Music

Go-vember Music

97X, Concert Listings, Music, podcast

Happy All Hallow’s Eve, y’all. Quick question: can we dispense with the whole “trick/treat” thing (which, IMHO is a false dichotomy) and get right to the feet-smelling? Er, asking for a friend…

And now let’s get to the live shows in the Tri-state area over the next fortnight:

Scott H. Biram has a gig at Southgate on Wednesday.

On Thursday,

  • Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and Cedric Burnside play Ludlow Garage
  • Chris Smither and Tim O’Brien with Jan Fabricius are at Memorial Hall
  • Wheatus plays Madison Live
  • Banditos play Southgate. Note, they are not related to the Frito Bandito.
https://youtu.be/5irr_2nbB_Y

Friday is a busy night for gigs:

  • The Smithereens play Ludlow, with Marshall Crenshaw as the guest vocalist
  • Taft has a “Celebrating David Bowie” show featuring Todd Rundgren, Adrian Belew, Royston Langdon, Jeffery Gaines… and someone called “Scrote” for reasons that we don’t care to investigate. More on the show here.
  • The Redmoor in Mt. Lookout hosts An Evening with Karla Bonoff
  • Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle are in Southgate’s main room
  • William Elliott Whitmore plays Southgate’s upstairs Revival Room
  • Northside Tavern has a show they’re billing as “Alternative Indie Psychedelic Shoegazey Garage Rocking show!” (They must be trying their hand at SEO…)

The Queen City Blues Fest rolls into Southgate on Saturday.

On Sunday, Christine Havrilla and Mama’s Black Sheep play a matinee show (4 p.m.) at the Cincinnati Fire Museum. And that evening, Yes plays a Close to the Edge 50th anniversary show at Taft.

Giving us yet another excuse to run this classic skit:

Looking ahead to next week…

Sun Room plays a sold-out show at Top Cats on Wednesday, Nov. 9th.

On Thursday, 11/10:

  • Puscifer (fronted by Maynard James Keenan of Tool) plays the Jan Brady
  • Fun Lovin’ Criminals are at Ludlow (“Scooby Snacks” sold separately)
  • My Brother, My Brother and Me are at the Taft. Note: My Brother, My Brother and Me are not related to another trio of brothers:

Also on 11/10, Memorial Hall hosts Majesty – a Tribute to Queen.

Next Friday, 11/11:

  • The Mavericks play Taft
  • Twiddle is at Madison Theater
  • Paramore plays the Marsha Brady
  • The Yellowjackets jazz up Ludlow Garage

Ludlow hosts John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band on Saturday, 11/12. (Note: the Beaver Brown Band is not related to Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver.) And Southgate has An Evening with Lucy Kaplansky on Sunday, 11/13.

Hot Ticket Alert: Get on the Bus!

97X favorites (and Ohio’s own) The Royal Crescent Mob have announced two reunion shows in December, to raise funds for cancer research. They’re playing Columbus on 12/16, and hitting the Madison Theater in Covington on Saturday, December 17th. More info and a ticket link here.

(Fun fact: RCMob lead singer David Ellison is currently tour manager for Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello, and Ke$ha, and formerly was the tour manager for Jay-Z, Demi Lovato, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, Adam Lambert, Goo Goo Dolls, and Panic at the Disco.)

What Heaven is Like…

Heaven is Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of Wussy playing in my living room. What a great night! New tunes from Wussy coming soon…

What Hell is like…

Two downer articles for live music fans:

“The Live-Music Industry is Broken” from Vulture and “How Ticketmaster gets away with it” from Popular Information.

We still miss Mr. K

The latest episode of the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast features a tribute to Ken “Mr. K” Glidewell, who worked at the station and was in Chemdyne and later Big in Iowa, and also had a long radio career at WEBN and 92.9 The Fox.

On my holiday shopping list:

Album Cover of the Fortnight

Wendy likes Action Pants. And Children of the Corn.

