Check out Friday's schedule here, and see Saturday's schedule here. Artist schedule subject to change.
ARNOLD'S BAR AND GRILL (AGES 21 AND UP)
11 p.m. Young Heirlooms (Cincinnati)
Indie Folk/Americana
Young Heirlooms’ appearance at last year’s MidPoint fest proved to be a highlight for many attendees, as the band’s gorgeously lush Folk melodicism and elegant instrumentation echoed throughout an old theater to create a truly transcendent experience. Started as a duo by Kelly Fine and Chris Robinson, Young Heirlooms’ mesmerizing, passionate and unique take on Folk music can be heard on its self-titled 2013 full-length. But the band has an even greater impact live, where a full band helps Fine and Robinson’s lilting, ethereal songs reach celestial heights. On the Heirlooms’ Bandcamp page, there is a “shoegaze” tag, an odd reference for a non-Rock band, but a perfectly fitting one given the group’s dreamy, hypnotic output. It’s the kind of music that will stop the uninitiated listeners dead in their tracks and lull them in. You’ll Dig It If You Dig: Fleet Foxes, Phosphorescent, Cowboy Junkies. (Mike Breen)9:45 p.m. Xoe wise (Chicago)
Indie/Pop/Rock
Singer/songwriter Xoe Wise has proven her versatility and strength as a songwriter over the past few years by recasting her songs in various formats. Her 2010 debut caught a lot of attention for its dreamy spin on acoustic Folk Pop, while 2012’s Archive of Illusions found her losing some of the rootsy elements for a more spacious, celestial Pop minimalism. But when 2013’s Breakfast EP came out, Wise took a hard left run, exploring the world of Electro Pop with great results. With this year’s Racecar Orgasm: Foreplay EP, Wise (who’s also a member of MidPoint Synth Pop act Kinky Love) collaborated with various Electronic producers to create an impressively diverse Electronic EP that still retains the essence of her catchy and enchanting songwriting style. YDIIYD: Imogen Heap, Purity Ring, MS MR, Toro y Moi. (MB)8:30 p.m. Bones Jugs N Harmony (Urbana/Champaign, Ill.)
Indie Bluegrass/Hip Hop
Bones Jugs N Harmony began three years ago as a side project, but ecstatic public reaction led them to believe this was more of a primary gig. Blending a completely contemporary perspective with traditional jug band instrumentation (kazoo, xylophone, resonator guitar, jugs) and not-so traditional (donkey jawbone?), plus a wickedly pointed sense of humor (from “Wiggle Ya Bones” on their 2014 release, Party’s in the Kitchen: “You could be sittin’ at home watchin’ Game of Thrones/But instead you came here to wiggle ya bones”), Bones Jugs N Harmony has the goods to ’grass up your ’hoods. The band calls it “21st Century Jug Band Spasm,” so get spasmodic with BJNH. YDIIYD: Beastie Boys meet Del McCoury at the Squirrel Nut Zippers Memorial Tribute/Fried Chicken Picnic. (Brian Baker)7:15 p.m. Acarya (Cincinnati)
Tribal Rock
Acarya’s unique sound, which they’ve dubbed “Tribal Rock,” is the result of a collaboration between singer/guitarist Wes Davidson and drummer Liz Wu, who performs on a self-made kit that combines a variety of different percussion instruments. The twosome creates a melodic, passionate sound that blends and layers elements of emotive Modern Rock and World music. Along with frequent shows around Greater Cincinnati, the duo has also performed all across the country. YDIIYD: Peter Gabriel, Rusted Root, Dave Matthews. (MB)
CHRISTIAN MOERLEIN BREWING CO. (ALL AGES)
10:30 p.m. tUnE-yArDs (Oakland, Calif.)
