Music: The Tigerlillies
Though it has been more than a decade since The Tigerlilies put out their third official release, Ceci N’est Pas Pop, the invincible Cincinnati Rock veterans have hardly been idle. The group has maintained its draw on the local club front with consistent shows and, as the group’s latest LP shows, they’ve continued to grow as songwriters and…
Music: Yonder Mountain String Band
Modern Bluegrass crew Yonder Mountain String Band is returning to Covington’s Madison Theater this week for yet another of its memorable and fun shows. When the band pulls into the area, however, there will be some different faces to see when it takes the stage. Nope, there haven’t been any personnel changes within the ranks…
Music: Moot Davis
With the exception of perhaps Mike Muir and Suicidal Tendencies, it’s hard to think of many artists who can thank Pepsi for helping to launch their musical career. In New Jersey-bred Honky Tonk singer/songwriter Moot Davis’ case, it was the soundtrack to a commercial from the soda giant that sparked his love for (and eventual…
Music: Panic! at the Disco
“A long strange trip” hardly seems an adequate description for the circuitous roller coaster that has defined the history of Panic! at the Disco, the second biggest band to emerge from the monochromatic Las Vegas music scene. Childhood friends Brendon Urie (lead vocals/guitar/piano), Spencer Smith (drums), Brent Wilson (bass) and Ryan Ross (guitar/vocals) started P!ATD…
Music: The B.E.A.T.
Though Hip Hop’s house band The Roots helped usher in the trend of live instrumentation in mainstream Rap music, that trend largely seemed limited to high-profile stars who used live bands to beef up their stage presence during arena shows. But dig into the Hip Hop underground and you’ll find a lot more artists taking…
Music: Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis, who came to fame fronting Hard Rock band Staind, is a Country singer now. This isn’t exactly a new thing. But it’s still a little weird, right? Lewis made the switch nearly three years ago. To prove how “Country” he is, his first EP included a collaboration with George Jones, Charlie Daniels and…
Tigerlilies Do It “In the Dark”
Though it has been more than a decade since The Tigerlilies put out their third official release, Ceci N’est Pas Pop, the invincible Cincinnati Rock veterans have hardly been idle. The group has maintained its draw on the local club front with consistent shows and, as the group’s latest LP shows, they’ve continued to grow…
Cooking with Beer! at the Betts House
The Betts House, located in the Betts-Longworth Historic District in the West End, is the oldest surviving brick building in Cincinnati. Built in 1804, it opened to the public as a museum in 1996. And their current exhibit, Bricks, Barrel Vaults & Beer: The Architectural Legacy of Cincinnati Breweries, examines the tunnels, breweries, buildings and…
A Temporary Makeover
M odern Bluegrass crew Yonder Mountain String Band is returning to Covington’s Madison Theater this week for yet another of its memorable and fun shows. When the band pulls into the area, however, there will be some different faces to see when it takes the stage. Nope, there haven’t been any personnel changes within the…
The Rookwood (Review)
Change is progress. Change is a sign of growth. But it can be truly frightening, particularly when it means your favorite restaurant has a new chef and the menu is going to be different. If you’re a Cincinnati foodie or cocktail connoisseur, in all likelihood you already love The Rookwood, the former Rookwood Pottery Company’s…
Moot Davis with The Honkeycutters and Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle
With the exception of perhaps Mike Muir and Suicidal Tendencies, it’s hard to think of many artists who can thank Pepsi for helping to launch their musical career. For Muir, the drink was referenced in Suicidal’s early ’80s breakthrough song “Institutionalized,” in which the singer rants about being hassled by his parents when all he…
Panic! at the Disco with The Colourist
“A long strange trip” hardly seems an adequate description for the circuitous roller coaster that has defined the history of Panic! at the Disco, the second biggest band to emerge from the monochromatic Las Vegas music scene. Childhood friends Brendon Urie (lead vocals/guitar/piano), Spencer Smith (drums), Brent Wilson (bass) and Ryan Ross (guitar/vocals) started P!ATD…
The B.E.A.T. with Black Pharaoh, Counterfeit Money Machine and Abiyah
T hough Hip Hop’s house band The Roots helped usher in the trend of live instrumentation in mainstream Rap music, that trend largely seemed limited to high-profile stars who used live bands to beef up their stage presence during arena shows. But dig into the Hip Hop underground and you’ll find a lot more artists…
Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis, who came to fame fronting Hard Rock band Staind, is a Country singer now. This isn’t exactly a new thing. But it’s still a little weird, right? Lewis made the switch nearly three years ago. To prove how “Country” he is, his first EP included a collaboration with George Jones, Charlie Daniels and…
Findlay Market is Having a Chili Cook-Off, Too
Findlay Market is celebrating its 10th annual chili cook-off Sunday; that's a full decade of meat and beans. Labeled as the hottest chili cook-off in town, up to 30 chili enthusiasts are invited to compete for the coveted title of Chili Meister (that's German for master…FYI). The comp will take place in heated tents on…
Park + Vine Hosts Fourth Vegan Chili Cook-Off
The Super Bowl is just around the corner (I think), which means it's time to brush up on your snack (and snacking) skills. Get inspired, sample some chili or show off your cooking skills at Park + Vine’s fourth annual Vegan Chili Cook-off! Awards will be given for best one-gallon/four quarts of chili in first, second…
Event: CityBeat’s Cincinnati Entertainment Awards
The Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, an annual awards show honoring the best of the Greater Cincinnati music scene, celebrates 17 years Sunday. The show will feature numerous live performances from local bands, first-time host Jac Kern (CityBeat’s Arts & Culture editor) and a slew of awards given to various musical acts, decided mostly by public voting…
Event: Local Local Local 5
Arnold’s Bar & Grill celebrates all things local with Local Local Local 5, their fifth annual installment of an evening of local music, local beer, local art and more. The evening will featuring music by Cincy Brass and representatives of basically all local Cincinnati breweries will be on hand to talk about their brews and…
Event: Robert Burns Dinner
The Caledonian Society of Cincinnati presents its annual Robert Burns Dinner, celebrating Scottish poet Robert Burns, author of “Auld Lang Syne.” He’s considered the national poet of Scotland and his birthday is celebrated by Scots around the world, including in Cincinnati, where they pay their respects with food, drink, song, poetry, dancing and bagpipe music. …
Class: Cooking with Beer
Celebrated pastry chef Stefan Skirtz, from S&J Bakery and Café, will teach you how to improve your recipes with alcohol, just like Julia Child! This fun cooking demonstration features recipes utilizing local beer from the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company and is presented in conjunction with the Betts House’s Bricks, Barrel Vaults & Beer: The Architectural…
Event: Old House Interiors
Step back in time to Victorian-era design during Old House Interiors, part one of the Cincinnati Preservation Association’s first program series of the New Year. Using the John Hauck House as a case study, participants will receive an introduction to mid-Victorian interior design, woodworking and furnishings with a tour of the home. Come view 19th…
Music: Smooth Hound Smith
Spinning a compelling web of Americana influences (Blues, Rock & Roll, Folk, Country, etc.) into its own soulful, Garage-y style, Nashville duo Smooth Hound Smith sounds like what would happen if you boiled the best things about The Black Keys and Kings of Leon down to their essence, stripped out the over-production, added some impassioned…
Music: Choirs by Night
During Memorial Hall’s Choirs by Night, Cincinnati will be serenaded by the beautiful and captivating songs of the May Festival Chamber Choir and the inspirational selections of the Martin Luther King Chorale. Enjoy edible delights from eat well, Funky’s, Cincinnati Cooks and Taste of Belgium, along with complimentary wine and cocktails. A choral performance by…
Comedy: Jimmy Pardo
Jimmy Pardo has a huge following thanks to his immensely popular podcast Never Not Funny as well as his work on the Conan O’Brien show. His fast and loose style always keeps the comedy club audiences on their toes. “I tell the story about going to the movie theater with the other comedian and that…
Onstage: 50 Shades! The Musical
Everyone’s favorite bondage book hits the stage singing, dancing and joking in this musical parody interpretation of BDSM trilogy 50 Shades of Grey. With 11 original songs, dance numbers and a live backing band, the musical starts with a demure ladies book club as they adventure to read the salacious novel and goes from there.…
Art: Hassan Sharif Visiting Artist Lecture at DAAP
