Browse Interviews

Derek Hess is a Cleveland artist that got his start while working at the Euclid Tavern, booking bands and creating concert posters. In this interview, Hess discusses his past and current endeavors, and shares stories about concerts he used to attend when he was younger.

Born in 1950, Gibson grew up first in the Glenville neighborhood and then in Kinsman, with most of that time at Garden Valley, an urban renewal housing development near Kinsman and East 79th Street. He tells great stories about the early days in Garden Valley in the late 1950s before the gullies were filled with dirt excavated along the downtown…

Henry Loconti grew up in the Italian immigrant neighborhood on Scovill Avenue on the lower Eastside. He talks about his youth growing up in this area. After he got out of the army in 1954 he started working for his brother servicing jukeboxes. He talks about the music spots around the city during this time. In 1966 he started the Agora which over…

Pat Holland, resident of Hessler Street since the early 1970's, relates the history of Hessler Street. As a college student in the late 1960's Holland recalls the vibrant jazz and folk music scene in the University Circle area, and the night life in the area of Euclid and 105th Street. He describes some of the prominent musical acts that appeared…

Kathy Blackman, owner of the Grog Shop, describes her business. She talks about the founding of the venue, and how her and her two partners set off without a plan. She also mentions that their growth into the music scene was entirely organic. She says that at one point she considered moving away from Cleveland Heights because a new landlord had…

Brendan Ring describes being the owner of Nighttown in Cleveland Heights. He begins with a discription of his history, the history of the building, and a history of the establisment. He also discusses previous owner John Barr. He talks about his favorite acts that passed through Nighttown, which included big names like Wynton Marsalis and Stevie…

John Barr, first owner of Nighttown, speaks of his experiences there. He describes the difficult beginnings that the bar had, but that they persevered and eventually made it to where they are now. Barr describes the building and how its changed over the years. He also talks about how the neighborhood went from near collapse to bustling and…

This interview was conducted as part of Cleveland State University's 50th Anniversary Comemmoration effort. Lawrence Caswell is a native to the Cleveland area and is currently a Radio Engineer for WCPN IdeaStream. He grew up in Bedford Heights, Ohio and enrolled at CSU in 1993. Caswell immediately joined the campus radio station WCSB, eventually…

This interview was conducted as part of Cleveland State University's 50th Anniversary Comemmoration effort. Ed Ferenc is a lifelong Clevelander. Born on the citys east side, Ferenc moved Seven Hills where he attended Shiloh Jr. High and Normandy HS. Ferenc initially enrolled at CSU as an electrical engineering student but soon after switched his…

Chris Kulcsar, a Cleveland rocker, recalls his time at Cleveland State University and what it was like growing up in Cleveland's Indie Rock scene. He talks about the radio shows and art programs that he was involved with while at CSU. He liked the radio station so much that he feigned being a student at CSU just to have his own radio show. Later on…

George Hendricks was born in Bessemer, Alabama, in 1942 and moved to Cleveland at age 6. His first major performing band was called the Sahib's, which opened for many Motown artists, recorded on the Tri Phi label, and played regularly at Gleason's. Hendricks describes the rhythm and blues music scene in Cleveland in the late 1950s and early 1960s.…

In this 2005 interview, Andrea Sweazy, niece of legendary Cleveland Agora founder Henry LoConti and (currently) the booking agent for the Cleveland Agora, discusses her childhood, including her love of music while growing up; her college years in Chicago, including her early efforts to combine business acumen with the love of music; and her…

In this 2005 interview, Henry Loconti, founder of the Agora Nightclub in Cleveland, discusses the history of the famous nightclub which provided the "big break" for Cleveland bands like Eric Carmen and the Raspberries and Grand Funk Railroad. Mr. Loconti talks about how he started in the jukebox business and in later in the 1960s opened the first…

Charm Warren-Celestine was born in Cleveland in 1950 and grew up in the Wade Park neighborhood. Her parents owned several record stores from the 1960s through the 1990s, Dean's House of Jazz. She worked for her parents and continued her love of music with a career in radio sales and artist promotions. This 2009 interview opens Warren-Celestine…

Joan and James Orosz were born in Cleveland in 1942 and grew up on the city's east side. This 2009 interview with the husband and wife deals with the the music they listened to growing up as well as race relations. The two remember listening to the ethnic music their parents favored before developing a liking for rock and roll and R & B. Joan and…

Lou Ragland is a musician, singer, and record industry veteran. He was born in 1942 in Cleveland. The interview covers his childhood in segregated Cleveland and his life in music.

Lynn Tolliver was born in Cleveland in 1950. He started working in radio at age 18 and is still in the music industry as a radio announcer and song writer; he is also an author. The interview discusses his childhood, family, race issues and music.

George Hendricks was born in Alabama in 1942 and moved to Cleveland at the age of 7. He is a singer with The Hesitations and has been performing music since he was a teenager. This 2009 interview discusses his long career as a professional R & B musician in Cleveland, describing the bands and the places in which he played, his struggles to make…

Linda Shisila was born in Cleveland in 1950 and grew up in Parma, a suburb on Cleveland's west side. This 2010 interview discusses her childhood, focusing on the music she listened to throughout it. Shisila was an avid fan of rock and roll and saw it as a great form of fun and entertainment. Comparing the music from her childhood to that of…

Bill Spoon was born in Alabama in 1942 and came to Cleveland in 1960, becoming involved in the city's music scene. He is the founder of The Soul Notes singing group. This 2009 interview discusses his childhood in Alabama and his life in Cleveland, focusing on the community of African-American musicians in Cleveland in the 1960s and 1970s that he…

John Wilson is a musician and music industry veteran who was born in Cleveland in 1949. In this 2009 interview he discusses growing up on Cleveland's east side, his life long involvement with rock and roll music, and the issue of racism, both within the music industry and in Cleveland. As his family was one of the first black families in his east…

Jamilah Zand was born in Cleveland in 1954. This 2009 interview discusses her childhood, racial issues, and the music she grew up with. Zand, who grew up on Cleveland's east side, shares memories of attending concerts, listening to the radio, and sampling new music from her different relatives' record collections. She also comments on the music…

Sheila Blecman is the owner of Coventry Cats. She was born in Elyria in 1946, and later went to Ohio State University before finding a teaching job in LA. She moved back to Cleveland in the 1980s and opened Coventry Cats. The interview is about her childhood in Elyria where she worked in her father's grocery store, race relations in the 50s and…

Mike Olszewski is a newscaster for WKSU-FM and a professor of communications at Kent State University and the University of Akron, as well as the author of several books. He was born in Cleveland in 1953. The interview discusses his childhood, racial issues, music, and the media.

Jean Cotton was born in Cleveland in 1946. Much of this 2009 interview centers around Cotton's experiences growing up in Cleveland and Ravenna, Ohio under the guidance of her strict, minister father. Against his wishes, she listened to a good deal of rock and R & B music, the content and meaning of which she describes in great detail. She left…

John Tate was born in 1947 in Youngstown and moved to Cleveland in 1970. In this 2009 interview, Tate discusses his childhood and young adulthood, focusing in particular on music and race relations. Tate describes the rock and roll and R & B music he listened to as a youngster and its significance to his life. The issue of race relations enters…