Aaron Borns started at 97X as a student intern (a.k.a. “co-producer”) for the Breakfast Club in 1993, then worked part-time shifts, answered the phones and worked with Julie Maxwell doing promotions. He wasn’t at the station long, but the lessons he learned there served him well during a 20-plus year career doing promotions and marketing at RCA Records. Dave and Damian talk to Aaron about his 97X days, his record label roles… and how he got a free car while he was at 97X.
Yes, it’s another double shot of TWILM… a Two-fer Tuesday on a Sunday! I’ll be out on the Left Coast next weekend for a Ragnar Relay (similar to a Bourbon Chase race). Our 12-person team will do a 200-mile relay run from San Francisco to Napa from Friday morning until Saturday evening. Most members of our team are hardcore runners… I’m the “anchor” who will bring down our time. To make up for that, I’ll be DD the DD for our Wine Country tour on Sunday.
Okey-dokey, let’s get to the double dose o’ live tuneage:
Monday evening, there aren’t any music shows of note, but David Sedaris will be at the Aronoff. I’ll be at that show.
Tuesday, Southern Culture on the Skids plays Southgate. The SCOTS are always a fun time. Bring your 8 Piece Box! That same evening, the kids will be at Riverfront Coliseum for the sold-out Twenty One Pilots show. Actually, looks like some of the kids might be camping out Monday night, according to the Coliseum website:
Also on Tuesday, at Bogart’s, UFO will be playing their “50th Anniversary and Final Tour” show. I saw UFO open for Ozzy Osbourne back in 1982 at the Pine Bluff (Arkansas) Convention Center. This was at the height of “Ozzy is a devil worshipper” paranoia, shortly after ol’ Ozzy bit the head off of a live bat. So security was heightened at the venue, and my high school buddies made me sneak in the whiskey bottle. “You’re clean cut, they won’t ever suspect you.” Sure enough, I waltzed right in with contraband hooch crammed into my Levis, while my long-haired friends were patted down. Saints be praised!
(Perhaps a more notable historical tidbit is that Ozzy’s guitarist Randy Rhoads died in a plane crash two weeks later.)
On Wednesday, Bumpin Uglies (“East Coast Ska/Punk/Reggae”) will be at Madison Live, and Marc Roberge of O.A.R. does a solo show at Ludlow Garage.
Thursday, Ben Folds plays Taft Theater. Many moons ago, the Ben Folds Five played the bar that’s now Below Zero in OTR, and after the show my friend Chris Comer asked the band to stop by his Chris & Rob Late Night Talk Show on WAIF-FM… and they did show up, and played a game of “Stump the Band” where listeners could call in and request a cover tune… I think Ben played a recorder.
[Sorry this post has turned into “Area man tries to remember stuff from decades ago.”]
That same evening, Kelsey Waldron plays Southgate’s Revival Room, Sawyer Fredericks is in the Southgate Sanctuary… and the bombastic Celine Dion will play the Coliseum. I don’t think anyone will be camping out for that show.
Rhett Miller of the Old 97’s plays a solo gig in the Taft Theatre Ballroom on Friday. In Real Life plays Top Cats, Ben Levin is at BrewRiver, the Mt. Pleasant String Band plays Camp Springs Tavern, and Inhailer Radio takes over all three of the Southgate House stages for INspired, a fundraiser for the station featuring local bands doing original music and cover songs of bands who inspired them.
If you’ve been jonesing for a Lachey Bros fix since their OTR bar went out of business, please note that 98 Degrees is at the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg. Also, please consider getting a life.
Saturday, Mat Kearney has a sold out acoustic show at Memorial Hall, Dudley Taft has a CD release show at Madison Live, and Root Cellar Xtract is the featured band at Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest.
On Sunday, October 27th, Chelsea Ford & The Trouble are at Neltner’s Farm, Joshua Radin and The Weepies play Memorial Hall, Mystery Skulls is at Top Cats, and Ricky Nye and Paul Ellis play Wiedemann’s taproom (5pm show).
Boz Skaggs shuffles into the Taft on Wednesday, October 30th, and Michael Franti & Spearhead will be at Riverfront Live.
On Halloween, Elizabeth Cook and Will Hoge are playing Southgate.
