Live Music is Back!

Concert Listings

Great news: after a loooong dormancy, concerts are becoming as plentiful as cicada shells! (Sorry, the cicada reference is mandatory… check back in 17 years for another one.)

The not-so-great news: Cincinnati remains the Bermuda Triangle of concert tours.

Artist after artist plays Louisville, Columbus and Indy and just blows right past our fair burg. It’s downright depressing… and after the year we’ve endured, we need No Depression.

Actually the “Bermuda Triangle of the Midwest” map above isn’t accurate… because pound for pound, even Hamil-tucky, Ohio (motto: “stop asking about the exclamation point already!”) is kicking Cincinnati’s buttocks in the live music game. Gigs this summer and fall at RiversEDGE Amphitheater include:

  • Aaron Lee Tasjan with SG Goodman (Friday, July 16th)
  • Arlo McKinley (Friday, July 28th)
  • North Mississippi Allstars (Saturday, August 7th)
  • The Infamous Stringdusters with Sierra Hull (Saturday, August 21st)
  • JJ Grey & Mofro (Friday, September 3rd)

Whereas Riverbend’s schedule remains a time capsule from 1985, answering the musical question “How many years in a row can an outdoor shed book both Chicago AND The Doobie Brothers?” with an emphatic “Every friggin’ year!”

Riverbend’s booking team

Wait, this just in: Riverbend’s marketing department has informed me that they are actually “hep” and “with it” in 2021. As proof, they cite the appearance of an up-and-coming artist named Jimmy Buffett.

But our good friend, list member Dan “The Reds are gonna win it all this next year” Lewis has booked some of his favorite bands at Great American Ball Park:

It’s töo göod to be trüe!

Does that lineup sound töo göod to be trüe? Well, Dan “I love umlauts” Lewis has just informed us that the show above has been postponed until 2022… and he’s pissed because he already made an appointment to get his hair extensions done this year. But another of Dan’s faves will be playing GABP:

Are we sure this isn’t a photo of Stanley Tucci after eating all that fattening food in Italy?

Billy Joel had an open date on his schedule because the Allentown, PA minor league baseball team cancelled his gig at their stadium. (Fun fact: the team is called the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.)

Are we sure this isn’t a photo of Billy Joel after having a bottle of red and a bottle of white at an Italian restaurant?

If Billy Joel cancels his gig, Dan will really be pissed. Perhaps we can all pitch in to book the cover band Uptown Girl for a wine mixer at Dan’s house.

https://youtu.be/8QIICilg90Q

Meanwhile, just over the border in the Hoosier State, it’s shaping up to be “The Summer of Musicians Who Were Kicked Out of Bands by Their Greedy Bandmates” with shows from both Ace Frehley and Don Felder at the Lawrenceburg Event Center. (Note to Dan “Kickstart My Heart” Lewis: Vince Neil is playing there too!)

But fear not, good citizens of the Tri-State… there are a few good gigs coming our way. Not many, but a few. I’ll try to keep you posted. Local piano wunderkind Ben Levin (hey, he’s our neighbor!) is playing Big Ash Brewing this Saturday evening. All the cool kids will be there – oh, and I’ll be there too.

Honestly, the one place in town that’s punching well above its weight in decent concerts is the old Annie’s on Eastern Avenue. (The new name of the venue is Riverfront Live but dollars to donuts that 95% of the people who talk about it call it “the old Annie’s.”) Their full line-up of concerts is here.

As fate would have it, the Drive-by Truckers show at “the old Annie’s” was announced a few weeks after list member Mighty Joe Sampson and I bought tickets to see Waxahatchee in Louisville on that same night (9/2). So even when we win, we lose.

Before I sign off, I want to give props to the Cincinnati Enquirer (that’s a newspaper, kids… a newspaper is a printed publication… printing is… aw, nevermind!) for publishing a list of all the free summer shows in the area.

And I also want to mock the Cincinnati Enquirer (it’s a fungible token… aw, nevermind!) for not publishing the full name of a band that just booked a show at the Woodward Theater:

What a bunch of… wussies! Oh, speaking of Wussy, members of that stellar band have played more than 52 free livestream shows since the COVID lockdown began, and they rarely ever mention their tip jar. Those gigs have been a real lifesaver, and the beauty of the songs is nearly matched by the hilarity of the between-songs banter. Chuck Cleaver is my spirit animal.

