The Next: Come heckle Lou Barlow

5/10/2018

Lo-fi rocker Lou Barlow to perform Friday at Culture Clash.

THE BLADE
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“You know, it’s a generous ticket price [for me], so for that you should be able to come and do whatever you want.”

And Lou Barlow wants you to come to Culture Clash on Friday to do exactly that for your $25.

The former bassist of Dinosaur Jr. and front man for Sebadoh and Folk Implosion will be at Culture Clash for an intimate solo acoustic singer/songwriter/storyteller performance surrounding the promotion of his new single “Love Intervene,” but admits he wants people to come talk about their favorites and ask questions. Now 51 with an ailing shoulder from an ice-spill while holding — and saving — his one-year-old daughter, he loves doing the earlier, smaller sets because he gets that much needed connection to people — and to get to bed earlier. 

WATCH: Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. front man in Toledo for intimate solo show

Barlow’s most familiar success may actually the be the hit ‘90s song “Natural One” from Folk Implosion. But Toledoans would be wise to look further into the lo-fi rocker’s influences.

He was actually born in Jackson, MI, and raised in Dayton. Thus he says he was oddly familiar with Toledo his whole life — though mainly by driving by. 

“My dad would always say, there’s Toledo... the mighty Maumee!” Things like that ear-wormed their way into Barlow’s musical conscience. 

Note Sentridoh, another of Barlow’s ‘90s/’00s myriad side projects and another term of his own invention. Strong consonants, big vowel finishes. These are the kinds of words Barlow loves to make up, Toledo plays no small role in that. One’s deductive powers don’t even need to be that keen to identify where the song “Poledo” caught its influence. 

But the ‘87 chaotic, grunge-y, ukelele driven track of noise and sunken melodies from Dinosaur, Jr’s “You’re Living All Over Me” also led to his first marriage. A college DJ at the time named Kathleen Billus interviewed Barlow about the track. That turned into romance, 20 years of marriage and two children. 

That’s a very Toledo thing to have happen. Or in Lou’s case, a very Poledo thing. 

Go see him at Culture Clash and ask him about it — or heckle him about it. For more information, visit the event page. 

Contact Phillip Kaplan at pkaplan@theblade.com, and follow on Twitter @filkap; Lori King may be contacted at loriking@theblade.com