Barns and farms have played an important role in the history of Over the Rhine, married couple Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist’s internationally acclaimed, 25-year-old Cincinnati band. The couple met in a restored barn while in college in Canton, Ohio. For the past decade, the twosome has lived in and worked out of a brick farmhouse in Highland County on land they’ve dubbed “Nowhere Farm.” And now Detweiler and Bergquist are restoring a 140-year-old barn in Clinton County (in the village of Martinsville) and transforming it into a performing arts center with a recording studio called Nowhere Else.
As with Over the Rhine’s past two albums, Detweiler and Bergquist are turning to their loyal fanbase to help fund the new facility. The band is offering a variety of perks for donations. Among the perks (starting at the $100 level) are tickets to special preview concerts at Nowhere Else this weekend (the couple is hoping to have the facility fully ready to open by early October). The full six-piece band is performing special “Barn Raising Concerts” on Saturday (which is sold out), Sunday (7 p.m.) and Monday (3 p.m.). Over the Rhine will be debuting new songs at the concerts, which will be filmed and recorded for a forthcoming live album and DVD project. The release can be pre-ordered as part of the fundraising campaign. Visit at overtherhine.com/barnraising for full details.
The Goodle Boys Celebrate Debut Album Release
Cincinnati’s The Goodle Boys are releasing their debut album, Long Way Home, in conjunction with a show Friday at Woodward Theater (1404 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, woodwardtheater.com). The Americana/Bluegrass band will be joined by Hickory Robot and My Brother the Bear for the 9 p.m. concert. Cover charge is $5.
On Long Way Home, The Goodle Boys showcase their deft blend of Folk, Bluegrass and Blues across 10 original tracks that masterfully capture the spirit of the originators that influenced the band (and generations of other musicians). Along with the skilled musicianship — delivered on banjo, guitar, standup bass, harmonica and mandolin — and rock-solid arrangements, Long Way Home stands out due to the compelling lyrics, which have a timeless storyteller quality that fits perfectly into the Folk tradition.
The songs feature numerous local references, and many deal with the enduring themes of love and loss. “The End of Me,” for example, sways mournfully as a cautionary tale of love gone wrong is unraveled, from the initial moment of bewitchment to the jealous rage that leads the narrator to murder (at “13th and Clay,” a real intersection in Over-the-Rhine) and jail. Elsewhere, The Goodle Boys sing about historical moments, another hallmark of early Folk music. “Twelve Long Miles” poetically relays the tale of the Black Brigade of Cincinnati, a military unit of 700 black men that successfully protected the Queen City from a Confederate invasion during the Civil War, while “I Hear the Water is a Rising” appears to reference the deadly, devastating 1937 Ohio River flood in the story of a man who plans to meet his lover at the riverside Coney Island park (which was submerged in the ’37 flood), but loses her to the waters instead.
Long Way Home is an impressive debut album on many levels. It’s one thing to skillfully interpret the musical aspects of traditional Americana music, but The Goodle Boys take things a step further by showing that it’s about more than just the notes and chords. The band doesn’t just play the music; it truly understands the artform’s essence, inside and out.
Visit goodleboys.com for more info.
Catfish at 40
This Saturday, veteran local singer/songwriter Billy Catfish is celebrating his 40th birthday with a special, live-music-fueled party at the site of the former Herzog recording studios (where influential artists like Hank Williams, Flatt & Scruggs and many others recorded seminal tracks) and current headquarters of the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation (811 Race St., Downtown).
The event is BYOB and free, kicking off at 8 p.m. Catfish will be debuting his new band, Cheap Frills, at the party, which will also feature performances by Vampire Weekend At Bernie’s, Randy Cheek (Ass Ponys/The Ready Stance), Mark Zero, Larry Grim (Hogscraper), Ed Vardiman (Straw Boss), and The Dirt McGirts (featuring Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation’s Elliott Ruther and Marvin Hawkins), among others.
For more on Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation and the Herzog space’s rich history, visit takingyoutothebridge.org.
CONTACT MIKE BREEN: mbreen@citybeat.com. Follow him at @CityBeatMusic and on Facebook here.
This article appears in May 20-26, 2015.
