Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Friday July 10, 2026 - Lexington, KY

Road Blog
July 10, 2026
Lexington, Kentucky

I came down to Lexington on Thursday night in time to hit a short rehearsal for a show on Friday celebrating the music and life of Nate Presley (Waters), a close friend and brother in rock and roll who tragically and unexpectedly took his own life in June. It’s been a rough few weeks for his family, friends, fans, and band-mates, between the news and the funeral, and now prepping for this show, diving deep into his songs, and coming to terms with the loss. My hope was that the show would provide a little closure and peace following all the turmoil, grief, and other emotions that we’ve all been dealing with.

The drive down was largely uneventful, Waze taking me on an interesting detour around central Cincinnati that may or may not have saved me or cost me a few minutes. It’s always interesting to take in some back-country roads and see how people live in other parts of the country. I was a bit perplexed about the detour, but it would make sense later. I crossed the Ohio River, navigated through Lexington rush hour traffic, and checked into my motel on the north side of the city and chilled out for an hour or 2 before heading down to practice.

I stopped at Taco Tico for some dinner on my way to meet the band. If you’re a regular reader you know that I’m always chasing the local/regional Mexican fast food joints, and Taco Tico has been on my radar for years. It’s a Kansas chain that’s been around since 1962, but I wasn’t aware they’d franchised into Kentucky. The burrito was decent – better than Taco John’s, but not quite on par with Taco Bell’s Burrito Supreme. They have a limited run carne asada taco that was really good. Overall definitely good enough to warrant a return trip, but I‘ll try some different items next time.

A couple miles away I entered the smoke-filled basement of a house on Lexington’s south side where Chandler (Tex), Benjy, Leah and some others were blasting through some of Nate’s songs. We ran through the couple tunes that I am singing with them a couple times each and I cleared out so Nate’s first band Infected could run through their set (and so I could breathe again). Tex, the de-facto music coordinator for the evening, was a bit stressed out - understandably, trying to lead a ramshackle collection of grieving musicians across multiple bands and projects through rehearsals and into a big show that a lot of people were looking forward to and needed. I did my best to do my parts and put him at ease that I was prepared and then get out of his hair. Back at my motel it was some Family Guy, local news, and crash out around midnight.

Yesterday I got some lobby breakfast and spent most of the day in my room working, practicing the songs I’d be playing, and making runs to the bathroom. I'm not quite sure if it was the Taco Tico or the suspect-yogurt-dispenser machine in the lobby that was to blame for destroying my guts, but I’ll blame the latter. I eventually got my things together, had a little nip of motel whiskey to take the edge off before hitting the town, and headed over to the Distillery District.

The Distillery district of Lexington is a collection of mostly old, repurposed buildings that now contain restaurants, bars, ice cream stands, and other attractions, all on the site of the old Pepper Distillery from the 1870s. It’s got a great vibe, combining the best of local/modern businesses in historic/vintage buildings and a historic setting. The Burl is a beautiful venue in the heart of it that’s a converted train station/warehouse for Texaco Oil. It’s an old-build wood room, long and wide, with a great stage and stained-glass logo window above at one end. I met the manager in the bathroom who signaled that the urinal was mine to use, but I was just taking a photo, and he laughed, having just thumbed through my coffee table book - *Rock and Roll Restrooms: A Photographic Memoir Volume I – A unique look into the seedy underbelly of small time rock and roll* at the merch table.

I said hello to Tex and Leah over in the green room, giving the smoke filled rehearsal basement a run for its money, and helped Tex lay out the schedule for the evening. Poor dude was frazzled, burnt out, and fried, and I’m not sure he’s had even a minute to process the loss of his friend. I headed over to Desperados Cantina for night 2 of tacos, but this time the upscale/hipster variety, not the regional fast food fare. I got their carne asada and their pork belly/kimchi tacos with a side of street corn and a local juniper IPA and it was all stellar – would recommend, and will be back. Between this place, Taco Tico, and Taco John’s, Lexington’s taco game is STRONG.