Episode 88: Mr. K was A-OK

97X, Music, podcast

Ken “Mr. K” Glidewell put the personality into “radio personality.” He had the gift of gab, a wicked sense of humor and a way of making friends wherever he went. Ken worked at 97X during the station’s formative years while also playing with fellow 97Xer Dan “Danny Crash” Reed in Chemdyne. He later moved on to WEBN-FM and 92.9 The Fox in Cincinnati for his day job, and co-founded the Americana band Big in Iowa. 

Unfortunately, Mr. K passed away in May of 2008 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. In this episode of the podcast, we talk to a few 97X-ers who worked with Mr. K: Phil Manning, Julie “Jae” Forman and Steve Baker, as well as the founding members of the Mr. K Fan Club, Elizabeth Cannon and Wendy Dorn. 

Mr. K (2nd from left) mugging with Timothy Hiatt, Jetson and the BoDeans.
Mr. K and Jetson with Mike Peters from The Alarm.
A review of Big in Iowa’s 1999 release in No Depression magazine.
https://www.citybeat.com/music/farewell-mr-k-12171326
https://cincygroove.com/2008/05/27/musician-mr-k-dies-in-crash/

Here are a couple of videos of Mr. K playing with Big in Iowa.

You can find more Big in Iowa videos on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BigInIowaBand

Big in Iowa was awarded their first Cammy (Cincinnati’s version of Grammy Awards) as Roots Rock Band of the Year in 1997, a trophy they would own over the next several years. By the beginning of 1998, Bryant had left the band and O’Keefe was replaced by Jeff Wilson, thereby formulating the core quartet, which proceeded to prepare its second album for release. Twisted was a substantial improvement on the preceding effort. In addition to standing as Big in Iowa’s first mature work, it also began its long-term association with Germany’s Blue Rose Records. In addition to its Group Cammy, Twisted also helped to earn individual honors for Burns (Best Vocalist) and House (Best Instrumentalist), as well as new fans such as Mojo Nixon and an appearance at the 1999 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. The band contributed a version of “Cinnamon Girl” to the Neil Young tribute album This Note’s for You, and then set about working on its third studio album, Bangin’ ‘n’ Knockin’, which appeared in Europe at the tail-end of 1999. As outstanding a progression from Twisted as that album was from Big in Iowa, Bangin’ provided the band with its most extensive praise yet, including notices in Bucket Full of Brains, No Depression, and Amplifier magazines; as well as its first opportunity to tour Europe (Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, United Kingdom, Switzerland) at the beginning of 2000, and jaunts through the Midwest and New England. Such was the band’s reputation that it also began landing opening slots for such lauded peers as Dave Alvin, Dan Baird, the BoDeans, the Bottle Rockets, Cheap Trick, Alejandro Escovedo, Bob Mould, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, and Jerry Jeff Walker, among others.

After the limited appearance of the live 4 Guys in a Trabi — which delightfully documented a show from its first German tour — the quartet began making treks to Brooklyn to begin working on its fourth studio album with Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, one of the catalysts of the ’80s roots revival as leader of the fabled Del Lords, in the producer’s seat. Released in Europe in mid-2001, Green Pop was a quantum leap ahead of anything Big in Iowa had previously recorded, an artistic apex that single-handedly vaulted the band into the upper level of roots rock bands. In Europe, the CD’s first pressing sold out in just two weeks, and on a second tour of the continent, the band routinely played to capacity crowds, including a headlining performance before up to 5,000 people at the Wolfstock Festival. After returning to the United States, House decided to leave the band due to family obligations, and he was replaced in early 2002 by Jason Erickson. (Source: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/big-in-iowa-mn0000060379/biography)

Cheers to you, Ken!

Trick or Treat

Concert Listings, Music

Some folks like to trick you with nasty Halloween candy:

But I’m going to treat you to two weeks’ worth of concerts, which will take us right up to the eve of All Hallows Eve.

It’s OK, Charlie Brown, we all gotta rock.

On Monday, JD Pinkus (of Butthole Surfers and the Melvins) plays Southgate House.

Local H is at Top Cats on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Madeleine Peyroux and Paula Cole play Memorial Hall and Illuminati Hotties play Top Cats.

Thursday:

  • Freedy Johnston is at Southgate
  • Jeff Beck rocks the Greg Brady
  • The Cadillac Three play Bogart’s
  • Baby Jake is at Top Cats
  • Bumpin Uglies are at Madison Live

The shows this Friday really run the gig gamut:

  • Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives play Memorial Hall (I’ll be at that show)
  • Joslyn & the Sweet Compression are at Madison Live
  • John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band… also part of the backing band for Steve Martin’s “King Tut”) and the Circle Band play Ludlow Garage
  • GWAR (the band that thinks every day is Halloween) plays Bogart’s

Saturday’s a busy day for live music as well:

  • The Redemptioners will be at Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest in the afternoon
  • The Record Company is at Madison Theater
  • Gogol Bordello plays Bogart’s
  • Joe Satriani is at Taft
  • Acoustic Alchemy plays Ludlow Garage
  • Ramble On Bros (Grateful Dead tunes) play Carriage House Farm

Next Monday (10/24), Judas Priest and Queensryche play the Mike Brady.

American Authors play Madison Live on Tuesday, 10/25. Our favorite American author is Franklin W. Dixon.

A riveting tale of Joe Hardy’s heroin addiction. Or not.

On Wednesday, 10/26, Corb Lund is at Southgate, and Michael Martin Murphey is at Ludlow Garage. Ol’ 3M can no longer play the west coast because “Wildfire” is a dirty word out there. However, he did compose the state ballad of New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment.”

Next Thursday, 10/27, features some fun band names on the bill:

  • Puddles Pity Party and Piff the Magic Dragon play Taft
  • Squirrel Nut Zippers play Ludlow Garage

Next Friday, 10/28, I get a real treat: Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of Wussy play my house!

List members Ken Laube, Dr. David Reid, Dave Roberto, Jay Stowe and Matt Fellerhoff will be in the house too.

Next Saturday, 10/29:

  • The Lone Bellow plays Memorial Hall
  • EXTC is at Ludlow Garage
  • Paul Anka plays the Hard Rock Casino… talk about an oxymoron!
  • Jordan Smart is at Neltner’s Farm
  • Michael Schenker plays Bogart’s
  • The Newbees and Bad Ass Brass host the Flower Power Ball, a benefit for Shriner’s Hospital.
  • Dropkick Murphys play the Cindy Brady

On Sunday, October 30, Randy Steffen and The Poor Hours wrap up the Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest.

Guided by non-sucky Voices

A fun interview with Robert Pollard is here in the Sydney Morning Herald. And I totally agree with him about Sting:

This is Us

Album Cover of the Week

Debbie Does… Aerobics!

Rockin’ the ‘tober

97X, Concert Listings, Music, podcast

Well, September certainly went out like a Scorpions song.

And now it’s Rocktober! Let’s celebrate in style, by busting out a Rocktober rock block with two weeks o’ live shows.

Tonight, The Chicks play Riverbend, with Patty Griffin as the opener, and Sales plays Southgate.

On Wednesday, Parker Millsap is at Southgate with Ray Vietti as the opener, and A.J. Croce plays the songs of Jim Croce at Memorial Hall. (Looks like he found the time in a bottle that his dad was looking for.)

Thursday is action-packed:

  • The Supersuckers and the Electric Six are at Southgate
  • Madison Theater features An Evening with Robert Fripp & David Singleton
  • Kitchen Dwellers and Daniel Donato play Ludlow Garage

Friday, Monophonics play the Madison Theater, and the Downtowne Listening Room features Steve Saunders and Olivia Frances.

On Saturday:

  • Blackberry Smoke plays Annie’s
  • Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest features Pappy’s Jam Band (1:30-4:30 pm)
  • Southgate hosts the Cincinnati Guitar Fest
  • Ludlow Garage has Broken Arrow: The Music of Neil Young (sans the actual Neil Young, of course)

Next Sunday (10/9), Heather Roush & the Heartstrings play Neltner’s Farm.

