Jason Narducy is an accomplished solo artist (billed as Split Single). He’s also part of Bob Mould’s band, the touring bassist for Superchunk, and part of the Michael Shannon/Jason Narducy & Friends tours showcasing R.E.M. albums. Oh, and he’s written a book of stories about his life as a “band person” called Mostly the Van(Volume 1) and has a second volume coming out soon.
But wait, there’s more: his first band Verböten (which he formed when he was 10) is credited by Dave Grohl as the “origin story” for his musical journey. Learn more about Jason’s early years, how the R.E.M. “pop-up band” came to be, and why he enjoys doing solo “house show” tours.
Jason formed his first band (Verböten) when he was 10 – his dad would drive them to gigs around Chicago.
Later he was in the aptly-named duo Jason & Alison, which added more members to become the band Verbow. That group released albums on Epic in 1997 (Chronicles)and 2000 (White Out).
Jason joined Bob Mould’s band as bassist/backing vocalist in 2005 and has performed on most of Bob’s releases since then.
He started touring with Superchunk in 2013, and has been performing with actor Michael Shannon since 2014.
Here are Jason and Michael Shannon on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2024 talking about the Murmur tour.
Their 2025 tour led to this magical moment in Athens, GA, with all four members of R.E.M. on stage with Jason and Michael and the band.
As we talked about in the podcast, Mike Mills joined the band at their tour stop in Bloomington, Indiana this spring to sing on several tunes.
And Mr. Mills also sang the band’s praises after the show.
The supergroup also include Jon Wurster (Bob Mould, The Mountain Goats, formerly of Superchunk) Dag Juhlin (The Slugs, Poi Dog Pondering), John Stirratt (Wilco) and keyboardist/composer/arranger Vijay Tellis-Nayak.
Jason’s doing a house show tour that kicks off October 1.
And his book Mostly the Van (Volume One) is “a collection of stories involving some of the peculiar, awkward, and sometimes inspiring moments in his music life.”
Do the Right Thing and support live music. Here are your options over the next couple of weeks:
This Wednesday, Richard Lloyd (of Television* fame) plays the Woodward Theater with a full band. Static Falls also is on the bill.
*Television the band, not the medium. But here’s Television on (Spanish) Television:
Also on Wednesday, Judy Collins plays Memorial Hall. Speaking o’ Spooky Season, ol’ “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes” is looking more like a Hocus Pocus witch these days:
Alice Peacock plays the Southgate House on Thursday. She’ll be in the Revival Room, with a lead pipe.
Wait, wrong Peacock!
Friday shows:
The Steep Canyon Rangers play Memorial Hall
Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle are at Southgate (maybe the ghost of Pete Rose will show up)
America plays the Taft (they won’t have a headless horseman, but they will have a horse with no name)
Ludlow Garage has Dead Letter Office, a tribute to R.E.M.
This Saturday, Cereal Killers play Big Ash Brewing!
(Continuing my string of ill-timed trips, and jeopardizing my status as a Cereal Killers superfan, I once again will be out of town for their gig. Our whole fam-damily is going to Bloomington, Indiana to see the perennial football powerhouse Hoosiers take on their longstanding Big 10 27 rival, the Washington Huskies.)
Other Saturday shows include the sold-out “BEAT” show at Taft
Former King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN band together with guitar virtuoso STEVE VAI and explosive Tool drummer DANNY CAREY for the first time to create BEAT, a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums – Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair.
ekoostic hookah plays the Liberty Theater
Blues Traveler brings their “30 years of Four” tour to… Turfway Park
Pappy’s Jam Band plays Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest (1:30-4:30)
Lotus Land (a tribute to Rush) plays Ludlow Garage
On Sunday, the Casey Campbell Project plays Neltner’s Farm, Pink Martini plays Memorial Hall, and Taft has Mania, the ABBA tribute.
Next Tuesday (10/29), the Buena Vista Social Orchestra is at Bogart’s.
Next Wednesday:
KMFDM and the Morlocks play the Ovation
The Woodward hosts two showings (7:30 and 10:30) of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a shadow cast
Daphne Eckman plays Southgate’s Revival Room
Disco Biscuits (hold the Yung Gravy) play the Madison Theater
Next Thursday is Halloween.
That’s “hallow”-een not “hollow”-een… Hollow is for Easter.
