In the Spring of 2018, after I had self-published a book about my band, I was left with a lot of residual interest in the city and music scene we were a part of in the early 2000s. Revisiting the bands we gigged with, the venues we played at and all the other aspects of the time period got me interested in exploring deeper.
Having moved to Columbus in the Fall of 1998, I only knew a sliver of what had happened prior. I knew about Howlin' Maggie, having seen them play a bar in Toledo in the mid-90s. I new about Royal Crescent Mob, but not much. I knew about Watershed and had heard a few of their songs. Bands like Scrawl and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments were in my brain, but I knew even less about them. I learned about my contemporaries by playing shows with them and going to out various shows around town, but my knowledge of the past few decades of Columbus music was thin.
Since then, my knowledge has expanded. Being half of the Dig Me Out Podcast, which focuses on revisiting the music of the 90s, I've had a chance to revisit albums by Columbus bands such as Gaunt and the New Bomb Turks, and hosted Joe Oestreich of Watershed for a two-part episode to talk about his band and his book Hitless Wonder.
The Book
With all that swirling around my brain, I decided to start researching the Columbus music scene going back into the 1970s. What I found was a rich and unique history of garage, lo-fi, experimental, punk, alternative and independent music that has been going strong for four decades. From the moment the light bulb flipped on and I realized there was a story to tell, I knew I did not want to be the primary voice. Taking a queue from books such as "Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge" by Mark Yarm and "No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens" by Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steven Dilodovico, my approach to this project is an oral history told by the people who were there or who were involved in some direct way.
This is going to be a long process, as my initial interview list is well over fifty to start (edit, more like 150), and will only grow in the process. In addition, being that this is a book about music that I'm not intimately familiar with, I'll be digging deep into the sounds of the scene. Already being a music junkie with access to the various online streaming options, I'm excited to explore a treasure trove of music not available online, released in small amounts on vinyl and cassette.
What To Expect
As far as this blog, there will be several different types of posts going up on a regular schedule:
- Monday: band and artist profiles (which I'm calling "Know Yer Band" and "Know Yer Artist") that will collect basic info - name, band members and releases
- Tuesday: acquisitions I make for my own personal music collection of Columbus artists ("New Additions"), most likely stuff that isn't streaming or not well known
- Wednesday: an article, blog post, etc. relevant to the band being featured that week
- Thursday: a video relevant to the band being featured that week
- Friday: articles and videos relevant to Columbus music that will be useful in research
I'm posting this stuff as a find it, learn about it and acquire it. It will be an ongoing process, a living binder collecting bits and pieces of information to build the overall story of unique sounds, sights and people of the Columbus music scene. Ultimately, much of this won't specifically be in the book, so this blog will act as a supplement, providing the sights, sounds and a little backstory on each band.
