Built to Spill's long, strange trip (six albums in 17 years, the last five for major label biggies Warner Bros.) reached an apex of sorts in July when they agreed to take part in the Pitchfork Music Festival's "Write the Night" in Chicago. Their latest album, 'There Is No Enemy,' is fairly laid back, sounding like a band staring into the abyss of adulthood — both as a musical unit and, you know, in real life.  

Alex Brown Church Church is Sea Wolf, but recently he welcomed drummer Joey Ficken, bassist Ted Liscinski (onetime member of Cincy band Moth during that band's major label tenure) and keyboardist Lisa Fendelander to the permanent fold. Touring newbie Joyce Lee takes up the cello, while Nathan Anderson helms electric guitar, something he also handles for Indie Folk luminary M. Ward. I leave it at that, because I don’t want to   

MidPoint offers 270 acts on 23 stages in three districts (downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Newport) over three nights. Here's the lowdown on wristband and transportation.  

On their new album, the aptly titled 'Burn It Down,' The Dynamites improbably turn up the heat and bring their Soul simmer to a full boil. If James Brown was the Godfather of Soul, Charles Walker is his consigliore — he sings with hellhound conviction, divinely inspired passion and otherworldly intensity.  

Rockabilly/Roots hero Deke Dickerson started out playing in a Surf band in his teens, and that sound is still evident in some of his music. But he's since become a darling of the Roots music movement, thanks in large part to his masterful, trademark guitar playing that blends Surf, Country, Rockabilly and Jazz techniques.  

Cincinnati Reds history will be made when The Baseball Project (Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck and Linda Pitmon) makes its first appearance here at the Southgate House on Saturday. No, these venerable, veteran Alternative Rock musicians won't be announcing they're buying the Reds and changing their name to The Sex Pistols. Instead, they plan to use the local date to publicly debut their brand-new song "Pete Rose Way" off the upcoming 'Baseball Project Vol. 2' album.  

TV on the Radio guitarist Kyp Malone and musician/filmmaker Aaron Aites front this side project that allows them to noodle around without consequence. Aites fronts the project, creating the playgrounds in which he and Malone collaborate. Their 'Dissolver' album, released in February, ended a six-year hiatus from recording.  

Tim Easton's Ohio roots form the very heart of his new album, 'Porcupine.' The Akron resident attended Ohio State University in the mid-'90s, formed his first band, toured Europe, honed his craft while street-busking, then returned to Columbus and joined The Haynes Boys. Their Garage-tinged Americana attracted serious attention before Easton recorded his 1998 solo debut, 'Special 20.'  

It's a sticky Saturday afternoon in College Corner, Ohio, and four out of the five members of Grooveshire are sitting under a small canopy at Ohmstead, the neo-hippie music festival on the grounds of Hannon's Camp America. We discuss the band's new EP, 'American Son,' the centerpiece of their "Louisiana Bayou Grunge," a term stemming from Jacob Jones' sizzling slide guitar riffs.   

Community media center Media Bridges is turning 20 years old and this Saturday it's time to celebrate its past and support its future. "Free Wave Riot: Celebrating 20 Years of Local Music, Local Voices, Local Media" is a benefit concert at Know Theatre to help get its new FM radio station off the ground this fall.