Experimental Pop
tUnE-yArDs is the rather eccentric brainchild of Merrill Garbus. In not only her songwriting, but also her video works, Garbus is the kind of provocative artist pushing the boundaries of what humans find to be pleasant. Utilizing electronic beats layered with synthesizers and vocal loops, all with her strangely brilliant lyrical excursions falling over top, she ends up with music that sounds almost like deranged Pop blended with World Beat, lo-fi and a little social disillusionment. Although she has three great records behind her — the most recent being 2014’s Nikki Nack— tUnE-yArDs’ evolution seems to spring out of Garbus’ live exploration, in which she creates drum loops on the spot, layers vocals and other instruments over them and employs an oft-changing lineup of instrumental or vocal backers. YDIIYD: Dirty Projectors, a somewhat less creepy, downtempo Hundred Waters, St. Vincent. (Charlie Harmon)
9:15 p.m. Low Cut Connie (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Indie Rock
Low Cut Connie is becoming a MidPoint staple; when your performances leave people in quivering puddles of sweat and adrenaline, you tend to get invited back. On the piano, it’s Adam Weiner doing his best Jerry Lee Lewis-meets-Little Richard impression, pounding on the keys as though he’s trying to beat a confession out of them, which might actually be the case. Back there on the drums, with a guitar slung around his neck, is British expat Dan Finnemore, who translates his Punk/Garage Rock influences into a sonic approximation of the heartbeat and brainwave of a guy strapped to the nosecone of a launched rocket. The duo’s new album, the long-threatened Hi Honey, is a bit of a throwback to Weiner’s ’50s/’60s inspirations, but with plenty of modern verve and humor. Whatever they do in the studio, magnify it exponentially, then again, and, what the hell, once more and you’ll just about equal the twosome’s stage presentation. If there had been a piano and drums at the crossroads, Low Cut Connie would have kicked the devil’s pointy red ass. Come see what that’s all about. YDIIYD: Leon Russell and Randy Newman sit in with The Stooges and tear a hole in the cosmic fabric. Mom is pissed. (BB)8 p.m. Ne-Hi (Chicago)
Indie Rock
Chicago’s latest musical gift to the rest of the country is Ne-Hi, a four-piece that dives headfirst into trippy Indie/Garage Rock with ease and talent. Swimming guitars, spacey reverb and tight drumming add up to an energetic package that is brimming with enough experimental vibes to keep you hooked. In their scant two-year existence, Ne-Hi has enjoyed plenty of underground success in Chicago and beyond, touring the Midwest extensively and peddling its quickly-devoured sound and DIY attitude to everyone within earshot. YDIIYD: Twin Peaks, Sonic Youth, Fairmount Girls. (Leyla Shokoohe)7 p.m. Coconut Milk (Cincinnati)
Indie Pop
In a little over a year, Coconut Milk has formed, dropped two excellent EPs, played a ton of well-received shows, written a children’s book and made a name for itself around town as one of the scene’s premiere Indie Pop outfits. Ambitious a little? With this amount of talent, the members ought to be. The quintet — including ex-Dewey Decibel vocalist/guitarist Alex Baker and former Vaudeville Freud frontman Paul O’Moore on bass — has been garnering great press for its local and regional shows, stellar harmonies and infectious recordings, like last year’s Tastes Great! and the recently released We’re Sorry. Coconut Milk identifies what it does as “Beach Rock,” and that frames it pretty handily. A warm breeze, a tropical cocktail, a beautiful sunset and soaking in Coconut Milk. Get there. YDIIYD: The Polyphonic Spree drops 16 extraneous toga fillers and pares down to its essence for an Indie Rock Brian Wilson tribute. (BB)
THE DRINKERY PRESENTED BY CINCYMUSIC.COM (AGES 21 AND UP)
11:30 p.m. Rose Quartz (Denver)
Indie/Electro Pop
Alex Anderson (of ManCub) and Ethan Converse (of Flash/Lights) teamed up to fill the gaps in each other’s bands, then threw their combined weight into Flash/Lights, and furthered their position as the toast of Denver’s local scene. By the time they’d cleared their schedules long enough to record their 2014 debut EP, they decided to change their name to Rose Quartz (as they’ve noted, it’s the stone of love), and pursue a slightly edgier sonic path. Since last year, Rose Quartz has expanded to a four-piece and released its debut EP, the well-received
Axis of Love
, opened for St. Lucia, Chk! Chk! Chk!, Cut Copy and STRFKR, among others, and was chosen to be a part of Red Bull’s national Sound Select artist program. YDIIYD: Muse and New Order play each other’s demos. (BB)10:15 p.m. Marcus Alan Ward (Cleveland, Ohio)