And speaking of The Woodward Theater, it’s good to see them back in action. I hope they can book more shows soon. Ditto for MOTR Pub.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I’m still doing a podcast with my old 97X buddy Dave Tellmann… we chat with the folks that made 97X so special back in the day. We even interviewed Dan McCabe of MOTR/Woodward Theater fame (and Sudsy’s too… R.I.P.) and Mark Messerly of Wussy. We drop a new episode every couple of weeks, and you can listen via all the major podcast aggregators: Apple Music. Spotify. Pandora. Podbean. iHeart Radio. Google Podcasts. TuneIn.

Just tell that device that’s always spying on you to “Play the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast” and treat your ears to 18 minutes or so of pure magic.

Hope to see you in person at a show soon, my friends!

Episode 62: Mark Abuzzahab, Music Skills from A to Z

97X, Music, podcast

Mark Abuzzahab (who just went by “Mark” on air… we can’t imagine why) was at 97X for a year and change (Jul ’98-Sept. ’99) at the dawn of the streaming era. He then served as music director at several other cool stations all over the map (Vermont, Boulder, Austin, Dallas) and still programs music and promotes cool artists today. We chat with Mark about his 97X memories, his current gigs and how he protected our ears from bad “alternative” music. 

Mark still has a going-away present that reminds him of the good time he had at 97X (see what we did there?)

After he left 97X, Mark went to a station in Burlington, Vermont, and eventually recruited fellow 97X alum Rictile to work the morning show there.

Mark now works with VuHaus, the non-profit company that provides content for the Live Sessions on NPR Music.

VuHaus (pronounced “View House”) is a non-profit, digital music video service that introduces emerging and established artists to new audiences. VuHaus aggregates live performance videos, and live stream sessions from leading “Music Discovery” public radio stations from markets across the U.S. With unique local video channels including nationally curated playlists, local market playlists, and custom playlists from artists and tastemakers, VuHaus gives fans a unique window into the country’s most vibrant music scenes.

VuHaus is a collaboration of the country’s leading public radio music stations: KCRW in Los Angeles, KEXP in Seattle, WFUV in New York, WXPN in Philly, KUTX in Austin, The Bridge in Kansas City, KXT in Dallas, opbmusic in Portland, Mountain Stage in West Virginia, KDHX in St. Louis, Live from the Fort from Vermont and WGBH Boston.

From the VuHaus Facebook page

Mark also works with Custom Channels, a company that creates custom music mixes for businesses. So you’ve probably heard his handiwork at restaurants, stores and fitness centers.

Episode 61: Steve Roemer, co-producer to the (non) Stars

Uncategorized

Steve Roemer (affectionately known “Roemie da Homie”) served three tours of duty as a Breakfast Club co-producer in 1993, commuting to the station on a balky bicycle. He also started a heavy metal sport at Miami U., was the 90s version of “Schneider” from One Day at a Time… and even though he’s a lifetime non-smoker, his two favorite stories from his 97X days involve generic cigarettes.

Steve shares his radio memories and also talks about PawsForPatrick, the charity that his family started to the memory of his son Patrick, who passed away last May.   

Breakfast club co-producers Joe Sampson and Steve Roemer also worked at Miami University’s student-run radio station, WMSR.
Former Breakfast Club co-producers Jessica Vahey, Steve Roemer and Joe Sampson.
Steve worked as a student manager of an apartment complex in Oxford, Ohio… just like his role model, Schneider.
Day in Eden: Steve is top row, center… before he got up close and personal with a Goo Goo Doll

Paws for Patrick is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting young people to emotional support animals to aid them as they live with mental health illness.

Our vision is to facilitate the acquisition of emotional support animals (ESA) for young people coping with mental health issues, by providing and sourcing the animals, as well as training and educating, and securing letters of certification for ESAs. 

In addition, we provide opportunities for young people to interact with therapy dogs in group settings.

Learn more about this great charity at the Paws for Patrick website.