Friday, November 1st is a big day for live music:
On Saturday, 11/2, Bircus Brewing in Ludlow, KY (the Northside of NKY) is screening the film When It Breaks at noon. List member Keith Neltner highly recommends it. Here’s the synopsis from imdb.com:
When It Breaks is the inspiring story of Special Education teacher Konrad Wert and his personal journey to avoid becoming another victim of teacher burnout. Stepping away from the classroom, Wert turns to his musical side career as a means to tour the country with his family and engage teachers, parents, and audiences in a conversation about the current state of Special Education. As opportunities arise, Konrad must decide how his service is most effective- as an advocating artist or as a teacher in the classroom.
That evening, Jonathan Edwards and Jon Pousette-Dart are at Memorial Hall and Hiroshima plays Ludlow Garage.
Sunday, November 3rd, John Cusack will be at Taft for a screening of the movie Say Anything, followed by a live conversation. Not bad if you enjoy paying a minimum of $52.75 (plus fees) to watch a 30-year-old movie.
Wussy is playing a living room show on 11/22, but tickets sold out in a few hours.
Here’s mine: Little Feat’s “I’ve Been The One” as done by Golden Palominos, with the inimitable Syd Straw on lead vocals. The original tune is very nice, but I absolutely adore this version. “And I’ve tried everything that whiskey cures, but the pain endures.”
Have a great couple of weeks!
Howdy kids, I’m back from the City of the Big Shoulders, the Windy City. I’d like to propose a toast to my wife, who ran the Chicago Marathon yesterday.
And I’d also like to propose a toast to my Chicago-dwelling friend Jessica, who hooked me up with an extra ticket to the Luna concert at Lincoln Hall last night, where they played their album Penthouse in its entirety.
OK, short week, short post.
Tuesday, Macy Gray plays Ludlow Garage. All That Remains and Lacuna Coil are at Riverfront Live. Capstan plays Top Cats and local musician Zapruder Point is at the Brew House.
On Wednesday, Just Friends, Save Face, the Sonder Bombs and Pool Kids play the Southgate House; Andy Frasco and the UN are at Madison Live; The New Mastersounds are at Ludlow; Sarah Asher plays MOTR with Mavis Guitar, Billy Alletzhauser and Beth Harris; and list member John Sandman’s Tye Dye Band plays Tina’s downtown from 4:30-8 p.m.
Della Mae is at Memorial Hall on Thursday, Charlie Parr has a CD release show in Southgate’s Revival Room, and Brit blues artist Joanne Shaw Taylor is in Southgate’s main room. Brand X is at Ludlow Garage that evening… not to be confused with Kroger’s old generic brand.
Friday, you can enjoy Cigarettes After Sex… at the Madison Theater. Or you can go to the zombie party hosted by 500 Miles to Memphis at Southgate, in the Sanctuary. The Minks and the Nailers are in Southgate’s Sanctuary, and Arlo McKinley & the Lonesome Sound play Madison Live.
Murphy’s Pub is celebrating 30th years with Dirty Thirty gigs on Friday and Saturday. You can read more in CityBeat.
Taking Back Sunday kicks off a two-night stand at Bogart’s on Friday. Apparently they are trying to corner the market on weekends.
On Saturday:
Sunday, John Morgen plays Neltner’s Farm, the Aquadolls are at Top Cats, and the Q102 Bosom Ball is at Madison Theater, with Ingrid Michaelson as the headliner and Maddie Poppe, the Season 16 winner of American karaoke Idol, also on the bill.
Merge Records was founded by Mac & Laura from Superchunk, so naturally I’m biased, but they have a stellar stable of artists. This year, they were celebrating their 30th anniversary and I subscribed to their “Born Under A Good Sign” promo, which got me a quarterly shipment of surprise/limited edition tunes and some other swag. This quarter, it was a Polvo reissue on green vinyl and a Holiday Sampler on peppermint vinyl.
Speaking of Superchunk, if you’re not following Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster (also drummer for Bob Mould and The Mountain Goats and co-star of The Best Show), you’re missing out. On Insta, he does a “new worst friend” thing when someone sends him a weird photo:
And his tweets are great too:
The latest episode of the 97X “Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features our chat with Rik Helton, the former owner of CD World, who used to promote his record store by attending indie rock concerts dressed in superhero tights. We also play some other throwback commercials from the 97X airwaves.
