WNKU's long-running live radio show featuring established and emerging musicians from around the world performing in front of a live studio audience, returns to the airwaves on Monday, February 18th. The show will air live Monday nights at 7:00 pm until the season finale on May 6th.
As always, the series will feature some of the best musical veterans and hottest up-and-comers to the national and local scenes. This year, however, Studio 89 goes global with musicians from France, Scotland, and Serbia.
The season kicks off with Cincinnati’s own, Kelly Richey Band. Described as “Stevie Ray Vaughan trapped in a woman’s body with Janis Joplin screaming to get out,” Kelley has recorded 14 albums on her own. Now she’s teamed up with drummer, Jyn Yates and iconic Cincinnati bass player, Freekbass.
Noah Hunt is another icon in the Cincinnati music scene. While Cincinnati has always known Hunt to be one of the best voices in town, international fame came when he joined the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band as lead singer and rhythm guitarist in 1997. Their first album together yielded no less than three number one hits, including the monster hit “Blue on Black.”
Bonnie Bishop is a Nashville artist and relatively new favorite of WNKU. She’s described as “three parts Gavin Degraw, Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt, with a splash of Grace Potter and a shot of Robert Earl Keen.” She recently co-wrote Raitt’s “Not Cause I Wanted To,” which was named the top song of 2012 by the New York Times’ music critic, Jon Pareles.
A couple of Chicago blues artists will grace the Studio 89 stage this spring. They are Nick Moss and Little Ed & the Imperials - a group widely considered by blues enthusiasts to be one of the best live blues acts around.
Local favorites, Lisa Biales (Oxford, OH) and Ricky Nye (Cincinnati) continue the blues theme while tying in another noted theme of this spring’s series – international artists. Performing with Ricky Nye and Lisa Biales will be “The Parisians.” You get one guess as to where they’re from.
Also representing both blues and international artists is Ana Popovic from Serbia. Ana is an award-winning blues singer/guitarist who has jammed alongside B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Robert Randolph and John Lee Hooker JR.
Perhaps the most anticipated group from overseas will be Frightened Rabbit. The Glasgow, Scotland band has received praise from indie and mainstream heavy-hitters like Pitchfork Media, NME, The Guardian, and the BBC. They first came to the attention of WNKU listeners in 2008 when the band was featured on the popular syndicated program, World Café.
Cincinnati favorite, Kim Taylor, is no stranger to WNKU. She makes her return to Studio 89 on April 1 to perform songs from her forthcoming album, Love’s A Dog. She’ll also discuss her acting debut in the independent film, I Used to Be Darker, which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
The spring season of Studio 89 concludes with the return of Hadden Sayers. Sayers is originally from Houston, Texas, but currently resides outside of Columbus, Ohio. His upcoming release, Rolling Soul, is WNKU’s CD of the Month for February.
The complete Studio 89 line up is scheduled as follows:
FEB. 18: KELLY RICHEY BAND FEATURING FREAKBASS (Cincinnati)
FEB. 25: NOAH HUNT (Cincinnati)
MARCH 4: BONNIE BISHOP (Nashville, TN)
MARCH 11: SPRING BREAK - NO SHOW
MARCH 18: LITTLE ED & THE IMPERIALS (Chicago, IL)
MARCH 25: FRIGHTENED RABBIT (Selkirk, Scotland)
APRIL 1: KIM TAYLOR (Cincinnati)
APRIL 8: ANA POPOVIC (Belgrade, Serbia)
APRIL 15: NICK MOSS (Chicago, IL)
APRIL 22: LISA BIALES (Oxford, OH) W/ RICKY NYE (Cincinnati) & THE PARISIANS
APRIL 29: TBD
MAY 6: HADDEN SAYERS (Bexley, OH)
Studio 89 takes place in the Digitorium of NKU's Griffin Hall. The Digitorium is a state of the art facility complete with opera box seating, professional lighting, and a 15' x 25' LED video wall.
Admission to Studio 89 is free, but there will be a suggested donation of $5.00 per person. Seating is limited and reservations will be accepted online the Tuesday before each show. Cut off will be the following Thursday at noon. Active WNKU Members receive first priority in the order received. If, by Thursday at noon seats are not filled by members, non-members will be taken in the order received. Listeners can become members by making a financial contribution to WNKU online at www.wnku.org or by calling 859-572-6500.
Once again, NKU's talented Electronic Media students will be recording it all to video for playback on Kentucky Educational Television and Insight Cable. A television schedule of Studio 89 will be determined and announced later this spring.
For more on WNKU and Studio 89, visit www.wnku.org.
About WNKU…
WNKU is licensed in Highland Heights, Ky., and is owned and operated by Northern Kentucky University. The station broadcasts an Adult Album Alternative music format on 89.7 FM in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati, 104.1 FM in Portsmouth, Ohio, and 105.9 FM in Middletown, Ohio. WNKU has been voted “Best Radio Station” in Cincinnati by the readers of CityBeat Magazine eight times – more than any other station since the annual poll began.
