Last night, I got back from a four-day trip to Boston. It was yet another pilgrimage to see my favorite band doing three nights of shows.
It was like ComicCon, but for old guys who like guitar-driven, melodic rock circa the early 90s. (I’m being reductive – Buffalo Tom still puts out new albums occasionally, and their newer stuff is just as compelling as their older tunes. But still, they might want to look into sponsorship deals with hip replacement surgeons and Flomax.)
The venue holds about 400. 400 dedicated, dyed-in-the-wool fans, from all over – L.A., Baltimore, south Michigan, even Tasmania! And yours truly, representing the Flyover States Chapter of the Buffalo Tom Fan Club. The vibe is quite casual, as witnessed by the very “Puppet Show and Spinal Tap” look of the chalkboard sign in front of the Armory.
Buffalo Tom was never “massive”… but I love their music, and they’re good dudes. I’m so grateful that they’ve organized this festival for the past couple of years. Seeing and hearing them live brings me so much joy. They’re my jam!
Three nights of concerts (including an acoustic set Thursday with some very tasty cover songs from Echo & The Bunnymen, the Rolling Stones, The Cars, the Psychedelic Furs, New Order, Simon & Garfunkel, and Died Pretty).
Plus a book reading from lead singer Bill Janovitz’s latest book, which is about The Cars.
But wait, there’s more! A band Q&A, an autograph session, and cool opening bands (John Wesley Harding! The Moving Targets! Hilken Mancini and Melissa Gibbs! Elsa Kennedy!). Truly an embarrassment of riches for BT fans. A magical musical marathon.
Speaking o’ marathons, I clocked a ton of steps traipsing through Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford during my stay. I had to make a pilgrimage to Greystone, the amazing cafe/bakery in the South End that my first cousin once removed Jacqueline owns and operates, with an assist from her mom (“Cousin Patty” to me).
They weren’t around (Jacqueline just had Baby #3, and Patty was out of town for a wedding) but the morning bun was to die for!
I met up with the daughter/niece (respectively) of a couple of brothers who are friends of mine from college. (She works at Greystone!) And with husband/wife co-workers of mine who relocated to Boston a couple of years ago.
Boston Public Library. Harvard Square. Newbury Comics. Davis Square. Winter Hill Brewing. Cheapo Records. And green space galore!
I started walking and never really stopped.
I walked a Boston Marathon and a Boston Half-Marathon. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Buffalo Tom’s song “All Be Gone” says it best:
Seems like I was just a kid not so long ago
So many arrivals
So many hellos
Now my time behind is greater than my time ahead
Save up the minutes like flowers
Before they’re all dead and gone
While I can, I’m gonna lace ’em up, and keep on keepin’ on.
This past weekend, my wife and my son Peter flew to Hilton Head, SC to run a half-marathon.
Meanwhile, I drove 278 miles to Nashville on Saturday to see The Beths in concert.
Oh, and then I drove another 88 miles to Lexington, KY on Sunday to see Kathleen Edwards in concert.
The thought of running around the block, much less 13.1 miles, doesn’t appeal to me at all. Yet I’m fine standing for two hours at a show. I don’t know about a “runner’s high” but I do know that hearing a great song live sends my spirits soaring.
Tina and Peter got a finisher’s medal after the race.
I got a setlist after Kathleen Edwards’ show.
My wife’s trying to run a race in every state. I think South Carolina was #26 or #27.
I don’t have a goal to see a concert in every state. But maybe I should.
They’re different kinds of miles, but they’re totally worth it if they bring you joy, and you’re making memories in the process.
Live music is my marathon. I’ll never stop running.
They’re all loss leaders… I’ve earned the princely sum of zero dollars and zero cents, combined, from all three. (Quite the trifecta!)
I have to pay for the domain names, the podcast hosting, the WordPress hosting, anti-spam software… it probably comes out to just shy of $300 a year.
Don’t tell WordPress and Podbean and Akismet and Namecheap, but I’d gladly pay a lot more.
I’m not looking to “monetize” my efforts.
The blog has helped me be a better writer (still a work in progress), stay better connected with my friends, and even connect with one of my mom’s relatives in Italy. Pure gold. And my Cincinnati Magazine writing assignments most assuredly wouldn’t have happened without this blog.
