Matt Lacefield

In the Bleak midwinter

Concert Listings, Music, podcast

The dreaded holiday hiatus from live music is inching closer. There are fewer gigs on the ol’ “This Week in Live Music” Koncert Keeper for the next couple of weeks, so let’s make this a double shot to get us thru 2021 (a.k.a. 2020 Part II). Yes, it’s the famous “year-end double issue” that publications like to roll out at this time of year… because “year-end double issue” sounds so much better than “we’re half-assing our way through the next couple of weeks.”

He can hardly bear to hear more Mariah Carey.

Before we get to this week’s fortnight’s gigs, let’s get a crowd ‘n venue review from Mr. Jason Isbell:

Very kind of Jason to say that about our fair burgh. Let’s hope his Icon plaudits attract the attention of other touring artists.

OK, on with the shows…

Tonight, Over the Rhine kicks off a three-night stand at Memorial Hall, Motherfolk and Sylmar play Bogart’s, Ekoostik Hookah plays the old Annie’s, Ben Levin is at Brewriver with special guest Johnny Burgin, and the Fleetwood Mac tribute (the band, not the mac & cheese dish at Keystone) is at Ludlow.

Saturday, Anderson East plays Bogart’s, Squirrel Nut Zippers are at Ludlow Garage, Phil Vassar & Sister Hazel are playing the Hard Rock Casino, Afroman celebrates “Merry Spliffmas” at the old Annie’s, and Ben Levin and Johnny Burgin will be on stage at Big Ash. The next morning, they’ll be playing the Hard Rock Casino.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (no relation to Voodoo Chile) plays the Taft on Tuesday.

Maddie Poppe has an Acoustic Christmas show at Ludlow on Thursday, and Ben Levin plays Shire’s Garden.

Santa Claus is coming to town very late next Friday. You’d better watch out.

Rick “Dr. Noah Drake from General Hospital” Springfield plays the Icon on Wednesday, December 29th.

Not a doctor. Played one on TV.

The Rumpke Mountain Boys kick off a two-night stand at the old Annie’s next Thursday, December 30th. That same evening, Ben Levin will be playing Dead Low Brewing.

Arlo McKinley is at the Madison Theater on New Year’s Eve, while Freekbass will be doing a Funkadelic-KISS mashup called FunKISSdelic at Ludlow Garage. Clutch (the band, not the part I had replaced on my 1976 Datsun B-210 back in ’87) plays the Icon, with Stoner (the band, not the guy in the 2nd balcony with the vape pen) and Native Howl.

Also on New Year’s Eve, this lil’ scamp celebrates another spin around the sun:

Wardrobe by Botany 500.

He plans to celebrate by drinking expired eggnog and staying up until the wee hours (9:45 p.m.).

If he’s feeling extra wacky, he might even have some fruitcake…

Listen Up!

KEXP will be counting down the top albums of the year (as voted on by listeners) today. List member “Rico” recommends this list of the year’s top 100 albums, courtesy of a Finnish music blogger. Luann “Miss Kitty” Gibbs of Inhailer Radio (and the calendar listings queen at the Cincinnati Enquirer) put together a lengthy Spotify playlist of her favorite songs (here), as did Matt “I don’t have a cool nickname like ‘Rico’ or ‘Miss Kitty'” Lacefield (here). Matt also does a music blog/online radio show thang at The Unfamiliar. (Both Luann and Matt have been guests on the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast… check it out if you have some free time over the holiday break.)

Album Cover of the Week

The person who did the egregious airbrushing work on this cover must’ve already been in “year-end double issue” mode.

Have a great week, and then another great week, and best wishes for a happy 2022!

Episode 70: Getting (un)familiar with Matt lacefield

97X, Music, podcast

Matt Lacefield played cutting-edge music on a Cincinnati radio station… but it wasn’t 97X. While Dave and Damian were on the air at 97X in the 90s, Matt was a DJ for Nightwaves, which aired overnights on WVXU-FM. So we were kindred spirits… and still are, because Matt loves discovering new music. He’s sharing his latest favorites via his blog/podcast called “The Unfamiliar.” We chat with Matt about his radio days and how he finds and shares the latest and greatest indie tunes.

97X served as a gateway to a life of music discovery for Matt, just as it did for so many other Tri-state teenagers. Here’s an excerpt from Matt’s blog:

My older brother, three years older and close enough in age to be an influence (for better or worse), also played a big role in my music obsession as a teen.  He was tuned in to U2, the Talking Heads, INXS, the Smiths, and so much more.  The walls of his bedroom were lined with racks of cassettes full of bands who were completely foreign to me.  Like the scent of a pie on the windowsill, the sounds coming from down the hall lured me in. I would sneak into his room, borrow cassettes, listen to them when he wasn’t home, and sneak them back. This exposed me to bands like R.E.M., Husker Du, the Minutemen, and the Replacements. In hindsight, this was the beginning of my love of digging for new music.  I had also heard him listening to a radio station that I had never heard of, WOXY – 97X FM, broadcasting from Oxford, Ohio, playing the same music that lined his walls. For me and so many others my age who lived in Southwest Ohio, discovering 97X was like striking gold. It provided a soundtrack to my life until it went off the air in 2010.

From the “About” page of Matt’s blog

Matt’s podcast is called The Unfamiliar, and you can listen to the first episode below.

https://the-unfamiliar.com/the-unfamiliar-episode-one-10-1-21/

Here are a couple of shots of Matt’s extensive music collection: