Lisa Walker

Tofurkey tunes

Concert Listings, Concert review, Music, woxy.com

There are NO turkeys in this lineup o’ live tunes.

Before we get to the main courses for the next couple of weeks, let’s take a gander at a really big show coming to The Columbia in December.

I’ve often dreamed of spending an intimate evening with Erika Wennerstrom… now I’ll get to do it in an old church! Tickets are available here.

OK, now let’s see what’s cooking a bit sooner.

On Thursday:

  • 10,000 Maniacs (the non-Natalie version) play Ludlow Garage
  • MOTR features Clay Cole (Pavement and Wild Flag) solo with Bridget Battle (Tweens) and Lisa Walker (Wussy)
  • NAS does Illmatic live with the Cincinnati Pops at Music Hall

On Friday:

  • Whiskey City’s Liberty Theater has a Four Roses tasting 5-8 p.m., followed by Heather Redman & the Reputation
  • Draven & the Ravens at MOTR
  • You can da-doo-ron-ron to Ludlow Garage to catch former teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy.

If there are any Shaun Cassidy leftovers, be sure to store them properly.

Saturday shows:

  • Rhett Miller (Old 97s) and Bob Schneider at the Madison Theater
  • The Steep Canyon Rangers at Memorial Hall
  • The Local Honeys and Maria Carrelli at the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg
  • Kashmir: The Spirit of Led Zeppelin Live! at Ludlow Garage
  • KC & the Sunshine Band at the Lawrenceburg Event Center
  • The Trans-Siberian Orchestra plays two shows at the Coliseum

On Sunday Black Violin is at the Taft, and Wishbone Ash settles into the Ludlow Garage.

Little Image and Coastal Club are at Madison Live on Tuesday, and Sevendust plays the Ovation with Cory Marks.

Silverstein (not Shel) plays Bogart’s on Wednesday.

Shows on Thursday, GO-vember 20:

  • Brett Dennan at Ludlow
  • Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle at Southgate
  • a free Songwriters in the Round at Liberty Theater, with Billy Alletzhauser & Ali Edwards (of Ruby Vileos)
  • Kitchen Dwellers and Them Coulee Boys at Madison Live

Gigs on Friday, November 21:

  • Molly Tuttle at Memorial Hall, with Birdtalk and Cecilia Castleman
  • An Evening with the Trey Anastasio Band at the Greg Brady
  • Hunter Root and Harley Day at the Liberty Theater
  • Honour Rae plays an album release show at Southgate, with Tracy Walker
  • The Taft Theatre has a tribute two-fer: Strangelove: The Depeche Mode Experience with Electric Duke: a Tribute to Bowie
  • Madison Theater has Signs of Life: The American Pink Floyd.

Wait, I thought this was the American Pink Floyd:

On Saturday, November 22:

  • Pigeons Playing Ping Pong play the Madison Theater, with Dizgo
  • Kruger Brothers are at the Liberty Theater
  • Domecrusher (feat. list member Todd Q.) plays North Second in Hamilton
  • The Jonas Brothers (another generation’s Shaun Cassidy) play the Coliseum
  • The Collies (my son is the drummer) play the Valley View Tavern in scenic Williamsburg, OH
  • Lauren Ruth Ward plays an Undertow show in the 45202 zip code. Get tickets here.

Here’s an excerpt from Lauren Ruth Ward’s interview on a site called c-heads:

Johnny Gill (of New Edition) plays the Ludlow Garage on Sunday, November 23.

Feast week starts Monday, November 24, with BOTH of my son’s bands (The Collies and Van Winkle) playing The Comet in Northside.

On Wednesday, November 26 (a.k.a. Thanksgiving Eve, a.k.a. the biggest bar night of the year), The Distractions (a.k.a. Cereal Killers) will be doing an all-Elvis (Costello) set, along with Dot.Dot.Dot. doing R.E.M. at The Village Theater in Covington. Be there!

