In January of 2017, CityBeat premiered “Living on Top,” the title track from Cincinnati musician Brian Olive’s anticipated third solo album.
A refresher on Mr. Olive from that particular write-up/premiere:
Olive first came to the attention of local (then national) music fans as a member of Cincy legends The Greenhornes. After two albums with the band, Olive left to focus on his work as a multi-instrumentalist member of the renowned Soledad Brothers, moving to Detroit and working under the name Oliver Henry. Olive later moved back to Cincinnati and set up his The Diamonds studio in Northside, where he recorded what would become his self-titled debut, released in 2009 (read CityBeat's feature story on Olive from that time here). Two years later, Olive received even wider acclaim for his fantastic Two Of Everything LP, which he co-produced with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys (read CityBeat's interview from 2011 with Olive about that album here). He re-teamed with Auerbach for the 2012 Locked Down album by the legendary Dr. John. Olive’s contributions to that project (as co-writer and performer) earned him a Grammy when it took home the Best Blues Album statue at the 2013 ceremony.
We were pumped for the album release, profiling Olive for a cover story later in 2017 in which we called Living on Top the possible “album of the year.”
A hometown release party at Woodward Theater followed in late April, but the actual album never did.
More than a year after that release party, Living on Top became available earlier this month on all major streaming platforms. You can also purchase the album on vinyl (black, blue and/or white) here. It’s also available at local indie brick and mortar stores like Shake It Records in Northside.
Better late than never! Consider Living on Top again officially in the running for album of the year (2018). Buy or stream it through Apple's services here, or stream it on Spotify here.
Olive is also returning to the live stage to support the "new" LP. He'll play with a full band at the RiversEdge Amphitheatre in Hamilton, Ohio next Thursday (Aug. 2) with Cleveland, Ohio Blues Rock squad Welshly Arms. The show is a part of the venue's free summer music series. Olive kicks off the Aug. 2 show at 6:30 p.m. Click here for more show and venue details.
Get more Brian Olive deets here.