The podcast about 97X seems like a fool’s errand. Very few people listened to the station when it existed, and it’s been off the air for two decades (or a mere 15 years if you include the dot-com era). But the people who listened to the station absolutely loved it. And somehow, some way, despite the lack of promotion (and the weird name of “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush”), they found the podcast. As I tell Dave all the time “every time we publish a new episode, we make 150 people very happy.” Through the pod, we’ve been able to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, talk to musicians we admire (the latest episode features two members of Too Much Joy), and create a place for folks to relive some of their fondest memories. And hanging out with Dave — one of the most naturally funny people I’ve ever met — is always a treat.
My music blog? It’s mostly a “concert calendar” – every few weeks, I’ll post about the bands coming to town, and throw in a bunch of wacky music-related material. In other words, it’s a chance for me to connect my love of music with my love of being goofy. Sold!
Combined, my trifecta of trash takes up a decent amount of my time. And time is our most precious commodity. But I spend it willingly and gladly. I’m not getting “paid back in equal measure.” And that’s exactly the point!
According to Wikipedia, she’s “an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Hickman, Kentucky.”
I first saw her back in 2021, at a free concert in Hamilton, opening for Aaron Lee Tasjan (he’s cool too!). The show was supposed to be at an outdoor amphitheater, but it rained buckets so they moved it to a nearby street that was covered by a parking garage walkway roof. It was dingy, it was echo-y, and there were only a few hardy souls in attendance. It would’ve been easy for S.G. and her band to bemoan their fate and phone in their performance, but they still brought their A game.
S.G. may be “an American folk and country singer-songwriter” but after reading her latest Substack post (eloquently entitled “Chicken sh*t on a thousand acres”), I’d add “philosopher” and “life coach” to her bio. Here’s my favorite passage from it:
There is so much uncertainty right now, and I want to tell anyone who reads this that the future is built on seeds you plant right now. Hope is resilient, and even if that hope doesn’t bear fruit for years to come, one day you will be reaping the harvest of a long held dream and vision. In times of despair and trials, put some faith into the little seeds of hope you are planting. It may be years down the road before you see their potential, but if you care for them, they will produce.
That’s beautiful! And some much needed advice for these troubled and troubling times.
What seeds of hope are you planting today? (No overalls and tractor required.)
S.G. Goodman’s music is pretty darn cool too. Here’s her website and a stellar performance of a beautiful song is below.
Of course, I’m no beefcake like Derek Zoolander. But my name is right next to a Chicken Parm and a Tuna Melt… that’s practically the same thing.
I’ve written a few things for Cincinnati Magazine over the past few years. But this was the first time I pitched a story idea to editor John Fox. I ran into bassist extraordinaire Chris “Freekbass” Sherman at my local Kroger, and he mentioned that he was now doing a livestream six nights a week on TikTok. I’ve known Chris since my 97X radio days, and our kids went to grade school and high school together. But I had no idea he was a bona fide TikTok superstar. I thought it’d make for a pretty cool story. John agreed.
Chris is a very sweet dude and easy to interview. And of course, I’ve been known to chat a bit about music, so it was a fun story to write.
I couldn’t make it to the photo shoot, but the shots by Devyn Glista are amazing, and really capture Chris’ sense of style and his on-stage persona.
The layout, the typography… *chef’s kiss*.
I’m thrilled with the way it all turned out.
Getting a byline on the cover and being featured in the contributors section were just icing on the cake.
Freekbass was pumped about the piece too.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kbw98WAY7WY
It’s not “my smilin’ face on the cover of the Rolling Stone“… but I can guarantee you that my face will be smiling all month long!
I hope you’re sitting down for this shocking (general) admission: I like going to concerts. A lot. It’s second only to pickleball in the list of ways I spend my leisure time.
Last year I made it to 43 concerts. That will probably be my all-time high water mark. But it’s not for a lack of trying. This last stretch of a week-plus has been quite a run.
Last weekend, it was the Nelsonville Music Festival, on a farm near Nelsonville, Ohio. Which is near Athens (Ohio), home of Joe Burrow. It’s about 2.5 hours east of Cincy. Three glorious (albeit extremely hot) days of music on three stages.