On Monday, Oct. 10, Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers are at Southgate.

Norman Westberg of Swans plays Southgate on Tuesday, 10/11.

Calexico plays Memorial Hall on Wednesday, 10/12, with Ada Lea and Wonky Tonk as the openers.

BLINK festival kicks off in Cincinnati (and NKY!) on Thursday, 10/13. Live bands will be playing… but I’ll be damned if I can find a schedule on the Blink website. I DO know that The Airborne Toxic Event plays Bogart’s, the Lost Dog Street Band will be in Southgate’s main room and Cory Branan will be upstairs in the Revival Room.

On Friday, 10/14:

  • Shame and Viagra Boys play a SOLD OUT show at the Woodward Theater
  • Town Mountain is at Southgate
  • The Toadies, Reverend Horton Heat and Nashville P*ssy are at Madison Theater.

Saturday, October 15th is a busy day for live gigs:

  • Southern Culture on the Skids plays Southgate
  • of Montreal plays the Woodward
  • Ani DiFranco is at the Madison Theater
  • Walk the Moon and Trombone Shorty play the Carol Brady
  • The 5th Dimension floats into the Ludlow Garage
  • The Licking Pike Ramblers are at Neltner’s Farm

Kurt Vile & the Violators are at the Jan Brady on Sunday, 10/16. That same day, Neltner’s Farm features Gabbard & Company, a bluegrass band fronted by my co-worker Chris Gabbard. And Ludlow Garage hosts The Ballroom Thieves… which also is a nickname for tight men’s underwear.

via GIPHY

October 7th is a Bandcamp Friday

From the Bandcamp website: On the first Friday of the month since March of 2020, we’ve waived our revenue share to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic. Over the course of 21 days, fans have paid artists and labels more than $78 million dollars, helping cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and much more. If you’re among the nearly 800,000 fans who have participated, thank you.

Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer

The new box set, Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years, came out recently. Here’s a promo video of one of the songs:

Shameless self-promotion

On our 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast, Dave Tellmann and I talked to Chuck Cowdery, who worked at the 97X predecessor WOXR in the mid 70’s. Chuck is now “the dean of American whiskey journalism” which is proof (ha!) positive that working in radio will drive you to drink.

Live shots

Kentucky Struts rockin’ around the big ass tree at Neltner’s Farm
The Deslondes at Whispering Beard

Album Cover of the Week

Album Cover of Next Week

Have a great fortnight!

Fall on me

97X, Concert Listings, Music

Even though I’m referring to the season, not the verb, I can’t use that headline and not pay it off… so here you go:

Speaking o’ R.E.M., local legends and TWILM favorites Cereal Killers often do an R.E.M. song or three in their stellar sets. And Cereal Killers are playing tonight around 8:30 outside Crowley’s in Mt. Adams as part of that bar’s 85th anniversary celebration. (Here’s a news clip if you want to experience some awkward happy chat from Tricia “PermaTan” Macke. Is it just me or has she become Magda in There’s Something about Mary?)

Normally, list member Dave Tellmann and I would be all over the CK gig. (That might be the first time that Dave and I have appeared in the same sentence with a variation of the word “normal.”) But in typical feast-or-famine fashion, we’re already slated to attend the Whispering Beard Festival this afternoon and evening. (Dave’s son Jack engineered the new album from The Deslondes, who hit the Beard stage at 9 p.m. tonight.)

Other gigs today include Sweet William at Neltner’s Farm this afternoon, Hyryder at Annie’s, Joan Osborne at Ludlow Garage and the Corn Stand Jam free show at RiversEDGE with Rumpke Mountain Boys headlining.

Tomorrow, the Kentucky Struts are playing Neltner’s Farm from 1:30-4:30. I’ll be pulling up a hay bale for that gig. Lead singer Todd Lipscomb’s wife Angie just took our son Andrew’s senior photos and Angie’s so good that he looks like a GQ model, despite his hereditary handicap on the paternal side.

