Area label Sol Records is taking pre-orders now for the Dallas Moore Band’s next release, Hank To Thank, culled from the locally-based Country crew’s sessions one year ago with longtime Willie Nelson guitarist Jody Payne at the site of Cincinnati’s Herzog studios where Hank Williams laid down some of his early, big hits.

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Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Brian Olive — who came into the Cincinnati music scene from nearby southwestern Indiana with his former band The Greenhornes in the ’90s — is set to release his second solo effort, Two of Everything, early next month. The album is being issued June 7 by the Alive Naturalsound imprint, which issued Olive’s 2009 debut. Click the arrow above to hear the new LP track “Left Side Rock. Olive’s touring for the album begins next week in the south (Texas, Florida, etc.), leading up to his special appearance at the massive Bonnaroo music fest in Tennessee, where he’ll join the legendary Dr. John as part of an all-star jam session.

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Those who were contemplating heading to Indio, Calif., this summer purely to catch British experimental music kingpins Radiohead at Coachella can save a little cash and drive to Riverbend instead. This morning, the local outdoor shed announced that Radiohead will perform June 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets run $30 (for lawn seats) to $69.50 (plus fees) and go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. through ticketmaster.com, riverbend.com and all Ticketmaster box-office locations. Get your tickets early. The band is currently on a run of U.S. arena dates that have completely sold out.

A slick new Web site has been launched for Powerhouse Factories, that gem of a design firm in Newport, Ky., that has done commercial work for Duke Energy and P&G, but is best known for its fantastic poster art for concerts both in the Tri-State and around the country. In honor of the new site, Powerhouse is offering a 10% discount on orders from its online store, which has poster prints as well as cool Powerhouse T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and even beer koozies.

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Tonight, the Venue Formerly Known As The Southgate House hosts its first big show. The Thompson House — as it's now called after a family dispute went to court and resulted in the longtime operators getting the boot and the owners of faux-strip club the Brass Ass taking over — opens its doors tonight to the public for a 7 p.m. concert headlined by modern Ska/Reggae revivalists The Aggrolites.

A recent Enquirer story about the "new" venue drew an avalanche of comments, the vast majority of which suggested that those who were fans of the Southgate House despise the look and direction of the Thompson House, with its purple decor and Rock star murals. Check out this pic from the Thompson House's website:

But the new venue's origins and the relative abruptness of the closing of the Southgate House is angering people more than the color scheme. The wall colors are just purple icing on the cake, so to speak.

The Thompson House has been developing a schedule that seems to be attempting to mimic the eclectic nature of the old Southgate House — a little Jazz, some open mic stuff, a Hard Rock band, some Metal, some Country. Often, the Southgate House's eclectic nature harvested a following whose tastes crossed over. And as diverse as the bookings were, rarely were there shows at the old club that made you go, "Why would they bring THAT show to the Southgate." For much of its run, whoever was booking the Southgate House seemed to have good and, more importantly, consistent taste in a wide-range of music. They wouldn't just book a random Country band; they'd book an interesting, great or unusual one.

The Thompson House bookings so far seem like they will be able to attract a varied audience. But can the people who, say, go to the Blue Wisp Jazz Club every couple of weeks and will probably enjoy the local Jazz lineup at the venue feel at home going to the same club as the younger music lovers who used to hang out at The Mad Hatter (or its current occupier, Bangarang's of Covington) to watch Hardcore and Death Metal bands? We'll see.

I have clubs that I like to go to more than others, but I have never gone to a concert because of where it was being held. And I've never not gone to see a concert at a venue I don't feel as comfortable. But I would be less inclined to frequent a venue if I have a bad experience and I'd be less likely to just roll the dice and take a chance on a show at a venue in which I don't feel comfortable.   

I understand the passion of the Southgate lovers who insist they'll never set foot in the Thompson House, but if a band comes to town that you'd like to see, or your favorite local artist is performing in the "Rock Star Lounge" some night, you'll be hurting those artists as much as the new owners. Over the years, I've had club owners or promoters be dicks to me and occasionally have reached the point of anger where I momentarily think, "Screw them, I'll never write about one of their shows again." But it passes quickly. I've never "blacklisted" a club or promoter, no matter how big of an a-hole their employees are, because I've always felt that it would be unfair to both the musicians that work with them and the music fans who would like to know about the concerts they're promoting.

Like I said, I can totally understand the urge to boycott — I haven't stepped inside Clifton movie theater The Esquire since they "banned" CityBeat and its film critic from the theater after we reported how the operators had censored a raunchy part of a film without permission and without informing the audience of the edit. It's just one of those "principled" stands we all take and whether they are "rational" or not is relative and personal. (I'll admit that not going to the Party Source for several years after a manager was a jerk to me there was a little silly … but it made me feel a little better.)