Indie/Electronic/Pop
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Marcus Alan Ward brings his magnetizing brand of Psychedelic Electronic Pop to MidPoint from Cleveland. Formerly performing under the name Freeze-Tag, Ward revamped his sound after his first EP, Eskimo, molding it into deftly layered and intricately rendered songs that are as hypnotic as they are poignant. “Superposition,” from his latest album, Last Night I Grew Tentacles, is a short, enticing siren’s call, with more than a hint of Prince dripping from Ward’s sexy, drawling vocals. Much of the album meditates on various aspects of love as crooned by Ward, with calculated, almost math-y guitar and found sounds (also performed by Ward). A live visual-art element elevates his music to stimuli for all the senses. YDIIYD: TV On The Radio, Prince, D’Angelo, Caribou. (LS)9 p.m. Kid Runner (Columbus, Ohio)
Alternative Electro Pop
When Kid Runner was here for the Bunbury festival back in June, the band cranked out a sterling set made up of songs from its most recent EP, Wake Up Now, and its eponymous 2013 debut, plus a handful of new tracks, all of which was dialed up to festival-strength. The quintet was beyond impressive in its ability to embrace restraint and then explode like a Rozzi shell, immediately debunking the myth that Electro Pop bands lack diversity or dynamism. There is a definite streak of energetic Indie Rock that defines Kid Runner as a good deal more than your standard-issue Synth Pop outfit. YDIIYD: Muse and Passion Pit make s’mores in the microwave and pass the synth around the video of the campfire on the flat screen. (BB)7:45 p.m. Eclipse Movement (Cincinnati)
Hip Hop/Funk/Jazz
Eclipse Movement has long been a Cincinnati favorite thanks to an amazing live show and its engaging, hybridized sound. Each musician in the nine-member crew has varied and extensive experiences in music, not to mention some top-notch chops. Veteran Cincinnati Hip Hop MCs Jibri and Daddie Rich front the band with tireless energy and untouchable finesse, while the skilled backing band (including a full horn section) lays down unstoppable grooves and draws from Funk, Rock, Jazz and numerous other styles. The collective recently released its follow-up to 2011’s Around the World album, the eight-song Blind. YDIIYD: One of Bonnaroo’s notorious “superjams” featuring Parliament, The Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood. (MB)
LIGHTBORNE LOT (ALL AGES)
10 p.m. Moon Duo (San Francisco)
Psych Rock/Noise Pop
Space Rock: the final shredding frontier. These are the voyages of the crunchy Psychedelic Rock band Moon Duo. Its six-year (and counting) mission: to explore strange new worlds on the journey to the center of the blown mind, to seek out new sounds via familiar influences and instrumentation and, with an armory of blistering recordings, to boldly go where no two-man guitar/drum, fuzz-crusted, riff-mongering outfit has gone before. And to be loud enough to scare the scales off a Klingon’s ass. YDIIYD: A fold in the time continuum causes the acid-laced bubblegum Psychedelia of the ’60s to overlap simultaneously with the Space Rock of the ’90s, resulting in The Velvet Underground and Spiritualized collaborating on a Happening, with exultant head-bobbing all around. (BB)8:45 p.m. Mild High Club (Los Angeles)
Psych Pop/Rock
It makes sense that Alexander Brettin would pick up stakes and relocate Mild High Club from Chicago to Los Angeles; this stuff needs to happen in the sunshine. Or on the blotter. Mild High Club taps into that hallucinatory ’60s moment when harpsichords roamed the land, slinky guitar runs wrapped themselves around altered frontal lobes and giant caterpillars smoked hookahs of hash. The band’s debut album, the recently released Timeline, sounds like an unearthed reel that’s been baked (again) and restored to its psychedelic glory. It might even trigger a flashback. If you’re lucky. YDIIYD: All of The Beatles’ backward recordings compiled with The Beach Boys’ trippiest moments and dusted with lysergic sugar by Brian Eno. (BB)7:30 p.m. Buffalo Killers (Cincinnati)
Rock/Blues Rock
It’s no surprise that the Buffalo Killers impressed the likes of Chris Robinson and Dan Auerbach, who, respectively, invited them to tour as an opening act and produced the band’s sophomore album. Drawing from the vintage sounds and vibes of heavy ’70s Rock, with a little bit of the era’s psychedelia thrown in and lots of memorable melodies, Buffalo Killers have continued to draw more and more attention with each new album release (including last year’s widely-acclaimed Heavy Reverie). With distortion-driven hooks and gritty, harmonized vocals that conjure images of the days of long hair and sideburns, Buffalo Killers bring a modern touch to tradition with astonishing inspiration. YDIIYD: Rich Robinson and ’70s Cream coming head-to-head with the heavier side of Neil Young and The Beatles. (CH)6:15 p.m. Honeyspiders (Cincinnati)