If you need some pro photos, check out Angie’s website. Highly recommended. (Even though I’m the world’s biggest cheapskate, this is in no way an attempt to get her to cut us a deal on wallet-size prints.)

Other Sunday shows include The Paper Kites at Top Cats, Flobots at Southgate, and Live Skull with Fairmount Girls at MOTR.

On Tuesday, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott rambles into Southgate, with Mike Oberst and Sean Geil of the Tillers as the opener.

(Speaking of Ramblers, one of the roughly 138 crappy $500 used cars that my dad bought* during our time in Arkansas was an AMC Rambler with push button automatic.)

*on the installment plan, of course… man, we were poor!

Sierra Hull plays Memorial Hall on Wednesday. Taylor Rae opens that show.

On Friday, Lucinda Williams plays Madison Theater. That’s a seated show… and Lu may be seated as well. She’s had some health issues, but she’s still one of America’s finest singer/songwriters.

Also on Friday, American Aquarium is at Southgate.

Next Saturday, there’s a free concert at Seasongood Pavilion as part of a celebration and fundraiser for The Community Program for Recovery.

From CincyMusic.com

And it wouldn’t be “Rocktober” without a battle of the tribute bands: Thunderstruck plays Annie’s, and The Ultimate Doors play Ludlow.

Fake Angus will whip out his Gibson SG, and Fake Jim will whip out his… uh, nevermind!

Other 10/1 shows include Deadmau5 at the Marsha Brady and Sam Hibbard & Elijah Bedel at Neltner’s Farm.

Hippie Bob is listening in heaven

I’ll readily admit that my musical tastes are outside the mainstream, which means most shows I go to have a smaller crowd. You start noticing the same faces. And for a long stretch in the late 90s and early 2000s, it seemed like every show I went to — especially the Magus shows– I’d see this older dude with a ponytail. The Venn diagram of our musical tastes overlapped significantly. So I finally introduced myself to him, and every show after that, we’d compare notes on new albums we liked and upcoming shows on our radar. His name was Bob Gregory (I called him “Hippie Bob”), and he taught photography at Sycamore High School for decades before retiring to a life of going to sparsely-attended shows and being bothered by some music nerd (c’est moi!). He was a sweet dude, soft-spoken, funny, and kind. I’m now at the age where I read the obits to make sure my name isn’t in it. This past Sunday I read that Hippie Bob had passed away earlier this month at the age of 82. R.I.P. my music friend.

WTF is on a roll

Marc Maron’s been on a music tear lately… recent episodes of his WTF podcast include interviews with Sharon Van Etten, S.G. Goodman and Covington’s own Adrian Belew. All are well worth a listen.

Coming next year to a bookstore near you

Album Cover of the Week

Any dude with an umlaut in his name knows how to rock! Party on, Günter!

Echoes of 97X

97X, Music, podcast

One of my go-to podcasts is The Memory Palace – it’s audio storytelling at its finest. But somehow this episode from 2017 had slipped through the cracks until it was reposted recently.

Host Nate DiMeo pays tribute to WBRU-FM in Providence, Rhode Island. But if you’re a 97X fan, you’ll definitely relate to the subject matter. Here’s a great snippet from the culmination of the episode:

“The one (station) that in no small part made you who you were then… maybe still are. But this one station, now gone, was mine…”

Nate DiMeo on the episode linked above

Like WBRU, 97X lives on, in our own Memory Palace.

[I highly recommend all the episodes of The Memory Palace. Check ’em out here.]

The fruits of my Labor (Day)

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

Summer’s gone a summer song
You’ve wasted every day, every day
Summer’s gone, can’t wipe it off my hands
Write it in the sand, in the sand

Buffalo Tom “Summer“

Wow, hard to believe that Labor Day is fast approaching. Better wear my white jorts every day this week before I switch over to my fall jorts:

Let’s cover two weeks’ worth o’ gigs in this post, shall we?

