Tim Wilson is a comedian and singer/songwriter who represents Southern culture and lifestyle with his songs and stand-up. He is often featured on national telecasts of the syndicated radio shows The Bob and Tom Show and the John Boy and Billy Morning Show and Wilson has also been appeared on many of the late-night talk shows. With a dozen comedy albums featuring his original songs, Wilson has found crossover success on  both the comedy and Country music charts.

CityBeat caught up with Wilson by phone to preview his appearance in Cincinnati and discuss southern roots in comedy and the assimilation of music into his comedy. Catch him performing live Saturday night at the Taft Theatre with Patti Vasquez (ticket info here).

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The members of Kentucky's Black Stone Cherry take pride in their closeness. They are still just four guys rocking out and living their dream. BSC's just-released third studio album, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, reached the Top 30 in the Billboard 200 and the group is currently on the Carnival of Madness tour with Alter Bridge, Theory of a Deadman, and Emphatic. The tour hits Dayton's X-Fest, at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, this Sunday (click here for concert details). CityBeat recently spoke with Black Stone Cherry lead singer Chris Robertson in depth about the band and the personal issues he has dealt with over the past few years.

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Omaha rockers Emphatic began making waves within the music scene with the single “Bounce,” which has flown up Rock charts. The band, which just released its debut album, Damage, are currently on the Carnival of Madness tour, which comes to Dayton's X-Fest (at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds) this coming Sunday with Staind, Theory of a Deadman, Five Finger Death Punch and others.

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Theory of a Deadman is a Hard Rock band that has made a dent in popular music with catchy hooks and sounds that appeal to the heartbroken everywhere. Together for over 10 years, they became hitmakers with their third album, Scars and Souvenirs, and the No. 1 hit “Bad Girlfriend,” along with other popular tracks like “Hate My Life” and “Not Meant to Be.” The band's fourth album, The Truth Is, was released last month and contains the hit single “Lowlife," currently lighting up airwaves on Rock and Pop stations across the country.

CityBeat recently spoke with guitarist Dave Brenner prior to Theory of a Deadman's set at the Kentucky State Fair, part of the Carnival of Madness tour. Brenner talked about the new record and hobbies on the road. Catch Theory of a Deadman and the Carnival of Madness at Dayton's X-Fest this Sunday. (Check the commercial below or visit here for details.)

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Volbeat — performing at Bogart's tomorrow (Tuesday) — may not be a household name around venues in the United States, but they are an intense Danish Heavy Metal  band that has played in front of some of the largest crowds in the world overseas. The band — Michael Poulsen (vocals/guitar), Anders Kjolholm (bass), Jon Larsen (drums) and Thomas Bredahl (guitar) — is about to kick off the U.S. leg of their Grand Summer Tour, promoting Volbeat's latest album, Beyond Hell and Above Heaven. CityBeat caught up with lead vocalist Michael Poulson by phone from his home overseas to discuss the band's growing popularity in America, being naked with Metallica and the great successes of the band in Europe.

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Icon Rock & Roll band Guns N’ Roses has been selling out arenas since their debut album Appetite for Destruction went to No. 1  in 1987. Though Axl Rose and Co. have not released an album since Chinese Democracy in 2008, they've continued to rock out across the with large-production shows, entertaining audiences not only searching for a taste of nostalgia but also value great music and a sound you cannot find anywhere else. CityBeat caught up with rhythm guitar player Richard Fortus this week and discussed his personal music path and what fans can expect from the show. Guns N’ Roses comes to Cincinnati Friday (with guests D-Generation) for a concert at US Bank Arena and it sounds like fans can expect a really long night of music. (Read our interview with current GNR/former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson here.)

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One of the strangest word combinations to ever create a band name, Death Cab for Cutie controls the alternative music scene across America. They have been a nationally touring band since 1997 with their first release. Now in their 14th year, Codes and Keys has been one of the band's most successful offerings to date. The first single, “You Are A Tourist,” received a lot of airplay on Rock radio across the country reaching number one on the Alternative charts in the U.S. The band recently released the video for its latest single, "Stay Young, Go Dancing" (view it at the bottom of this post below).

CityBeat recently spoke with bassist Nick Harmer to discuss the new album and it’s critically acclaimed reception (as well as a very scary moment on their festival run this past summer). Death Cab starts their latest tour on Friday night in Cincinnati at the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center.

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Rockers Papa Roach hit the scene in 2000 with their most successful studio album, Infest. Six albums later, they are still headlining tours and festivals across the country including this weekend’s Rock on the Range in Columbus. 