Rock
Rising from the ashes of heavy, thrashing Rock six-piece Banderas, Honeyspiders offer deftly-honed Post/Psychedelic Rock to the music gods. The band’s blend of sleek, mystical lyricism (Aleister Crowley would be a devotee), smoke-choked guitar and all-black-everything gives them a cool-kids vibe that the members fully embrace, especially lead singer Jeremy Harrison, who slinks around the stage like a reincarnated Marc Bolan, enchanting all who look upon him. Honeyspiders haven’t released much music yet, but a studio album is allegedly due to drop sometime in the near future. If the group’s live show (which helped Honeyspiders win the 2014 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for New Artist of the Year) is any indication, expect big, bombastic things. YDIIYD: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Sonic Youth, Toadies, T-Rex. (LS)5 p.m. Beach Slang (Philadelphia)
Indie Rock
Philly foursome Beach Slang earned a lot of attention last year based on the strength of its two four-song EPs, Cheap Thrills on a Dead End Street and Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken? The fact that the group caught on so quickly with fans and critics should warm the hearts of those who love honest, urgent and melodic Rock & Roll devoid of gimmicks. It’s good to know there is still a place for a band like Beach Slang, which seemed to simply catch on because music lovers loved its music. The group’s growing legion of fans surely rejoiced when it was announced earlier this year that the esteemed Polyvinyl Records had signed Beach Slang, because that means new music is finally on the way. The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us is set for release Oct. 30, and if first single “Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas” is any indication, all of those people who fell in love with the group over the past year will not be disappointed. YDIIYD: The Replacements, Gaslight Anthem, The Afghan Whigs. (MB)
MAUDIE'S (AGES 18 AND UP)
11:30 p.m. Salad Boys (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Indie Psych Pop/Rock
If you’re a fan of The Triffids, Whirlywirld, The Clean or any of the patently brilliant bands that emerged from Australia and New Zealand in the late ’70s and early ’80s (and if you have any discernible taste, you bloody well are) by way of the Flying Nun label, Salad Boys have come to transport you, by hot tub or DeLorean, to a lo-fi point in musical history when the FN logo on a slab of vinyl was the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for Pop/Rock aficionados. Salad Boys’ self-titled 2013 debut exudes a Chills-demos vibe, but that’s just hair-splitting; if you vote Flying Nun, this is your thing all day long. YDIIYD: The Velvet Underground if they’d been signed to Flying Nun. (BB)10:15 p.m. Sweet and the Sweet Sweets (Cincinnati)
Indie Garage Pop
What started out two years ago as a group of friends hanging out for informal jams has turned into one of the city’s most infectious Pop bands, Sweet and the Sweet Sweets. The Sweets are clearly inspired by a more innocent time in the history of Rock & Roll, when bands learned their craft in front of sweaty teenage audiences in high school gyms and cafeterias across the country, singing songs about girls, cars, girls, friends, girls, growing up and girls. On their debut EP, last year’s Sweet on You, the Sweets brought a visceral Indie Rock vibe to their classic ’60s Pop obsession, creating an impressive contemporary evocation of a bygone era, with simple chords, honking sax, a swinging beat and a whole lot of soul.YDIIYD: The Standells and the J. Geils Band playing every sock hop and house party in 1965. (BB)
9 p.m. Orchards (Cincinnati)
Indie/Psych Pop
Orchards started as a duo in early 2013, after former middle school pals Austin Tracy and Evan Wagner ran into each other at a Tame Impala show. Guitarist Tracy and drummer Wagner operated in that form for nearly a year, playing gigs, recording and posting demos (they even did some sessions with Maps & Atlases bassist Shiraz Dada) before adding to the mix the sensational Kyle Stone, who brings a John Entwistle-like presence to Orchards. The trio has played some smoking gigs in the area recently — including at a MidPoint Indie Summer show on Fountain Square with San Fermin, Lemon Sky and The Ridges. It’s got to be time for that album to drop. YDIIYD: Blue Cheer if they’d been steered by The Beatles and The Beach Boys. (BB)
7:45 p.m. The Glazzies (Sag Harbor, N.Y.)
