Luann Gibbs started listening to 97.7 FM in Oxford in the pre-97X/Dr. Demento days of the late 70s. When 97X debuted in 1983, she became an avid listener. When the 97X message boards started, she was quite active on them (as “Miss Kitty”). Eventually, her college friend Mike Taylor recruited her to do on-air shifts at 97X/woxy.com. Luann’s been with the Cincinnati Enquirer for 15 years (she’s the queen of “Things to Do”), and also does weekend shifts at Inhailer Radio. We chat with her about college radio, internet radio, her message board “family” and her ongoing promotion of new music.
As we mention on the the podcast, Luann is our #1 hype person – her March 18th Cincinnati Enquirer article entitled “Top 10 ways to practice social distancing” featured a shout-out for Rumblings from the Big Bush:
You can peruse Luann’s most recent articles and lists for the Cincinnati Enquirer here.
Luann also does weekend DJ shifts for Inhailer Radio, which is carrying the 97X/woxy.com/WNKU (R.I.P. X 3) torch by promoting local and national indie music. Not only can you tune in online or on your smartphone, but Inhailer was recently added as WGUC’s HD3 channel.
“Miss Kitty” also posts a monthly collaborative playlist of cool new music (curated by 97X/WOXY fans) on Spotify. Here’s a link for the August edition.
Luann stays connected with her old 97X/woxy message board friends on the WOXY Forever! Facebook group. (You’ll also find links to the monthly playlists here.)
Hola, amigos, how’s it going? I know it’s been a while since I rapped at ya… (that’s my tribute to one of my favorite columnists in The Onion.) I know I’ve been pretty dour lately, so I’ll try to keep a PMA (positive mental attitude) today, just like Jesse Malin encourages everyone to do during his brilliant weekly live stream concerts.
There is nothing like the energy and atmosphere of live music. It is the most life-affirming experience, to see your favorite performer onstage, in the flesh, rather than as a one-dimensional image glowing in your lap as you spiral down a midnight YouTube wormhole.
Speaking of energy and atmosphere, yesterday’s live stream from Dropkick Murphys at Fenway Paahhrk is pretty lively:
https://youtu.be/VzkMA_1NbfY
And here’s some pure joy for you, marimba style:
As mentioned previously, the Broken Record podcast is a great listen. Their last two episodes have been superb: Jason Isbell and Nick Lowe
Under the covers
Speaking of Nick Lowe, here’s a cool cover of his most famous (and most covered) tune, from Sharon Van Etten and Josh Homme:
Several local luminaries got together to do Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” for Cincinnati Children’s (HT to list member Keith Neltner for the link)
Tanya Donnelly (founding member of Throwing Muses, Belly and the Breeders… can anyone top that?) covers this great song from Yazoo
Here’s Whitney and Waxahatchee doing classic John Denver
And Caroline Spence (whose album Mint Condition was one of my faves from last year) puts her own spin on a Jimmy Eat World tune:
Great news for Americana fans
Kathleen Edwards (to whom Caroline Spence has been compared) is back! Her 1st album in eight years is due out in August. Read more in this Rolling Stone article and check out a new tune here:
The Jayhawks have a new album XOXO due out July 10. A couple of tunes from it are below, and hat tip to list member Bruce Frasure for tipping us off to the fun quarantine series from Jayhawks’ leader Gary Louris called “The Sh*t Show.”
Quaran-tunes
DBT created a new song for these times:
And Wilco created a song that made its debut on Colbert:
https://youtu.be/ZxnVYd3TpJs
Jeff Tweedy played Jesus, Etc. too!
https://youtu.be/MJF6BunIdF0
Calling all vinylheads: to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Yo La Tengo album Electr-O-Pura, Matador is releasing it on two LPs. Here’s the original video of a tune from that album, as well as a nice cover from Lucy Dacus.
Wha’ happened?
I know I wanted to stay positive, but I have to mention the passing of comedy genius Fred Willard, whose 75-second appearance in This is Spinal Tap is one of the most memorable scenes ever.
Harry Shearer worked with Fred on the woefully underappreciated Fernwood 2 Night TV show and in several movies (including Spinal Tap). Listen to the three-minute opening of Harry’s Le Show podcast from 5/17 for this heartfelt tribute.
Jesse Malin’s newest live streams are multi-camera gigs done in an NYC basement bar, with Rob Clores adding great licks on piano… and the first episode of “Season Two” also features a long interview with Lucinda Williams.
Here’s Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires playing his new album in its entirety.
Shameless self-promotion
The latest episode of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features Joe Long, an early music blogger (Each Note Secure, The Futurist) who joined the station during the woxy.com era.
Joe Long grew up a 97X fan and started his “Each Note Secure” music blog in 2004… right about the time the terrestrial station signed off. But when woxy.com got its second wind in 2006 (the Lala era), he joined as an on-air personality. He revived Local Lixx, started The Futurist blog, and uprooted his family to stay with the station as it moved to to Austin in the summer 2009. He was still on board when woxy.com ceased streaming in March of 2010. We caught up with Joe to talk about the dot-com era, his Frank Black shuttle service, and his current gig as “Vices Editor” for Uncrate.com.
woxy.com videos galore!
Joe shot a lot of quick videos during his tenure at woxy.com — an in-studio appearance from The Breeders, Lounge Act clips from bands such as Portugal the Man and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, backstage interviews with These United States and Antlers, and more. You can find all of them on this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/woxyvideo/videos
Here are a couple of clips documenting the station’s move from Cincinnati to Austin.
Joe’s current gig involves curating content about “vices” such as beer, bourbon, coffee and cigars. Good work if you can get it… and get free samples.
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