Breaking Naming Rights News

Sorry to interrupt our slate o’ shows, but we’ve just been informed that the PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation in Newport, Kentucky has sold the naming rights, and is now… drumroll please…

Uh, no… just no. In keeping with the cherished This Week in Live Music tradition, we refuse to refer to venues by their corporate-sponsored names. Especially when that name sounds like something from Office Space or Stepbrothers.

Tonight, Sophie B. Hawkins (remember her? She wished she were your lover) headlines the Fountain Square freebie, with Tracy Walker and Kaitlyn Peace also on the bill. Other shows include Tiffany Williams and Ray Vietti at Southgate, and The Fab Four (“the Ultimate Beatles Tribute”) at Rose Music Center in scenic Huber Heights.

Sunday, Imagine Dragons, Macklemore and Kings Elliot play a sold-out show at Riverbend, The Damned are at Bogart’s, and the Disco Biscuits play Annie’s.

Monday is the rescheduled date for the Barenaked Ladies/Gin Blossoms/Toad the Wet Sprocket show at PNC.

On Wednesday, Linda Gail Lewis is at Southgate.

Thursday, Spoon, Interpol, and Water From Your Eyes are at the Brady Kids Center. (Remember when Alice worked at The Golden Spoon?)

https://youtu.be/Bg1pl2muWIA

Also on Thursday, RiversEDGE in Hamilton has a Prince Tribute show, with local band Moonbeau as the opener.

Next Friday, Sept. 2nd, the Fountain Square freebie features Motherfolk, with The Wonderlands, and Coastal Club.

The Black Keys and Band of Horses are at Riverbend next Saturday.

On Labor Day, Jack Harlow and City Girls play the Cindy Brady.

Tuesday, Sept. 6th, Thundercat is at the Ovation. Yes, I said the Ovation. Mega-sue me!

On Wednesday, Sept. 7th:

  • S.G. Goodman (a TWILM fave) and Garcia Peoples are at Southgate.
  • “due to overwhelming demand” the Odesza, Sylvan Esso, Elderbrook and Nasaya show originally slated for outdoors at the Jan Brady will now be at Riverbend.
  • Ben Levin plays Ghost Baby.

Next Thursday (9/8):

  • Paul Thorn and Angela Perley are at Memorial Hall
  • Oteil Burbridge and Friends (feat. Melvin Seals, Steve Kimock, Eric Krasno and Johnny Kimock) play the Rose
  • Magic City Hippies play the Madison Rooftop in Covington.

On Friday, September 9th:

  • The Mountain Goats play Bogart’s.
  • Donna the Buffalo is at Ludlow Garage
  • Sam Hunt and Travis Denning are at the Mike Brady.

The Cereal Killers play Big Ash on Saturday, September 10th. I’ll be out of town for that show, but YOU should be there.

Built to Spill, built to rock!

Great show from BTS this past Monday at the Woodward – and opener Prism Bitch was cool too. Speaking o’ cool, list member Todd Butler busted out a vintage, mint condition 97X t-shirt for the gig.

Built to Spill
Prism Bitch. (Why yes, that is the same drummer – she did double duty.)

You may already be a winner

List member Elizabeth Cannon (who worked at Riverbend for eons) was rewarded for her Bengals season ticket status.

Wussy duo wants to play your house (or mine)

Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker from Wussy are doing a run of house concerts this fall, and are looking for a Cincy host on Friday, October 28th.

You can volunteer here.

Album Cover of the Week

The album is pretty good, tbh.

Have a great Labor Day!

The whole tunes and nothing but the tunes.

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music

I’m tardy to the live gig party this week, because it’s back to school time. Today I drove to Ohio U. solo, unloaded an SUV’s worth of apartment stuff, assembled the “some assembly required” furniture (only had 3 bolts left over!), then drove back home. Tomorrow, I’ll make the same trip with my son in tow. So this week’s post will be brief.