The 3-day event Billboard magazine calls “one of the best-kept secrets of the U.S. music festival circuit” offers a diverse lineup of 40+ national, regional, and local acts from a variety of genres in an intimate setting, along with camping, kid’s activities, unique artisan and retail vendors, local food, and more!
NMF is a production of Stuart’s Opera House, a non-profit historic theater and performing arts center in Nelsonville. All proceeds raised at the festival directly support Stuart’s Opera House, including its tuition-free Arts Education programs.
That Friday evening run – MJ Lenderman, The Bug Club, Waxahatchee, and Dehd – was as good as it gets. Waxahatchee’s set was note-perfect, literally and figuratively.
Saturday’s lineup wasn’t as suited to my admittedly-weird musical tastes, but Low Cut Connie always brings the energy, and I also enjoyed the sets from Gardener, Styrofoam Winos, and Being Dead.
Mrs. Dubbatrubba was taking one for the team by joining me that day. (It was our wedding anniversary – she’s a saint!)
You could count on… let’s see… zero… zero fingers… the number of artists she’d ever heard of, much less heard, so we cut out a bit early to grab a dinner at Little Fish Brewing Co. in Athens. (Thanks to the great reco from our friends Matt and Pam, who were at Nelsonville with two of their kids. Food and atmosphere were top-notch!)
On Sunday morning, I managed to sneak in a hike before heading to Nelsonville.
It was heat-advisory hot once again, but one of Nelsonville’s three stages has trees nearby, and another (Creekside) is in the woods, with “hammock zones” even! Very chill.
Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country and Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band were the undercard highlights for me. I really wanted to stick around for Taj Mahal’s set, but discretion is the better part of valor. With a 2.5 hour drive ahead of me after a full weekend of music, I headed for home around 5:30.
There’s no rest for the weary: last Tuesday, I saw Devo at an indoor show in downtown Cincinnati. I’d never seen them before, and always wanted to. Their set was exactly what you’d want from those wacky kids from Akron (who are now in their 70s!). I loved every second of it!
On Thursday, it was The Rush Tribute Project at Memorial Hall, a gorgeous Samuel Hannaford & Sons-designed 556-seat music hall built in 1908 and loving restored in 2016.
My buddy Craig and I were pretty much in seats 555 and 556…. the very last row of the balcony. But there truly isn’t a bad seat in the house.
I hadn’t planned to go originally. I’m such a Rush fan that part of me wanted to keep my memories of the countless concerts of theirs that I saw “pure.”
But Craig texted me the day before and I signed on. After all, Neil Peart isn’t coming back, and those songs still mean a lot to me.
Yes, the Rush Tribute Project is a tribute band, but they really nailed the songs, which is no small feat when you’re dealing with Rush’s complex arrangements and time signatures. And they gave fans their money’s worth – 27 songs over two sets.
My tour of tours wrapped up on Saturday, at a barn in Martinsville, Ohio.
The husband and wife who comprise the band Over the Rhine (they got their name from the historic district just north of downtown Cincinnati) bought a farm about an hour northeast of Cincinnati several years ago, and lovingly restored the barn on site to turn it into a really cool performance space.
Mrs. Dubbatrubba, our friend Heather, and I drove up to see Patty Griffin, one of our favorite singer-songwriters.
Over the Rhine did a short opening set too. Such a unique and soul-nourishing experience!
Now, it’s time for a bit of rest from the concert scene.
Although Steve Earle is doing an acoustic tour that’s coming through town on Sunday…
Damian on Smartphones are making us dumb.: “Thanks for (not) reading the post, Kevin. And thanks for mentioning several other formats (article, essay, poem) that can train…” Feb 23, 19:55
Kevin on Smartphones are making us dumb.: “You know I didn’t read your post because I don’t need to. The lack of reading of all generations reveals…” Feb 23, 10:32
Kevin Sullivan on Warren piece: “Praise Warren. He also said, “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long…” Jan 15, 08:48
Damian on Eternally Grateful… still: “Thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing that song, Chuck! You’re absolutely right that the Deadhead community is amazing.” Jan 15, 08:17
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