Before we get to this week’s gigs, I need to apologize. I let you down. There was a free show on Fountain Square this past Wednesday, featuring 500 Miles to Memphis, the Bottle Rockets, and Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, and I failed to mention it in last week’s post. Mainly because I had no clue that it was happening until about an hour before the show started, when list member Whit G. mentioned it (he follows the Bottle Rockets on the socials and saw it posted there). Whit, his wife Barb and I hustled down for the Bottle Rockets. They were outstanding, as always.
In my defense, the show was poorly publicized. But I’m sorry, and I won’t let it happen again. At least until the next time it happens again.
OK, as the celebrities like to say after reading a non-apology apology prepared by their PR firm, “I hope we can all move forward.”
Monday, The Fleshtones play Southgate House. They have been around since 1976, but they remain relevant today.
More CBGB stalwarts will be in town that same evening: Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie will be at a book event at Walnut Hills. List member Howard Cohen (yes, THE Howard Cohen, lead singer of The Cereal Killers) will be in attendance.
On Tuesday, Young Thug and Machine Gun Kelly play PNC Pavilion, and young non-thug Ben Levin plays Arnold’s.
Wednesday, Southgate hosts An Evening with Griffin House in the Sanctuary, and Whitacre in the Revival Room. List member John Sandman’s Tie-Dye Band will be playing The Lounge in Anderson. And Ludlow Garage welcomes a band from Nashville called Towne. They’ll fit right in here, with all the shopping malls that throw a superfluous “e” on the word Town.
BLINK! starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, with six different stages in OTR, downtown and Covington (“Lov the Cov”), and their lineup of local music is rock-solid. By law, I’m required to mention that This Pine Box (featuring Joe Tellmann, son of my partner-in-podcast-crime Dave Tellmann) is playing Thursday at 10 p.m. on the 7th Street Stage in Covington, and Rob Fetters is headlining the Court Street Stage at the same time. Worlds are colliding:
Also on Thursday, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers are at Southgate, and Arielle plays Ludlow Garage. If you find yourself saying “Who is Arielle?” you’re in luck, because she has a page on her website called just that.
I’M A HIPPIE TRAVELING, GUITAR-WIELDING, SONG-WRITING, FLOWY CLOTHES WEARING LADY.
I am a singer-songwriter, guitar player, and a lover of life.
I’ve got a hippie heartbeat, with an edgy rocker spirit. 🤘
I was born in the USA, but the world is my home.
A few of my favourite past-times are hugging fans, cuddling animals and traveling, whilst tasting the town’s tasty local kombucha.
Hmm, she was born in the USA but she spells “favourite” the Brit way… and throws in a “whilst” too…Methinks she’s had a bit too much kombucha. Or her publicist also names shopping malls in Cincinnati.
Friday:
On Saturday, Sean Geil of the Tillers plays Neltner’s Farm Fall Festival in the afternoon. Plenty of shows that evening too:
Sunday afternoon, you can check at The Redemptioners at Neltner’s Farm. That evening, the Pat Travers Band plays Ludlow Garage (great, now the lights are going to go out and we won’t be able to see where the horse manure is). Greg Norton of Hüsker Dü comes to MOTR as part of the band Porcupine (just Porcupine, not Porcüpine), with Knife the Symphony and Hyperstatic also on the bill. And Ballyhoo! plays Riverfront Live. As if the exclamation point weren’t enough, Ballyhoo! also bills themselves as #punkrockreggaesexmusic.
I’m throwing next Monday onto this list, because I’ll still be in Chicago. My lovely bride is running the full Chicago Marathon next Sunday, and I’ll be there to cheer her on whilst tasting the town’s tasty local kombucha… or more likely sitting on my ass and stuffing my face with Nacho Doritos.
On Monday 10/14, the Nashville band Ornament is playing MOTR with White Lighter and Coy Comer & the Wanderers.
KEXP presented their listeners’ 666 favorite albums. And hat tip to list member Michael “Rico” Carrico for unearthing a Finnish blog that has a nice weekly playlist and recently celebrated its 18th anniversary with dozens of exclusive live performances.
Wow, it’s nearly October. Or should I say Rocktober? You know the month will rock you like a climate-change-induced hurricane.