Episode 60: Steve Leeds, a Music Biz Legend

97X, Music, podcast

Steve Leeds has had a long and illustrious (dare we say even Gump-like) career in the music business. Terrestrial radio (Murray the K!). Major labels (Led Zeppelin!). Indie promotions (Joan Jett!). MTV (Adam Sandler!). Today he’s a VP of Talent for Sirius XM and a college professor. If it’s happening, Steve was — and still is — involved. Steve shares his memories of working with 97X (and getting lost leaving…) and what stations like 97X meant to emerging artists.

Check out Steve’s bio – it’s a who’s who of music. Steve’s blog also covers the latest twists and trends in the music biz, from someone who truly has been there and done that.

In our interview, Steve mentioned the 97X Cookbook (featuring “Dave’s Sensational Seven-Layer Salad”). Here he is holding his copy during our chat.

Here’s Steve interviewing the co-authors of the book I Want My MTV: the Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.

And here are a couple of clips featuring artist promos for U68, a New York-area TV station that Steve programmed with music content.

Here’s a podcast featuring Steve talking about the music biz.

Episode 60: Hungry for more Brett Heartz

97X, podcast

Here’s Part Deux of our chat with Brett Heartz, who bookended his long and illustrious radio career with stints at 97X in the late 80s and 2004. This episode includes the on-air banter between Brett and the late Kerry Grey when an earthquake struck the San Francisco area during a 1989 World Series game between the SF Giants and the Oakland A’s, as well as Brett’s tales of corporate radio (spoiler alert: it sucks). 

Brett talks about Kerry Grey’s car catching fire and burning in the 97X parking lot – here’s visual proof:

Looks like the 97X bumper sticker survived…
Kerry at left, Brett on the right (and on the hood)
Hot Wheels supermodels Brett & Kerry

Brett saved a couple of “six pack suggestion” letters that truly showcase the creativity of 97X listeners.

This one was like a pop-up book – you had to open the windows and doors of the house to reveal the songs:

episode 59: You Gotta Have (Brett) Heartz

97X, podcast

Brett Heartz got the 97X bug when he was in high school, a fever that was aided and abetted by his interview with Danny Crash and Mr. K for a cable-access program. Thanks to his Mr. K connection, he wound up working on-air at 97X in the late 80s (and being roommates with Phil Manning). His long career in radio came full circle 15 years later when he returned to 97X for weekend shifts before the terrestrial station signed off in 2004. We talk to Brett about Hamilton’s “Modern Rock Mafia,” limo rides to REM, backstage at Bogart’s, and random encounters with fellow 97Xers in The Big Easy.

Brett’s in the back row, 2nd from the right

Here’s Brett’s 1985 interview with Danny Crash and Mr. K when Brett was in a Broadcasting Arts class at Hamilton High School:

Brett also shared some newspaper clippings and other memorabilia from his time at 97X in the late 80s.

Those arrows seem overly ambitious… but perhaps with an aluminum foil antenna!

In case you were wondering (or maybe it was just us), the Canadian band called The Grapes of Wrath broke up in 1992, but reunited in 2010, were inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2018 and still play gigs.

Episode 58: Elizabeth Cannon, our Riverbend Friend

97X, Music, podcast

“The Lovely & Talented Elizabeth Cannon™” started working at Riverbend Music Center (Cincinnati’s 20,000-person capacity outdoor concert amphitheater) as an usher when she was 16… and wound up staying there for nearly 15 years. For most of her tenure, she managed Riverbend’s marketing, working closely with local radio and TV stations and record labels on media buys, ad scripts, promotions (ticket giveaways, meet-and-greets), artist interviews, and more. As a 97X listener in high school and a Miami U. grad, she always had a special place in her heart for the tiny modern rock station in Oxford… and the feeling was mutual.

Elizabeth fills us in on her behind-the-scenes work at Riverbend… including why a mullet man was making a sick kid’s heart achy-breaky, and who was cool and who was a tool in CS&N (and sometimes Y).

Elizabeth said 97X was a key reason that Riverbend was able to book up-and-coming acts, because the record labels always wanted to know if there was a local radio station playing those artists. Without 97X, concerts like Lollapalooza, Lilith Fair and H.O.R.D.E. might’ve bypassed this market.