Garage/Indie Rock
Guitarist/vocalist Peter Landi and drummer Dave Horn formed The Glazzies in 2008, at the tail end of their high school experience. Two years later, Horn took a break and Landi did the one-man-band thing for The Glazzies’ debut album, 2012’s Time Bomb Love, using pick-up drummers on subsequent tours. Landi ultimately teamed with Dinosaur Jr. producer Justin Pizzoferrato to record a handful of songs (Dino Jr. drummer Murph provided the beat on three tracks), and Horn returned to the fold two years ago. The Glazzies released the single “Spill” last fall as a tease for the band’s sophomore album, Kill Me Kindly, which is scheduled for release next year. In the meantime, the band also dropped the Satin Stain EP (with Murph on the single, “So Strange”). That howling Rock you ordered is in. YDIIYD: The Black Keys drenched in the Mudhoney and Everclear of Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr. (BB)
MOTR PUB PRESENTED BY MUSICLI (AGES 21 AND UP)
11:30 p.m. Heaters (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Indie Psych/Garage Rock
Detroit gets all the love for producing great music, but Michigan is more than just the Motor City. If Grand Rapids’ claim to fame thus far has been Gerald Ford, Heaters is about to shove the former President down a couple of notches. Heaters play the kind of classic, reverb-drenched, garage-stained Surfabilly that made the perfect soundtrack for CYO dances and rumbles in the early ’60s, but remains as exciting and relevant as a shark-attack headline in tomorrow’s morning edition. The trio has dubbed it “Psychotronic/Buttermilk,” but it sounds like there might be a peyote base to that concoction, considering the hallucinatory swirl that emanates from these scorching Heaters. YDIIYD: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club demos played through the Cramps’ Pignose amp at a paint-blistering volume. (BB)10:15 p.m. White Reaper (Louisville, KY)
Rock/Punk
White Reaper hearkens back to a time when The Beatles, Surf Rock and loud, snotty garage bands all coexisted on some weird plane of relative equilibrium. The hallmarks of the trio are not particularly unique, but they’re classic — loud, slashing guitars, Farfisa organs slinking through melodies like charmed snakes and bass and drums working together like convicts on a chain gang. Hamburg and London in the ’60s, New York in the ’70s, Los Angeles in the ’80s, White Reaper in the now. Screw the Delorean — if you’re looking for a time machine, grap a copy of White Reaper Does It Again, slap the vinyl (it’s available in all the other ways too, you big babies) on the turntable (Google it, kids) and be transported back to the birth of Punk. YDIIYD: The Who play The Prince and the Pauper with The Seeds; nobody learns anything but the party is awesome. (BB)9 p.m. Dirty Fences (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Indie Rock/Punk
7:45 p.m. Turbo Fruits (Nashville, Tenn.)
Indie Rock
If Turbo Fruits sound tumultuous, the band comes by it honestly. Originally a side project for Be Your Own Pet’s Jonas Stein, the Fruits became his primary gig after BYOP’s demise. In the eight years they’ve been together, Turbo Fruits has gone from duo to quartet to trio and back, and the band, in whatever form, has recorded four albums for four different labels, but Stein has always kept the volume knob wrenched indelicately to the right. With Turbo Fruits’ latest, No Control (produced by the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney), Stein and his current company lean slightly more toward the melodic Pop end of the spectrum, bringing more than a little of their patented chaos and furniture-moving volume, and perhaps finally living up to their name — supercharged and sweetly ripe. YDIIYD: The Strokes and Foo Fighters take a crack at Bubblegum Punk and Garage Pop at a Spinal Tap-ish 11. (BB)
MR. PITIFUL'S (AGES 21 AND UP)
11:45 p.m. Pure Bathing Culture (Portland, Ore.)
