Wed 4/29 @ 6-7:30PM

Cleveland has a long and complicated music history that has been documented erratically by local historians and authors. Cleveland Rocks: Past Present Future, the nonprofit founded by Beachland co-owner Cindy Barber (one of the people who has documented it), provides resources to the area’s many talented musicians to help them further their careers. But as its name suggests it also has a mission to preserve the scene’s history.

So Barber will be moderating a panel, taking place at Visible Voice Books in Ohio City, addressing that history and what resources are available to unearth it. Panelists include Anastasia Pantsios, who has been writing about local music for publications including The Plain Dealer, U.S. Rocker, The Patrol, the Free Times and Scene for more than 50 years. During that the she has amassed a huge collection of materials relating to the local music, including her own photos, which she is in the process of donating to the Rock Hall Library and Archives for public research, while some of her material is also in the collection of the Western Reserve Historical society.

Panelist Steve Traina is the longtime host of a folk music show on Case Western Reserve University radio station WRUW-91.1FM. He was fortunate enough to acquire the files of Cleveland’s legendary music club La Cave from its former owners before they passed, and he used those files to publish a detailed book in 2024, telling the club’s story and recalling the many artists who played there as it evolved from a folk club to a rock venue hosting bands such as the Velvet Underground.

The final panelist is journalist Carlo Wolff, who assembled a scrapbook/oral of the music scene in Cleveland Rock and Roll Memories. But more importantly, he dug into Cleveland’s little documented  soul scene, which had less visibility than the rock scene, searching in obscure corners for participants’ hidden memories.

 The event is free and open to all.