Founder of the Emirates Fine Art Society and Art Atelier in the Youth Theater and Arts, Dubai, Hassan Sharif will lecture Wednesday evening as part of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) visiting artist series. Sharif’s work was selected to represent the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) during its first…
Attraction: Avant Garden at the Krohn Conservatory
Krohn Conservatory is giving Cincinnatians a glimpse of spring. Escape the winter weather from now until the end of March with Krohn’s spring floral show, Avant Garden, featuring exotic spring bulbs, lush greenery and bright, fragrant blooms plus imaginative moss-covered chandeliers and flower sculptures made out of everyday, repurposed materials. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Through…
Onstage: Clybourne Park
Have we truly managed to cross a racial divide? Not according to Bruce Norris, whose award-winning play gets its regional premiere at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park this week. Spinning two tales set in the house that provided the catalyst for Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, Norris’ 2011 script uses…
Morning News and Stuff
Fiscal conservatives and tea party activists won more seats on local school boards last year, putting them in the awkward position of supposedly looking out for the school’s best interests while rejecting property tax levies that could boost schools’ resources and outcomes. As one example, a member of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and…
Modern Republicans Would Oppose Martin Luther King Jr.
If his speeches and other comments are any indication, Martin Luther King Jr. would likely stand in sharp opposition to modern Ohio Republicans and many of their proposed policies. In reviewing King’s work, speeches and quotes, it’s clear he was a progressive on a wide range of issues — from voting rights to collective bargaining…
Packhouse to Open in Newport
As the meatball food craze continues, another local restaurant is opening and offering a version of the hand-packed snack. Packhouse in Newport, Ky. will be a laid-back place to get a variety of meatballs, according to general manager Kurt Stephens. "We will be offering four staple packs (beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian), along with four…
ACLU Calls For End to Death Penalty
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio on Sunday asked Gov. John Kasich to halt the death penalty across the state, following the botched execution of convicted killer Dennis McGuire that reportedly lasted 26 minutes. McGuire’s prolonged execution, the longest since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999, was carried out on Jan. 16 with…
‘Downton Abbey’ Season Four, Episode Three
Upstairs Recap: The ladies of upstairs, with their hair perfectly crimped and curled, are misbehaving as usual. While the rest of the family pushes “Tony” (Ew) onto Mary, Edith is wearing fashionable arm bracelets and casually losing her virginity. Go Edith! Edith’s lover, Michael Gregson, has finally achieved Lord Grantham’s approval by winning him some…
Morning News and Stuff
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald on Friday announced his new running mate: Sharen Neuhardt, a Dayton-area business attorney and twice-failed candidate for Congress. The choice boosts the ticket’s credentials with women and abortion-rights advocates, but it also reinforces support for pro-choice policies that upset many Republicans and conservatives. FitzGerald originally picked State Sen. Eric Kearney…
Ohio Activists Push Voter Bill of Rights
State Rep. Alicia Reece and other activists are mobilizing a campaign to get a "Voter Bill of Rights" on the Ohio ballot this November. If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would preserve the 35-day early voting period, expand early voting hours, allow voters to cast a provisional ballot anywhere in a given county, advance…
Stage Door: ‘South Park,’ Sondheim and Shakespeare
The big buzz is around The Book of Mormon, the musical by the South Park guys that's rude, crude and sweet, all at once. An acquaintance of mine aptly describes it as "blasphemy without malice." Regardless of what you call it, it's the talk of the town, and a lot of people have told me…
PREVIEW: Best New Bands Showcase
Saturday at Bogart’s you’ll have a chance to see 10 of Greater Cincinnati’s finest up-and-comers as CityBeat presents the first “Best New Bands” showcase. The event coincides with our “Best New Bands” cover story, featuring profiles and info on all of the performers — grab a copy if you haven’t. Below is the lineup, which…
Cranley Calls for End to ‘Double Dipping’
