Catfish Williams loves the river, it’s just that simple. He lives upriver in Ludlow, Kentucky, a small town not unlike Madison, albeit right in the shadow of a major metro area (Cincinnati), which adds a different spin on life there. “I grew up along the Ohio River, so I felt like I understood it. But in recent years I’ve had an opportunity to paddle the river in a canoe, and my entire perspective changed. Once you are on it, you see it differently.”
Which is why Catfish has organized a very special river paddling event called Artists Adrift, which is happening July 26th through 29th, starting in Madison and floating down to Louisville on the river. He’s bringing 8 musicians plus himself in a 30 foot long Voyageur canoe.
“The idea for this began when I did the Ohio River Challenge, which is a paddle from Huntington, WV all the way down to Louisville,” explains Catfish. “That event has been around several years now, and its purpose is three-fold: to promote outdoor recreation, to raise awareness for our land and water, and to stimulate the economies of the rivertowns along the way. As I said, my participation in that event had a profound effect on how I see the river and what it can offer.
“Almost immediately I started thinking to myself, I need to get my musician artists friends to experience this! I’m very involved in the music scene up in the Cincy area, so I’m friends with a lot of folks in the business. My thinking was, if they could see and feel what I have on one of these paddling journeys, it could be a cool way to spread the word. Who knows what songs or stories might come out of all these artists in the same boat, spending real time together.
“I’ve lined up Linda Jean Stokely and Montana Hobbs of the Local Honeys, Maria Carrelli, who I know is a Madison favorite, Aaron and Wes from Brother Smith, Anna Pollock, Casey Campbell from Buffalo Wabs and Mook McCormick. Plus me. We’ll leave from Madison sometime on the 26th and make our way down to Payne Hollow, which was the home of Harlan and Anna Hubbard. The next day is down to Westport, Kentucky, and then the third day, on down to Louisville.
“This is not a concert tour, and in fact, the musicians may or may not do any playing, that’s not the point. This is somewhat of a getaway retreat for them, and also selfishly, I want to expose them to the kind of magical experience you can only get when you are down on the water, moving under your own power. So much of the work these musicians do is in loud bars around a lot of alcohol and late nights. This will be a starkly different, and I hope transformative, experience.
“The beauty of the Ohio River is something you can only appreciate when you go slow and quiet. People would be amazed, frankly, to see the natural wonders that abound along the banks, if you just take time to see them. It makes you appreciate what a resource it is, and it makes you think about how important clean air and water is to our survival and well-being.
“I’m super excited to share this river with my musician friends, and I invite the people of Madison to come down and see us off. It will be sometime Monday morning on the 26th, we don’t have a specific time set. But if you happen to be down near the river and see a really big canoe going into the water, swing down and say hello!”
(Oh, and credit for the title of this article to Wendell Berry, a great writer and protector of the water and land.)
HOT TIP OF THE WEEK
We are settling into the rhythm of the summer music schedule now folks. Live Lunch every Friday at Lytle Park. Jazz every Friday at Vintage Lanes. Very consistent music at the Lighthouse and 1st Street and Mad Paddle, plus the Central, the Drake and Rivertown Grill. Pop ups at Riverboat Inn and sometimes Red Bike. There’s plenty of DJ and Karaoke at Tailgators on the hilltop. Oh, and live music every Saturday at Thomas Family Winery, as it has been for about 30 years now (Thanks Steve & Elizabeth!) Add to the mix occasional marquee shows at The Ohio Theater, like this Saturday’s EDM event, and you have quite the music ecosystem. I’d put Madison up against any other Indiana town for consistent, live, usually free musical entertainment at least 5 days a week. But it only works if we get out there and support it. Let’s go!
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