Radio Artifact, currently serving as Cincinnati’s home for local, regional and national music, has expanded its operations to include a dedicated venue inside of the Urban Artifact brewery named Radio Artifact Live.
 
The room was completed with an aesthetic facelift that shows off improvements to the architectural acoustics.

Radio Artifact Live is a “live” recording label, recording local and touring talent for release on Radio Artifact Records.

Radio Artifact started as a pirate radio station with a low frequency signal on 1660 AM based in the Rectory attic next door to Urban Artifact in 2017 as local favorite radio station WNKU was going off the air as a local indie station.
 
Scott Hand, one of the owners of UA, had been floating around the idea for an in-house radio station for some time, and finally had the right crew to build, operate, and sustain a radio station from scratch.
As Hand was populating the library with local tracks, Devin Brooks and Andrew Tetrick built the necessary parts to make the studio, stream and signal work as Jeremy Moore found more music and artists to send in their tracks and organize the show producers. The station quickly filled with DJs and original programmers, such as WNKU alumni Ken Hanes and international Funk virtuoso Freekbass.

Shortly after Radio Artifact launched, it was picked up to be on 91.7 WVXU Cincinnati Public Radio’s FM HD2 signal which has brought Radio Artifact to 20,000+ monthly listeners.

In 2019, the RA team started compiling artists to record live from their soundstage during the 5-6 days per week music is held for release on the Radio Artifact Records label. “We see so much talent in our city and from all around the country that it made sense to give those artists an affordable (and mostly free) way to have their music mixed and mastered and released to the major music streaming aggregates.” says Radio Artifact part owner and booking manager / talent scout Jeremy Moore.

The venue had to close for normal shows when COVID 19 hit, which left the crew wondering what to do with the soundstage. "We had to do something. We had this gorgeous and intricately designed stage built out as a big present to performers, but we were blindsided by something that nobody could have seen coming, so we built on what we were doing and improvised." says Moore. "Scott, Devin and Andrew have everything expertly placed. They are true wizards of sound and production."
 
The venue now holds live shows in front of no audience, with artists playing their live sets in the sanctity of a beautifully built soundstage.

The label already has around 2 dozen acts on board, and not all of them are from Cincinnati. There are an eclectic amount of genres from all across the country, with artists such as:
Upbeat synth funk Jeb Bush Orchestra from Boston, MA
Acid Jazz Akron, OH quintet - Acid Cats
Rock and Roll splendor from Zoo Trippin' via Columbus, OH
Funk/Jazz Fusion Safety Squad from Columbus, OH
Instrumental hip hop & experimental duo After Ours from South Bend, IN
Thoughtful lyricist and Folk Soul troubadour Adam Faucett from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Experimental classically tinged horn ensemble works from Jessica Pinkham and co. from Dayton, OH.

Hometown Cincinnati bands are well represented with awe inspiring hip hoppers Patterns of Chaos and Eugenius, harmonic and raucous Rock n Roll from Heavy Hinges and Motel Faces, indie pop darlings Sundae Drives, wild hard edged Art Rock from Go Go Buffalo, A stripped down folk rock performance from Sweet Pablo, spacey post rock from Near Earth Objects. There will be more releases to follow in the coming months.

Eclecticism in music representation is a main focus for Radio Artifact as a radio station and record label. “It’s an honor and privilege to be present to witness these unique individuals tell their stories through music, let alone get to be behind the mixing board.” said lead sound engineer Devin Brooks. “Life is magic, if you want it to be.”

The recordings will be released under Radio Artifact Records via Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and many many more streaming sites all over the world and on their Radio Artifact Records Bandcamp.com site.