There were 2 opening acts that night, previously scheduled as part of Nate’s record release show, and they played at 8 and 9 before the tribute show started. I’m not proud to say that I barely caught them, which is NOT my m.o., but the amount of people I saw who I haven’t seen – in years in some cases – was overwhelming and it was difficult to break away. I can't possibly tag and acknowledge everyone here, but it was a little overwhelming in the best way.

Around 10:30 our part of the show started, and I went on second, solo-acoustic, to a fairly packed room up by the stage, and did 3 songs that Tex had requested: “Bottled Regrets” (“The greatest rock song ever written” – Tex), “Hey Kentucky” (“Well, you gotta play that, and nothing’s gonna keep me from jumpin’ up and singin’ it with ya” – Tex), and “Letters in Rehab” (let me just say, Tex has a deep and touching personal connection with that song that I was not aware of, but am quite moved by).

I closed with my favorite NP Presley song “Only Time Will Tell” and Leah came up and sang it with me. She totally killed and basically saved the tune, because, if I’m being honest, it wasn't quite where it should have been. I flubbed a couple chords and words, and sorta stumbled through it. But she was great and lent it the credibility and cool factor that was needed to save it from otherwise mediocrity. I owe her one for that.

After me, my close friend Ben Aubrey and his wife Trinity sang a couple songs as a duo, then with the band as they transitioned into that portion of the show. I came up and sang “The Only Thing” (went well) and then closed the set singing and playing guitar on “Own The Streets, Run the Town,” which landed about where I’d hoped it would; not butchering the lyrics too badly, great energy, and rocking hard for Nate. There were 3 girls singing harmonies and backups for the set, 3 electric guitars (and my acoustic on that last song), drums and bass. It was huge and awesome.

It was a really emotional set for everyone. There were grown, adult women and burly, tattoo-covered men up front visibly crying when certain lyrics or riffs hit, and there may have been a tear or two on stage too. I’m not sure I’ve ever been a part of anything like it, aside of maybe the two funerals I’ve headlined, which were much different, obviously. After the chaos, changing plans, moving itinerary and setlist, 6-hour drive down, smokey, short rehearsal, and everything else, it was the proper sendoff that Nate deserved and his friends needed. I needed it too, and I was so grateful to have been involved.

There was a quick transition and Infected took the stage to honor Nasty Nate. It was loud and fast and aggressive and loose and a lot of fun. My time with Nate came after Infected, so I only know the stories, and they are endless, and I’m glad I got to see this. But alas, it was after 1am, I was sticky from the heat, humidity, performance, and excitement, dehydrated, and exhausted. I loaded out, said 100 emotional goodbyes, and headed back to the motel.

I had plans with TrooperGirl22 that I needed to get back to Michigan early for, so I was hoping for a 6-7am departure, but mother nature had other plans for me. Right around 5am on the dot a massive clap of thunder kicked off a torrential downpour and thunderstorm that made sleeping impossible. At 5:30am, 3 ½ hours of sleep behind me, and I was on the road. The storm and darkness made driving difficult, but an hour north of Lexington it started to ease up as the sky showed signs of daylight. By the time I got to Cincinnati it was light out and barely drizzling. Signs said that I-75 was closed 10 miles north of the border, explaining Thursday’s detour, and sending me around the city again.

I got home at 10:45, wired to the gills on gas station coffee and gummi bears, said hello to TG22, took a phone call about some band business, and headed into our little town to check out the annual art fair.

Not sure what can be said about the show that hasn’t been said already. Endless posts, videos, and photos today telling about how special and needed it was for all who were there. I’m not sure it provided the closure I was after, only time will tell, I guess, but it helped for sure. The manager of The Burl told me, half-kidding “Nate would have hated this.” I said “No, man. Nate would *say* he hated it, but he would have loved it.” He agreed and we had a laugh.

Huge thanks again to Tex for insisting I make the trek down for it and that I play a few of my own songs. I’ve paid my dues in Lexington over the last 15 years, that's for sure, thanks to Nate and Bryan Minks, among others, and I ain’t a local, but I feel about as much a part of that music scene as someone who lives 6 hours away possibly could. I’ve always said it was one of our best cities, and I feel closer than ever to these people. See ya next time, Kentucky. Be well. Love you all. Long live the memory of Nate Presley. Xo