Plenty of people know Michael L. Jones as Louisville Business First's economic development and restaurants reporter. But he's also a music guru, local history buff and author of three books.
On the Access Louisville podcast this week, we talk with Jones (a regular on the show) about his latest book  "Soulful Sounds of Derby Town," which just launched.  Jones and his collaborators on the book look back at some of the history of Black music in Louisville.
On the show, he tells us about how the book is a culmination of eight years of work.
"You can imagine six music nerds sitting and talking about who's important enough to go in the book — should they go in gospel? Should they go into jazz?," Jones said on the show.
The pages are filled with stories about musicians who began in Louisville and went on to make a mark in the industry at large. As Jones explains,  singer Helen Humes and jazz trumpeter Jonah Jones were among a slew of people who got their start playing in a community band here in Louisville.
The book is going from the "page to the stage" on March 2 with a book launch event and performances by some of the living musicians featured in it. That takes place at Kentucky Performing Arts and tickets are available here.
Also on this week's show, we chat about the lineup that was just announced for Louder than Life — a metal focused music festival that is happening again this September.
And late in the show, we talk about a leadership change at Endeavor Louisville and some of the things that are happening with the local startup scene.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services. Access Louisville Live is coming up. Be apart of it as we record a live episode of the show on March 26. Tickets are available here. 

How do you know when you've made it in Louisville? Well, you get on Louisville Business First's Power 50 list, of course.
The Power 50 is  LBF's annual special section highlighting 50 of the most influential people in Greater Louisville’s business and related communities.
We talk about who's on the Power 50 and how they were picked on this week's Access Louisville podcast. LBF Editor Shea Van Hoy is on the show to tell us about some of the new faces on the List as well. We rolled out the Power 50 list in two separate lists earlier this week (Here's the first 25 post; and here's the second 25 post.) We also debut our Five on the Rise list of up-and-coming leaders, which you can find here.
Later in the show we talk about the latest in a plan to upgrade the Kentucky Exposition Center. Schmidt Associates was recently picked as the architect on the long-term project. That said, there is some concern that it's all moving too slowly.
Lastly on the show I tell you about our upcoming live event: Access Louisville Live, which will include networking and a live podcast on March 26. Register here.
There's also a quick mention of this story about 2-way street conversions.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and more.

Downtown Louisville suffered a 1-2 punch this week, based on news that two big companies would be vacating office space.
We talked about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
Humana Inc. announced it would be vacating the signature, 27-story Main Street office tower that bears its name. The health care company is consolidating its workforce into other buildings.
That Humana news came on Monday. Then on Tuesday Louisville Business First learned that Fifth Third Bank is vacating its office space at 401 S. 4th Street  and taking space near NuLu.
You might say: So two companies are leaving there office space — what's the big deal? Well, it's part of a larger trend of companies leaving Downtown in favor of other areas. Office workers aren't the only thing a city needs — it also needs visitors, residents and sports teams and so on. But, absent a large core of residents, office workers help support the restaurants and other establishments that give the city a key part of its identity. 
On the show we talk about some of the issues that Downtown Louisville faces in the wake of this news.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services. 

We've got a classic roundup of restaurant news on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
First, we chat with Reporter Michael L. Jones about Spinelli's Pizza making a return to Downtown Louisville. It's going into space at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets that formerly housed Riot Cafe, providing a space for a good lunch as well as live music.
We also have updates on a new pickle ball retailer, called MatchSet, which is heading into Westport Plaza. We've got a story about Gustavo's moving a location in Prospect and a new strategy to own more of its real estate. There's details on a new golf simulator venue, Five Iron Golf, coming to NuLu. And finally, we've got news on two Louisville chefs who were named James Beard semifinalists.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We talk about the Netflix series 'Wrestlers' on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
Al Snow, partner in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), joins us to share what it was like to film the show as well as some of his inspirations during his career and what happens next.
Reporter Michael L. Jones is also on the show to talk about covering OVW and some of the business people behind it for a recent story in Louisville Business First.
As he explains, the main arc of “Wrestlers” documents the sometimes turbulent relationship between Snow, and Matt Jones, founder of Kentucky Sports Radio, the managing partner of a majority ownership group that includes Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.  
Snow, a former WWE wrestler, is devoted to preserving the traditions of wrestling, including the outrageous storylines, while Jones is trying to modernize the way the OVW operates to increase its revenue.  
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The restaurant news never quite stops.
Details on a few new local places top our show on this week's Access Louisville podcast. To start things off we chat about Marco's Pizza, a growing chain with its sights set on Louisville, and it's next location going to Jeffersontown.
We also cover a renovation at Royals Hot Chicken in Nulu, 7 Brew making space for a new coffee stand in East Louisville as well as Parlour coming to the Falls City Brewing space on Liberty Street.
We've also got a story on a student housing development going into Downtown Louisville near Jefferson Community & Technical College.  And a report on a local family business that recently sold — Thomas Car Wash. Lastly, we talk about the most expensive home that sold in the area all last year.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