“Rollvember” kicks off a week from Friday. There are several shows slated for Friday, 11/1:
Los Honchos play Southgate
Anthony Ray Wright and Andrew Hibbard are at Liberty Theater
Stacy Mitchhart plays an album release gig at Ludlow Garage
The Jacksons (R.I.P. Tito) play the Hard Rock Casino
I’ll be up in Boston that weekend for the Please Come to Boston festival. My favoritest band Buffalo Tom will be doing three concerts in three days (including an old-person-friendly “matinee” show on Sunday). They’re playing a different album from their 90s oeuvre each show, and the festival also features comedy sets from Eugene Mirman and Dave Hill, and something called “Punk Rock Aerobics”… I’m sure it’s quite the workout!
On Saturday, Nov. 2nd,
Gipsy Kings play the Hard Rock
The Peter Brady hosts “Life is a Carnival – The Last Waltz Tour ’24” with Ryan Bingham, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Jamey Johnson and more.
Trippin’ Billies (Dave Matthews Band tribute) are at Ludlow Garage.
Here’s some Trippin’ Beverly Hillbillies:
The Drive-by Truckers play a Southern Rock Opera Revisited show at Bogart’s on Sunday, 11/3. Shut your mouth and get your ass on that plane into that show!
On Thursday, Nov. 7th, “Turn to Stone: A Tribute to ELO” will be at Memorial Hall, and Yngwie Malmsteen plays the Madison Theater.
On Friday, 11/8:
Goose opens up a three-night stand at the Carol Brady
Billie Eilish plays the Coliseum
Noah Wotherspoon plays the Liberty Theater with Noah Pavey
Saturday, 11/9 gigs:
Wussy plays a full-band show at the Woodward, with the Chris Brokaw Band as the opener.
Jimmy Webb (“America’s Songwriter”) is at Memorial Hall
Samantha Fish plays Ludlow Garage, with Mitch Ryder performing as part of Samantha’s band, and Canned Heat as the opener
Moonshine Drive plays Arnold’s
City & Colour are at Bogart’s with Pedro the Lion on Monday, 11/11.
We live for live
It’s been quite a fortnight for your music-addicted editor. Charly Bliss at the Exit/In in Nashville was great…
The opener, Pronoun, was cool too. And Marc from the one-hit-wonder band Len came up on stage for the encore to do “Steal My Sunshine” with Charly Bliss.
A week ago, list member Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube (check out his show on Inhailer Radio, Fridays 11a-3p) and I went to Columbus to see Superchunk. They rocked!
(Bassist Jason Narducy’s set list – he gave it to a kid in the front row… classy!)
For the final song of the encore, noted Breeder Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery of R. Ring came on stage to do their song “Cartoon Heart/Build Me a Question.” (R. Ring drummer Laura King is touring with Superchunk right now.)
The opening band, Quivers, was stellar too.
While Ken was waiting in line to get Mac from Superchunk to sign his poster (yes, Mac was at the merch booth – dude’s top-notch in my book), I chatted with the members of Quivers – Mike, Holly, Bella and Sam. They were super-nice to this old man, and funny as heck. Check out their recent live in-studio set at KEXP and you’ll be hooked by their hooks:
List members Dave Tellmann, Todd Butler, Carl “The Truth” Williams and I caught the Eddie 9V/Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears double bill at the Woodward on Wednesday.
And those shows were just the warm-up for another Chuck Cleaver/Lisa Walker Wussy Duo house show at my place this past weekend.
List members Todd, Regi, Tom, and Jamie were in the house, and they can attest that it was amazing.
I didn’t make the Mountain Goats show at Taft, but their stage setup was interesting:
Malin on the mend
Here’s a nice CBS Saturday Morning sessions interview with Jesse Malin.
Shameless Self-promotion
Dave Tellmann and I got the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast out of mothballs to chat with Randy Malloy, who went from unpaid college intern to owner of WWCD-FM in Columbus (nee “CD101″… and later “CD102.5″… and finally “CD92.9” before signing off under duress earlier this year).
Here on earth, I’m a bit disappointed that a band named “Rebels” chose conformity in their outfits.
On the other hand (the one with five fingers), at least Rebels don’t struggle with basic math. Or perhaps the dudes are the Gospel Four and the woman is there because her hair is heavenly.