Other shows that same evening:

  • The Woodward has An Evening with Ray’s Music Exchange. They will be joined by members of Ernie Johnson from Detroit, who will then play at MOTR starting at 10:30.
  • The Liberty Theater features an Adam Wade Gilliam album release show, with The Spectacular Fantastic.
  • Southgate’s Revival Room features Shelter from the Storm (Dylan tribute) and the Dead Revival Band (GD tribute)
  • List member Keith Neltner has created another cool design for the Maker’s Mark album featuring tunes from The Tillers and Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle. The release shows (plural this year!) are at Arnold’s on 11/26 and 11/28:

Friday, November 28 (a.k.a. Black Friday):

  • Freekbass plays his Funksgiving show at Urban Artifact (look for a 97X Rumblings podcast interview with Freekbass coming soon)
  • Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle at Arnold’s
  • Mama Said String Band plays the Liberty Theater, with Dave Lacey & Ten Pound Hammer
  • Stolen Faces (Grateful Dead tribute band) play the Woodward

On Saturday, November 29:

  • Bela Fleck and the Flecktones play a “Jingle all the Way” (not sure if that’s a Christmas reference or a revenue reference) show at the Taft
  • Tripping Billies (DMB tribute) at Ludlow
  • Last, but certainly not least, The Mynabirds play an Undertow show at The Columbia on Eastern Avenue. Tickets are available here.

If you’re not familiar with The Mynabirds (solo nom-de-stage of Laura Burhenn), check out her new release on Bandcamp.

Bandcamp, not Spotify… here’s the only Mynabirds song selection you’ll find on Spotify:

Right on!

Finally, Stevie Nicks plays a sold-out show at the Coliseum on Sunday, November 30. Resale tix in the cheap seats are going for $350 (and TicketBastard will once again charge exorbitant fees on the resale, even though they already collected fees on the original sale).

A Halloween treat

Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and her twin sister Allison (Swearin’) teamed up with MJ Lenderman and super-producer Brad Cook to form the band Snocaps, and they dropped a tasty album on 10/31. Read more on Stereogum.

Forever Sounds: forever cool

Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver do a weekly show on WAIF-FM called “Forever Sounds” and they’re giving out a digital album of cover songs (GBV, Bill Fay, Joni Mitchell, The Bats, Hüsker Dü and many more) to folks who pledge to support their show.

You’ll find the pledge form and past episodes here.

The full Wussy band also did a couple of songs — including a brand new one — at the new Cincinnati Public Radio studio with former woxy.com Lounge Acts engineer Brian Niecz.

Places (and People) that are gone

Tommy Keene is gone.

We love it live!

The Beths in Nashville: amazing!

Kathleen Edwards and her fantastic band the next night in Louisville: transcendent!

Three nights of Buffalo Tom in Boston – including John Wesley Harding, Moving Targets, and a Pogues tribute band as openers, an acoustic set that included several tasty covers (see setlist below), a band Q&A, and much more: Stupendous!

Wishy at Madison Live last night: not too shabby!

But we don’t always love it live

Rickie Lee Jones played a great set at Memorial Hall.

Patty Griffin? Not so much. I understand the desire to feature several new songs – I expect that from most artists with a new album out. But to completely ignore a large part of your catalog — including the most popular songs — is not my cup of tea. The set was pretty much a snoozefest.

Wright State pitching star on Miami U. turf

Good old Robert Pollard – he can make a cool tune out of city and school district names.

Forget Bitcoin – invest in Lu!

Chuck Prophet can see the future. And the future is pure Lucinda Williams gold!

The full post is here. Chuck’s Substack is worth a subscribe.

Mailbag

In case you missed this fun exchange in the comments section of our last post, list members Lisa Collins and Dan Lewis took issue with my Beatles ranking:

Here’s that Westerberg clip that Lisa Collins sent me:

And Dan Lewis is right about me fitting in with the Goad Family. I certainly have the wardrobe for it:

Speaking of retired Cincinnati Reds superstar salesman Herb Tarlek Dan Lewis, I’m happy to report that he has found another modeling gig that’s perfect for his golden years. He’s the official spokesperson for this product:

“Fall” doesn’t mean the season, it means taking a tumble. Here’s Dan modeling the product:

“Collision to the elderly head” would be a great name for a punk band!

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s): Hair today, gone tomorrow

Her hair took up so much space on the cover that they had to reduce the font size of the type.

Ditto for “Lee Michaels” (we all know it’s really a young Richard Lewis.)