But first this commercial message:

Dan “Reds in 2023” Lewis has two tickets to the Spoon/Interpol show on Thursday, Sept. 1st at the Brady that he’s looking to sell:

Section 105, Row H, Seats 4-5

Dan paid $226, will take $200. His email is DLewis@Reds.com. (He’ll probably throw in some Reds tix if you ask nicely.)

Saturday night shows:

  • The Beths play Madison Theater, with Rosie Tucker as the opener
  • J.J. Grey & Mofro headline a free show in Lawrenceburg, IN as part of their Whiskey City Summer Fest (I’ll be there with list members Whit & Barb Gardner)
  • The Claudettes and Electric Indigo are at Southgate
  • Five for Fighting and The Verve Pipe are at Timberwolf
  • H.R. from Bad Brains is at Annie’s
  • Southgate hosts a fundraiser with a strong lineup:
  • The Woods Band and Jonathan Cody White play a Downtowne Listening Room show that isn’t downtown (or even downtowne). It’s in Florence, KY. You can request an invite here.
  • Dire Straits Legacy (more info about who is in the band is here) plays Ludlow Garage
  • Bogart’s hosts a Yacht Rock Revue

And finally, the Whimmydiddle Festival continues in Hamil-tucky, with Charley Crockett headlining.

Sunday:

  • 21 Pilots play the Coliseum
  • Lauv is at the Carol Brady
  • Tommy Prine (a son of John) is at Southgate
  • And for you early birds, Carriage House Farm hosts a “Biscuits and Bluegrass” jam session with food from Chloe’s Eatery. Details here.

Built to Spill plays the Woodward on Monday – list member Mighty Joe Sampson and I will be there.

I’ll be Damned, the Blondie/The Damned show originally slated for Tuesday has been cancelled. But The Damned booked a different gig at Bogart’s next Sunday (8/28).

Shows that are happening on Tuesday:

  • The Wallflowers play Ludlow Garage
  • Amos Lee is at the Taft
  • Melissa Carperplays Southgate
  • Pitbull and Iggy Azalea are at Riverbend

On Wednesday, Sammy Hagar and the Circle and George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers play Riverbend, and My Chemical Romance is at the Coliseum, and August Burns Red is at Bogart’s.

Thursday:

  • Joe’s Truck Stop plays the free show at Washington Park
  • Gov’t Mule and Trombone Shorty are at the Rose
  • Greensky Bluegrass are at the Ovation
  • Michael Franti & Spearhead play Annie’s
  • Punch Brothers are at the Marsha Brady (oh my nose!)
  • Milk Carton Kids show up at Ludlow Garage
  • Kelsey Waldon (her new album is twangy good) plays Southgate, with Jeremy Pinnell as the opener.

Next Friday, the Brothers Osborne play the Rose, and the Kentucky Headhunters play Lori’s Roadhouse in West Chester.

Roger, Wilco

It was great to see so many This Week in Live Music luminaries at the Wilco/Courtney Marie Andrews show this past Tuesday: Dan Lewis, Bruce Frasure, Dave Roberto, Kevin Sullivan, Jay Stowe and Alyssa Brandt, Marty and Bizzy Driscoll, Billboard’s own Gil Kaufman… it was like our very own Night of a Thousand Stars. List member Rico couldn’t attend due to COVID… which meant yours truly got his ticket. I guess there is a silver lining to the pandemic after all!

Album Cover of the Week

Episode 86: Keri Crawford found freedom and family at 97X

97X, Music, podcast

Keri Crawford was at 97X from 1998-2001, as a DJ and program director. She talks to us about her radio and record label background, the unique energy of 97X, the fun shows she got to organize and promote, the fervor of the listeners… and how her dog had free rein at the office.

The Player’s Club

Concert Listings, Music

What up, playa?

Speaking of players, let’s see who’s playing this week.

