Music Week Debut
The first annual Cincinnati Music Week (as officially proclaimed by Mayor Luken) kicks off on Tuesday. The five-day event has been designed to showcase many of the music nominees for this year's Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (CEA) and give props to local venues that support original local music. The CEAs will be awarded on Monday evening, Nov. 26, at the Old Saint George in Clifton.
Tuesday's festivities take place in Over-the-Rhine. At the BarrelHouse, see Roots/Folk nominees Jake Speed and the Freddies, Star Devils, Pike 27 and Len's Lounge. The Rhythm and Blues Café will feature Blues/R&B noms Keith Little, Ricky Nye, Bill Caffie and Sonny Moorman. Kaldi's will have Bluegrass honorees Comet Bluegrass All Stars, The La-Z Boys and Ma Crow. Hip Hop acts Animal Crackers and Phammilly Impulze will be at the Overflow while Alternative/Indie nominees Readymaid, Thistle, Ruby Vileos and The Fairmount Girls take over Lava Lounge.
On Wednesday, Jazz nominee DW Project and a host of local Jazz talent (Brian Newman Quartet, Gordon Brisker and the Mt. Auburn Methodist Trio) will pay tribute to the late local Jazz legend Cal Collins at The Greenwich in Walnut Hills.
Events continue on Nov. 8 in the Clifton area, with the Punk showcase at Buzz Coffeeshop (Deceiving Ralph, No Good Heroes, Saturday Supercade), the Top Cat's Rock showcase (The Ass Ponys, Homunculus, The Stapletons), the World/Reggae showcase at The Mad Frog (Tropicoso, Lucky and the Zionites, Mohenjo Daro, Admiral Walker) and Cody's Cafe's Singer/Songwriter showcase (Janet Pressley, Eric Diedrichs, Chuck Cleaver, Ryan Adcock). On Nov. 9 there will be a New Music Showcase at the Southgate House and Nov. 10 at the Southgate is the fourth annual Popopolis festival. The events culminate with a free panel event on releasing CDs, hosted by the Cincinnati Area Performing and Recording Artists Association (CAPRAA) on Nov. 11 at the York Street Café.
There will be one-night, all-access passes available at the participating venues for $5 with proceeds going to Lonely Instruments for Needy Kids (LINKS).
CD Release Weekend
· Chalk is hosting a CD release show for their excellent new album, Black Box Broken (being released on local label Deary Me Records), on Saturday at the Southgate House with guests The Fairmount Girls and Deltoro. Black Box, the follow-up to the band's 1999 Deary Me release, Nothing Left to Do But Die, finds the sonic sculptors in peak form. Fusing the adrenaline and guitar sheen of Post Punk with a swirling, punctuated knack for electronic experimentalism, Chalk prove that synths can be used to rock. Black Box Broken filters technology through Chalk's distinct vision for a wholly original piece of art. For more info, check dearymerecords.com.
· Saving Ray is releasing their new self-titled album at the Mad Frog on Saturday. The show will be simulcast at midnight on the Live City Licks show on WAIF (88.3 FM). The album is a robust collection of searing Modern Rock, with majestic melodies and sumptuous songwriting. Saving Ray have emerged as one of the best melody-driven bands in the area, and this sprawling, highly potent album shows just how focused the group's sound has become. For more information on the band, check www.savingray.com.
· Locals Roots/Bluegrass hero Ed Cunningham will be releasing Blue Skies & Sunny, the debut release from Cunningham's latest project, The New Radio Cowboys, on Sunday at The Comet (showtime: 7:30 p.m.). The Cowboys, which also feature guitarist Harold Kennedy, pedal steelist Jerry Redge, upright bassist Natalie McClellan and drummer John Cole, are the area's finest purveyors of pure, traditional Country, dipping into Honky Tonk and Western Swing with a vigorous zeal and heaping dose of aptitude. While heartily traditional, Blue Skies and Sunny showcases the songwriting talent of Cunningham, who deftly injects the old-timey songs with a sly sense of humor and a boatload of soul. For more on this and other Cunningham endeavors, check bluegrassed.com.
Local Notes
· Pass the Mic, a locally-based Web site (passthemic.com) that caters to a worldwide audience of independent Hip Hop artists and fans, will celebrate its first anniversary on Friday at Oakley's 20th Century Theater. The event will feature live music from a variety of local Hip Hop artists. Organizers are donating $1 from each ticket sale to the American Red Cross.
· Local band BlueStone Ivory will host a benefit concert at Mars Music in the Tri- County area on Saturday at 3 p.m. The event is free, but those attending are encouraged to bring canned goods and clothing for the local FreeStore.
