Believe it or not, Cincinnati is and always will be a “music town.” We often compress history to relatively recent events. Hanging our hats on great acts like Midnight Star, Afghan Whigs, Over the Rhine or Blessid Union of Souls. But our roots are much deeper…
With the advent of magnetic recording and the emergence of an independent music industry, Cincinnati was poised to be a music center. The powerful “clear channel” voice (no other stations at 700KHz AM) of Powell Crosley’s WLW reached nearly coast to coast without interference, spawned a market for music, simple and sophisticated. But beyond the radio, the stations stars created a parallel system to create new music: Fresh sounds poured out of Herzog Studios at 811 Race Street (current home of CityBeat!), including work by greats like Hank Williams (and not the Junior Hank).
With the focus on the King Records Memorial (a new facility and exhibit space slated for Evanston, in cooperation with XU), it seemed Herzog would be lost in the shuffle. Not so fast! Some of the King crew, and a group of local artists have banded together to finance a memorial plaque to commemorate that historic studio. That effort is covered in the piece Another Historic Day for Cincinnati Music on CityBeat.
The All Night Party is of course pitching in. Chief Dave Davis, with assistance from partner John Curley and his studio, Ultrasuede, will be recording a benefit concert at the Southgate House (listed on our calendar). Come out to support Herzog and Cincy music history this Saturday night… should be a great show!