Vince Tyra, the former athletic director for the University of Louisville is caught in a corporate crossfire in Canada. Montreal-based Gildan Activeware Inc. had recently departed ways with its CEO and named Tyra as his replacement.
But now an investment firm, Browning West LP, is calling for Tyra's termination arguing he has "weak" credentials.
Reporter Joel Stinnett tells us about the story on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
Later in the show we talk about Sports Illustrated's new deal with Churchill Downs, giving the brand naming rights on a new space at the famous racetrack. We also talk about SI's brand recognition in a crowded sports media space.
Later, Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt tells us about predictions for the bourbon industry in 2024. He recently wrote a two-part story on the topic: Here's part one and part two. 
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services such as Apple Podcast and Spotify. 

The team at Access Louisville and Louisville Business First have once again set out to predict the future. 
On this week's episode we look at what 2024 will hold for the Louisville community. 
We tackle a large range of topics in our predictions, from sports to M&A to construction projects. 
You will have to listen in on your favorite podcast streaming app to hear all of them but here are just a few:

• The One Park construction project will begin.
• Louisville will land a Margaritaville Hotel — been talking about that one for a while, haven't we?
• Racing Louisville will make the playoffs — they do have a new coach after all.
• And Bob Dylan will come to town for his new venture.

The predictions show is a favorite Access Louisville tradition.
In fact, last week on Access Louisville, we traveled back in time to our 2023 predictions to see how they aged in hindsight. We only got a few right — but one of us did make a successful prediction on how Mayor Greenberg's economic strategy would roll out with more involvement from the business community. 
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First.  It’s hosted by David A. Mann. Our guests this week are Joel Stinnett, Ellie Tolbert and Michael L. Jones
It's available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, which are linked above. You also can listen to the show in the player above.

So, it turns out, 2023 was pretty hard to predict — or maybe we're just not great with a crystal ball. 
In the last few years, we at the Access Louisville podcast have developed an end-of-the-year tradition where we sit down and try to predict what might happen the next year. 
Our predictions are mostly for fun. But we also have some insights because we're always monitoring trends and efforts around the community as part of our reporting for Louisville Business First.
On this week's podcast, we're going back and looking at what predictions we made at the beginning of 2023 to see what we actually got right. 
Turns out, it was very little. And the stuff we did get right was probably pretty obvious. But hey, that's the game.
Be sure to tune in next week as we look to the future to make predictions for the upcoming year. And the plan is to review them in a year and see how we did.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.

Louisville is famous for its bourbon distillers, but what about the folks mixing cocktails behind the bar?
With Christmas and New Year's Day approaching, we thought now might be a good time to check in with one person who does just that each day.  Randi Densford, beverage director for Barn8 Farm Restaurant & Bourbon Bar.
Densford tells us about how each season on the farm influences the cocktails, upcoming flavor trends and gives us some insight into how to make a career out of being a beverage director. 
Barn8 Farm Restaurant & Bourbon Bar is located at Hermitage Farm in Oldham County. In addition to being a restaurant, it's an attraction that showcases a bit of Kentucky's agricultural roots. 
Densford has 11 years of restaurant and bartending experience. She's a Louisville native and a graduate of Sullivan University with a bachelor's degree in culinary arts. 
She previously worked at Decca, a former NuLu restaurant and Bardstown Bourbon Co., a distillery with its own restaurant on campus. She's been with Barn8 at Hermitage Farm since late 2019, ahead of its opening in early 2020.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can follow it on popular podcast services to never miss an episode.