CEA Fever

If you don’t know that Monday is the date for the ninth annual (and first music-only) Cincinnati Entertainment Awards … well, fold the paper over and take a peak at the cover. I’ll wait …

Monday’s ceremony, honoring all that the Greater Cincinnati original music scene has to offer, promises to be the best CEA celebration yet, with longer musical performances, more awards and nominees and a dazzling visual spectacle that has to be seen to be believed. The 8 p.m. show will have live sets from some of the biggest names in local music, including Cathedrals, The Greenhornes, Heartless Bastards, CEA Hall of Fame inductee John Von Ohlen, Marvin and The Experience, 500 Miles to Memphis, Czar*Nok and Thee Shams. For more on the ceremony and nominees, see the Cover Story, page 18.

The $10 CEA ticket (available through Ticketmaster; tickemaster.com or 513-562-4949) also gets you into the notorious CEA after-party at alchemize, which, like the event itself, promises to be the best in CEA history. The “Trashies,” the unofficial CEA fashion awards (presented and organized by the ever-chic local band The Fairmount Girls), get a little more official this year, as they’re being doled out from the stage during the after-party. The farm-girls-gone-wonderfully-wrong cabaret troupe, Barnyard Burlesque (who will also be featured prominently at the Taft show), will give a full-on performance at alchemize. And also scheduled is a monumental 60-minute, super-secret-surprise performance from one of Cincinnati’s greatest bands.

For more details, go to citybeat.com/cea/.

Covington Rocks
On Saturday, powerhouse rockers Covington celebrate their just-released debut album, Devised Without a Plan, with a concert at The Mad Hatter in — where else? — Covington. Humans Bow Down, thistle and Alone at 3 a.m. open the show.

Devised Without a Plan, a joint release from area labels Tiberius Records and Phratry Records, immediately brings to mind adjectives like “explosive,” “relentless” and “searing.” But, while fitting, those descriptors belie the depth, rhythmic nuances and glass-shard textures present in Covington’s soaring, brawny sound. The trio has the gas pedal glued to the floorboard, but there’s a clear direction and they’d just assume blow through a cornfield or jump a couple of bridges to get to their destination in lieu of sticking to the boring ol’ interstate. Covington features three of the four founding members of Ampline, an excellent, mostly-instrumental group, so you know the musical ducks are in a row as they somewhat echo that band’s captivating grasp on winding structural surprises. But vocally, Covington adds even more weight to their impact, enhancing strong lead melodies with tantalizing harmonies. Falling somewhere between Quicksand, Naked Raygun and a more streamlined Fugazi, Covington have a lot of the qualities that are on display in the music of bands drawing mainstream attention right now — octave-guitar trills, heavy, propulsive rhythms, precise harmonies, heart-spilling vocals. But it’s Covington’s sense of dynamics and what they do with the pieces that makes their puzzle more satisfying and artful. Emo? Oh no. (myspace.com/covingtonmusic)

More Local Notes
· Local Funk greats Bootsy Collins and Chris “Freekbass” Sherman emcee Sunday’s “Funk Down For Food” benefit concert at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley. The fun starts at 7 p.m. and the event features music from Soul Pocket, Leroy Ellington, Knoxville’s Dishwater Blonde and Bootzilla Productions’ own Eye Candy and D-Jizzle. All of the proceeds from the event benefit the Freestore FoodBank.

· Locals Cats Walking Backwards had such a successful Halloween-themed show playing the entirety of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, they’ve decided to give an encore performance. Saturday at The Loft (above Tickets in Covington), the group revisits the classic album with special guest Matt Taylor of Arapyma and Black Tractor fame. The band’s Zep set will be followed by another full-album cover — Travelin’ Barefoot tackles Pink Floyd’s masterpiece, Animals. Ambitious!

· Friday at The Viper Room, melody reigns as local Pop/Rock crews The Newbees, Super 77 and Screaming Mimes join forces for a show they’ve dubbed “Melody Pops.” (screamingmimes.com)

· Speaking of Pop/Rock, The Swarthy Band returns to the local stage for a show in the Southgate House’s Parlour room this Saturday, along with Bluegrass newcomers, The Earlytimers. The band is gearing up to begin recording a new album, currently titled Jumble the Can, and Saturday’s set will feature three new songs from the forthcoming release.

This article appears in Nov 16-22, 2005.