Howdy, we’re short on time and long on concerts, so let’s get into it!
Tonight, Woodward Theater’s Cinema Series will be screening a movie about Brian Eno. It’s called… wait for it… Eno.
Meanwhile, I’ll be in Nashville for the Charly Bliss show at Exit/In. CB is about the poppiest my musical tastes get, but boy oh boy do they put on a great show! (Hence the long car ride.)
Tomorrow evening, Martin Sexton does an Abbey Road show at Memorial Hall.
Thursday:
Chromeo & the Midnight will be at the Ovation in Newport
Michigander plays Top Cats
Tinfoil Hat Cowboys play the Southgate Lounge (free!)
This Friday and Saturday, Bellevue Park Pavilion in Clifton Heights is hosting Rocktoberfest with several local bands playing three stages.
Other Freaky Fun Friday shows:
John Hiatt plays Memorial Hall
Keller Williams (yes, sounds like a real estate company) and the Motet are at the old Annie’s
Parker Millsap and Nat Myers play Southgate’s Sanctuary
Mike Viola will be upstairs in the Southgate Revival Room
The Yugos headline the Indie Friday free show at Fountain Square
Yung Gravy is at Bogart’s
We kinda wish Yung Gravy would tour with Disco Biscuits and play Cracker Barrels from coast to coast.
On Saturday
Tropicoso plays the Liberty Theater in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Madison Theater has Pink Talking Fish (a fusion of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish).
On Sunday, The Mountain Goats Trio (John Darnielle, Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster) plays the Taft, with Tift Merritt as the opener. And Justine Cefalu & Mike Oberst play Neltner’s Farm.
Monday, ISWHAT?! plays the Woodward, while list member Ken “Lobby Boy” Laube and I will be road trippin’ to Columbus to see Superchunk at Scully’s. (Catch Ken Fridays 11a-3p on Inhailer radio.) Merge labelmates Quivers open the ‘chunk show. Great double bill!
Next Wednesday, 10/16:
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes play Bogart’s
Tommy Castro & the Painkillers plays Southgate
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears play the Woodward, with Eddie 9V as the opener. List member Dave Tellmann and I will be at that gig. (Dave and I have a bonus edition of the old “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast — the one three people listened to — coming soon!)
Shows next Thursday (10/17):
Bluegrass Jam at Camp Springs Tavern
Mickey Dolenz, the last Monkee, does a “songs and stories” gig at Ludlow Garage
Two indie bands from Chicago, Finom and Moontype, play the Woodward. Jeff Tweedy produced Finom’s latest album at the Wilco Loft.
Madison Theater hosts Puddles Pity Party on Friday, 10/18.
Wussy is playing at my house, again!
On Saturday, October 19th, Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of Wussy will be playing their favorite east side venue, Casa de Damian (my house). The show is sold out, but I DO have my full allotment of five freebies – HMU if you’d like to attend.
Earlier that day, Chelsea Ford & the Trouble play Neltner’s Farm, and that same evening, just down the hill from my house, the California Honeydrops play the old Annie’s. I heard a good report about their live show in Lexington recently.
Wussy has a new album coming out!
We are excited to finally announce our first new record in six years! It’s called Cincinnati Ohio, and features ten tracks that we hope you’ll enjoy. (We were gonna call it The Great Divide, but in the end couldn’t bear to alter this amazing Langford / Calderas cover art).
It features all the regular Wussy folks – me (Lisa), Chuck, Mark, Joe – plus John E. on two songs, and newest member Travis on four songs. Producer and honorary member John Hoffman helmed and steadied the ship (and added some extra flourishes, too). Speaking of honorary members, John Curley recorded some of the basic tracks, and it was nice to have him back on board for those early days, as it was kind of an emotional rollercoaster to start recording again. He helped us navigate those first difficult sessions with a lot of grace and patience. There were many moments where we were all thinking – “is this even gonna work without John E”? We hope this album honors his legacy, as we move forward the best way we know how.
Album artwork is a painting by Jon Langford, based on photo by Jon Calderas. First track:
Thank goodness it’s finally Pumpkin Spice Season! (Aw, who am I kidding? It’s been Pumpkin Spice season since July 5th. It’s about commerce, not the calendar.)
Let’s see who’s spicing up the concert calendar…
Matisyahu plays the Taft tomorrow night.
