Outside the Spotlight

Outside The Spotlight is a series of jazz and improvised music events in Lexington, KY. We give a home to artists making music that doesn't fit with commercial sensibilities and build an environment where artists and audience can interact more directly.

We want to expand the the availability of this music to anyone who is interested. Performances are at all-ages venues and are generally pay-what-you-can donation-based admission.

OUR NEXT SHOW
COMING SOON
Contact Us
E-Mail Signup

DONATE TO OTS

Help us keep the action coming!
Click here for information about how support OTS.

Please consider supporting our local peer music series:
Origins Jazz Series and Jazz at the Library.

Home
COMING SOON
Contact Us
E-Mail Signup

Our Next Show...

OTS #246 - William Covert

with support from Virtual Star Embryology

June 11, 2026
Lexington Art League at the Loudoun House
209 Castlewood Dr, Lexington
6:30 Doors. Show starts at 7 p.m.
All-ages. $10 Suggested Donation.

WILLIAM COVERT
William Covert has been immersed in Chicago's experimental music scene for over 15+ years, playing drums in math rock, post-rock, and post-hardcore punk bands such as Space Blood, Droughts, The Eradicator, Rust Ring, Coma Regalia, and Tum. Heavily influenced by the innovative and forward-thinking experimental rock and jazz underground communities rooted in Chicago since the 80's, Covert started experimenting with combining live-looped synths with acoustic and electronic drums resulting in a solo project venture of the past several years with Covert recording and performing full-band avant-garde post-rock synth and drums pieces as an experimental solo artist.Covert's 3rd solo album, Dream Vessel, released in 2025 via Coup sur Coup Records, took the music in a more avant-garde jazz direction along with cinematic ambient soundscapes influenced by Frippertronics mixed with modular synth and free-jazz drumming. William Covert’s live shows since the release of Dream Vessel have expanded the instrument palette to incorporate live-looping of electric guitar mixed with ambient synth to create atmospheric improvised soundscapes that are musically explored and interwoven with free-jazz drumming.VIRTUAL STAR EMBRYOLOGY
virtual star embryology is a solo electronic ambient music project from Central Kentucky, bringing the spirit and energy of Berlin's kosmiche musik experimental scene to the modern day. They use a mixture of analog and digital synthesizers to construct droning soundscapes and sequenced melodies, with hints of Shibuya-kei and drone metal. Voyage through a cosmic future that never was, but could yet be: a new universe struggling to be born from the shell of the old.

DONATE TO OTS

Please sign up to our email list to stay informed about upcoming Outside the Spotlight shows!

Home
OUR NEXT SHOW
Contact Us
E-Mail Signup

Coming Soon...

OTS #247 - Tim Daisy & Friends

July 13, 2026
21c Museum Hotel
167 W. Main St, Lexington
6:30 Doors. Show starts at 7 p.m.

DONATE TO OTS

Please sign up for our e-mail list to stay up-to-date on all Outside the Spotlight shows!

Home
OUR NEXT SHOW
COMING SOON
E-Mail Signup

Contact Us

Do you have a group that would like to perform at an OTS event?
Would you like more information?
Have questions?

Home
OUR NEXT SHOW
COMING SOON
Contact Us

(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[3]='ADDRESS';ftypes[3]='address';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our 2025-2026 giving campaign!

For 23 years OTS has been an all-volunteer organization devoted to bringing out-of-this-world performances to Central Kentucky. Our performances are held in unconventional spaces, designed to be uniquely memorable. We have featured improvising artists from all over the world, multiple MacArthur fellows, and legends from the jazz and free-improv community.

Your donations help us to continue supporting independent artists while making performances available to all.

This year we have a new option to donate monthly! Please consider making a recurring donation which greatly helps us budget throughout the year. We have several tiers of support and your donation allows us to pay musicians a fair wage without the necessity of a cover charge. Our new fundraising platform allows you to donate through card, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, or if you're old-fashioned we still accept cash or check.