Tonight:

  • Steep Canyon Rangers are at Annie’s
  • Soul Pocket headlines the free show on Fountain Square
  • Tower of Power and Lettuce play the Rose Music Center

On Saturday:

  • Sleigh Bells play the Taft. (It may seem early for sleigh bells but I had a pumpkin beer last night so all bets are off.)
  • Lany is at the Bobby Brady.
  • The Zac Brown Band and the Robert Randolph Band play Riverbend.
  • The Spinners play Ludlow Garage.
  • Local band The Newbees have a free show at Fernbank Park (7-9 p.m.)
  • Ziggy Marley does a tribute to his father at Rose. (Note: this is much better than his tribute to the comic strip Ziggy.)

And Southgate will have something called “Super Satan Fest II – Live as Hell”

“Something Involving a Monkey” for the band name win…

On Sunday, Boz Skaggs and The Robert Cray Band are at Rose, and Southgate House hosts a matinee benefit show for Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief:

Monday, it’s the “uplifting band name” trifecta: Anthrax, Black Label Society and Hatebreed at the Mike Brady.

Tuesday:

  • Wilco plays the Ovation
  • The Beach Boys and the Temptations are at PNC Pavilion
  • Lake Street Dive plays the Marsha Brady. The following evening, they’ll be at the Rose.

Other Wednesday shows:

  • Kid Rock is at Riverbend.
  • Yngwie “Can I buy a vowel, Pat” Malmsteen is at Ludlow Garage
  • Accordionist Sally Lukasik plays an early gig at Baker’s Table Bakery. I normally don’t mention accordion shows, but Sally just seems so darn happy in her promo photo:

On Thursday

  • River Whyless is at Southgate
  • The Surfragettes (yes, a surf rock band, how’d you guess?) play Ludlow Garage
  • Alicia Keys works the keys at PNC
  • The Dead Man String Band and Ray Vietti do the free gig at Washington Park
  • Bam Powell & the Troublemakers play an equally free show at Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington

Next Friday:

  • Chris Stapleton is at Riverbend
  • The Del McCoury Band plays Memorial Hall
  • Al Stewart is at Ludlow Garage
  • The two-night Whimmydiddle Festival kicks off at RiversEDGE in Hamilton with Shovels & Rope as the headliner

Normally when you hear “shovels and rope” and “Hamilton” in the same sentence, it’s about a crime scene.

Distant Early Warning

Since list member Michael “Rico” Carrico gave me so much grief for not mentioning the last Ian Noe show at Southgate (which, it should be noted, Rico did NOT attend), I need to let you “Noe” that Ian has another Southgate gig lined up for December 16th.

Oh, and please consider playing in — or making a donation to — the Kevin Carrico Memorial Golf Scramble on 10/1. (Rico is Kevin’s brother.)

Kevin Carrico was in his third year of medical school at the University of Louisville, studying to become a pediatric oncologist, when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma.  His goal was to help children as they faced their battle with cancer, just as he did after he overcame Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 17.  Kevin faced his battles with a sense of humor and a positive attitude like only he could.  Although Kevin passed away in 2019 at the age of 25, we have vowed to carry on his legacy.  The University of Louisville awarded Kevin a posthumous doctorate of medicine in 2020, and he received the Dr. Presley F. Martin Award, given to the senior student chosen by his peers who possesses and reflects characteristics of a good physician:  competence, ethical behavior, leadership, compassion, and humor.  Our mission is to carry on Kevin’s legacy to aid other young adults that have faced cancer and are pursuing higher education goals. Our proceeds are allocated 100% to our scholarship program. 

Reason #3,698 of why I love Wussy

On their most recent FB livestream (which is reason #2,294 of why I love them!), Lisa posed a question about “who are your three favorite vocalists?” Check out Chuck and Mark waxing poetic about a band that I also happen to love dearly:

The most recent Wussy livestream also featured some absolutely amazing cover songs. Check it out. Oh, and check out their appearance on the Songwriter podcast with Jonathan Franzen:

Album Covers (plural) of the Week

I’m sure you remember former ACotW star Woody Woodbury:

Well, Woody has some competition in the “party albums of the 50s and 60s” category.

If it turns out that list member Lisa Collins’ mom is also breakfast buddies with Rusty, we’re going to have to stage an intervention.

Have a great week, baby!