Mayor John Cranley told CityBeat Friday that he's still troubled by the practice of "double dipping," but he said the incoming assistant city manager is only eligible to receive a salary and pension benefits because of policy set by City Council. Bill Moller will be rehired by the city in February to fill in as…
Pompilios Returns to its Past with Bar Rebranding
Pompilios, the local Newport, Ky. restaurant famed for its family-friendly Italian fare and appearance in several major motion pitctures (Rain Man, y'all), is rebranding its back bar with the rollout of Colonel Pomps Tavern. Established in 1933 by Colonel and Mrs. Pompilio, the bar and restaurant was the first to secure a liquor license in…
First Artists for Buckle Up Music Festival Debut Announced
Word has been trickling out over the past few weeks about a new Country music festival in Cincinnati, organized by Bunbury Music Festival founder Bill Donabedian. Today, the first four artists slated to appear at the inaugural Buckle Up Music Festival were announced. The festival is set for the weekend after Bunbury — July 18-20…
Morning News and Stuff
A condemned Ohio killer took more than 20 minutes to die in an execution carried out yesterday with a combination of drugs never tried before in the United States. The execution was one of the longest since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999. Throughout the nearly 25 minutes that Dennis McGuire took to die, he…
Preschool Promise Seeks Volunteers
As the campaign to provide universal preschool in Cincinnati kicks into gear, organizations involved in the Preschool Promise are seeking more volunteers to train as “Promise Ambassadors” who will help raise awareness and gather feedback for the proposal. Although there’s no major resistance to universal preschool at a local level, the big question is how…
Dine and Dash
Whether you’re new to the area or you’ve lived here all your life, there’s always something fresh to discover in regional food, and there’s no better way to do that than on your feet. If your belly is full, it’s that much better, so we’ve gathered information about some food tour companies — two local and…
Sleepy Bee Cafe (Profile)
Sleepy Bee Café is buzzing in Oakley: scrums of runners returning from training, coffee drinkers at the bar absorbed in electronic media, tables of toddlers’ moms making sure the syrup stays on the pancakes. The place is jam-packed, but the atmosphere is calm, quiet competence, not panic stations. A barista thoughtfully cuts a straw in…
Morning News and Stuff
Ohio now bans abusive dog breeding practices that previously earned the state a reputation as one of the laxest for dog breeding rules in the nation. With the new rules, dog breeders must maintain improved living conditions for the dogs, including standards for cage size, regular grooming, veterinary examinations and socialization. The rules earned praise…
City Council Tackles Progressive Agenda
City Council on Wednesday advanced a largely progressive agenda that moves forward with initiatives aimed at job training, homelessness and inclusion. The agenda defined City Council’s first meeting of the new year — the first full session since council decided to continue work on Cincinnati’s $132.8 million streetcar project. The meeting also showed that the…
Best New Bands 2014
Local music has been a priority at CityBeat ever since the paper was founded almost 20 years ago. And a huge part of that focus has been on new artists, the lifeblood of any strong music scene. Every band or performer was “new” at some point; it’s up to the music community to nurture those…
More Great New Artists to Watch in 2014
During Cincinnati Entertainment Awards-time every year, my forced mantra is, “Every artist in Cincinnati can’t be nominated.” For 17 years now, the queries of “Why didn’t so-and-so get nominated?” come hard and fast once the nominees are announced. And most of the artists that are asked about certainly were in the running and deserved a…
Livingood, and the Music is Easy
In 2011, fans celebrated Belle Histoire’s Best New Artist nomination at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. But two years makes a big difference in a band’s life. In 2013, vocalist Jane Smith planted new musical seeds with her solo venture Decker while insisting Belle Histoire was merely on hiatus. But when guitarist Austin Livingood stepped up…
Sterling Archer’s
Seth Huff, frontman for local rockers Archer’s Paradox, knew from an early age what he wanted to do with his life. “I started the idea of the whole Archer’s Paradox thing when I was in high school,” Huff says during a recent phone conversation. “Between the ages of 16 and 22, when we started the…
