The Quiet One

Columbus music and culture

Sally Fingerett – Encl/sf (Enclosed)

When Sally Fingerett was announced as one of the artists selected to appear on the second Q-FM-96 hometown album in September 1980, she’d...

Drew Layman

Jun 21, 20235 min read

The Piano Of Terry Waldo – Sounds Of Ragtime & Vaudeville

Ragtime is one of the most under-appreciated and misunderstood forms of American music. Considering it was popular for a relatively short time over 100 years ago, maybe that’s understandable. Maybe it makes sense, then, that Terry Waldo - probably the foremost expert on this esoteric music alive today - is one of the most under-appreciated Columbus musicians. But he’s not just a musician. He literally wrote the book on ragtime . And in 1974, he released a live solo performan

Drew Layman

Jun 2, 20234 min read

Hank Marr Trio + 3 – Teentime Latest Dance Steps

By all accounts, organist Hank Marr and tenor saxman Rusty Bryant had a tight personal and professional relationship. But after a March...

Drew Layman

May 9, 20236 min read

Red Wanting Blue - From The Vanishing Point

Surreal probably doesn’t do justice to the experience singer/songwriter Scott Terry and his Red Wanting Blue bandmates had when they...

Drew Layman

Apr 22, 20235 min read

Blueprint – Iron & Niacin

In the liner notes of Iron & Niacin, Columbus hip-hop artist Blueprint notes that it isn't an “album.” Originally released in 2005 as...

Drew Layman

Mar 26, 20233 min read

Salt Horse - The Best Of Times?

A couple of years ago, I took on one of those “20 albums in 20 days that made an impact” Facebook threads. It was probably started by...

Drew Layman

Feb 26, 20234 min read

Watershed - Three Chords And A Cloud Of Dust - Live

Recorded at the Newport Music Hall, filled with photos of the venerable campus venue, and with a title alluding to Woody Hayes’ offense,...

Drew Layman

Feb 12, 20234 min read

McGuffey Lane – Aqua Dream

By the spring of 1981, McGuffey Lane was flying high. Their self-titled debut continued to sell briskly after being reissued on Atco....

Drew Layman

Feb 3, 20236 min read

J. D. Blackfoot - The Song Of Crazy Horse

After Mercury released The Ultimate Prophecy in 1970, J. D. Blackfoot went through many changes personally and professionally in a...

Drew Layman

Jan 21, 20235 min read

Introducing Roland Kirk

By 1960, it had been three years since King Records released his debut Triple Threat album and Roland Kirk had left Columbus for good. He felt underappreciated in his hometown, but more than anything he felt he was being pigeonholed as a “local artist.” “You have to be a gypsy in this country to make money,” Kirk later told an audience at the Village Vanguard. “When you stay in one place you get tagged and the guys say, ‘Oh that’s a local group, y’know.’” He toured more natio

Drew Layman

Jan 7, 20238 min read

Zero One - Darwin's Finch Vs The Flying Saucers

One recurring theme I've noticed as I delve into Columbus music is the negative experience that bands who sign with record labels often have. Perhaps no one had a tougher go than Zero One . It wouldn’t be believable if it wasn’t true. Formed in the fall of 1986, Zero One had paid its dues in the clubs before signing a contract with Columbus-based Sisapa in 1990. The band spent four months crafting their debut album. A March 1991 release date was set. Sisapa’s distribution pa

Drew Layman

Dec 22, 20226 min read