I was able to catch up with the man behind the music, Jacoby Shaddix, the lead vocalist. The two discussed the hard times and redemption that led to Papa Roach's most recent album, The Connection, released late last year. 

Papa Roach plays Rock on the Range's Main Stage Saturday afternoon, getting the night ready for Three Days Grace, Stone Sour and The Smashing Pumpkins. Find full Rock on the Range details here.

CityBeat: What is your favorite Rock on the Range memory?

Jacoby Shaddix: Shit man, coming in headlining the second stage and utterly fucking demolishing it and being the only band asked back the next year to play the Main Stage and crushing it again.

CB: If you could trade places with anybody for one month who would it be?

JS: My wife.

CB: Why?

JS: I just want both of us to live our lives in each other’s shoes for a month. I think we both would learn a lot. I know that it is not the super mega-kick ass Rock star answer, but that is some real shit.

CB: I know you wrote the last album through some of the toughest times of your life. Are any of the songs hard to play for you personally?

JS: No, they are just really good reminders. It is like I had to re-calibrate my life and re-focus myself on what my priorities were in my life and what was important to me and where I wanted to put myself five years from now and 10 years from now. All the decisions I made in the process of making this record I believe are some of the most important decisions that I’ll make in my lifetime. I think the songs are real good reminders of that desperate place that I once was.

CB: Well my favorite song on the album when it came out was “Where Did the Angels Go”…

JS: We had a No. 1 Rock track with that song, which was fucking awesome.

CB: Can you tell me the story behind the song?

JS: As we were making the record, me and my wife had split up at that time and I was strung out again. It is no secret that I have substance abuse issues and I was caught up again and I finally decided that enough is enough. I had to stop and that just utter desperation of hanging on to life by a thread and just feeling completely alone and so broken and not really knowing if I was going to be OK. I just finally realized how much my demons ate me alive and it was time to get myself back and that is where that song came from, utter desperation.

CB: Is it hard to be on the road and stay sober?

JS: Not this time around. It used to be really hard. I have a network of sober musicians I stay really close with and I have a support group through that. 

It is finally clear to me in my life I can’t fucking drink, I can’t do drugs, because it eats me alive. I am finally on the road enjoying my life. I faced a lot of demons in the process of getting sober again and I finally put a lot of stuff to rest. I am trying to work on being in the moment, like some of that Buddhist-type culture philosophy — if I am not here now then what is the point? If I am not feeling the moment, then what is the point of my life. Just focusing on that, my spirituality makes all this other stuff that goes on out here on the road way more tolerable and way more fun. 

CB: Have you ever had an experience that led you to believe in angels?

JS: I don’t necessarily have a grasp on the idea of angels. I have an understanding of people that have come like saviors in a sense, people that have been sent to me by my higher power to show me and guide me out of the darkness. I had to be broken down to realize I needed help.

CB: People have shown up at the right time?

JS: Yes.

CB: If you could ask one question to a psychic about your future what would you ask?

JS: I wouldn’t ask anything. I wouldn’t want to know. What do you want to know? Are you going to live different or some shit? I’d rather let it be. Let the future be what it is going to be.

CB: What does your perfect day look like?

JS: Perfect day — wake up next to my wife, sex right off the bat. Then go downstairs and cook breakfast for my kids, take them to school, go for a run, dance with my wife, go fishing with my brother-in-law in the bayou swamp, stretch out and warm up, play a Rock & Roll show, then fall asleep next to my wife. That sounds pretty fucking kick ass.

CB: I know your songs that you write are very autobiographical. Have you considered writing a book or a memoir in the future?

JS: Oh definitely, that is something I am going to definitely do in my life. 100 percent.

CB: No immediate plans?

JS: No immediate plans, but I have put pen to paper. It is something that I can craft as I go along.

CB: What can the fans expect this weekend at Rock on the Range?

JS: A fan that is on fucking fire. We have been doing these festivals, May is a big festival month, and we have been fucking annihilating audiences. We just devastated Carolina Rebellion, just ripped that shit up, we had a great show. Fort Rock in Florida, Rockville down in Florida. Memphis in May was awesome at the Beale Street Festival. That was rippin’. I just feel like we are tuned up and primed for these big festivals. I have to say, all these other bands, bring your fucking A-game because P Roach is coming to town and we have come to rip it.

CB: Memphis was awesome. I saw most of the set. It was awesome. It was great as always. I look forward to shooting you guys again. Smile for the camera on Saturday.

JS: Fuck yeah. Cool. We will see you Saturday.

