Scott Condra grew up in Danville, Ky., starved for new music that made sense to him. He was a straight-edge kid, no drugs or alcohol, and Danville wasn't exactly the punk paradise of Kentucky.

Things changed when he enrolled at Bellarmine University in the mid-1990s when Louisville was experiencing a flood of hardcore, punk and indie bands that were putting the city on the international map.

"Once I came to Louisville is was kind of overwhelming," said Condra, 38. "There was so much to open the eyes of a small-town boy."

Condra is now the media librarian at the Louisville Free Public Library and he's giving back to the scene that gave him so much pleasure. He's in charge of Louisville Mix, a new music streaming service that is dedicated to Louisville music of any era. It's available to all library members for free.

Louisville Mix became possible when Biblioboard, a platform designed to help libraries fully embrace digital media, came to the LFPL earlier this year. Condra, who is responsible for stocking the library's music section, had already been pushing for a digital option when BiblioBoard came along. Library director James Blanton was on board.

"One of my primary responsibilities is buying music, and I kept looking for ways to get more local music and that became a whole lot harder when ear X-tacy closed," Condra said. "And then people weren't making as many CDs as they had before so I was looking for a way to incorporate digital as well."

Louisville musicians have come through. The service currently features music from Will Oldham, 1200, RMLLW2LLZ, Joe Manning, Bodeco, Liberation Prophecy, da Mudcats, Jonathan Glen Wood and many more.

Several record labels, including Chicago's Drag City, signed off on some Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Palace Songs albums via Oldham while local labels SonoBLAST and auralgamiSOUNDS made their catalogs available. John King is donating 15 years of music from his Louisville Is For Lovers label, which has featured most of Louisville's top talent, adding to the handful of physical copies he had already donated.

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"I believe Louisville Mix will be a valuable archive for Louisville music, and a great vehicle to reach a broad audience," King said via email. "I am humbled and honored that LFPL included Louisville Is For Lovers in this remarkable new service and hope to continue contributing to it for as long as I am welcome."

The service went live in October but its official launch is Jan. 20 at the main library, 301 York St. A concert called Local Music Showcase: The Library After Dark will feature 1200 as emcee and music by Jonathan Glen Wood, Billy Nelson, Brooks Ritter, DaMudcats, Justin Paul Lewis and RMLLW2LLZ. Food trucks and a cash bar.

"The library is trying to expand its reach and figure out how we can serve everybody in the city and what Louisville wants from us, and this is something that it seems like people want: the library as a fun gathering place and as a community anchor," Condra said. "We do so much for kids and we're trying to do the same thing for adults."

Local artists interested in donating can contact Condra at localmusic@lfpl.org.

Reporter Jeffrey Lee Puckett can be reached at 502-582-4160 and jpuckett@courier-journal.com.

Local Music Showcase: The Library After Dark

WHEN: 7-10 p.m. Jan. 20

WHERE: Main Library, 301 York. St.

COST: Free

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