On Wednesday:
Agent Orange plays Southgate (orange like a pumpkin)
Men I Trust play the Bobby Brady
Dark Star Orchestra is at the Ovation
GWAR is at Bogart’s
Coco Montoya plays Ludlow Garage
On Thursday:
Dale Watson plays Southgate, with Matt Hillyer as the opener
Easy Honey is at MOTR (lead singer is a 90s Anthony Kiedis lookalike- see video below)
Bullet for My Valentine plays the Cindy Brady
Also on Thursday, KISS plays the Coliseum, on their 26th and final (for now) “final” tour.
Bob Dylan (Ever heard of him?) plays the Carol Brady on Friday evening. Back in the 90s, my wife was a huge Dylan fan.
That same evening, The Zombies play Ludlow Garage. (We appreciate the Zombies waiting until it was seasonally appropriate to do a tour.) Culture Queer is at Northside Tavern. And the old Annie’s has “Led Zeppelin 2.”
Plenty o’ shows on Saturday:
The Laurelys play Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest in the afternoon (1:30-4:30 p.m.), and Sami Riggs plays the Camp Springs Tavern (across the road from the farm) that evening.
Tommy Emmanuel plays the Taft
Zach Nugent (no relation to the Motor City mouthpiece) plays a Grateful Dead set at Ludlow Garage
Comedian Lewis Black will be at the Hard Rock Casino
Chelsea Ford & the Trouble are at Neltner’s Farm on Sunday afternoon, and Bob Mould plays a solo electric show at the 20th Century Theater that evening, with Jason Narducy as the opener.
The Ophelias and Living Hour play MOTR on Monday, October 23rd.
Messa and Maggot Heart are at the Woodward on Tuesday, 10/24.
Soft Machine will be at Ludlow Garage on Wednesday, 10/25. I love a good soft machine!
The Furious Bongos unleash their fury at Ludlow Garage on Thursday, 10/26, and Ke$ha (it’s pronounced “Key-Dolla-Sign-HA!”… or so I assume) plays the Ovation in Newport.
Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre plays “A Brief History of Tull” at Memorial Hall on Friday, 10/27, and Etta May is at Ludlow Garage. Back in the 70s, I was in love with Etta May.
No, wait, that was Elly May. My bad.
Saturday, October 28th is action-packed:
Ray Vietti, Ben Knight and Stripmall Ballads play Neltner’s Farm in the afternoon, with Stripmall Ballads also playing Camp Spring Tavern that evening.
Donna the Buffalo stampedes into Ludlow Garage
Husbands play Madison Live
Georgia Middleman and Sami Riggs play a “Downtowne Listening Room” gig at 1628 co-working space at 315 W. Court Street. (I feel like they should’ve picked a different name for the space, given the address…)
On Sunday, October 29th, the Tye Dye Band (featuring list member John Sandman) plays Washington Park at 11 a.m. as part of the Fall Fest weekend (full Saturday/Sunday lineup is here.) And Mike Oberst and Justin Cefalu wrap up the musical lineup at Neltner’s Farm.
Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade has a gig at the Jan Brady on Monday, 10/30.
Steve Hackett (no relation to Buddy) wraps up Rocktober with a gig at the Taft on Tuesday, 10/31. That evening also is Halloween.
Which means Wednesday 11/1 is the official kickoff of Peppermint Candy Cane flavor season.
The track is from their forthcoming release Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007–2023.
Part of this complete Breakfast
Longtime “This Week in Live Music” favorites Japanese Breakfast did a show at Radio City Music Hall recently, and the encore included a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York.”
Fetters plays like a Mother
Rob Fetters has a new album out. You can order it here.
From Rob’s email: MOTHER is a collection of 11 new slightly-warped guitar-pop meditations on relishing life’s ass-kickings—past, present, & future.
MOTHER features contributions from Matt Malley (Counting Crows), Belinda Lipscomb (Midnight Star), Alice Peacock, Bam Powell, Bob Nyswonger, Noah Fetters, and Swany Fetters .
Album Covers for Halloween
Nothing’s scarier than some stereo dynamics…
Actually, a Barbershop Quartet is scarier…
But this guy’s Bond villain vibes really creep me out. And you should never mess with someone named Thelma.