Five Finger Death Punch has one of the biggest and most exciting shows you'll find in Metal music right now. The band just released its third studio album, American Capitalist, which features the popular single “Under and Over It” and the song “Back For More,” featured in the latest game in the Madden franchise. FFDP are about to go out on its headlining “Share the Welt” tour with All That Remains, Hatebreed and Rev Theory (the tour comes to Indianapolis' Murat Egyptian Room on Nov. 6). CityBeat recently spoke with lead guitarist Zoltan Bathory and band newcomer and bassist Chris Kael at X-Fest in Dayton, Ohio, about the new album and why the band’s music moves a more aggressive crowd.

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Linkin Park and Incubus have hit the road together this summer on the Honda Civic Tour, a four-week, 18-city tour of North America. The tour comes to Cincinnati tomorrow (Wednesday) for a stop at Riverbend Music Center.

Linkin Park's fifth studio album, Living Things, debuted at No. 1, giving them more No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 than any other band this century. Since 2000, Linkin Park has had more Top 10 singles on the Alternative chart than any other artist, as well.

Celebrating their 20th year together, AltRock giants Incubus recently turned a Los Angeles storefront space into a low-key, hi-tech residency that resulted in six nights of free performances and fan encounters in 2011, chronicled on special HQ Live CD/DVD bundles. Last summer, Incubus released its seventh studio album, If Not Now, When?

Linkin Park and Incubus will continue the tradition of a "Green" Honda Civic Tour in 2012 by supporting the Power the World organization, to raise awareness about people who have no access to energy and to fund cleaner energy solutions.

To kickoff the Honda Civic Tour (which also features Mutemath), the two bands joined forces for an open press conference with lead vocalists Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) and Brandon Boyd (Incubus).

Q: What can fans expect from this year’s tour?

Chester: I think the most special thing about this tour is the fact that you have two headlining bands singing together on one bill. The fact that both Incubus and Linkin Park perform full sets with full production is kind of special. Linkin Park isn’t the band that you go to see with chairs on the floor in the arena. No one wants to come to a Linkin Park show and stand there and look at the band and listen to beautiful music. People want that but they also want to be kicked in the face and they want to run into each other and they want to jump up and down and sing and have a really great, high-energy time. The new record has so much energy that we feel like we could add a bunch of new music to the set and people will be stoked about it.

Q: You guys are committed to green energy on the Honda Civic tour. Can you talk a little about it?

Chester: Yes, it’s more of a purpose-driven green movement in terms of just wanting to be more clean and efficient with our tours so we leave less of a footprint when we’re out there.

Q: As you each grow older and wiser, how do you both stay inspired to produce the style of music on both the record and in concert that your most loyal and long-term fans both love and expect?

Chester: You know? When I’m 70 I don’t know if I’ll be, um, screaming “Victimized” at anybody. Hopefully that will be the case, but I doubt it. That’s one of the things that is so interesting about our business. None of us are guaranteed that anyone can come to one of our shows or care about the last record we put out.  Every record that we go into, I look at like, this is our very first album and this is the best representation of what we are giving something to the people who are going to hear it. It’s basically like when you create a song and people hear it and they connect with it, you’re giving that person a sense of inspiration.

Brandon: I know for me as a lyricist and as a singer, my deepest intention beyond just trying to express myself with a sense of purity is to hopefully achieve a sense of timelessness. You want to touch on subjects that are potentially universal. And that don’t really need to be tied to the ’90s or the 2000s or the 2030s. You want to be able to make music that will essentially transcend time.

I’m not interested in making a kind of music. I think that’s why Incubus records have changed sometimes dramatically over the years. Our newest record If Not Now, When? is really a good example of that. It’s more different than any of our records than we’ve ever done before. And I personally am really inspired by that. I’m proud of that. I want to make music that continues to evolve and challenge people and surprise people.

Q: Throughout the years both bands have essentially kept their core members. So how do you all stand each other after such a long time, because it’s got to be kind of tough on tour.

Brandon: There’s the understanding that it’s family, and it’s very much a familial thing. That even though there are times when they hurt your feelings or they might get on your nerves, essentially the majority of your experience with them is rooted in love. So as long as we can hold on to that sort of transcendent notion, everything usually is OK. And it’s OK to be angry at your family members sometime, and it’s OK for them to get on your nerves. The best thing to do, I think, is just to remember who you are. And understand the difference between a need to express frustrations and potentially your own ego.

Chester: I think that within Linkin Park we all have similar aspects of our personality that we share with each other. We all are very driven. We all like to work really hard. We all like to do whatever it takes and be involved in every aspect of what we do. But it takes all of us. Together, the band is worth far more than each of us is as an individual. And I think that being in my band is an example of the most functional relationship I’ve ever had in my life.