Ratterman & Sons Funeral Home

This story originally appeared in our July 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe to Louisville Magazine.“I need you to take a picture of me biting the head off this gingerbread cookie,” Scott Carney says, dramatically widening his eyes. Inside the NuLu Please & Thank You, he arches his left brow to a point as he brings the sugary victim — Jesus wearing cowboy boots — to his mouth. “We’re gonna need to get a picture of everyone before we get on the road, too,” he says. Carney and his bandmates — Corey McAfee (bass), Zach Driscoll (keys) and Dave Chale (drums) — pose together outside the trendy coffee shop. Carney has tucked his shoulder-length, dirty-blond hair into a toboggan. Gray speckles the 39-year-old’s beard. McAfee, also 39, stands next to him, sporting the same aging effect in his long curls. Driscoll, 28, and Chale, 38, lean in.Together, the four make up the latest incarnation of Wax Fang, Carney’s art-rock band. Over the past decade-plus, he has released several albums and singles, played more than 500 shows and directed and produced music videos. The success, however, has come in waves. He has also dealt with financial struggles, the pain of band members leaving and the bittersweet feeling of being the band everybody thought would be the next My Morning Jacket. But he shows no signs of stopping.It’s almost noon on Dec. 6, 2017. One hour later than they planned to be on the road. With coffees in hand, they pile into a white 10-passenger rental van. Over the next five days, Wax Fang will play a regional tour, which they’ll follow up with a spring tour in the UK and, on July 13, a Friday slot at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville. Chale, who also plays drums in the Louisville band Quiet Hollers, drives toward the first destination, Chicago. Driscoll co-pilots, his neon Nikes propped up on the vast gray dashboard. McAfee sits next to his girlfriend in the middle row. Carney and his red corduroy messenger bag take up s...