Be Tweens
When Bridget Battle contemplates the question of what she considers to be the high points of the past year for Tweens, she flips through a mental Rolodex of memories that have been forged with such volume and intensity it’s easy to see that they’ve not yet been cataloged or quantified. “The Breeders West Coast trip…
Known Pleasures
Mardou calls its music “Post Punk/Noise Pop shit,” which is as good a descriptor as any. The fresh-faced local quartet (singer/guitarist Dylan McCartney, guitarist Aaron Watkins, bassist Eric Dietrich and drummer Eric Lindsay) had a fruitful 2013, dropping a pair of addictive EPs (The Kirby Sessions and Cardigan EP), seven tracks in total that recall…
From “Eww” to “Ooh”
Pop Goes the Evil isn’t afraid of the taboo. Murder, isolation, sex, jealousy, profanity, self-examination — you name it, they touch on it. Nominated for two Cincinnati Entertainment Awards in the categories of Rock and New Artist of the Year, Pop Goes the Evil is composed of lead singer and guitarist Lucas Frazier, bassist Evan…
Gold Star Chili Now Serves Doritos Nachos
Move over, Taco Bell. Deadspin, brace your taste buds and typin’ fingers for a twist on Cincy’s “abominable garbage-gravy.” Gold Star Chili now serves Doritos nachos. Arriving just in time to sabotage your New Year’s health resolutions, Gold Star has added a Nacho Cheese Dorito-based dish to its menu. The nachos feature Gold Star's signature…
Onstage: Book of Mormon
Have faith. That’s the hilarious lesson of The Book of Mormon, crusading for laughter in its current missionary effort, er, touring stop, Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center. While a few local bluenoses might be initially offended by the show’s sacrilegious language and actions (one song has natives in Uganda flipping the bird to the almighty) and joyously crude…
Music: Walk Off the Earth
Don’t mock the cover band, y’all. A good one can not only be highly entertaining, but also turn into a huge success these days — and not just by serving as the most popular human jukebox in their hometowns. Perfect example: Walk off the Earth. The incredibly talented, inventive and entertaining group burst onto the…
Music: Keller Williams
There is one absolute rule in Keller Williams’ world: There are no rules. Using the Grateful Dead’s improbable diversity as a jumping-off point, Williams has created an astonishingly broad catalog over the past two decades, tossing every conceivable genre spice in his musical gumbo. As Williams stirs the pot, almost anything is likely to bubble…
Excellent Citizenship
For a band that’s been active on the scene for less than a year, Electric Citizen draws on tons of history. Vocalist Laura Dolan and guitarist Ross Dolan, now married, were high-school sweethearts 15 years ago; their band pedigrees date back nearly as far, including stints with Two Headed Dog, The Lions Rampant and Children…
Music: Man Man
If a band is entirely made up of musicians operating under eccentric aliases, there’s an incredibly good chance said band’s music is also eccentric and worthy of your attention. This is an odd theory, yes, but one that checks out once you consider that bands like Animal Collective, Fucked Up and GWAR all fit the…
Music: Motel Beds with The Harlequins
One of the leading lights of the Dayton, Ohio music scene is the hyper-melodic Pop Rock outfit Motel Beds, which has been kicking around since the early ’00s, gradually building up a stack of fawning press notices and a loyal fan base. By 2007, the quintet stabilized its lineup and began a prolific period that…
Music: Diane Coffee
Side projects are a time-honored tradition in Pop music. But how many of them are truly inspired, unique additions to the landscape and not just vanity projects largely given attention due to the creators’ better-known musical outlets? Don’t count Diane Coffee, the alter ego of Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming, among the less successful of those…
Event: Thursday Night Throwdown: Put Rhett Back Together Again Edition
Rhett Harkins, general manager of Price Hill’s BLOC Coffee Company, plummeted 60 feet from a cliff while hiking Haystack Rock in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge on Dec. 14. The injuries he sustained included a broken ankle, femur, hand and shoulder, along with a shattered heel. Luckily, he did not seriously damage his spine or head.…
Ride Along
Tim Story, who helmed the first two Fantastic Four movies, is likely more recognized for his comedic work with Barbershop and Think Like a Man, so its fitting that he’s reteaming with one of his Think buddies — the hardworking funnyman Kevin Hart — for an Odd Couple outing about a security guard (Hart) who…