February is just around the corner… and if you look around that corner you might see a few band vans headed your way. Maybe even a tour bus or three.
I loved Your Logo Here’s first EP, but they’ve sucked since they signed with a major label.
You might even spot a tour Winnebago.
Charles Napier ruled!
We covered this weekend’s shows in last week’s post, but just in case you were stricken with a serious case of Bengal Fever and missed it, here’s a recap:
Tonight:
Ana Popovic plays Ludlow Garage
Hyryder plays Annie’s
Knotts are at MOTR
Ben Levin is at BrewRiver
Alice Cooper plays the Icon.
Saturday:
The Wombats play Ovation
.38 Special plays the Hard Rock
Buckcherry and The Lacs are at Annie’s
String Theory plays Wiedemann’s
Ben Levin is at Japp’s
[The Big Mountain show at Ludlow Garage has been postponed. Which just goes to show that you can move a Big Mountain if you put your mind to it.]
Sunday:
Railroad Earth plays the Madison Theater.
The Cincinnati Bengals play the Kansas City Chiefs. Playoff football, NBD.
But there might be a QB who can beat him in 13 seconds or less.
The week ahead is kinda desolate. Julia Jacklin was slated to play Madison Live on Monday, but that gig has been cancelled. It’s like a pre-Groundhog Day Groundhog Day.
Speaking of our ol’ pal Punxsutawney Phil and his special day, Ben Levin plays the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday. And in true Groundhog Day fashion, he’s got a few other gigs this week… just like he does every week. You can see the entire list on Ben’s website. (No word on whether he’ll play a cover of “I Got You Babe.”)
The mighty fine band called Country Westerns will be at MOTR on Thursday. (Hey, do they drive a Winnebago too?) The Hiders duo opens the show. I hope to make that gig, but it’ll be a game day decision, given the late set time and my advanced age. (I might be too tired from playing pickleball and/or shooing kids off my lawn and/or yelling at a cloud.)
Next Friday you can watch Garage Doors…
Wait, check that, it’s actually a Doors tribute at the Ludlow Garage.
You’ll believe that Gym is him…
Next Saturday, Brother Moses (a rock band from… Arkansas!) plays the Southgate House’s Revival Room, and The Fighting Side and Wonky Tonk play a free show in the Southgate Lounge. Over on the Ohio side of the river, Tom the Torpedoes, a Tom Petty tribute band, is at the Redmoor.
Big show next Sunday: The War on Drugs at Ovation in Newport. List member Mighty Joe Sampson and I will be there. You should be too.
Their first EP was pretty good…
Watch This
Superchunk’s video for their new song “This Night” is a homage to the Replacements’ videos of yore.
Read This
Longtime Cincinnati arts journalist Steven Rosen has a new book called Lost Cincinnati Concert Venues of the ’50s and ’60s : From the Surf Club to Ludlow Garage. Read more here and order the book on Steven’s website. (Thanks to list member Jay Stowe for the story.)
The Words of the (Chuck) Prophet
And even if there’s a lot of political noise out there, and people who have strong opinions about things like science and religion, the stage remains my church and my job is to bring a group of strangers together and make them into a community for 90 minutes or so. If they don’t agree with every word that comes out of my mouth, that’s cool. Hell, if they don’t like every chord, that’s okay too. All I know is that they all left the house and had to find a place to park and they have to decide how much alcohol it’s okay to drink to be a responsible citizen or just not to get a DUI and have to sit in traffic school and endure the jokes of failed comedians. It’s because of those folks that I’m not one of those guys teaching at traffic school myself.
(Sign up for Chuck’s always entertaining and often enlightening newsletter on his website.)
The Words of the Podcast
The latest episode of the “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features an interview with former 97X weekend DJ Jeff Rohrs, who talks about polka music, mispronouncing an artist’s name, bands he loved, and that time it rained on stage at Bogart’s during a Violent Femmes show.
You can listen to every episode of the podcast on pretty much every major podcasting platform (Spotify, Apple podcasts, Podbean, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, etc.) I don’t like to brag, but in 2021, “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” was the 27th-fastest growing podcast about defunct radio stations. Take that, Joe Rogan! Oh, and take this too! (not a link to ivermectin)
Album Cover of the Week
Look at that track list! (Hat tip to list member Howard Cohen for sharing the Dick.)
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