Let’s get right to the rock. And the tober.
Monday, Nashville band The Medium is at MOTR, with Nave Netoow opening. Here’s the promo photo of Nave:
Note to self: if Nave offers a carrot/orange smoothie, politely decline.
On Tuesday, Yung Gravy is playing Bogart’s. He’s a rapper from the hip-hop hotbed of Rochester, Minnesota. After watching one of his videos, I can’t figure out if he’s serious or if it’s an Andy Samberg short from SNL.
You can chase that Gravy with some Catfish, as Catfish & the Bottlemen are at Bogart’s on Wednesday. That same evening, Church Girls are playing Urban Artifact, with Soften and Fycus, and Lee Ann Womack is at Memorial Hall with Sarah Siskind.
Thursday, Mt. Pleasant String Band plays the Southgate Lounge, Blackfoot Gypsies hit Madison Live, Bam Powell performs solo at Latitudes, Cody Johnson is at Bogart’s, Mynah Tones play MOTR, an Eagles tribute band (The Eagles Project) is at Memorial Hall, and Ben Levin will be playing the “Top of the Park” rooftop at the Phelps Hotel.
Plenty o’ music from which to choose on Friday:
Saturday has a full slate o’ tunes too, including the Cripple Creek Music Festival in Fort Mitchell:
Last but not least, there’s a free show in Eden park:
The event is a fundraiser for the Community Program for Recovery, a non-profit that helps recovering alcoholics and addicts living in transitional recovery housing.
On Sunday, Neltner’s Farm has a Kentucky Showcase: The Poor Hours, T. Lipscomp, Chris Lloyd, Randy Steffen and Sami Riggs. Luckman Coffee in Mt. Washington is hosting a #LocalFoodRocks event from 4-6 p.m., featuring local food and local bands BackBeat and Prestige Grease. That evening, Man Man plays Top Cats… with GRLwood also on the bill (let’s hear it for Title IX!) and Go Go Buffalo.
Actor Griffin Dunne has a funny story about his former neighbor Ric Ocasek. And there’s a great interview with Tommy Stinson of the Replacements in Rolling Stone. Money quote:
Obviously, we wanted to be successful with everything we did. But we also were the first ones to fuck it up half the time. … Most of the time in fact. … OK, all the time!
Tommy Stinson of The Replacements
Speaking of the ‘Mats and f-ing up, list member Mighty Joe Sampson ordered the new Replacements deluxe set called Dead Man’s Pop, which contains the original Matt Wallace mixes of Don’t Tell A Soul (on LP and CD), plus a 29-song live concert recording from 1989, and a disc of outtakes, including some tunes with Tom Waits. Perhaps because Joe is 10 times the Replacements fan as anyone else I know, Amazon sent him 11 copies, not 1.
Joe even contacted Amazon to alert them of their $600 error, but they told him to keep his bounty.
It’s not like Jeff Bezos needs the money for alimony payments or anything. Joe was kind enough to gift me with one of the sets. Much obliged!
Debbie Harry and Chris Stein from Blondie will be at Walnut Hills High School on Monday, October 7th, with artist/director Rob Roth, for a Joseph-Beth sponsored book event for Debbie Harry’s new memoir Face It, along with a “visual presentation.”
Grace Potter plays Taft on January 22. Tickets are on sale now.
Brett Newski rocked the house at the Parlor & Patio show on Friday. He’s a very entertaining dude, and a nice guy to boot. Parlor & Patio has two more shows on tap for 2019, you really should get to one… or both!
You’ll find a new episode of the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast on this website, as well as on Spotify, iTunes and Podbean. Dave Tellmann and I chat with “Gentleman Jim” Mercer, the dean of all part-time DJs at 97X.
Have a rockin’ month!
97X had dozens if not hundreds of part-time DJs over the lifetime of the station, but no one else can top the tenure of “Gentleman” Jim Mercer, who worked weekend and vacation fill-in shifts for a whopping 14 years, from 1990 through 2004. His dedication and professionalism made him the ultimate weekend warrior. Dave and Damian talk to Jim about his day job, how he got the DJ gig, and how he made his shifts sound so smooth.