Kneeling: Damian and Rictile. Standing L to R: Steve Baker, Linda Balogh, Jae Forman, Julie Maxwell, Doug Balogh, Phil Manning, salesperson Joe Throckmorton, Brian Ewing, Dave Tellmann and salesman Chris Adryan rocking the sweet fannypack. Sitting on car: Laura Kim
Julie Maxwell applies a temporary tattoo at a Riverbend show.
Jae Forman (left) and Dave Tellmann (right) on the infamous butt coolers at Riverbend.

Episode 57: Doug & Linda Part 2 (More Fun in the New Radio World)

97X, podcast

In the second part of our interview with 97X station owners Doug & Linda Balogh, we find out why Steve Baker was the soul of the station, Dave was Mr. Sunshine, and Linda was the lady behind the curtain. Doug also talks about “buyer’s remorse” at his welcome BBQ and Linda recalls the 97X mission statement and the baby in the file cabinet. Oh, and we hear about how the Rainman movie appearance happened… and how legendary record exec Howie Klein freaked out about it.

Photo from a 1997 article about 97X in Spin magazine.

Doug and Linda talked about how indispensable Steve Baker was. Bake could — and did– do it all for the station for more than 20 years.

The Bakerman in the old 97X studio
Gentleman Jim Mercer with Bake at a Miami University football game

Nowadays, Steve Baker is the Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Broadcasting for Miami University. Please read this post to learn more about just how amazing “The Bakerman” truly is. (Also, our interview with Steve is in Episode 4 of the podcast.)

Dave Tellmann in the production studio

Doug and Linda also talked about how Dave was always in a good mood. I couldn’t agree more. We had as much fun off the air as on, thanks to Dave, who was (and still is) always making us smile.

Kathie Lucas at right with her “baby in the file cabinet” daughter Sophie
Ad from Everybody’s News

The famous scene from Rainman:

Linda and Doug (center) with their children Marty (left) and Kristy (right). The award referenced above was presented by Ron “Jetson” Poore and Phil Manning

Episode 56: Doug & Linda Balogh, the First Family of 97X

97X, Music, podcast

Doug and Linda Balogh bought 97.7 FM in Oxford, Ohio in July of 1981, adjusted the format to modern rock in September of 1983, and spent 23 years giving their heart and soul to a “mom and pop” radio station. 97X’s signal was tiny, but its impact was mighty, and Doug and Linda guided it every step of the way. In the first of a multi-part interview, Dave and Damian talk to Doug and Linda about why they got into the radio game in the first place, and the station’s formative early years.

Doug & Linda from the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Enquirer Magazine article published June 2, 1985

In our interview, Doug mentions the significance of a cover story about 97X in June 2, 1985 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Sunday magazine. Thanks to 97X superfan (and Episode 25 guest) Mark Griffin, you can read the entire article here — complete with 1985 ads!

World-famous cover model Danny Crash (a.k.a. Dan Reed)

Mark Griffin’s heartfelt tribute to 97X can be found on his blog. We highly recommend it.)

Unlike corporate-owned commercial stations where music is chewing gum and DJs’ on-air personalities range from vapid to outrageous, family-owned WOXY drew in people devoted to the best in new music. 

Mark Griffin in his blog post about 97X – linked above
Ad for 97X’s move from High Street in uptown Oxford to 5120 College Corner Pike.

Episode 55: Dan Bockrath, our CityBeat Buddy

97X, podcast

Dayton native Dan Bockrath left San Diego in the mid-90s, returning to southwest Ohio and joining forces with editor John Fox to publish CityBeat, Cincinnati’s alternative weekly newspaper. One of the first media partnerships they formed was with 97X, because championing local music, arts and culture was their raison d’êtra and 97X listeners were open-minded and adventurous. We talk to Dan about that synergy, CityBeat’s sponsorship of Midpoint Music Festival (MPMF), and his ongoing love affair with live music in local clubs.

Dan was the publisher of CityBeat from its inception in November of 1994 until December of 2015.

CityBeat sponsored MPMF for many years, and Dan McCabe (at right in the photo above with Dan Bockrath) was responsible for booking the amazing lineup of up-and-coming bands/artists. (We spoke to Dan McCabe, now co-owner of MOTR Pub and The Woodward Theater, in Episode 48.)

Dan backstage at a Los Lobos show in 2011… we’re very jealous!