Cropped Out is an annual multi-venue

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, co-founded in 2010 by Ryan Davis and James Ardery. According to the festival's website, "Cropped Out aims to celebrate a select fistful of contemporary musicians, artists, and artisans whom we feel reflect a greater undercurrent of sonic, visual, and conceptual exploration. It is our intention to turn heads toward the talents of those often omitted, overlooked, or cropped out of 'the big picture'. These are the minds most interesting to us, the minds most capable of emerging from and quickly returning to their lightlessness, if only to be briefly met by a niche appreciation...The fest is designed to highlight the creative efforts of Louisville natives, friends, family, and fellow thinkers from Nashville to Chicago to Brooklyn and beyond." The festival stays true to this ethos, presenting independent bands and a general DIY scene in an intimate, affordable setting. The primary genres featured in the festival are

Indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

, but expands into other genres such as

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

and even hip-hop and

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

. Cropped Out has close ties with

Drag City Records Drag City is an American independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, ...

Thrill Jockey Records Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

, Sophomore Lounge among other independent labels. The inaugural festival was held in October 2010 both at Kingfish and American Turners Louisville, both located on the banks of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

just east of downtown Louisville. During the first year, the festival was staffed primarily by the two organizers and their parents, along with a group of close friends. The second year of the festival was held at a warehouse space in the NuLu which was nicknamed "The Crummy Den" by festival organizers. Due to noise complaints on the final night of the festival, the Louisville Police Department interrupted and cut

Scratch Acid Scratch Acid was an Austin, Texas noise rock group formed in 1982. One of the pioneers of noise rock in the 1980s, the band is best remembered as a stepping stone for its front man David Yow, and bass player David Wm. Sims, both later of The Jesu ...

's set short. Since 2012, the main part of the festival has taken place at American Turners Louisville, often with Thursday opening and Sunday closing parties held at different local bars and venues. Since 2013, on-site camping has been available to ticket holders for a camping fee. Since 2016, Cropped Out has partnered with Against the Grain Brewery in Louisville to produce Hopped Out, the official beer of Cropped Out. Notably, on the emphasis of local artists, Cropped Out has hosted rare performances by Louisville bands and musicians such as

Papa M David Pajo (born June 25, 1968) is an American alternative rock musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though ...

, The Endtables,

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

(performing Superwolf with

Matt Sweeney Matt Sweeney (born July 2, 1969) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan. Early life and education Sweeney was born in New Jersey. His father was John D. Sweeney, a professo ...

), The Belgian Waffles! and more.

Cropped Out lineups by year

Cropped Out VIII

The 2018 edition of Cropped Out took place October 5 and 6 at American Turners Louisville. Friday, October 5 *

Bill Direen William Direen (born 1957) is a New Zealand writer and performer. He graduated from Canterbury University (Christchurch) with the John Tinline Prize (1980) and M.A. Hons. (1st). His masters thesis was titled ''The influence of Japanese noh, B ...

* Bill Mackay / Nathan Bowles *

Charalambides Charalambides is an avant garde musical group originally from Houston, Texas, United States and lately of Austin, Texas. Formed in 1991 (under the short-lived name Mutual Admiration Society) by Tom Carter, Christina Carter and Kyle Silfer, they ...

* Circuit Des Yeux * Drunks With Guns * Exek * Exit III * Honey * Iron Bars * Leggy *

Major Stars Major Stars is an American psychedelic rock band from greater Boston, Massachusetts. Their first live performance was in 1997 at the inaugural Terrastock Festival in Providence, Rhode Island. They toured Japan in 2000 with Overhang Party. In ...

* Michael Hurley * Night Vapor *

Simon Joyner Simon Joyner (born 1971) is an American singer-songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska. He has influenced the music of Bright Eyes, Kevin Morby and Gillian Welch. In the early 1990s, Beck listed Joyner in his top 10 albums when asked by ''Rolling St ...

* Spider Bags * Taiwan Housing Project * The Sal Show *

Träd, Gräs & Stenar Träd, Gräs & Stenar ("Trees, Grass and Stones") is a Swedish rock band formed in 1969, from previous incarnations Pärson Sound, International Harvester and Harvester. The group was one of the front acts of the Swedish progg scene, although not ...

Saturday, October 6 *

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

/ Jacqueline Kerrod * Catherine Irwin * Cherry Death *

Endless Boogie ''Endless Boogie'' is a studio album by American blues musician John Lee Hooker, released in 1971 through ABC Records. Produced by Bill Szymczyk and Ed Michel, the double album was recorded at Wally Heider Recording with session musicians suc ...

* Equipment Pointed Ankh * Footings * Graham Lambkin /

Bill Nace Bill Nace is an American experimental guitarist from New Jersey. Nace has collaborated with Joe McPhee, Steve Gunn, Thurston Moore, Yoko Ono, Okkyung Lee, and Kim Gordon. With Gordon, Nace is part of the experimental electric guitar duo Body/Hea ...

