Locally based independent label Grasshopper Juice Records
has been presenting the Adjust Your Eyes Music & Art Festival , an annual showcase of local visual art and the label’s artists (among others), since 2006. With each year, the festival continues to grow. Along with showcasing some of the city’s most creative original music makers, the event has raised thousands of dollars for organizations like American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen For The Cure and Friends for Chris Walker (in support of the beloved late local bassist).
After a 2011 festival at Newport’s Southgate House (now Thompson House), the AYE fest moves to downtown Cincinnati’s Mainstay Rock Bar for this weekend’s two-day blowout. The event runs Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m.-2 a.m. and will feature more than 30 acts on both of the venue’s stages throughout the each night, as well as art installations prepared by BUNK News. Tickets are $7 per night, or you can purchase a two-day weekend pass for $10 Friday at the door.
Friday’s lineup features Red Beard’s Revenge
, Majestic Man , Dinosaurs and Thunder , The Harlequins , SHADOWRAPTR , Lemon Sky , Greg Zoller , Bull Dancer , Gorges , The MJ’s Blues , Andy Cook & The Wanderloons and Meth Girlfriend .
Saturday night at AYE, catch The Stratfords
, Damn It To Hell , Department Store Alligators , Pharaoh Loosey , Shotski , Crazy Legs , Rachel Mousie , Cowgirl , Sassy Molasses , West Ghost , Founding Fathers and a surprise “mystery band” to close out the night.
For more info, visit facebook.com/grasshopperjuice or grasshopperjuice.com.
Former Johnnytwentythree Bass Player Dies
Joe Maier
, former bassist for popular local instrumental Post Rock band Johnnytwentythree , passed away suddenly on June 19. He was just 31 years old.
Maier and his brother, guitarist Michael Maier, formed the band Halo
in the late ’90s, which featured drummer Stephen Imwalle. The three formed Johnnytwentythree in the early ’00s, with Imwalle switching his focus to film (creating the visuals for the band’s live show and video projects). J23 also included Brian Tyree on drums and Joe Maier’s wife Brianne Maier on violin. Joe and Brianne had two young twin daughters.
In lieu of flowers, donations for the couple’s girls can be made to the Joseph B. Maier Memorial Fund C/O Fifth Third Bank 3715 Ebenezer Road, 45248.
MPMF.12 Announces 20 More Performers
Several local acts have begun being notified in recent weeks that they have been chosen to perform at this fall’s MidPoint Music Festival
. Organizers recently revealed the second wave of national acts that will join them at the Sept. 27-29 fest — Andrew Bird, Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys (revealed a couple of weeks ago at a MidPoint Indie Summer concert), The Walkmen, The Antlers, Hospitality, Rich Aucion, Stepdad, Eternal Summers, White Arrows, Dirty Bourbon River Show, Hume, Sidewalk Chalk, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Kitten, F.Strokes, Wooden Wand, Hundred Waters, Golden Boy, Tim Easton and Army Navy.
Keep up to date with the latest MPMF news at mpmf.com, the music blog at citybeat.com and on Twitter (@CityBeatMusic). Early Bird All Music Access and Loyalty Presale passes are sold out. A limited number of All Music Access Passes ($69) and VIP Passes ($169) are now on sale. Washington Park Day Tripper passes will be available soon. Get your tickets now at cincyticket.com.
More Local Notes
• Former experimental Jazz artist Matt Baumann has totally shifted gears and is now performing as banjo-playing Americana artist Wolfcryer
. Wednesday at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine, Baumann (as Wolfcryer) celebrates the release of his debut, self-titled EP by performing the recording live in its entirety starting at 10 p.m. Baumann’s music partner Eric Barnett (a.k.a. whiskeyheart ) then takes over the stage, followed by popular local Indie Folk group Evans Collective . Wolfcryer comes back to close out the night at around 12:30 a.m. To purchase the EP online, visit nobleoakrecords.bandcamp.com .
•This Friday’s free MidPoint Indie Summer
concert on Fountain Square is perhaps the most poptastic ever. The concert features three of Cincinnati’s all-time greatest Pop/Rock artists — Roger Klug , The Tigerlilies and headliners/true local legends psychodots . I’ll vote this one the “Indie Summer concert where you’re most likely to have the artists’ songs stuck in your head for weeks.” Friday’s show kicks off at 7 p.m. on Fountain Square. ( mpmf.com )CONTACT MIKE BREEN:
[email protected] or @CityBeatMusic on Twitter.