Cincinnati - Music City

Nashville is one of the most important cities in the modern American music industry, but that wasn’t the case when Hank Williams was starting his career. For high quality recording with the best studio musicians, producer Fred Rose sent Hank up north to Cincinnati. In 1949, the Queen City was home to a potent mix of radio power, musical talent, and promotional savvy. The key players included broadcasting giant WLW, soon-to-be legendary businessman Syd Nathan, and a fledgling recording studio run by E.T. Herzog. It was at Herzog’s facility that Hank recorded “Lovesick Blues,” the song that launched his career.

Music scholar and Cincinnati native Steven Tracy wrote about his hometown’s reputation in the 1998 book, Going to Cincinnati - A History of the Blues in the Queen City. ideastream’s David C. Barnett asked him to talk about that history.