huge Bblasian fan since he appeared on Louisville’s music scene a few years ago – and it’s been a dream of his to become his personal DJ. On October 19, 2019, DJ Richie and Bblasian performed at the Drip Fest 2018, as an opening act for national recording artist Tekashi 6ix9ine at Louisville’s Diamonds Pub & Billiards. Making this performance even more special, was the fact that it commemorated DJ Richie’s 100th gig, as a professional DJ. On Friday November 9, 2018, Richie and Bblasian will collaborate on stage once again, as they perform with Louisville native & national recording artist Jack Harlow, at a concert in Nashville, TN. These days, it’s a bit of a challenge to book DJ Richie. The Central High School student, typically stays booked 2-3 months in advance – and when he’s not in school, he often has 2-3 shows booked per week. He’s living quite the life – for a 14 year-old. DJ Richie’s next entrepreneurial event is: Rich Beatz Ent Presents: Friday Night Live: The Move Part 3 – Friday November 23rd – 8pm -12pm in Louisville. Location to be announced soon. Follow DJ Richie on Instagram @_djrichie and Facebook @ DJ Richie 502  

Theater Arts is more than just acting. It often requires actors/actresses to expand their vocabularies, sharpen their memorization skills and study other cultures. Creativity is a natural gift but to maximize one’s capabilities – it takes a lot of practice and hard work. Theater is a demanding field that is typically represented by adult theater companies but the Youth Repertory Theater Troupe of Louisville has earned its respect in the business by becoming first youth-operated theater company in Louisville, KY. That respect didn’t come easily – it was earned, not given. The company is based out of the Louisville Central Community Center (LCCC) in Louisville’s, predominately black West End and is headed by the center’s Manager of Youth Education and Fine Arts, Erica Bledsaw.  This is not your average youth theater company that focuses on child-themed, “cute” performances. These teens, ages 12-18, are trained to perform difficult roles typically played by adults. Bledsaw operates with a no-nonsense approach that is compassionate, yet firmly structured to encourage the teens to give their all once they get into character.

“The purpose of the Youth Repertory Group of Louisville is to expose young people to musical theater and other genres of music and to give them opportunities. For example, if they were to go to New York and audition on Broadway, there would never be a black Belle for Beauty and the Beast… There would never be a black Lumiere, so I wanted to start doing these productions that would give them opportunities to shine in roles that they would be passed over on Broadway.” – Erica Bledsaw

For many members of the company, performing in musicals has introduced them to different lifestyles and cultures that they otherwise would have never experienced. Although many of the musicals are fiction, they are often based on actual real-life cultural situations. Over the past few years, the Youth Repertory Group of Louisville has presented musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, Black Nativity and the Wiz. The company is currently holding its 8 week summer Performing Arts Camp at LCCC, which focuses on educating the youth on the aspects of musical theater. The camp places emphasis on acting, singing, stage managing, costume designing, set designing and light and sound engineering. The camp will conclude with 8 performances of the musical Once On This Island which will take place at the Grand Lyric Theater, located at 1300 W. Muhammad Ali in Louisville.

“Once On This Island is kind of like a classic Romeo and Juliet story – only with black people who are dealing with colorism. It’s the fair-skinned blacks against the darker-skinned blacks and of course they are not supposed to come together and be with each other but Ti Moune falls in love with Daniel, who is of the fair-complexion, and his family, the Beauxhomme’s, don’t want that to happen.” – Erica Bledsaw

15 year-old Christian Edwards has been singing since the age of two but found his passion for theater arts in middle school. Once becoming a member of the Youth Repertory Theater Troupe of Louisville he says that Ms. Bledsaw brought attributes out of him that he never knew existed. Edwards will play the role of Agwe in the upcoming performances of Once On This Island.

“I am Agwe, God of water. Agwe basically controls the water around the island and makes it rain a little bit. Being in musicals lets your imagination run wild, especially with this one being tropical island themed.” – Christian Edwards

15 year-old Mariyah Martin is also ecstatic about her role as Osaka in the musical. Martin is a gifted singer who feels as though she and Osaka share some of the same personality traits.

“I play Osaka, Mother of the Earth. I’m the sassy diva of the musical. I grow the grass and the trees and I make everything flow. My favorite part is most definitely the singing. I love the singing part. I wrote my first song when I was two. It was called Elephant and a Saggy Dog.”- Mariyah Martin

Performances of Once On This Island will take place at the Grand Lyric Center, located at 1300 W. Muhammad Ali on: July 27th – 11AM & 7PM July 28th – 7PM July 29th – 2PM & 7PM August 3rd – 5th – 7PM Purchase Tickets ($12 in advance – $15 at the door) @ LOUISVILLETICKETS.COM or Contact Erica Bledsaw 502-583-8821  

After three years in the restaurant business – Seafood Lady is expanding.  The second location will open on July 21, 2018, at 3201 Fern Valley Rd Suite 113. The ribbon cutting will take place at 1pm. Additionally, the original Seafood Lady restaurant, located at 103 W. Oak Street will be celebrating its three-year anniversary on July 29, 2018, by holding a “Community Kickback” block party with vendors and family activities. The block party will take place on W. Oak Street – between 1st and 2nd Streets.

