We've been lucky to have some great music festivals this summer/early fall (including Desdemona, Lite Brite, MidPoint Music Festival, Cincy Blues Festival and Macy's Music Fest), but none are as big as this week's Tall Stacks, which features five days' worth of headliner-worthy performers. The lineup of national acts is stunning, featuring a good mix of Roots music legends and upstarts and a nice dose of more modern acts.
We could probably single out several acts per day that are worthy of must-see status, but we did our best to whittle our picks down to 10. See page 42 for a run-down. A $25 pin gets you admission to all five days — the best bargain for your entertainment dollar you'll find all year.
As for local music, there's a strong presence of acts from the Greater Cincinnati area scattered throughout the festival, representing everything from Rock and Blues to Bluegrass and Jazz. For Wednesday's kick-off, Cajun music purveyors Lagniappe start things off on the Great American Insurance Group Stage at 1:30 p.m., followed by Robin Lacy and DeZydeco at 2:45 p.m.; Bluegrass/Newgrass group Rumpke Mountain Boys play the Edyth and Carl Lindner Stage at 2 p.m. the same day. On Thursday, AltRoots group The Light Wires play at 2 p.m. on the Lindner Stage, while the GAIG Stage has G Miles and the Hitmen (12:30 p.m.), Comet Bluegrass All-Stars (1:40 p.m.) and Kim Taylor (2:50 p.m.).
Friday, get your Blues 'n Boogie fix with Ricky Nye and Nick Lloyd (3:10 p.m.) and satiate your Rockabilly/Hillbilly jones with StarDevils (4 p.m.) on the Lindner Stage. Over on the GAIG Stage Friday, catch the Greg Schaber Band (11:55 a.m.), Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band (1 p.m.; see interview below), Kentucky Struts (2:05 p.m.) and The Side Cars (3:15 p.m.).
On Saturday, Kelly Thomas and the Fabulous Pickups play the GAIG Stage at 1:10 p.m., while Heartless Bastards rock it at 2:25 p.m. Local faves Over the Rhine play the Lindner Stage at 6:35 p.m.
Closing things out Sunday on the big stages (local-music wise) are the Goshorn Brothers (12 p.m.), Faux Frenchmen (1 p.m.), Steve Schmidt (2:05 p.m.) and the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers (3:10 p.m.) on the GAIG Stage. The Kenny Smith Ministry Singers perform at 3:30 p.m. Sunday on the Lindner Stage.
Along with "strolling" local musicians who will walk the grounds all week (and some acts actually playing on the boats), Tall Stacks features local music on the Gazebo Stage at the Public Landing all five days. That stage will have Celtic, Bluegrass, Barbershop and other performers starting early in the morning each day. Wednesday, Ricky Nye and the Redhots play at 3:30 p.m., followed by Jake Speed and the Freddies at 5. The Danny Frazier Band plays the Gazebo Stage at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by Robin Lacy and DeZydeco at 6:30. Saturday, catch Celtic crew Murphy's Law at 5 p.m. and Tracy Walker at 7:30.
Given that you can hear most of the Tall Stacks performers at any given time of the day on WKNU (89.7 FM), it makes perfect sense that the public radio station is a sponsor of the event. The station has produced several podcasts profiling many of the artists (including Over the Rhine); take a listen at tallstacks.com. Also, tune into the station in the early afternoons on Wednesday-Saturday to hear live remotes from the WNKU Broadcast Tent (stop by and say, "Hi"; they'll be airing festgoers' comments as well). The station is broadcasting the full sets by Sonny Landreth, Chris Smither and Bettye LaVette live on Wednesday starting at 5 p.m.
Several Tall Stacks performers are up for Cincinnati Entertainment Awards this year. Check them out and then go to We could probably single out several acts per day that are worthy of must-see status, but we did our best to whittle our picks down to 10. See page 42 for a run-down. A $25 pin gets you admission to all five days — the best bargain for your entertainment dollar you'll find all year.
As for local music, there's a strong presence of acts from the Greater Cincinnati area scattered throughout the festival, representing everything from Rock and Blues to Bluegrass and Jazz. For Wednesday's kick-off, Cajun music purveyors Lagniappe start things off on the Great American Insurance Group Stage at 1:30 p.m., followed by Robin Lacy and DeZydeco at 2:45 p.m.; Bluegrass/Newgrass group Rumpke Mountain Boys play the Edyth and Carl Lindner Stage at 2 p.m. the same day. On Thursday, AltRoots group The Light Wires play at 2 p.m. on the Lindner Stage, while the GAIG Stage has G Miles and the Hitmen (12:30 p.m.), Comet Bluegrass All-Stars (1:40 p.m.) and Kim Taylor (2:50 p.m.).
Friday, get your Blues 'n Boogie fix with Ricky Nye and Nick Lloyd (3:10 p.m.) and satiate your Rockabilly/Hillbilly jones with StarDevils (4 p.m.) on the Lindner Stage. Over on the GAIG Stage Friday, catch the Greg Schaber Band (11:55 a.m.), Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band (1 p.m.; see interview below), Kentucky Struts (2:05 p.m.) and The Side Cars (3:15 p.m.).
On Saturday, Kelly Thomas and the Fabulous Pickups play the GAIG Stage at 1:10 p.m., while Heartless Bastards rock it at 2:25 p.m. Local faves Over the Rhine play the Lindner Stage at 6:35 p.m.
Closing things out Sunday on the big stages (local-music wise) are the Goshorn Brothers (12 p.m.), Faux Frenchmen (1 p.m.), Steve Schmidt (2:05 p.m.) and the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers (3:10 p.m.) on the GAIG Stage. The Kenny Smith Ministry Singers perform at 3:30 p.m. Sunday on the Lindner Stage.
Along with "strolling" local musicians who will walk the grounds all week (and some acts actually playing on the boats), Tall Stacks features local music on the Gazebo Stage at the Public Landing all five days. That stage will have Celtic, Bluegrass, Barbershop and other performers starting early in the morning each day. Wednesday, Ricky Nye and the Redhots play at 3:30 p.m., followed by Jake Speed and the Freddies at 5. The Danny Frazier Band plays the Gazebo Stage at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by Robin Lacy and DeZydeco at 6:30. Saturday, catch Celtic crew Murphy's Law at 5 p.m. and Tracy Walker at 7:30.
Given that you can hear most of the Tall Stacks performers at any given time of the day on WKNU (89.7 FM), it makes perfect sense that the public radio station is a sponsor of the event. The station has produced several podcasts profiling many of the artists (including Over the Rhine); take a listen at tallstacks.com. Also, tune into the station in the early afternoons on Wednesday-Saturday to hear live remotes from the WNKU Broadcast Tent (stop by and say, "Hi"; they'll be airing festgoers' comments as well). The station is broadcasting the full sets by Sonny Landreth, Chris Smither and Bettye LaVette live on Wednesday starting at 5 p.m.
Several Tall Stacks performers are up for Cincinnati Entertainment Awards this year. Check them out and then go to citybeat.com/cea to cast your votes.
More Local Notes
· The Buffalo Killers (featuring former members of Thee Shams) celebrate the release of their new self-titled album this Tuesday at the Northside Tavern. The show is free. The powerful Psych Blues trio (a highlight of the recent MidPoint festival) then hit the road to promote the album (released on Cali imprint Alive Records) all across the country.
Their next scheduled local gig is Dec. 15 at the Southgate House, opening for jammers Ekoostik Hookah. Look for a review of their amazing new album in CityBeat soon. (buffalokillers.com)
CONTACT MIKE BREEN: mbreen(at)citybeat.com