The fact that three of Columbus’ most successful musical expatriates— Nancy Wilson , Rahsaan Roland Kirk , and Dwight Yoakam —play such disparate styles of music tells you something about the nature of this city’s music scene. In a place where the Midwestern “keep to yourself” ethos of humility and privacy permeates the culture, the music community reflects that same sensibility. There are parallels in their stories, but the reasons they left—and the paths they took to success—are distinctly...

One of the perils of using the album as a lens for understanding a music culture is that so many essential artists, for a variety of reasons, leave behind little or no recorded evidence. Before recording equipment became cheap and accessible, the studio was out of reach for most musicians. Others were too busy making a living—touring, gigging, playing covers—to make recording a priority. And some, like the nearly forgotten Elsie Janis , reached prominence either before or right at the dawn of...

Considering that three of the acts would go on to sign major-label deals and that the first pressing of 5,000 copies quickly sold out, I feel comfortable saying that the Q-FM-96 Hometown Album Project is the most successful compilation of Columbus music—both commercially and artistically—ever released. While we’re fortunate today to have great non-commercial stations that still support local music, like WCBE , this project happened before deregulation hollowed out commercial radio and...