Like most radio stations, 97X typically had five full-time shifts: mornings, midday, afternoons, evenings and overnight. Having Jim as a part-timer for more than a decade was a luxury. He could — and did — handle any weekend shift, and was always willing to fill in on the evening and overnight shifts to cover vacations.
The NBA gives out a Sixth Man of the Year Award for someone who is the best performer coming off the bench. Gentleman Jim was the 97X equivalent of the Sixth Man of the Year for 14 years running.
When Bakerman did the final break on 97X, he gave a special shout-out to Jim.
A tip of the ol’ 97Xbam cap to Dan Reed (yes, THE Dan Reed of WXPN) for sending a nice essay our way. The Medium post decries the rise of music recommendations that are increasingly made by machines instead of people. In short, algorithms ain’t got no rhythm. The piece was penned by Craig Snyder, yet another kid who was “ruined” by listening to 97X in his formative years:
Craig later worked at EMI (shh, don’t tell Johnny Rotten) and is now Director of Music Partnerships at ReverbNation. Please read the entire piece. I love Craig’s passion for the music, and how he’s encouraging all of us to rage against the machine(s):
Amen to that, Brother Craig! Taking his cue, I’ll mention yet again that the new album from Jesse Malin is fantastic, and I’m offering my Double D Money Back Guarantee™ for his show at Southgate House on Friday, November 15th. If you go to the show and aren’t completely satisfied by Mr. Malin’s music and stage presence, I’ll refund your ticket price out of my own pocket.
People still have the power. Let’s use it!
Welcome, officially (but not officiously) to Fall. Monday, September 23rd is the Autumnal Equinox.
Summer's going fast, nights growing colder
Children growing up, old friends growing older
(name that tune... without using Google search)
9/23 is also National Great American Pot Pie Day. We suggest you celebrate by cooking a Swanson’s pot pie in the oven for about 80 minutes, and then enjoying how the crust burns your tongue yet the veggies inside the pot pie are still ice cold.
Oh, and 9/23 is National Checkers Day… as in Nixon’s dog.
Almost makes you wistful for those carefree, PAC-free days, doesn’t it?
OK, enough meandering, let’s get to the gigs.
Monday, a Beach Boy and some Zombies walked into a theatre. No, it’s not the setup for a joke, it just means Brian Wilson and The Zombies are playing Taft. Also, Bad Religion is playing Bogart’s, with Dave Hause & The Mermaid and Emily Davis.
Jesse Dayton is playing Southgate on Tuesday, with the Taylor Shannon Band and Mike Stinson. Broadside is at Top Cats, and Scott Stapp of Creed is playing Bogart’s. (If you’re keeping score at home, that means Bogart’s has Bad Religion on Monday, and bad religious guy on Tuesday.)
On Wednesday, Patty Griffin is at 20th Century Theater in Oakley, with former V-Roy Scott Miller as the opener. I’ll be at that gig, because I adore Patty Griffin. Other shows that evening:
Thursday, Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line play Southgate, and Felix Pastorius’ Hipster Assassins roll into the Ludlow Garage.
Friday night, our old pal Chris Comer starts what will be a recurring weekend gig at The View at Shires Garden, the new rooftop bar at 309 Vine Street.
There are several other notable gigs that evening:
We also have two multi-stage festivals on tap Friday through Sunday. The Rhythm Brew Art & Music Festival takes over Riverfront Live.
And down in Louisville, Louder than Life rocks the Kentucky Expo Center fairgrounds.
Saturday, the Neltner’s Farm Fall Festival kicks off (pumpkins, games, corn maze, petting zoo… learn more here). It’s a great place to bring the family because A. it’s a legit family farm, not some hay bales on asphalt, B. the Neltner family is super-nice, and C. they’ll have live music every Saturday and Sunday through 10/27. Here’s the lineup:
Also on Saturday, a white trash guy and a redneck walk into a shed. That’s not the setup to a joke… actually it is… Kid Rock and Hank Williams Jr. are playing Riverbend. That same evening:
On Sunday, the Women of the Blues show in Southgate’s main room features Cheryl Renee, Kelly Richey, Kelly Walker, Alice Hoskins and more (doors at 1:30). The Cowpokes and Jane Rose & the Dead End Boys play a free afternoon show in Southgate’s Lounge. Amy Gerhartz and Jonathan Cody White play the Downtowne Listening Room, and Billy Alletzhauser (The Hiders, Ass Ponys) plays MOTR with Remnose.
