The MidPoint Music Festival
is three months away from kicking off autumn in Cincinnati, with nearly 200 artists from all over the world set to converge on the clubs and venues of Over-the-Rhine and Downtown Sept. 26-28.
The third round of bookings for the festival has been confirmed; artists who put in submissions for performance consideration for this year’s MPMF should be notified of their status soon, if they haven’t already.
Heading up the latest MPMF.13 artist announcement is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
. The L.A. band has built an international fanbase over the course of seven albums of dynamic, psychedelic Rock & Roll (most recently with Specter at the Feast , released on Vagrant this past spring). The band is also acclaimed for its trippy, light-soaked live sets.
Joining BRMC at MPMF.13 will be one of today’s Neo Folk scene’s biggest influences, singer/songwriter Damien Jurado
, Scottish/American singer/songwriter/actor/producer Johnathan Rice (half of the duo Jenny and Johnny with Rilo Kiley/Postal Service member Jenny Lewis) and up-and-coming Phoenix-based rockers The Technicolors .
Nicholas David
, the bearded singer/songwriter from St. Paul, Minn., who placed third on NBC singing contest The Voice (under the guidance of Cee Lo Green) is also a 2013 MPMFer, as are great Indie/Electro artist Helado Negro (New York City), Appleton, Wisc., Folk rockers Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons and Nashville, Tenn.’s The Delta Saints , whose most recent LP, Death Letter Jubilee , was hailed by No Depression as “a melting pot of Blues, Folk, Country, Gospel and roadhouse Rock & Roll that wears its blue-collar, Prohibition Era attitude on its sleeve but refuses to settle for kitschy revivalism.”
Adding more international flavor to MPMF.13, London trio Bear’s Den
will cross the pond to bring its compelling brand of rootsy Rock to the fest (the group has been compared to artists like Ryan Adams and early Wilco), while World music-flavored Indie/Electro crew Young Empires come in from Toronto.
Other freshly-confirmed 2013 MPMFers include Brooklyn, N.Y., Indie Pop quintet Snowmine
, Austin, Texas, Psych Pop outfit Pure X , equally trippy Indie/Psych/Electronic trio American Royalty (which features members based in L.A. and Brooklyn) and Chicago Electro Art Pop duo Gauntlet Hair . New York City duo The Grahams (the married couple of Alyssa and Doug Graham) will also be bringing their distinctive Americana/Bluegrass/Country Blues sound to MPMF.13.
Rounding out the latest MPMF performer announcement are a pair of return acts, artists who have amassed nice followings in Greater Cincinnati thanks to frequent tour visits (for MPMF and otherwise) — D.C. Indie Folk troupe Vandaveer
and the rootsy, rockin’ Indie quartet Ha Ha Tonka , from West Plains, Mo.
These artists will join a stellar collection of previously announced MPMF.13 performers, including The Breeders
(who will perform the Alt-Rock classic, Last Splash , in full), The Head and The Heart , Warpaint , Shuggie Otis , Youth Lagoon , Cody ChesnuTT and many others. Be sure to visit MPMF.com and follow MPMF’s social media accounts ( Facebook here and Twitter here ) for the latest artist additions and other MPMF news.
Tickets for 2013’s MidPoint Music Festival are available now at mpmf.cincyticket.com, where you can purchase three-day passes for only $69, the music fest bargain of the year. (“VIP Experience” tickets are also still available.)
EdenSong becomes ArtSong
EdenSong
, the long-running summer concert series presented by the Queen City Balladeers, kicks off this Friday in Eden Park, but not in its usual outdoor spot at the Seasongood Pavilion.
For the 2013 series, EdenSong is moving just up the hill and indoors — inside the Cincinnati Art Museum, to be exact. The shows — now called ArtSong
— runs every Friday through Aug. 2 and, as usual, features an excellent collection of primarily local Americana/Roots music performers.
The concerts will take place in the museum’s Fath Auditorium. Seating is more limited, so organizers advise arriving earlier than the 8 p.m. start time. Attendees are asked to enter the museum’s Dewitt entrance on the side of the building, in lieu of using the front doors.
The ArtSong concerts remain free (donations are, of course, welcome) and there is free parking on the museum grounds. This Friday’s opening concert features the impressive lineup of Shiny & the Spoon
, Ma Crow & the Lady Slippers , Lisa Biales , Anachrorhythms and Bob Kotz .
For the July 19 show, you can catch Ricky Nye
, Wild Carrot & the Roots Band , Jim’s Red Pants , Steve Bonafel & One Iota and Ellie Fabe . The lineup for July 26 features Anna & Milovan , Red Cedars , Silver Arm , Greg Schaber and Calamity Rain . And for the Aug. 2 closer, you’ll be able to see/hear The Rattlesnakin’ Daddies , Bromwell-Diehl Band , The Hertz Brothers , Ann & Phil Case and John Ford .
For more info, visit queencityballadeers.org.
CONTACT MIKE BREEN : [email protected] , @CityBeatMusic and on Facebook here .