Dream Pop
On its Facebook page, Pure Bathing Culture tags itself as “New Age/Blue Eyed Soul/Love Songs.” The latter two thirds of that descriptor are OK, but I’d clip the “New Age” reference. New Age has typically been viewed as aural wallpaper, a musical decorating choice. In PBC’s case, Sarah Versprille’s voice is pretty but emotionally engaging, and it draws listeners in and holds them tight, while the band envelopes with a comforting melodicism but also intrigues with texture, dynamism and delicacy (New Age is all nuance). If you have even the slightest affinity for gorgeous and finely constructed Pop that enlightens while it embraces, Pure Bathing Culture is your stereo cup of Earl Grey tea. YDIIYD: The Go-Gos as produced by Tears for Fears. And I didn’t mention Portlandia once … damn. (BB)10:30 p.m. Wild Ones (Portland, Ore.)Indie/Dream Pop
Wild Ones’ new EP, the just-released Heatwave, came to fruition without any of the drama of their 2013 full-length debut, Keep It Safe. On that go-round, the band’s guitarist blew an eardrum and the drummer punctured a lung. Thankfully, Heatwave was an easier birth; Danielle Sullivan’s spectacular Pop voice is perfectly set off by the danceably edgy soundtrack provided by her fellow Wild Ones. Summer’s here, and the time is right for Dream Pop in the streets — and Wild Ones have everything you could possibly require. YDIIYD: Ellie Goulding sans arena ambitions with a cracking Dream Pop band. (BB)9:15 p.m. Kate Wakefield (Cincinnati)
Cello Rock/Electro Opera
Kate Wakefield’s music is the kind that would be strange to experience in the daylight. It deserves the dark, because the music itself is dark, even haunting at times. Wakefield is a classically-trained opera singer and cellist who “lost her mind and went off the tracks to create a solo project like you’ve never seen before,” according to her bio. Essentially, her music is characterized by deep, rumbling cello, various effects and Wakefield’s piercingly beautiful yet almost harrowing opera voice tearing over it all. Her debut album Eyes In Walls Are Louder, is like the soundtrack to a turbulent, chilling movie, disquieting in its deep beauty. With a new album imminent and her solo performance schedule continuing grow, this is a supremely unique artist to not miss either in concert or on record. YDIIYD: Kishi Bashi and Andrew Bird creating the score to a more nightmarish, Tim Burton-directed version of Waking Life. (CH)8 p.m. Little Lights (Cincinnati)
Indie Pop
Emmie Bishop sings with an ethereal grace and a mesmerizing focus; think a cool Enya if she’d been raised in the Ohio Valley. The former Evans Collective vocalist linked up with Gabriel Molnar (Sometimes, Old City, 1000 Arms) and State Song frontman Scot Torres to create the shimmering wonder of Little Lights. In fairly short order, the trio recorded four amazing rough tracks (still available at Bandcamp) and began increasing their local profile. According to the band’s recent bio, Torres has left to concentrate on State Song, while Megan Scharff now provides strings to its skyscraping sound. Whatever form the group takes, it’s all in the service of Little Lights’ astonishingly atmospheric and beautiful songs — prepare to be captivated. YDIIYD: Hope Sandoval makes Ambient Prog Shoegaze. (BB)
TAFT BALLROOM (ALL AGES)
11 p.m. K.Flay (San Francisco)
Indie/Electro/Hip Hop/Pop
K.Flay grew up as Kristine Flaherty in Chicago, but it wasn’t until she moved to California to attend Stanford University that the on-the-rise singer/rapper began dabbling in music. After self-releasing several mixtapes and a couple of EPs, K.Flay’s blend of Electronic Pop and Hip Hop started drawing the attention of music fans online and, eventually, the suits at RCA Records. But the relationship with the label soured, and she chose to go back on her own, finally putting together a full-length album, the wildly endearing Life as a Dog, in 2014, thanks to a quickly funded crowdsourcing campaign. K.Flay’s patience and dedication to remaining true to herself paid off;Dog
came in at No. 2 on theBillboard