One response to “Tofurkey tunes”

  1. Dan Lewis Avatar
    Dan Lewis

    Tyrannical power at its worst. I’m reminded of the Holy Grail Monty Python quote “see the violence inherent in the system. Help help, I’m being repressed.” You can’t fight city hall…

    Reply

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Boo! And Now-vember!

97X, Concert Listings, Music, podcast

I’m back from my all-too-brief sojourn to sunnier climes. But I feel better than Tricky Dicky back in the day!

Let’s TCB and dive into the upcoming gigs.

Tuesday’s shows run the gamut from throwback to… older throwback:

  • Everclear plays Bogart’s
  • The Music Box performs Genesis Live (a 1973 release) at Memorial Hall
  • Yes plays “The Fragile 2025 Tour” at the Taft. The Fragile came out in 1972. Which was a big year for audiophiles.

Joshua Radin plays Ludlow on Wednesday, and Otis Gibbs is there on Thursday.

Otis Gibbs is a songwriter, storyteller, painter, photographer, and planter of 7,176 trees. He once wrestled a bear and lost. He’s been called “the best unknown songwriter in music today,” but if you ask him, he’ll just say he’s a folksinger.

Friday is Halloween!

That evening, White Reaper plays Southgate, with Worlds Worst as the opener. When I think of orange, scary, and “World’s Worst” I think of this:

You can smash that pumpkin in Mt. Washington on Saturday.

Or you can just sit around feeling guilty.

Saturday is also the start of Now-vember!

That evening:

  • Jeremy Pinnell plays an album release show in the Southgate Sanctuary, with Kristina Murray and Cristina Vane
  • Tooth Lures a Fang also has an album release show at Southgate, this one will be in the Revival Room with Bear the Moon, and Boy Bandicoot
  • Steve Hackett plays a “Genesis Greats, Lamb Highlights, and Solo Tour” show at the Taft.

Meanwhile, I’ll be down in the Music City to see The Beths at Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville. Check out this KEXP live session and you’ll see why I’m willing to make the road trip.

Aging rockabilly fans should note that Sunday’s Lee Rocker show at the Ludlow Garage has been cancelled, and a young popster named Knox will be there instead. Meanwhile, I’ll be making my way back from Nash-vegas by way of Lexington, to catch Kathleen Edwards at The Burl. Dave Purcell sent me.

Next Monday (11/3), there’s a hobo in your garage! Hobo Johnson & the Lovemakers play the Ludlow Garage.

Next Tuesday, November 4, is Election Day. Rock the vote!

Josh Ritter is at the Taft that evening, and Memorial Hall has “Both Sides Now: The Music & Lives of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.”

Wednesday, November 5 is another Ween Wednesday at The Columbia in the East End. They’ll be spinning The Friends EP and La Cucaracha from 6-10 p.m. Stop in, hang out. BYOB!

Judy Collins plays Ludlow Garage on Thursday, 11/6. Meanwhile, I’ll be up in Boston for Buffalo Tom’s three-night “Please Come to Boston” festival.

Shows on Friday, November 7:

  • ekoostik hookah plays the Liberty Theater
  • Southgate House has An Evening with Cory Branan in the Revival Room, and Clownvis Presley in the Sanctuary
  • Tito Puente Jr. plays Ludlow Garage (I listened to his dad for years and thought he was fabulous)

Shows on Saturday, November 8:

  • Memorial Hall hosts the return of the Blues & Boogie Piano Summit featuring Ben Levin, Carl Sonny Leyland, Ethan Leinwand & Valerie Kirchhoff (St. Louis Steady Grinders) and Ricky Nye
  • All Time Low with Mayday Parade, Four Year Strong and The Paradox at the Cindy Brady
  • Jon McLaughlin & Eric Hutchison at the Ludlow Garage
  • There’s a Downtowne Listening Room show at the Mansion Hill Sanctuary featuring Karly Davidson with Charlie John

Wishy plays Madison Live on Tuesday, November 11. Their debut full-length Triple Seven was one of my 2024 faves – please join me for that gig!

That same evening, The Stray Cats will be at the Taft. (We see what you did there, Lee Rocker!)

On Wednesday, NOW-vember 12, Thomas Dolby plays Bogart’s (“She blinded me with Lysol”), and The Mars Volta plays Ovation.