Perhaps the hope is that if all these people who say they'll never go to the Thompson House actually don't, the club won't survive. But, from the bookings so far, a big chunk of the Southgate House's old clientele would never have been interested in the Thompson House bookings anyway. And if the Thompson House fails, someone might just come in and turn it into a Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill.

Me? I'm leaving the door open. I won't be there tonight, though I am a fan of The Aggrolites (and local openers The Ohms and The Newport Secret 6 are excellent, as well). I just have other plans. But, out of sheer curiosity alone, I will step foot in the Thompson House. And when there's music there I want to check out, I'll step foot it in it again and again. I miss the old Southgate House as much as anyone and I really appreciate the efforts of the previous owners, but I'm not going to deprive myself of a good concert experience. I mean, I never stopped going to Bogart's, even when it was the source of some of the worst concert experiences I've ever had.

Although when the Thompson House starts hosting the "Thompson House-produced country (music) revue show, 'Through the Years,' " as the Enquirer reported, I'll probably pass. I'm loyal to Kings Island when it comes to cheesy musical revue numbers.

Tickets for tonight's show are $13. You can buy them here and pick them up at Will Call (or buy them at the door). Click here to see who else is performing at the Thompson House, as well as some of the specialty nights.

This month, the Southgate House’s “Artist in Residence” series features a special pairing of two of Greater Cincinnati’s finest songwriters. Chuck Cleaver, formerly of cult heroes The Ass Ponys and currently a driving force behind Wussy, is joining Mark Utley, leader of Americana band Magnolia Mountain, every Wednesday in May, offering a rare chance to catch both singer/songwriters together and in a solo context. The free, 9 p.m. shows — which begin tonight — will also feature a different special guest each week.

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On Saturday, Brian Powers of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County — so instrumental in organizing that institution's ongoing tribute to the legacy of Cincinnati's King Records — put together and conducted one of the best King events yet, a panel discussion on Cowboy Copas & the Golden Age of Country Music.

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The Afghan Whigs first show in America in 13 years takes place Sept. 22 in Asbury Park, NJ, heading up a killer lineup at the I'll Be Your Mirror fest, presented by All Tomorrow's Parties. The fest is being curated by ATP and the Whigs' frontman Greg Dulli, whose first selections for the other acts on the bill was released last week. Dulli's picks: comedian Louis C.K., The Roots, Jose Gonzalez, Mark Lanegan, The Dirty Three, The Antlers, The Dirtbombs, Sharon Van Etten, Emeralds, Vetiver, Quinton and Miss Pussy Cat, Charles Bradley, Reigning Sound, a DJ set from The Roots' ?uestlove and Scrawl, the Whigs' Columbus-based pals (might Scrawl singer Marcy Mays reprise her vocal turn on the Whigs' classic, "My Curse"?). The show will also feature bands like Autolux, Hot Snakes and The Make-Up, part of the lineup chosen by ATP.

Greg Dulli gave Spin an interview and a little insight into the band's decision to get back together. In the interview, Dulli jokes about doing a set of all new songs at the reunion shows ("Oh, we're playing all new material," he says. "No old songs, just new stuff we’ve come up with. Wouldn’t that be amazing?") and says he finally got the bug to reunite after hanging out with bassist John Curley (who still lives in Cincy) and guitarist Rick McCullom (who is in Minneapolis). He also said when they first got together to rehearse, right before Thanksgiving last year, "the hair on the back of my neck stood up."

Read the full Spin interview here.

The article says Dulli was "cagey" about revealing whether or not the band would do any other shows in the U.S. (the band is doing four dates in Europe beginning with the May 27 I'll Be Your Mirror festival in London). But in another just-published interview — with the great music site The Quietus — Dulli said the band will probably do "at least" another 20 shows in addition to the five announced. (Fingers-crossed, Cincinnatians!)

Check out The Quietus interview here. 

The Afghan Whigs' also have a spiffy new website with lots of archival videos, a cool "This Date in Whigs History"-type feed and a lot of other info on the band. Visit the site here.

UPDATE: This morning, the Whigs site announced that the band has added six more shows to their reunion itinerary — all in Europe. But that means still 14 or so more to go, right?

The local boys done good. The Greenhornes capped off their “comeback” year — which saw the critically-acclaimed release of new material on Jack White’s Third Man imprint after years in limbo due to the rhythm section’s projects with White — with an acoustic session in the offices of Rolling Stone. The magazine has released video of the sessions (find the link below), which, quite literally, span the group’s entire discography.

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We music fans here in the tri-state area may not have the John Peel Show (well, now that the broadcasting icon is deceased, no one technically does anymore), but we do have WNKU’s "Studio 89." If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a seven-years-and-running weekly summer radio program featuring live in-studio performances by local and national Americana, Acoustic and Folk Rock bands and artists.

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