The Nut Job
The last couple of years have seen a huge commitment from all of the major studios to enter the realm of animation. The latest features a testy squirrel (voiced by Will Arnett) who gets kicked out of the park he calls home and must find a new place in the city to rest his weary…
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
The line of actors who have assumed the role of Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck) certainly aspires to the James Bond astrological chart, although the fact that there have only been a handful of movies featuring the Tom Clancy character dampens the bright lights a bit. Now Chris Pine takes over…
Devil’s Due
More found footage, this time from a new husband (Zach Gilford) dedicated to documenting as much of his wedded bliss as possible. In life, everything happens so quickly that sometimes it makes sense to keep track of it all, especially when, after an unplanned pregnancy, hubby begins to notice more than a few unusual, unexplainable…
County Proposes Compromise in Contracting Dispute with City
Hamilton County commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution that seeks a compromise over Cincinnati's controversial contracting rules for Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) projects. Both sides agree the issue must be resolved soon to avoid a costly legal battle and allow MSD to fully continue work on a federally mandated $3.2 billion revamp of the…
Pawns Seize the Crown in ‘Life of a King’
Games teach us life lessons, and so do movies. But movies can strip away all of the metaphor and hidden machinations, showing us the broad strokes of what happened, meaning we get the highlights and the outcome — the shorthand version of the message. That’s exactly what Life of a King, based on a true…
Local Baristas Join Forces to Aid Injured Coffee Comrade
Rhett Harkins, general manager of Price Hill’s BLOC Coffee Company, plummeted 60 feet from a cliff while hiking Haystack Rock in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge on Dec. 14. The injuries he sustained included a broken ankle, femur, hand and shoulder, along with a shattered heel. Luckily, he did not seriously damage his spine or head.…
The Death of Diversity in U.S. Broadcast Ownership
After Roberts Broadcasting, a black-owned media company, announced the sale of its few television stations last December, African Americans will own the same number of full-power U.S. broadcast television stations in 2014 as they did in 1974: none. How is it that minority ownership has been set back 40 years? To answer the question we…
Avondale
We used to call it “Little Kuwait.” It was 1989 and crack cocaine had all its black enthusiasts by the pipe; never more prevalent and obviously so than along the stretch of Burnett Avenue heading north toward its intersection with Rockdale Avenue. “Uptown.” Twenty-five years ago and before Cincinnati Children’s Hospital began and continues its…
Pondering a Post-Betsky Cincinnati Art Museum
Overall, I really enjoyed the Cincinnati Art Museum under Aaron Betsky, the director who announced his resignation Jan. 2 and will stay until a replacement is found. But there were a couple weaknesses that ought to be addressed by a successor, with the support of the trustees. Betsky’s curators presented smartly researched shows — most…
Art As Activism
C incinnati needs people like Joi Sears. The twentysomething actor/activist moved back to her hometown, Cincinnati, about a year ago after spending nearly a decade in New York and months — if not years, collectively — traveling abroad. She returned with the long-term goal of building a “creative place-making project” in Over-the-Rhine for artists…
Streetcar Supporters Oppose Oasis Rail Line
At first glance, it might seem like a rail line between downtown Cincinnati and the city of Milford would earn support from the same people who back the streetcar project, but streetcar supporters, including advocacy group Cincinnatians for Progress, say they oppose the idea and its execution. Critics of the overall project, called the…
Good Taste From the Start
HOT Good Taste from the Start VICE.com’s music branch, Noisey, recently interviewed a man in his early twenties who was born deaf, but thanks to a new, high-quality hearing aid, finally could hear music for the first time last summer. The young filmmaker, Austin Chapman, took to Reddit to ask for listening suggestions, so Noisey…
Obamacare Falls Short Signing Up Key Demographic in Ohio