Matthew Caws of Nada Surf wrote a nice tribute to former Ohio resident Ric Ocasek of the Cars, who passed away last week and Jonathan Richman sings the praises of the Rubinoos.
Bauhaus recently announced a gig at the Hollywood Palladium on November 3rd. Their most famous song is “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” a nine-minute-and-36-second dirge that was a popular “bathroom break” song at 97X.
If you listen to the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast, you’ll note that my co-host Dave Tellmann and I try to keep each episode’s length to “two Bela Lugosi’s Deads”… or roughly 19 minutes. Oh, and since we mentioned that podcast, the latest episode features a 5th grade weather reporter, Abe Vigoda’s birthday, romance tips from Fabio and news about John Curley’s XXL t-shirt. You can listen via the 97Xbam.com website (which includes bonus content – photos, videos, etc.) or on Podbean, Spotify or iTunes.
My main man Jesse Malin is playing Southgate on Friday, November 15th. Dude is brilliant. New album is stellar.
I’ve seen Jesse live several times and he always puts on a killer show… sadly, the crowds are usually pretty sparse in Cincy. Let’s change that, with my Double D Money Back Guarantee™: if you go to the show and aren’t completely satisfied, I’ll pay you back the ticket price out of my own pocket. I’m not rich, I’m just super-confident that Jesse Malin will rock your world. Here are two tracks from the new album that showcase his range.
That’s a wrap – have a great week!
97X was a small but mighty station in many ways. Being in the outskirts, in the fringes, left of center, off of the strip (to paraphrase Suzanne Vega) with a small (but dedicated) listener base allowed us to get away with stuff that other stations couldn’t or wouldn’t do. Not just with our music playlist (or lack of a playlist, really), but also with the other stuff that made its way to our airwaves, like having a 5th grader do the weather report…
… doing live “remote” broadcasts from the lobby, throwing birthday parties for Abe Vigoda, and sharing secrets from romance novel cover model Fabio.
In this episode of the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast, Dave and Damian chat with the 5th grade weatherperson, play some bits, and also announce the winner of the 97X 10th Anniversary “Name the 4th Band” contest.
Congrats to Colin Miller for winning the trivia contest by correctly identifying the 4th band: Sleep Theater.
You can listen to the latest episode via the player above, and you’ll find all the episodes on Podbean, Spotify and iTunes.
And since we mentioned Suzanne Vega…
Yes, this time aroundwe’re covering a two week stretch, a.k.a a fortnight. But not Fortnite. Apologies to all our tween subscribers.
I’ll be out of town most of next week, inspecting Hurricane Dorian damage in the Outer Banks of North Cackalacky (from the comfort of a hot tub). So let’s get to it… and two it!
Glen Hansard was scheduled to play the Taft on Monday. But it got cancelled:
We are sorry to announce that have to cancel tomorrow night’s show in Cincinnati due to illness. This is something we hoped to avoid as we know how much time and energy goes into making a show happen. We would like to thank all of folks who planned on coming for their understanding. Again we apologize for this inconvenience and look forward to returning to The Taft soon. Refunds are available at point of purchase.
https://tafttheatre.org/events/2019/09/glen-hansard
On Tuesday, ZZ Top and Cheap Trick play Rose Music Center. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s spinning guitars and five neck guitars, respectively.
That same evening, Elizabeth Moen is at Southgate, and Ben Levin plays at Arnold’s.
Wednesday, Adam Ant brings his Friend or Foe tour to Taft, and Morrissey is scheduled to play Fraze Pavilion, with Interpol as the opener. (We say “scheduled to play” because Moz has been known to flake out on shows before. He’s like the bastard son of George Jones and Axl Rose.)
Shonen Knife is at Southgate, with Me Like Bees opening. Them Coulee Boys are also at Southgate, in the Revival Room, with the Restless Leg String Band. “Thrash crossover legends” (just reading the press release) DRI play Northside Yacht Club, with Deathwish, Uncle Sammy & the Warlords and (earmuff it, tweens) Fuckin Basterd. Meanwhile, the resurgent Jonas Brothers play the Riverfront Mausoleum.