Half Japanese Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair around 1975, sometime after the family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playi ...

* Jana Rush * Kal Marks * Lié * Protruders * Quin Kirchner Group * Sadie * Sex Tide *

Shabazz Palaces Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro (formerly Butterfly of jazz rap group Digable Planets). Much of the Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi- ...

* Thee Open Sex * The Possum *

The Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

* The World *

Tommy Wright III Tommy Wright III is an American rapper and hip hop producer. He began rapping in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1990s and is considered to be an early pioneer for fast-paced rap and trap production in South Memphis. Musical career Growing up in ...

* Winger Brothers

Cropped Out VII

The 2017 edition of Cropped Out took place September 22 & 23, 2017 at American Turners Louisville. A kick-off party is scheduled to take place September 21, 2017 at Nachbar, and a closing party is scheduled to take place September 24, 2017 at Kaiju. Thursday, September 21 @ Nachbar * Fever Hands * King Cheetah * Shawnthany Calypso Friday, September 22 @ American Turners * 75 Dollar Bill * Axis: Sova * Bathroom Laws *

Circle X Circle X was an American experimental rock band, formed in 1978 in Louisville, Kentucky. They were part of the late 1970s/early 1980s No Wave scene. Background Early career Circle X formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1978 when art students ...

* Crazy Doberman * Dan Melchior * Exacta Cube * Heavy Dreams * John Bender * Limes * Lung * Neil Hamburger * Pile * Royal Trux * The Cowboys * The Stranger * Tommy Jay's Latest Freak Show * Wombo Saturday, September 23 @ American Turners * Attic Talent * Billington / Shippy / Wyche * David Nance * Deep State * Feedtime * Frank Hurricane * Fried Egg * Le Fruit Vert * Magik Markers * Matt Jencik * Peter Brötzmann * Rays * Sadat X * Sarah Squirm * Shit and Shine * Shutaro Noguchi * Tara Jane O'Neil * Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon * The Other Years * Tyvek Sunday, September 24 @ American Turners * Axel Cooper * Jaye Jayle * Justin Frye of PC Worship * Mike Donovan of Peacers / Sic Alps * Natural Man

Cropped Out VI

The 2016 edition of Cropped Out took place on September 23 & 24, 2016 at American Turners after a year-long hiatus, due largely to both Tropical Trash and State Champion (two bands that are composed mainly of the festival's organizers and staff) going on tours around the same time that year. The kick-off party took place at Nachbar in Louisville on September 22, and the closing party took place at Kaiju on September 25. Thursday, September 22 @ Nachbar (Kickoff Party) Friday, September 23 @ American Turners Saturday, September 24 @ American Turner's Sunday, September 25 @ Kaiju

Cropped Out V

The 2014 edition took place from September 26 to September 28, 2014, at Dreamland Film Center, American Turners Louisville, and Fresh Start. Thursday, September 25 @ Dreamland Film Center (Kickoff Party) Friday, September 26 @ American Turners Saturday, September 27 @ American Turners Sunday, September 28 @ Fresh Start Grower Supply

Cropped Out IV

The 2013 edition of Cropped Out took place entirely at American Turners from Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29, 2013. Friday, September 27 @ American Turners Saturday, September 28 @ American Turners Sunday, September 29 @ American Turners The Sunday show was originally intended to be held at the Workhouse Ballroom but was moved to the Phreedom Hall stage at American Turners.

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton is a character created by comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman in the late 1970s. An absurdly foul-mouthed and domineering lounge singer claiming to hail from Las Vegas, the tuxedo-clad Clifton often led unsuspecting audie ...

was also scheduled to perform as the host for the main part of the festival at American Turners but ultimately cancelled due to personal reasons.

Cropped Out III

The 2012 edition took place at American Turners and the Workhouse Ballroom, a small cave near the Highlands area of Louisville, from Friday, September 28 to Sunday, September 30, 2012. Friday, September 28 @ American Turners Dahm Cipolla of The Phantom Family Halo was intended to play but cancelled due to illness. He was replaced by Virginia grindcore band Suppression. Saturday, September 29 @ American Turners Sunday, September 30 @ The Workhouse Ballroom

Cropped Out II

The 2011 edition took place entirely at The Crummy Den, a warehouse space that was turned into a DIY venue for the weekend, and took place from Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29, 2011. ;Friday, November 11 ;Saturday, November 12 ;Sunday, November 1

Cropped Out I

The 2010 Edition took place at KingFish and American Turners Louisville from October 1 to October 3, 2010. Friday, October 1 @ KingFish Saturday, October 2 @ American Turners Sunday, October 3 @ American Turners

References

External links

Cropped Out's official website

The site of Cropped Out
{{Music venues of Kentucky Music festivals in Louisville, Kentucky Rock festivals in the United States Indie rock festivals Music festivals established in 2010 2010 establishments in Kentucky