By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
It certainly will be Bob Knauf’s night – he’s entering the Northern Kentucky Music Legends Hall of Fame, posthumously, Thursday, June 13th. And he will have no less than eight living members of the Hall to celebrate with him.
The event is set for Tower Park, 950 S. Ft. Thomas Avenue – the Induction Ceremony is set for 6 p.m. in the Mess Hall; with a concert featuring past and present Hall of Famers in the Amphitheatre, 7-10 pm.
Admission is free and open to the public.
The Northern Kentucky Music Legends Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization created to honor local musicians, singers, and bands.
Northern Kentucky Music Legends Hall of Fame inductees to be honored Thursday, June 13th:
• Steve Bonafel
A late bloomer, by some standards, he started singing and playing guitar in his early 20s – he followed up with fiddle. At 30-something he started writings songs and soon was encouraged to start his own band. He launched the group, “One Lota.” He recruited some of the area’s best grassers. In 2002 they released their first CD – “Never Grow Old,” a bluegrass Gospel project.
Local radio station WOBO (88.7 FM) was first to give them air-play in 2002. WAIF, and WNKU followed – then it went national, and later in Europe and even Israel. In 2006, the band was selected to perform at the prestigious IBMA Showcase in Nashville, Tenn., and released the CD – “Feuds & Fridays.”
On May 19, 2007 that CD made it to the top 25 radio chart.
A 2016 Bluegrass Song of the Year Winner, Bonafel played at The Pentagon, White House, and many military institutions. He served as mentor to country superstar Carley Pierce.
• Chris Cusentino
Cusentino started his musical career alongside his uncle – the great banjo picker Jeff Roberts – playing upright bass for The Katie Laur Band. From traditional Bluegrass with The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars, to Cajun music with Lagniappe, to Folk music with Jake Speed & The Freddies, to Children’s Entertainment with Zak Morgan, to Classic Rock with The Closers, to Cosmic American Country Rock with The Turkeys; his musical versatility, vocal; harmony, uncanny knack for memorizing the lyrics to thousands of songs, and his drive to play as many gigs as humanly possible has kept him a constant presence in the Northern Kentucky music scene for three decades.
• Group Effort Studios
Dan Murphy started the studio in 1976 and the reason it was dubbed, “Group Effort,” – people donated drums, keyboards, and time to help him put things together. Murphy collaborated with musician Wayne Hartman and they kept the studio alive. They added Jeffery Seeman and moved the studio to Kentucky in 1983.
In 1989, Bill Gwynne was added to the staff, then came Jeff Monroe. Interns from NKU and the University of Cincinnati kept the studio rolling. Projects included: artists, cruise ship shows, audio for video games, on-hold messages, audio books, theme park shows, forensic audio clean-up for law enforcement, band demos, NPR programs, commercials, music for movies and video playback.
Some of the notables that recorded at Group Effort – Peter Frampton, Sheldon Rey (Earth Wind and Fire), Rick Wake (Producer of Taylor Dayne), Mariah Carey, J-Lo), Paul Barrere (Little Feat), Craig Fuller Mike Reid – inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame and played with the Cincinnati Bengals).
Several A-Listers have used the studio – such as Blondie, The Doobie Brothers and Exile.
• Doug Hils
An all-around guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, he has played with some of the best musicians in town, including many Northern Kentucky Music Legends Hall of Famers. Over the years, he played with Trilogy, Showdown, Strange Brew, The Captives, The Pleasers, Korporation, Distance, Threshold, Fine Line, The New Lime, the Betsy Lippitt-Jake Walz Band, the Webster Devoto Band, and most-recently, Spokes – which includes Hall of Fame members Mickey Foellger, Mike Grosser and Melissa Singer-Reed.
As a Nord keyboard patch creator since 2011, his programs and synth samples have been loaded on thousands of Nord keyboards.
• Tim Lusby
As a high school senior, Lusby played with the Vegas Club Band. He was with the legendary Bobby Mackey for some five years. He went national with the group, Neon Cactus, and toured the country. That followed with a Daryl Singletary Tour – and appeared on several national TV shows.
Pam Tills was next – 10 days of 12-hour rehearsals – and six years of touring. Tillis served as a host of The Grand Ole Opry every five weeks – and Lusby, in fact, played the Opry.
Tracy Byrd called – and he was playing Western Swing.
• Rick Marksberry
Marksberry has played pedal steel guitar, banjo, dobro, and fiddle. In 1975, he opened for Barry Manilow at Music Hall and played at Reflections, The Matrix, and college concerts. From 1976-1980- Windfall, a four-piece band at Bogarts. He was a member of the Del Rio Band (1996-2000) – a local country band, and was an opening act for Billy Ray Cyrus, Johnny Paycheck and Mark Chestnut. He performed in The Appalachian Fair, each year from, 2019 to 2023 at Old Coney Island. Two more of the many bands he performed with – Apple Butter Band & Suits that Rock.
• Jake Walz
Walz has been performing in the greater Cincinnati area as both a solo and collaborative artist over 40 years. For the past two decades, he is headlined The Jake Walz trio, fatiguing follow NKYML inductees Micky Foellger and Mike Grosser.
He is also a member of the Wild Blue Yonder Band, with Grosser on bass, Glenn Terry on drums, Betsy Lippert on violin and vocals, Jim Menninger on guitar and vocals – and one of the area’s finest guitar players – Scott Sprague.
For the last decade, he has played the tri-state as a solo act at The Blind Lemon in Mt. Adams, Elk Creek Winery in Owenton, Coba Bar & Grill in Taylor Mill, and Sis’s and Pompillio’s in Newport.
He has been nominated twice for a CAMMY (Cincinnati Area Music Award) for Best Male Voicalist in the country music category.
• Bob Knauf
Posthumous honoree Bob Knauf, a legendary music teacher, performer, and community engager, will also be inducted into the hall of fame on Thursday. Eric Haas will provide Knauf’s career summary and will introduce his family, including his three children, Bill, Linda, and Nancy. The family group will lead the crowd in a resounding rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus in Knauf’s honor.
See the NKyTribune’s story about Bob Knauf here.
Where can I find the full list of hall of fame members?
Awesome group my brother ❤️ is one Drummer lives in Nashville