Heatseekers Chart and No. 14 on the Rap album chart. K.Flay’s multi-faceted sound has enabled her to tour with an impressive range of artists, including AWOLNATION and Third Eye Blind, and she even notched a slot on the Warped Tour in 2014. YDIIYD: Banks, Childish Gambino, Charli XCX. (MB)9:45 p.m. Public (Cincinnati)
Indie Pop/Rock
The first song Public wrote as a band came within 20 minutes of the three musicians playing together. Messages from the universe don’t come in much clearer than that. In the three years since the release of its debut EP, Red, Public has toured relentlessly, playing festivals like CMJ, Bunbury and MidPoint, opened for/toured with the likes of Neon Trees and Walk the Moon and scored a Best New Artist nomination at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. This year might be Public’s watershed one; the band posted the hot new Pop track “Heartbeating” on Bandcamp, a quick follow-up to the March release of its excellent seven-song mini-album Let’s Remake It. And the members just reached legal drinking age … can world domination be far behind? YDIIYD: Modest Mouse backing Andy Partridge at Eurovision. (BB) 8:30 P.M. Jane Decker (Cincinnati)Pop
At just 21, Cincinnati singer/songwriter Jane Decker is already a veteran performer. When she was 16, she was fronting the Pop/Rock band Belle Histoire, which released music on InVogue Records, toured the country and drew attention from various music press outlets. Toward the end of the group’s run, Decker was testing the solo waters and ended up appearing on the NBC show The Voice in 2013. She made it on TV, but didn’t pass the initial “blind audition,” which may have been a good thing, because viewers loved her performance of Florence + the Machine’s “You Got the Love” and made Decker a trending topic on Twitter. She capitalized on the attention by releasing music right after the appearance, and her momentum has carried through. This past March, Decker released her three-song single, Stonewallin’, and had her music video premiered by Yahoo! Music. Decker’s charisma and jubilant, unabashedly Pop style is more than catchy enough to take her to the next level. YDIIYD: Haim, Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen. (MB)
WASHINGTON PARK (ALL AGES)
8:45 p.m. Iron & Wine (Durham, N.C.)
Folk Rock/Indie Folk
Since his first home-recorded release in 2002, Sam Beam — also known by his stage name, Iron & Wine — has been propelled into the national spotlight as a major touring and recording act. While his roots lie in traditional acoustic Folk music — distinctly identifiable for Beam’s eerie vocal melodies and lyrics — the five studio albums, various EPs and download-only releases that mark his career have explored a wide variety of styles, including Pop, Jazz and R&B. His discography now includes several songs that would be very recognizable to most listeners with an ear to popular music of the past decade. Beam has carved out a distinct and ethereal niche in Folk music. His MidPoint appearance will feature a full band. YDIIYD: Nick Drake, Elliot Smith and a little Simon and Garfunkel mixing their genes to create a musical mutt for the 21st century. (CH)7:30 p.m. Pokey LaFarge (St. Louis, Mo.)
Americana Folk
Pokey LaFarge has a whole deck of naked-lady aces up his vintage thrift-store sleeve. He’s well versed in American musical traditions that were the rage at the start of the last century (including Hot Jazz, Country, Blues and Swing). He has a crack band that is similarly inclined and he has the amazing knack for writing songs that bristle with modern energy and relevance while remaining completely rooted in those early traditions. LaFarge turned out two albums on his own before assembling the South City Three for 2010’s Riverboat Soul, 2011’s Middle of Everywhere and a Jack White-produced single, a period that saw him win two consecutive Independent Music Awards for Best Americana Album. Last year’s Something in the Water may have been LaFarge’s most acclaimed and widely-known album, and he’s opened for Jack White, so you know he’s got a show. Besides, where else are you going to see a guitjo? YDIIYD: Squirrels, nuts, zippers, flappers, vo-di-oh-dos, straw boaters, megaphones, 78 RPM records, Jimmy Rodgers, trailer parks, liquor and fast women. (BB)6:15 p.m. Great Peacock (Nashville, Tenn.)
