If you are a frequent attendee of local music shows, you’ve no doubt seen Pat Rice, the 65-year-old “superfan” who probably attends more music events than just about anyone and is beloved by the young bands she consistently checks out. Local musician Chris Grannen (of the band The Pinstripes) captured the essence of Rice’s unwavering dedication in his excellent documentary film, A Queen City Girl: The Pat Rice Story, a school project that is now available to view and freely download

Near and dear to my Rock & Roll tendencies, I’m excited for the Black Owls return to town this Saturday.  Don’t know who they are?  The Black Owls are a Rock & Roll band with a riffed up/stripped down sound, simple yet intense, familiar yet beguiling. Heavy beats and biting riffs lined with stealth bass. I don’t know, call it Retro Rhythmic Rock. The kind of music that’s just so good you can’t imagine your friends not diggin' deep into it.

Cincinnati Blues foursome Cheryl Renee and Them Bones are back from the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, where they came in third place in the "band" category. The group, competing against dozens of bands from around the world, won cash and other prizes for their impressive victory.

Cincinnati-bred band Heartless Bastards were all over the TV this weekend. Along with the group's stellar Austin City Limits debut Saturday (where the band showcased its diversity with the addition of fiddle and acoustic and lap steel guitar on a few songs), the Bastards appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Friday night.

Local Blues musician Phil Blank lost his battle with cancer and passed away on Jan. 15. He was 57. A memorial service for the veteran singer/harmonica player/guitarist is scheduled for Jan. 30 at the Staley-Crowe Funeral Home in Deer Park starting at noon.

Tomorrow night's concert featuring the debut of a new trio that teams local Funk bassist Freekbass with acclaimed musicians Steve Molitz and DJ Logic has been postponed due to a road accident that's left Logic (pictured) unable to make it to Cincinnati.

While some have speculated that the proposed royalty fees that would have radio stations pay to play music would cause many stations to go all talk, Northern Kentucky's WNKU (89.7 FM; wnku.org) is headed the other direction. The station just announced a move to all music, meaning it will drop National Public Radio programming like Morning Edition and Fresh Air.

When it was announced that Cincinnati native Bryce Dessner would be one of the curators of the huge Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tenn., at the end of March, some wondered if his annual hometown avant/Indie/Chamber MusicNOW festival would happen in 2010, considering the similarities in programming and timing. So it was good news to hear that MusicNOW is on schedule for March 30-April 1 at Memorial Hall (next to Music Hall), just after Big Ears and featuring some of the same artists.

Tonight the female-fueled One More Girl on a Stage festival kicks off at the York Street Cafe in Newport. The event — which starts tonight at 7 p.m. and continues tomorrow at the same time — features a diverse batch of local bands and solo performers. Proceeds benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer awareness/research.

Local music fans who like their Indie Pop noisy and creative need to check out Pop Empire, a new duo featuring Cameron Cochran (of The Sheds, Lions Rampant fame) and Henry Wilson. And, like Cochran's Sheds (which gave away all of its music free online), Pop Empire is recession-friendly. Head to popempire.com and download the band's debut EP, Rainy Child, for free.