The sixth season of TV One's entertaining and informative Unsung series, showcasing artists who did well but didn't quite reach the heights many expected, kicks off tonight at 10 p.m. with an episode about the late, great Soul star Isaac Hayes. Next week, on Jan. 30, the series focuses on a group that was formed at Kentucky State University and ended up calling Cincinnati its home base — Midnight Star. The R&B/ElectroFunk nine-piece band was a major success in the ’80s, giving the music world massive hits like "Slow Jam," "No Parking on the Dance Floor" and "Freak-a-Zoid." But the band eventually splintered — due to "arguments over money and management," according to the Unsung synopsis — with Reggie Calloway and brother Vincent leaving and eventually forming Calloway (which had success with the smash "I Wanna Be Rich" in 1989). Midnight Star carried on and produced a couple more albums that featured R&B chart hits before taking a break. The "hiatus" ended in 2000 and Midnight Star continues to this day, performing most recently at the Macy's Music Festival last summer. Click here to read up on the band circa 2013.The Unsung series has a loose definition of "unsung" (as the Isaac Hayes episode suggests), but its profiles of various R&B/Soul, Hip Hop, Funk and Gospel artists are always fairly illuminating. The show has dedicated episodes to a wide range of successful artists, from The Ohio Players and Zapp to Kool Mo Dee and Big Daddy Kane to George Clinton, The Spinners and another Cincinnati-affiliated star, Bootsy Collins. Unsung (Documentary) - Bootsy Collins... by GENERATIONDISCOFUNKThe rest of Unsung's season six includes episodes on EPMD, Lou Rawls, Eddie Kendricks, The Whispers, Mint Condition, Johnny Gill and a special two-hour look at the Disco phenomenon. TV One is channel 217 for local Time Warner Cable subscribers (1217 for the HD channel).

Cincinnati enjoys a reputation as a city with a rich and colorful musical history, exemplified by the influential reach of Syd Nathan’s roster at King Records, a label that attracted and embraced every conceivable style of music and musician. And there’s a case to be made that King’s diversity was simply a reflection of the city’s broad creative scope — then, now and perpetually, it’s been difficult to hang a signature genre tag on Cincinnati’s sound.There aren’t many Cincinnatians who understand the area’s musical timeline much better than Darren Blase, co-owner of the city’s premiere record store, Shake It Records. Blase has long championed the King story; he did his thesis at UC on King Records and ultimately turned that mountain of information into a book and a screenplay, both of which remain undeservedly shelved. But like any curious student of history, Blase has never been content to concentrate on just the King legacy, wanting to connect the dots to see how it all related to his own firsthand Punk Rock experience in the ’80s. Equally important, he has always been eager to look to the city’s musical heritage before King Records, to discover the roots of Cincinnati’s unique musical culture.Blase and his brother/business partner Jim have long used their Shake It label as a vehicle to spotlight the incredible wealth of talent in the current local and regional scene, but their latest release time travels back to the early part of the 20th century to reveal Cincinnati’s amazing contributions to pre-World War II Blues with the double vinyl gem Play It Like You Did Back to George Street.As Blues historian Steve Tracy notes in his thorough liner notes for George Street, Cincinnati in the ’20s and ’30s didn’t necessarily exhibit a distinctive Blues identity like Chicago, New York or Memphis, but the artists that comprised the Cincinnati scene were a spirited and talented group that could have successfully infiltrated any Blues community in the country. Representing a specific period in Cincinnati musical history, from 1924 to 1936, George Street serves as evidence of the assertion that the city’s Blues profile was anything but nondescript. George Street’s ancient recordings (of varying but ultimately listenable quality) are filled with fascinating local references (“Court Street Blues,” “I’m Going to Cincinnati,” “Sixth Street Moan,” “Newport Blues,” “Cincinnati Underworld Woman”) and a host of area artists with a firm grip on the qualities that make for