John Curley's locally-famous recording studio, and with it a piece of the Cincinnati music community, has been shuttered, officially this time.
Ultrasuede Studios, opened by the bassist of the Afghan Whigs in 1993, was among the best recording studios in the city for many years, recording such local mainstays as Wussy and the Greenhornes, among many, many others. And it wasn't meant to end this way, at least not according to Curley: he still had recording sessions on the books when he received a month's notice that the studio's lease was not being renewed.
But it's not a complete end for Ultrasuede. The lights went out on the old space in March, but Curley wasn't about to let not having a studio stop him from having a studio. And it seems luck and good networking were on his side: Scott Beseler, owner of The Lodge in Dayton, KY, heard about Ultrasuede's closing and thought of a way to save it.
Now, Curley and Beseler are uniting Ultrasuede and The Lodge in a joint venture. With the recording expertise of Ultrasuede and the resources and space of The Lodge, the new partners hope to open up new opportunities to local acts and draw more out-of-town artists to the Kentucky studio and performance space.
As we can testify here at INHAILER, the end of an era always means the beginning of another. We're excited to see what this kind of partnership can have on musicians and fans in Cincinnati, and we're sure there will be a lot more news from Ultrasuede and The Lodge to come!