Ben Cook | Reporter
Dr. Matt Donahue, a professor in the Pop Culture Department, not only teaches at BGSU, but is also a local musician, filmmaker, writer and visual artist who has worked with a number of famous musicians.
Donahue’s early music career began with playing alongside many local Northwest Ohio bands such as Government Issue, Corrosion of Conformity and Adrenaline OD. As punk rock became a more accepted genre within society, he decided to pursue a professional music career with the band The Great Barbeque Gods.
“Looking back, you could say that we were a supergroup, with myself on vocals, Scott Shriner who is now in Weezer on bass, Brad Coffin on guitar and Tim Gahagan on drums. Brad Coffin and Tim Gahagan would both later become part of a very popular group in our area and beyond called Five Horse Johnson,” Donahue said.
Donahue is currently working with Tackhead, which is a supergroup with Doug Wimbish from Living Colour on bass, Bernard Fowler from the Rolling Stones on vocals, Keith LeBlanc on drums, who worked with Nine Inch Nails, Skip McDonald from Little Axe on guitar and Adrian Sherwood mixing from On-U Sound Records.
Donahue’s love of music has been prevalent since childhood, formed by many well known artists such as Louis Armstrong, The Clancy Brothers, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. Along with music, the Toledo Museum of Art and the Maumee Indoor Theater became the inspiration for his object sculptures, art cars and documentary films.
Donahue was also in a band called Head, which was inspired by Motorhead and Thin Lizzy. He also was part of an art and music collective called Universe Crew, which was signed to a London-based Green Tea Records which is owned and operated by legendary producer Adrian Sherwood.
As Donahue worked to develop his sound with various bands and projects, he also found himself working at Boogie Records, which is one of the most important independent record stores in Northwest Ohio.
“I was blown away reading this (Rolling Stone magazine) article as here was a place that was focused on studying all the things I was into, [like] popular music and popular culture, located in my own backyard of Northwest Ohio,” Donahue said. “It just so happened that Professor Bill Schurk, who was the head archivist at BGSU’s Sound Recordings Archive, would come into Boogie Records to purchase sound recordings for their collection.”
Donahue then decided to earn both a master’s and a Ph.D. with a specialization in popular culture through the American culture studies program at BGSU. Donahue also earned a master’s of library and information science from Kent State University, all while working with Schurk at the Bill Schurk Sound Recordings Archive located in Jerome Library.
For Donahue, his time at Bowling Green State University has been incredibly valuable.
“I really love the location of Bowling Green and BGSU’s long-standing connection to the study of popular culture. Just as musicians have played an inspirational role for me, so has Dr. Ray Browne,” Donahue said.
Throughout his time as a musician and artist, Donahue has acquired some wisdom throughout the years.
“For the creatives working in fields such as art, film, writing etc., stay in it for the long haul, as you never know who you will meet and what things will lead to,” Donahue said. “You likely won’t become rich and famous, but you will have an interesting life and some great stories to tell.”