Thursday night, Lord Huron will be holding court at Taft. Lord Licorice will still be playing Candyland.
On Friday, Chuck Cleaver plays the early show (7 pm) at Urban Artifact, with William Matheny, then Nappy Roots plays the late show (9 pm) with Triiibe and In2itv3. Chely Wright plays Southgate’s main room, and Honeysuckle is in the Revival Room. Bad Suns are at 20th Century, Starset plays Bogart’s, and Gladys Knight is at Taft.
Meanwhile, in the Land that Time Forgot (West Siiiiiidddee!) Sebastian Bach plays the Skid Row album at the Blue Note in Harrison.
The Raconteurs come to the Taft on Saturday, with opener Olivia Jean. CityBeat has a nice profile of the Raconteurs Cincinnati rhythm section (Jack “Little Jack” Lawrence and Patrick Keeler). Will Johnson plays a living room show in the Lebanon area, and Andrew Salgado and Jonathan Cody White play the Downtowne Listening Room.
Keb’ Mo’ has a sold out solo show at Memorial Hall on Sunday, and the Denim Wedding Tour with Blake Berglund and Belle Plaine is at Southgate in the Lounge.
Monday, Sept. 16, Sun Kil Moon plays Woodward, continuing the Woodward’s tradition of scheduling shows that I’d really like to see for dates that I’m out of town (see also Built to Spill). And in a “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” show, Blink 182 and Lil’ Wayne play Riverbend. It’s the greatest pairing since Robby Benson and Donny “Ralph Malph” Most in a Reese’s commercial:
Kacy & Clayton play Southgate on Tuesday (9/17), and Marianas Trench is at Madison Theater.
Ludlow Garage has been rescheduling a lot of the shows that were supposed to happen over the past few weeks, but as of this writing, it appears that the Tyler Hilton show on Wednesday 9/18 is a go.
The much-anticipated Ludlow Garage 50th Anniversary show is Thursday (9/19), with Dweezil Zappa playing his dad’s Hot Rats album. That same evening, Indigo Girls are at Taft, and MeatWound, Thunderclap and Ball of Light play Northside Yacht Club.
The Bourbon & Beyond Festival kicks off Friday in Louisville at the KY Expo Center.
And the Overcast Hip Hop Festival starts its two night stand on Friday. It was originally slated for Top Cats but has been moved the Thompson House (old Southgate).
Also on Friday, 9/20:
If you like to gamble on whether or not marginal bands from the 90s will still be any good in 2019, Eve 6, Fastball and Vertical Horizon are playing the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Saturday 9/21:
On Sunday, the Outlaw Music Festival comes to Riverbend, with Willie Nelson & Family, Bonnie Raitt, Luke Combs, Brothers Osborne and more.
That same evening, Ludlow hosts Jimmy Herring and the 5 of 7.
The Avett Brothers show after the Reds game was a lot of fun. I took my 16-year-old daughter Leah – so glad that she’s finally acquiring her old man’s stellar taste in music. 🙂 Leah and I also saw Jake Speed & The Freddies at Stanbury Park in scenic Mt. Washington (a.k.a. “Anderson Heights”) on Friday night. Well, I call him Jake Speed, but Leah calls him “Mr. Riordon, my 7th grade English teacher at Walnut Hills.”
One of my all-time favorite under-the-radar artists, Jesse Malin, has a new album out called Sunset Kids, produced by Lucinda Williams. Please put your ears on it now and thank me later.
Since this is a fortnight post, let’s double down on the tunes. Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby and Maren Morris have teamed up to become The Highwomen (a distaff version of the Willie/Waylon/Johnny/Kris Highwaymen). Their self-titled debut is out now.
This cover isn’t on the album, but it’s on a movie soundtrack:
As noted in a previous post, I’m riding 32 miles in the Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life event in Cincinnati this Saturday. Thanks much to those who have already donated. If you haven’t, there’s still time… and I’m only $25 away from hitting the $1,000 mark in donations, which would be pretty friggin’ cool. Don’t feel obligated, but if you are so inclined, you can do so here: http://fightcf.cff.org/site/TR/Cycle/42_Greater_Cincinnati_Cincinnati?team_id=82559&pg=team&fr_id=7574#teamRoster
Have a great week! And have a great next week!