Music: Obscure Recording Artists: Douglas Maxson:
Art: Painting and Drawing: Douglas Maxson
Philosophy: Writing: Douglas Maxson

Douglas Maxson Doug Maxson is a Louisville institution who has been slaving away for decades, pursuing his art in many disciplines. He has only recently hitched his buggy to the world wide web, with a website that is sort of a Kentucky Talent Foundation unto itself, featuring his own writings, paintings spanning his entire lifetime, and musical projects. It also shines a rusty spotlight on previously-obscure-but-soon-to-be-hip painters in his family: his mother Lucia Lay Maxson, who did some amazing nudes in the 1950s, his aunt Phyllis Lay (whose tragic life is hinted at by the distinctly eerie undercurrent of her seemingly-innocuous-at-first-glance 1980s female heads), and O.H.Manzer, an early 20th century painter whose creepy painting of a monsterish baby appeared in the Deatrick Gallery's Abandoned Art show. Manzer is Doug's great-great-grandfather. Maxson's primary musical projects are explored on his site: The Dickbrains were an early punk project that also featured Cathy Irwin and Tari Barr (O'Bannon). Your Food, whose LP Poke it with a Stick can still be occasionally found floating around bargain bins in record stores around the world. And finally, Trim, a late 90's effort whose long-rumored recording session still remains unmixed and unreleased. Maxson's literary creations are well documented here, usually written in a dry straightforward style that recalls Kerouac at his most sober. At other times his musings border on the surreal, such as the Lynda Barry-esque "Kill Mommy". With the passage of time, these writings (some dating back as early as 1985) provide an invaluable glimpse into the Louisville scene at the time, giving quasi-historical reports on people like Louisville goddess Chili Rigot and the mythic 1069 house.