On Thursday, 11/13:

  • 10,000 Maniacs (the non-Natalie version) play Ludlow Garage
  • MOTR features Clay Cole (Pavement and Wild Flag) solo with Bridget Battle (Tweens) and Lisa Walker (Wussy)

Feast on these big shows Thanksgiving Week!

Check out that promising band of youngsters The Collies at Valley View Lounge in scenic Williamsburg on Saturday, November 22. Then, because Thanksgiving Week is about overindulgence, catch The Collies again at The Comet in Northside on Monday, November 24. Also on the bill that evening is yet ANOTHER band for which my son Gabriel is the drummer. Double-double your fun!

Another super-cool gig, on 11/26 (Thanksgiving Eve), features “This Week in Live Music” faves Cereal Killers masquerading as “The Distractions” and doing a full set of Elvis Costello tunes, along with Dot. Dot. Dot. (featuring more local luminaries) doing R.E.M. covers.

[Fantastic gig poster is the handiwork of Justin Lynch, who will be playing with Dot. Dot. Dot.)

I don’t even know if The Village Theater serves beer, but if so, the usual Cereal Killers offer of “first beer’s on me” holds, just use the secret phrase “Less than Zero.”

Then, on Black Friday, you can dance away that third helping of Aunt Edna’s stuffing with Freekbass during his “Funksgiving” show at Urban Artifact. Get tickets here.

On Small Business Saturday (November 29), The Mynabirds will be playing an Undertow Show at… an undisclosed location. But it’s in the East End. And it hosts “Ween Wednesdays”… and the name of the venue rhymes with “The Dolumbia.” Get yer tix here.

Singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn has made music as The Mynabirds since 2010, releasing four critically acclaimed and stylistically different albums on Saddle Creek: What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood (2010) & GENERALS (2012), both produced by Richard Swift, Lovers Know (2015), and Be Here Now (2017). Her 5th album, It’s Okay To Go Back If You Keep Moving Forward, will be out 11/7/25.

Pour some (more) Sugar on me

Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü trio (with David Barbe and Malcolm Travis) released a new tune (below) and announced two shows each in NYC and London next May. More here from Stereogum.

Oh, Neko…

I’ve previously chronicled the Neko Case hissy fit at the Taft from many moons ago. She’s still at it. Look, I totally understand her discomfort with an armed guard. But making an 11th hour request and then still refusing to play? Uncool!

What’s the Rush?

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are hitting the road next year with drummer Anika Nilles for a Rush “Fifty Something” tour. As a longtime Rush fan (first concert was Rush at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, Arkansas back in ’81), I’m happy that Ged and Alex will be performing the songs that they wrote the music for, after a decade away. Sure, it won’t be the same without The Professor, but that’s not the point. Neil’s not coming back, and Geddy and Alex deserve to do what they love.

Shameless self-promotion

ICYMI (and you’re not alone), the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast is back. (Dave and I are trying to get our listener count above 13.) The most recent episode features our interview with Tim Quirk and Jay Blumenfield of Wonderlick (and formerly of Too Much Joy). They were a joy to chat with, their new album is a dandy, and they have interesting day jobs too.

Mailbag

In case you missed list member Jay Stowe’s comment on last week’s post, here it is:

“A Quick One (While He’s Away)” cannot be beat. I may be going out on a limb here, but I’m willing to defend this statement: The Who at their motherloving best.

Amen, Brother Jay! The video is worth a second spin.

And not that you asked, but if you did give me the old “Beatles or Stones” question, my answer would be:

  1. The Who
  2. The Kinks
  3. The Rolling Stones
  4. Herman’s Hermits
  5. The Beatles

(Don’t @ me, Lisa Collins!)

Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Oh, yeah, baby, back that Jass up!

It IS a bit of a head-scratcher, as you don’t appear to have any redeeming qualities other than excellent taste in hairstyles and attire.

4 responses to “Boo! And Now-vember!”

  1. Lisa+Collins Avatar
    Lisa+Collins

    Oh, I am @ing you, Damian! Blasphemy!! And after I sent you that Replacements video this week – hahaha!

    Reply
    1. Damian Avatar
      Damian

      Sorry Lisa! That Westerberg/SNL clip was very cool. Speaking of very cool, I just updated my list and put Gerry & the Pacemakers above The Beatles.

