05/05/2026
Tahlsound Presents: Back to our Roots
A Celebration of Influential Lexington Musicians
Featuring performances by
10 Foot Pole - Maggie Lander - Idiot Glee
Sunday June 28
Oleika Great Lawn
Southland Drive, Lexington, KY
About the music
"10 Foot Pole is a Lexington, Kentucky institution, a band of veteran musicians and garage-funk lifers with roots going back to the late 1980s and a sound that blends punk energy, funky grooves, and oddball charm. With the original lineup still intact, they show the kind of longevity and continuity that few bands anywhere can claim. Over the years, their orbit helped spark other projects and collaborations, but 10 Foot Pole itself remains a rare sighting. They play infrequently, which makes every appearance feel like a can't-miss event. In 2025, they came roaring back with a fresh run of singles and praise from Glide Magazine and B-Side Guys."
Idiot Glee
"Combining elements of space rock, Arthur Russell, chillwave, and the Beach Boys' Smile sessions, Lexington, Kentucky-based indie pop crooner James Friley's echo-laden, keyboard-driven alter ego Idiot Glee first appeared in 2008 after the classically trained pianist decided to leave his lo-fi punk outfit for a life of loops and samples. Occupying the same rainy porch milieu as acts like Twin Shadow, Summer Camp, and Perfume Genius, Friley's debut single, "All Packed Up" was released in 2010. Moody, atmospheric, and tinged with the hymnal colors of a strict Mormon upbringing, Idiot Glee's full-length studio debut, Paddywhacking, arrived in March, 2011 on Moshi Moshi Records. Riding acclaim for his debut, Friley followed up in 2013 with two new releases, the Life Without Jazz EP and the all-instrumental, classically-minded album, The Prairie. Recording for a number of labels, including his own Hop Hop Records, Friley continued to his prolific run with 2014's more pop-centric Four and a handful of early-2016 singles preceding his next self-titled album"
"Maggie Lander is a multi-instrumentalist from Henry County Kentucky who moved to Lexington in 2014. Lander grew up on a farm and at age 11, she spent most of her time learning classical music before transitioning to bluegrass and by age 16 she was already playing music professionally. While she had many gigs under her belt, Lander says she got her musical start in Lexington playing on a local music show.
“I started playing a lot of bluegrass shows in my teens and barn dances and wasn’t really playing a whole lot of guitar or singing at that point, it was mostly all fiddle, and then I went to a Woodsongs and I remember going up to Michael, I think I was like 17 and I was like ‘I wanna play on Woodsongs’ and I had my fiddle that day because I had a violin lesson and he was like ‘is that your fiddle? Break it out’ and so I played and he was like ‘alright come back next Monday’ and I ended up playing on Woodsongs for, gosh, probably 3 or 4 years.”
Since leaving Woodsongs, Lander has become well known within the local music community for her talent and versatility. While she can be seen as a backing musician in many different bands, she says playing music is most satisfying the more diverse it is.
“I love to collaborate, I love to be the person kind of on the side that is helping what the person up front is doing, making that better, adding to that, I love doing that, I also love singing my songs and leading my band and it’s been scary, after being a collaborator for so many years, to actually stand up and lead something is empowering and scary at the same time, but I think that music is all about collaboration, it’s all about sharing, it’s all about doing what you do with other people and helping them be better and they make you better in the end too.”
That collaboration has led to a new project called The Landers. The band plays her original music and puts Lander up front. As an artist, Lander says it a new step she’s been working towards a very long time.
“There’s a safety net in knowing that I feel ready for it and that we’ve worked really hard on the material and we haven’t just thrown it together and played a gig two weeks later, we were hunkered down and toys in the attic before we played our first gig, I’d rather do something well and have it take more time than jump into something and not put on a good show.”