In the third month of open enrollment, Obamacare failed to meet crucial demographic goals for young adults in Ohio and across the nation. Prior to the launch of HealthCare.gov, the Obama administration said it needs to enroll about 2.7 million young adults out of 7 million projected enrollees — nearly 39 percent of all signups…
Ohio Supreme Court Replaces Embattled Juvenile Judge
The Ohio Supreme Court on Jan. 10 appointed a retired judge to replace Hamilton County’s embattled juvenile judge while she fights multiple felony counts for backdating court documents and stealing from office, among other charges. Judge Tracie Hunter was indicted by a grand jury for eight felony charges on Jan. 10. The grand jury added…
Republicans Continue Hindering Access to the Ballot
At this point, it’s impossible to look at the big picture of Republican-led election reforms and not conclude that the GOP is clearly determined to make elections as difficult as possible for opposing voters and potential challengers. Most recently, a federal judge reprimanded Republicans for a 2013 law that blatantly protected Republican Gov. John Kasich’s…
Not In Our Dog House
In 2008, one of the most infamous high-volume dog breeders in Virginia was convicted on 25 counts of animal neglect and 14 counts of animal cruelty. In 2009, the state passed a law restricting his illicit business practices. But a short time later, he moved his so-called “puppy mill” to a state with some of…
The Tillers Added to Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Show
Voting for the 17th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards is now closed and ballots are being tallied to determine the winners, which will be announced at the CEA celebration on Sunday, Jan. 26 at Covington’s Madison Theater (madisontheateronline.com). (The Best New Bands showcase, featuring all of the artists nominated in the New Artist of the Year…
Coffee Talk
S ide projects are a time-honored tradition in Pop music. But how many of them are truly inspired, unique additions to the landscape and not just vanity projects largely given attention due to the creators’ better-known musical outlets? Don’t count Diane Coffee, the alter ego of Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming, among the less successful of…
I Just Can’t Get Enough…Golden Globes
The Golden Globe Awards are a true Hollywood party. Awards are given out for television and film categories, so you get the playfulness of the Emmys and the movie stars of the Oscars without as much seriousness. And it is a widely-known fact that everybody gets their drank on throughout the ceremony. Globes were awarded…
Motel Beds with The Harlequins
Veteran members of Dayton, Ohio’s stellar Indie music scene made some music news headlines in 2013, and the news ranged from sad (Kim Deal quitting Pixies) to glorious (The Breeders’ successful tour for Last Splash’s 20th anniversary) to kinda weird (Guided By Voices’ drummer getting the boot for trying to use the GBV name to…
Morning News and Stuff
The latest administrative shakeups at City Hall spurred controversy after the city administration confirmed City Solicitor John Curp will leave his current position and one of the new hires — Bill Moller, a city retiree who will become assistant city manager — will be able to “double dip” on his pension and salary ($147,000 a…
Man Man with Xenia Rubinos
If a band is entirely made up of musicians operating under eccentric aliases, there’s an incredibly good chance said band’s music is also eccentric and worthy of your attention. This is an odd theory, yes, but one that checks out once you consider that bands like Animal Collective, Fucked Up and GWAR all fit the…
Keller Williams with More Than a Little
There is one absolute rule in Keller Williams’ world: There are no rules. Using the Grateful Dead’s improbable diversity as a jumping-off point, Williams has created an astonishingly broad catalog over the past two decades, tossing every conceivable genre spice in his musical gumbo. As Williams stirs the pot, almost anything is likely to bubble…
Walk off the Earth with Parachute
Don’t mock the cover band, y’all. A good one can not only be highly entertaining, but also turn into a huge success these days — and not just by serving as the most popular human jukebox in their hometowns. Perfect example: Walk off the Earth. The incredibly talented, inventive and entertaining group burst onto the…
Benedict Cumberbatch Returns as Mad-Genius Detective
Spoiler Alert: Sherlock Holmes is alive. OK, obviously BBC’s original series Sherlock (10 p.m. Sundays, PBS) would not have continued onto a third season if its namesake character was really dead. But after falling from the roof of St. Bart’s Hospital in last season’s finale, Sherlock Holmes’ colleagues and friends (if you can call them…
