Bootsy Collins spoke with music writer Brian Baker for this week’s CityBeat, revealing the conceptual, philosophical and educational elements behind his new album, Tha Funk Capital of the World (out this Tuesday). The album’s label home, Mascot Records, is giving a sneak peak in the form of tribute track “JB-Still the Man,” Bootsy’s James Brown requiem featuring a spoken-word tribute to Brown’s rare influence on the world by Rev. Al Sharpton. The groovy track (available as a free download at the link below) is just one of the tributes to Collins’ heroes on the album. Collins talked to Baker about how Jimi Hendrix’s own voice ended up on Funk Capital’s Hendrix tribute, “Mirrors Tell Lies.”

Read More

The city of Cincinnati memorialized a fallen local musician Friday by unveiling Michael Bany Way in Over-the-Rhine. Formerly called Jail Alley, it runs off of Main Street, where Bany was killed in 1995 following a performance.

Bany's brother Mark has worked tirelessly to recognize his brother's accomplishments and to help the local music community via the Michael W. Bany Music Scholarship Fund. At Friday's event Mark presented this year's scholarship to Jalessa Andrews, who will attend Bethune-Cookman College to pursue a degree in music education.

Read More

On this date in 1979, 11 music fans died when trying to see The Who perform at Riverfront Coliseum. Check out this video for "Feel The Holes" about the tragic event, by Toronto Hard Rock duo The Shanks.

The video was made in Cincinnati and directed by David Markey. The Shanks (who released the Feel the Holes EP just a couple of weeks ago on German label Broken Silence) work with local music promotions org The Counter Rhythm Group and are set to appear in Cincinnati on Saturday, Dec. 15, at Northside's Comet as part of the free release party concert in honor of a new "split LP" release (on area label, Phratry Records) by local acts Knife the Symphony and Swear Jar.



R.I.P. Peter Bowes, Teva Ladd, David Heck, Connie Burns, James Warmoth, Bryan Wagner, Karen Morrison, Jacqueline Eckerle, Walter Adams, Jr., Stephen Preston and Phillip Snyder.

With a slew of uplifting singles and a band name like Blessid Union of Souls, it shouldn’t be a shock to discover that the chart-topping Cincinnati band's frontman Eliot Sloan puts a lot of stock in his spiritual beliefs. But the band — one of the most commercially successful acts to ever come out of Cincinnati — was rarely overt about religion in its slick, hook-laden Pop songs. Until now. This Tuesday sees the nationwide release of Blessid Union’s album The Mission Field, the most direct and explicit expression of Sloan’s Christian beliefs on a BUoS release by a long shot.

Read More

The best music show on TV, PBS’s Austin City Limits, has announced the lineup of artists for its 35th anniversary season (yup, ACL can now officially run for President) starting Oct. 3. The roster is another great mix of established artists and relative newcomers, with the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello, Ben Harper, M. Ward, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent, Band of Heathens and Okkervil River slated for episodes. The season will also feature the first appearance by Cincinnati’s Heartless Bastards.

Read More

Ill Poetic — the multitasking Hip Hop artist who made his bones in the Cincinnati and Dayton scenes and writes a monthly words-of-wisdom column for CityBeat called Hip Hop (Un) Scene — will be providing some dispatches from the road this month for us as he embarks on the J. Rawls-headlined “#Ohio Takeover Tour.” The tour (featuring a roster of Ohio acts) is an early promotional push for The Hip Hop Affect, the anticipated new release from Rawls, a renowned DJ/producer whose credits range from work on the first Black Star album to working with Madlib and The Beastie Boys. Recently, Rawls leaked the new track “We’re on Top (#ohiotakeover),” a “posse cut” featuring 23 MCs from the Buckeye State.

Read More

The downtown space that once housed Herzog Studios — the facilities used to record legendary songs by the likes of Flatt and Scruggs, The Delmore Brothers and, most famously, Hank Williams (along with many others) — is going into flashback mode at the end of this month, when, for the first time in many decades, it will once again be used as a recording studio.

Read More

In the days after local TV news reported on the death of David Hebert — a longtime drummer better known to everyone as “Bones” — it was clear that the New Orleans-style memorial procession (a nice nod to Hebert’s hometown) and gathering in Northside in the wake of his shooting at the hands of police was going to be the image most (especially those who didn’t know him personally) would remember. The large group of friends who came together amidst the deep hurt and shock showed how much Bones meant to the community and was a testament to his kind spirit. As the police investigation continues and those friends skeptical of the “official report” try to find justice, some local musicians moved by the sudden, violent death of Bones are using their skill set to express their feelings about the situation.

Read More

Cincinnati composer and founding member of MUSE Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir Therese Edell passed away last month after an extended battle with MS. She was 61. Considered a pioneer of “Women’s Music,” Edell was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Cincinnati in 1969 to attend CCM. Edell and longtime collaborator Betsy Lippitt toured the country and were favorites at Women’s Music festivals. Her releases include 1970’s Prophecy’s Child and 1978’s milestone From Women’s Faces, as well as the 1990 For Therese, a compilation of her songs performed by various fans/supporters as a 40th birthday present.

Read More

Multifaceted Hip Hop artist Ill Poetic’s creative mix skills have been on display again recently. Just a week ago, he released the above remix of genre-bending Hip Hop jazzers IsWhat?!'s “Fanta,” the first release from the group’s forthcoming Big Appetite album, which comes out in Europe a little later this year and in the States sometime in 2010. IsWhat?! sent out some “stems” from the song and asked for remixes. Unsurprisingly, Ill Poetic’s is one of the best.

Read More