The inherent problem with forming a supergroup from members in successful working bands is finding the time for any of the normal things a band is supposed to do. Down is the poster child for that problem.   

Among the masses at this year’s South By Southwest, the yearly Austin festival, (the music portion of which ran March 13-18) were several of Cincinnati’s hometown favorites, marking the largest turnout yet for Cincinnati-based bands at SXSW.   

Where I grew up in New Jersey, there were plenty of ski areas within easy driving distance, but the quality of the trails and the length of the lift lines always left something to be desired. It might take 15 minutes to hurtle down a dangerously crowded, icy slope from the summit, and then you’d have to wait another half hour or more in the bitter, biting cold for another run.  

Cincinnati might have finally broken ground on The Banks project, but by the time people get to live, work and play in the riverfront neighborhood it could be called something completely different. The Enquirer reported today that the possibility of changing the name arose when developers Carter and the Dawson Co. realized that Cincinnati had planned its new neighborhood between two sports stadiums and a highway and then named it after one of America’s stupidest industries.