      Reply
  2. Dan Lewis Avatar
    Dan Lewis

    You’ll Walk Alone…. After the Hermits and Pacemakers rankings. And you look like you’d fit right in with the Goad Family.

    Reply
    1. Damian Avatar
      Damian

      The Goad Family and I are taking a cruise next summer. It’s a Ferry Cross the Mersey.

      Reply

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Gigs and Books

97X, Concert Listings, Music, podcast, woxy.com

I let you down yet again (you should be used to it by now). I’m tardy with my list of gigs so I didn’t get to tell you about the New Pornographers show at Memorial Hall last night. That said, the show was sold out. Besides, I don’t know why people need New Pornographers, the old ones still work just fine.

Tonight, Southgate House is hosting The Nude Party. (It’s a band, get your mind out of the old pornographers gutter.)

OK, let’s focus on the future. The Future of Rock and Roll, that is. Robin James wrote the book about 97X, and thanks to Northside’s Downbound Books and Shake It Records, she’ll be talking about it with a couple of knuckleheads at the Mercantile Library this Thursday. If you’re one of the faithful 200 who registered for this event, you can hear from Robin, get a book signed and enjoy some tasty Great Lakes Brewing Co. beverages courtesy of our ol’ pal Howard Cohen (Cereal Killers… more on them later).

If you can’t attend in person, you can stream the event on Crowdcast here. (Great Lakes Beer not included.)

Tomorrow night, Richard Thompson plays a solo acoustic show at the 20th Century Theater. I’ll be there, of course. Forget about King Charles III, to me, King Richard is the Brit who rules.

KT Tunstall and Martin Sexton are also playing a double bill tomorrow, at Memorial Hall.

On Thursday, if you can’t make the Merc, Memorial Hall is hosting An Evening with the Cowboy Junkies.

Wait, wrong sort of Cowboy Junkie…

Friday night, Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker from the band Wussy are playing at my house. (Apparently they didn’t learn their lesson from the first time I hosted them back in October of 2022 and totally fanboyed out.)

John “Don’t call me Cougar” Mellencamp also kicks off a two-night stand at the Aronoff on Friday. And The Comet hosts BurritoFest 2023 on Friday and Saturday.

The Taft Theatre has some interesting shows lined up:

  • An Evening with Natalie Merchant on Sunday
  • The Wood Brothers with Shovels & Rope on Tuesday, May 16th
  • David Cross on Thursday, May 18th

Roger McGuinn does a “Songs & Stories” gig at Memorial Hall on 5/18.

On Friday, May 19th, Cereal Killers play at MadTree Brewing in Oakley. 7-11 p.m. First beer’s on me.

I won’t be dressed like that… unless you ask nicely.

That same evening, Frank Turner plays Bogart’s and Leo Kottke is at Ludlow Garage.

On Saturday, 5/20, Dopapod is at the Madison Theater, Steve Goodie and Eric Gnezda play a comedy music show in Florence, KY, and Fountain Square hosts the KISS tribute band Strutter.

The Gem City shines

Dayton, Ohio (birthplace of flight… and the Deal sisters) has some really nice freebie shows coming up this summer at the Levitt Pavilion downtown, including Dave Alvin, John Doe, Tab Benoit, Ernie Johnson from Detroit, and Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys. The first gig is The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band on Thursday, June 1st. Check out the full lineup here.

Mailbag

List member Mighty Joe Sampson, a resident of a posh Cincy suburb, wrote:

This longtime subscriber is formally objecting to your slanderous comment about Madeira aka “the friendly town.”

You’re right, Joe. Madeira is very accepting of strangers… as long as they follow the instructions to leave the DoorDash food delivery on the front porch.

Reading Room

Amanda Petrusich profiles The National in The New Yorker.

Sweet Swag

Inhailer Radio has a nice t-shirt to celebrate the 2023 Modern Rock 500, coming to their airwaves May 22-29.

You can order yours here.

Shameless self-promotion

The latest episode of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features the woxy.com crew (Shiv, Mike Taylor, Joe Long, Bryan J and Brian Niesz) talking about their rollercoaster ride on the interwebs from 2004-2010.

Album Cover of the Fortnight

Those wacky Brits… I don’t know how in the heck you can guard a horse when your helmet obstructs 70% of your field of vision and your “chin” strap is well above your chin. But… “tradition!”