Americana/Folk
The members of Great Peacock all did stints in raucous, plugged-in Southern Rock bands before deciding to translate that same anthemic energy with (primarily) acoustic guitars, pedal steel, Pop melodicism and classic harmonies. Great Peacock’s self-titled 2013 EP gave a clear indication of what the quintet had in mind for this next chapter in its creative life, but its just-released debut full-length, Making Ghosts, is the band’s mission statement, amazing first step and masterpiece all rolled into one at the crossroads of history and potential. Great Peacock lives up to its name with a brash and colorful presentation that belies its delicate foundation. YDIIYD: Bruce Springsteen and The Avett Brothers giving George Jones’ songs the Nebraska treatment. (BB)5 p.m. Gran Bel Fisher (Sabina, Ohio)
Folk Pop/Rock
It hardly seems possible that it’s been nine years since Gran Bel Fisher released his first full-length album, Full Moon Cigarette, on Hollywood Records, got placement of his song “Bound By Love” on Grey’s Anatomy and performed “Crash and Burn” on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Since then, the former Cincinnati resident has kept busy playing gigs in the area and beyond; he returned to his hometown of Sabina after trying his hand in Nashville, Tenn., and Los Angeles. In 2012, Fisher posted a trio of tracks, “Be Here,” “Must I Believe” and Yummy Yummy” on Bandcamp, followed in 2013 by “No Name Street,” which could have been as big a hit as anything from his lone album. That’s a hint, GBF. YDIIYD: David Gray and Paul Brady form the League of Extraordinarily Atmospheric Singer/Songwriters. (BB)
WOODWARD THEATER PRESENTED BY FREEOSK (AGES 21 AND UP)
11 p.m. Lydia Loveless (Columbus, Ohio)
Indie Rock/Roots
Lydia Loveless is in her mid-20s, but there may be no older soul in the business. She played with her dad and sisters in the band Carson Drew at 13, did solo shows at 15 and released her first solo album, The Only Man (produced by David Rhodes Brown) at 19. Loveless’ Bloodshot Records debut, Indestructible Machine, was a revelation that showed her influential versatility — classic Country, incendiary Punk, jangly Indie Rock, modern Pop, eccentric Rock — and her uncanny ability to work it all into her own unique vision. Her 2013 Boy Crazy EP and third full-length, 2014’s Somewhere Else, were both ecstatically received, as was her 2015 Record Store Day cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 You.” There’s currently a Kickstarter campaign set up for director Gorman Bechard to shoot a documentary of Loveless making her next album. Note to producers — you could make the film’s liquor budget with a swear jar. YDIIYD: Loretta Lynn as a hard-rockin’ Country/Punk chick in the 21st century. (BB)9:45 p.m. Andrew Combs (Nashville, Tenn.)
Roots/Folk
On his first album, 2012’s Worried Man, Andrew Combs sang with a laconic melancholy about the pain and inevitability of the end of love, and the Texas native’s efforts were rewarded with deserved comparisons to the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. With this year’s All These Dreams, Combs added a quiet contemporary Pop element to his Americana soundscape, cementing his reputation as a brilliant 21st-century troubadour with an evocative and well-defined sense of the history that he’s building upon. YDIIYD: Jimmy Webb channels the dusty spirit of Townes Van Zandt and the bruised beauty of Harry Nilsson. (BB)8:30 p.m. Mark Utley and Bulletville (Cincinnati)
Country/Roots
Mark Utley had divided his Blues/Roots and Country output between his longstanding band Magnolia Mountain and his more recently-assembled Bulletville project, respectively, when a rash of departures forced him to shutter the Magnolias. That left Utley with plenty of time to concentrate on Bulletville and incorporate even more of his Country influences into his songs; he chose to name his recent sophomore solo album after the band. And like everything else that Utley does, when he goes Country, he doesn’t go in half measures; his Bulletville songs are as authentic as Hank Williams’ suit in the Hall of Fame, and his passion for his work and its sources is deep, wide and undeniable. Bulletville is Country music at its finest, because that’s the only gear Mark Utley knows.YDIIYD:
The ghosts of Country music haunt an MP3 player, making a cosmic connection between the classic past and the brash future. (BB)7:15 p.m. Noah Smith (Bethel, Ohio)
Country/Rock
Music has been in Noah Smith’s blood from a young age, beginning when he learned guitar at age 12 and continuing through his graduation from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and his apprenticeship with various bands playing a variety of musical styles. Ultimately, Smith felt the pull of songwriting and realized that Country with a side of Rock (or sometimes the other way around) was the most direct path to get where he wanted to go. His eponymous 2014 EP was an amazing studio translation of his mesmerizing stage presentation, and it earned him three Cincinnati Entertainment Award nominations (for Country, Singer/Songwriter and New Artist of the Year). Smith’s recent album, Live from the Southgate House Revival, is a tremendous example of his power in front of an audience, but it’s second-best to actually being in the audience. That’s where you’ll witness Noah Smith’s greatest talents and best understand his universal message.YDIIYD: The heartfelt Country emotion of Alan Jackson, the stomp and shout of Gary Allan, the storytelling gifts of Bruce Springsteen. (BB)