Making it big and giving back to his hometown has always been on Jamon Brown’s “to-do” list. The 6’4 – 323 lbs professional football player is beast on the football field but a gentle giant in real life. At 25 years-old, Brown has already accomplished many of his childhood goals. He excelled in college football at the University of Louisville and graduated with a degree in Justice Administration in 2014. In 2015, he was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round of the NFL draft. In 2016, he married his childhood sweetheart and fathered his daughter Micayla. Despite all of his professional and personal accolades, Brown still cherishes returning to his hometown of Louisville, KY during the off-season and giving back to the community. Much of his giving back is via the Jamon Brown Foundation whose mission statement is: To impact the lives of those struggling with Poverty, Violence, and Youth Homelessness, and to improve upon the Education and Healthy Living issues that are typically prevalent in at risk areas, while influencing others to do the same. This past weekend the Jamon Brown Foundation held three separate events that would help empower and inspire the people of Louisville. On Friday night, youth were invited to a skate party at the Outer Limits Fun Center from 7pm – 10pm. On Saturday nearly 200 youth attended the free football camp for ages 6-high seniors – at DeSales High School. The weekend would conclude with a 5K run at Pope Lick Park on Sunday morning at 9am, with all proceeds going to the Jamon Brown Foundation.

“Any event the Jamon Brown Foundation tries to put on for the kids will be free. This [Louisville] is where it started for me. The biggest thing for me is that I wanted to come back and give these kids a picture of, ‘If I work hard enough, I can do it”… Because I don’t know if the kids believe that they can come out of Louisville and they can make their dreams come true, so what I try to do is make myself visible and touchable, so they can see it – they can believe it – they can touch it – they can ask me any question… So that inspires them to chase their dreams.” – Jamon Brown

The football camp featured exercises and drills that allowed participants to experience the type of training they would likely encounter at all levels of football, if they decide to pursue the sport. In addition, the event was sponsored by the Louisville Metro Police Foundation, who provided backpacks full of gifts for the youth, Kosair Charities and food was sponsored Chef’s Cut Pizzeria. This was the second year that the Jamon Brown Foundation held a free football camp for the youth of Louisville. Last year’s camp took place at Fern Creek High School. Brown says that his foundation plans to bring the camp back every summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOKMhjH1Khc

M.A.F. Galleries brings an artistic twist to the coffee drinking experience in Louisville. While sipping on a hot or cold beverage, customers can lounge on the sofas, outdoor patio, or opt to browse the in-house art gallery, which features works from local artists. The coffee shop boasts an interesting menu when it comes to Frappés. M.A.F. is a space of creativity – and that theme remains consistent when it comes to the menu. Items such as Fruity Pebble, Captain Crunch and Oreo Frappés, break conventional coffee house norms – and instead focus on catering to those who don’t mind “drinking outside the box.” For the more traditional customer – fruit smoothies, coffee, tea, bagels, snacks and soups are available as well. Owners Chelsea Ellis and artist “Sketch” Basel-Bibbs launched the official Grand Opening of M.A.F. on June 3, giving many members of Louisville’s art community, their first glance at a place that Ellis & Sketch hope they will utilize frequently.

“M.A.F. stands for music art and food, so we wanted a place to tie all of those three things together, where artists can come, be themselves, have a place to showcase their art (whether it’s music or visual arts)… so we just want to be the hub for that.” – Chelsea Ellis

The creation of M.A.F. was a collective concept between Ellis and Sketch. Ellis is a young entrepreneur who has plans to invest a many different businesses. Sketch is a veteran artist who has decades of experience in the art world. After realizing that their strengths were beneficial to each other – the two decided to become business partners and bring a unique coffee drinking experience to the Highlands.

“I’ve been into art for 24 years and have been a tattoo artist for 10 years. We have a mixture of art in here right now. We have a few examples of Realism, we have a few examples of Extreme Abstract, we have some Wood Burnings, we have things that are glass blown, ceramics – but the art we showcase, depends on the artist. We have a fairly reasonable audit that you go through to get your art into the gallery.” – Sketch Basel-Bibbs

M.A.F. is located at 976 Barret Avenue and operates Mon-Fri from 8:00 am-8:00pm Mon-Sat (Closed Sunday). In addition to the coffee and art experience – the venue is also available for events and private parties.

