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 artists and build for the future.
Judging by the new artists who grabbed our attention in 2013, the future of the Greater Cincinnati music scene is in very good hands.
CityBeat has long hosted a showcase of some of the area’s up-and-coming new artists in conjunction with the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. This year, the showcase returns to long-running concert venue Bogart’s (2621 Vine St., Corryville, 513-872-8801, bogarts.com) as the Best New Bands showcase, featuring live performances from the six acts nominated for the New Artist of the Year CEA, plus some of our other favorite new acts from the area. Music will run non-stop on two stages throughout the evening.
For this year’s Best New Bands issue, we spoke with each of the performers nominated for the New Artist CEA. The music they play ranges from psychedelic Hard Rock/Proto Metal (Electric Citizen), passionate Indie Rock (Austin Livingood) and poppy Noise Punk (Tweens) to melodic Post Punk (Mardou), sophisticated Alt Pop/Rock (Archer’s Paradox) and fun, raunchy Rock & Roll (Pop Goes the Evil). You can also read about the other artists in the Best New Bands showcase lineup: Injecting Strangers, ADM, Molly Sullivan and Little Lights.
Find out the winner of the New Artist of the Year (and all of the other awards) on Sunday, Jan. 26, when the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards returns for its 17th year. Tickets for the ceremony/party at Covington’s Madison Theater are available now at cincyticket.com.
Tickets for Saturday’s BEST NEW BANDS showcase at Bogart’s are just $5 and can be purchased at the venue’s box office in advance or the night of the show. Showtime is 7 p.m.