great Folk and Ragtime-tinted Blues. The collection takes its title from “Mama Let Me Lay On You,” where Walter Coleman exhorts his uncredited guitarist to reach for the passion and fire that typified performances on the long-forgotten street that was once the home to the city’s red light district and its attendant nightclubs; a good many of the lyrics to the songs on the George Street collection live up to that bawdy history.Coleman is a pervasive presence on George Street, primarily because he assumes so many recorded identities (Kid Cole, Kid Coley, Bob Coleman, Sweet Papa Tadpole, Walter Cole), but the album also shows off the obvious skills of Sam Jones (who also went by the name Stovepipe No. 1) and Jesse James (whose four songs on George Street represent his entire recorded legacy).George Street also offers a pair of talented jug bands. Coleman leads the Cincinnati Jug Band — “George Street Stomp” is a particular favorite – while Jones takes the helm with the King David Jug Band, typified by the rollicking “What That Tastes Like Gravy.”Play It Like Did Back at George Street, enticingly subtitled Music From Ohio Volume 1 and beautifully illustrated by renowned local underground cartoonist Justin Green, is clearly aimed at a specific Blues aficionado. If Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughan are your Blues ideals, then this album will hold little interest for you. But if you’re fascinated by the sound of scratchy old 78s and the magic that erupts from the horn when the needle is dropped on a groove that dates to a time when flappers were the rage, George Street is your early Christmas present.Remaining copies of the initial pressing of Play It Like You Did at George Street (which went on sale for Record Store Day's Black Friday event) are available from Shake It Records (online here and at the store in Northside) only as a double vinyl album (for now), but the release comes with a download card for digital playback. The label is rolling out the record nationally in the next few weeks. To sample a trio of tracks from the release, click here.

Scott Preston and his excellent local music web mag Cincy Groove are presenting a benefit concert at Southgate House Revival tonight to help keep a spotlight on the Cincinnati area’s outrageously rich musical history and influence. The 9 p.m. show will raise funds for the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, a non-profit that has done great work drawing attention to Cincinnati’s impact on popular music by promoting and hosting numerous creative events to honor historical moments like Hank Williams’ Cincy recording sessions and the immeasurable impact of King Records. To become a member of the CUMHF's supporters group The Funky Drummer Society and read more about their mission to expose and celebrate Cincy's important place in music history, visit the Foundation's official website here or on Facebook here. Tickets for tonight's benefit show are $10 for those 21-and-up; it's $12 for those 18-20. Music will take place on all three of the recently opened venue's stages. Below is the lineup of performances. Click each artist's name for audio samples and more.Lounge9:15 - 9:55: Bri Love10:15 - 10:55: Hank Becker (of The Rubber Knife Gang)11:15 - 11:55: Terminal Union12:15 - 12:55 : Andyman HopkinsRevival Room9 - 9:40: The Young Heirlooms10:00 - 10:40: Shiny Old Soul11:00 - 11:40: The Stories12:00 - 12:40: SOUSE1:00 - 1:40: Sassy MolassesSanctuary Room9:00 - 9:40: Shoot Out The Lights10:00 - 10:50: Kelly Thomas with Arlo McKinley & Lonesome Sound 11:10 - 12:10: The Cincy Brass12:30 - 1:40: The CliftonesKelly Thomas, Arlo McKinley and Lonesome Sound will be doing an all-Hank Williams set tonight in honor of Hank's ties to Cincy through his historic recording sessions at Herzog Studios. Thomas and McKinley recorded a version of "Lost Highway" at the old Herzog space earlier this year and filmed the proceedings. The song and footage became the centerpiece of Thomas' first in a series of short films featuring her favorite songs and local musicians called Sacred Harp Sessions. A new video and song will be released monthly for the Sessions; Thomas recently unveiled Episode 2 featuring Ricky Nye and the tune "Come On In My Kitchen." Click here to check it out; below is Episode 1, in honor of Cincinnati's music heritage and tonight's concert.