As of late, music artists from Louisville, KY have began to make an impact on regional and national music scenes. The latest to do so is R&B artist Junior J. The 502 crooner is only in his 20s but has harmonies and vocal tones very reminiscent of the great R&B singers of the 80s & 90s. His current single, Turning Me On, has quickly become a major hit in the Louisville area and is showing signs of spreading throughout the region. Turning Me On is a remake of the 1982, hit I Like It by R&B group DeBarge – off their Gold selling album All This Love. The song is considered to be a Motown Classic, amongst traditional R&B fans and has been covered over the years by music greats; Nelly, Jesse Powell, LL Cool J, Beyoncé, Grand Puba and Warren G. Junior J’s rendition brings a modern vibe to the record that music fans of all ages appear to respect and appreciate. Junior J appeared on the local music scene, nearly seven years ago with a debut record that he recorded in the closet of his home. Unbeknownst to him, the song would become extremely popular in the streets and clubs of Louisville. At that moment, he knew that becoming a professional recording artist was his destiny.

“I’ve been doing music for about 7 or 8 years strong. I was about 19 and I did a song with D.J. Lil Carl. From there, the fans liked me so I’ve been doing it ever since. I recorded my first song (I Really Need You) in a closet with a headset microphone. I didn’t know what I was doing but that turned out to be a hit.” – Junior J

As Turning Me On began gaining traction within Louisville’s underground music scene – radio station 93.1FM added the record to its rotation. The popularity of that song eventually led to Junior J, opening for Lil Wayne, K Michelle & 2 Chainz at the 2018 Pre-Derby concert at Louisville’s Broadbent arena on May 3rd.  

“This was the biggest concert I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve opened for Musiq Soulchild & Donell Jones, which were big, but this is the biggest concert I’ve ever done in my life and I’m so appreciative and humbled by it.” – Junior J

As the record steadily grows, the opportunity for more performances have presented themselves for the young singer. On Jun 15, Junior electrified the crowd at Vybe Entertainment’s Swim Wear & Lingerie Fashion Show held at Hotel Louisville. Turning Me On can be accessed on all digital streaming platforms and Junior J says that he has more music on the way for his fans in the near future. Follow Junior J @iam_juniorj on all social media sites.

Two Louisville beauty shop owners, decided to pay homage to Louisville’s beauty & barber industry by holding an elegant Gala to support the culture they’ve been a part of for the past two decades. The inaugural Artistry Gala, presented by sisters Teandra Bishop & Tynesha Bishop-Thomas took place on Sunday June 24th at Chandelier’s Main Event on Dixie Hwy in Louisville. Members of Louisville’s beauty and barber industry, dressed in ballroom gowns and debonair suits to celebrate the elite of their fields.

The fully catered event was hosted by on-air-personality Bella Rae of B96 and began with a personalized poem, honoring the attendees, by Louisville poet Robin G’. The Gala also featured local and national guest speakers, including Master stylist Tre Trimz of Charlotte, NC and Louisville’s Dudley Representative, Tami Charles. Bishop and Thomas say that hair shows and galas are commonplace within the beauty and barber industry but typically take place in larger cities like Atlanta, LA and Detroit. Acknowledging that Louisville has vibrant beauty and barber scenes itself – the sisters decided to create that experience in the Derby City as well.

“With this event we’re trying to reach out as a union in the beauty industry, to beauticians, barbers, nail techs, and makeup artists, to gather us all together as one, to celebrate what we do and what we bring to the city of Louisville.” – Teandra Bishop

In addition to celebrating the industry, Bishop and Thomas also are passionate about uplifting aspiring beauticians and barbers. They vividly remember the adversities and long hours spent in beauty school, while pursuing their dream. Therefore, they created the Mary-Alice Foundation, which will contribute a scholarship to a future licensed member of the beauty or barber industry. The most important aspect of this event is the scholarship. So, we’re looking to give back within the industry by providing a $2,500 scholarship, going towards the tuition of a student that is currently in beauty or barber school.” – Tynesha Bishop- Thomas. Throughout the course of the evening, models showcased signature hairstyles and haircuts, performed by some of Louisville’s most well renowned beauticians and barbers. However, the highlight of the evening was the awarding of the $2,500 Mary-Alice Foundation scholarship to 21 year-old Ke’Nisha Thornton, who is currently attending beauty school in Louisville. In addition, Tami Charles also awarded Thornton with a paid trip to the annual Bronner Bros. International Beauty Show in New Orleans in March 2019.

“I’ve been a student at the Paul Mitchell School since January. I’m a transfer student so I graduate in September. After graduation, I plan to open a shop with my brother and mother, so this $2,500 helps a lot.” – Ke’nisha Thornton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_rWHOje9Z4 Bishop and Thomas plan to make the Artistry Gala an annual event in Louisville and are eager to experience its growth.