On Final Approach to Record Store Day 2012 in Southwest Ohio

by Jonathan Goolsby

CINCINNATI — The boss looked at me quizzically.  “Why do you need off Saturday again?”

I was tempted to say shomer Shabbos.  I feel that strongly about it.  “Record Store Day,” I said.  “It’s basically a holiday.”

“Never heard of it.”  Her eyebrow arched.

“Obviously, you’re not a vinylhead.”

“But you wanted off Friday, too.”

“I know.  I have a show to go to that night.  That’s Record Store Day Eve.  It’s kind of like midnight Mass for rock and roll.”

“Uh huh.  You do want to keep working, right?”

“It only comes once a year.”  And it’s a full lineup for Record Store Day 2012.

Cincinnati’s Brian Olive Locks Down the Groove with Dr. John on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Dr. John’s new album, Locked Down produced by none other than favored Akron son Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), dropped this week.  Bonus:  Cincinnati verve master Brian Olive, whose own Auerbach-produced Two of Everything won last year’s Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Album of the Year, plays bass on the record.

“Dan told me he was going to produce the next Dr. John album and asked if I’d play on it,” said Olive, via e-mail from his super-secret base camp in NYC – he’s playing a three-night stand, starting tonight, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Dr. John’s backing band.  “I just said, ‘When and where?’”

As part of the press rollout, the assembled company played Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this past Tuesday.  And there’s Olive, all the way to the right of the line, jamming it.  In case you missed it, click the photo below to watch the performance on the Jimmy Fallon website:

“I had a good time playing Fallon,” Olive related.  “Meeting ?uestlove (of The Roots) was one of the better moments.”

We asked him how the East Coast scene compares to Cincinnati, what Southwest Ohio artists can learn from them, and what Brooklyn can learn from us.

“I’m working with some of the best artists in New York, so my perspective might be a bit skewed,” Olive said.  “In general, though, it’s just a bigger place with more happening at once.  I wish Cincinnati would broaden its mind and NYC would slow down for a minute!”

Dr. John’s Locked Down is now out on CD.  The vinyl LP will be released on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 21.

To celebrate Cincinnati bands and local, independent record stores, Brian Olive will headline Salina Underground’s free Record Store Day Eve rock showcase at Northside Tavern on Friday, April 20, 2012, with special guests The Sweep and The Chance Brothers (who will also be releasing their debut CD that night).  Doors at 8 pm, show at 9 pm.