2 posts tagged “ohio”

Saw Chrissie Hynde play with her Pretenders last night at the 9:30. Not a lot to say about the show, except that she still rocks and she's about the only woman her age who pretty much looks today like she did in the 1970s. Maybe it's all the veggies she eats. I dunno.

The Pretenders didn't play "Middle of the Road." And they didn't play "My City Was Gone," a song about paving old farms and putting up parking lots in Ohio. It got me thinking about songs that either feature Ohio in the title or have lyrics about Ohio. The Jayhawks have a song about making calls from "deep in Ohio." A Modest Mouse song repeats the name of the state over and over again. Liz Phair shoehorns it into a rhyme about Cinco De Mayo. I'm just scratching the surface. Don't make me raise the specter of Les Nessman, livin' on the air in Cincinnati, WKRP. What gives? Why so many songs about Ohio? Here's another to add to the list:

I am obsessed this week with Sun Kil Moon's Carry Me Ohio, and Mark Kozelek's lyrics specifically.

All This Time

Heartless Bastards

Must everything good and right (musically) in this universe come from Ohio? It certainly feels that way these days. Is it the disproportionate number of Cracker Barrels and Bob Evans restaurants? Is it that all musical talent in the state feels the weight of Guided by Voices' Bob Pollard breathing his hot alcoholic breath down their necks, pushing them do to more, better, faster? Is it something that comes from growing up in a former farm/industry/mill town that's since been paved over/abandoned that makes one pick up a guitar and rock? Is it that I spent four formative years in Athens, and the state's never been the same?

I dunno what makes Dayton's Heartless Bastards what they are, but I had the pleasure of love and first sight two Tuesdays ago at Iota nightclub in Arlington. I don't often check out bands I don't know, but Kim and Tim, two lovely Ohioans, had me join them for an evening of the HB. I was hooked. Instantly. Such a small woman. Such a large voice. I do believe now that everything nice comes from that state. 'Cept for Hot Rod, the meanie. Listen and fall in love here.