Once upon a time, local music fan and musician Jerry Dirr decided he wanted to start a record label. And he wanted to do things right and create something enduring and community-oriented, taking inspiration from some of his favorite independent labels growing up, like the Dischord, SST and Touch and Go imprints.
Ten years after releasing its first effort, Phratry Records has accomplished Dirr’s goals and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Phratry (pronounced “fray tree”) has built a catalog of nearly 50 releases (largely by artists from Greater Cincinnati), which are distributed nationally by Stickfigure Distribution & Mailorder.
Dirr’s love of music and records shines through in everything the label puts out. The packaging is often breathtaking, usually featuring eye-grabbing artwork, and the label creatively uses a variety of formats; last year, it issued a fantastic four-way split “single,” featuring two vinyl 7-inch records with two songs from four bands on each side. The label’s vinyl releases are always particularly stunning. One of its most recent releases, Mad Anthony’s EP Sank for Days, was pressed on clear 12-inch vinyl embedded with an etching of a sea diver wrestling an octopus.
Of course, visually attractive records don’t mean much if the music sucks. As I’ve written repeatedly over the past decade about Dirr’s releases, I’ve yet to hear a crappy Phratry record, a testament to Dirr’s great taste in Punk, Post Punk, Metal, Folk, Noise, Indie Rock and other musical styles.
This Friday and Saturday, Phratry will celebrate its 10th anniversary with showcases at Southgate House Revival in Newport (southgatehouse.com) featuring a wide range of Phratry artists from past to present, including a few reunions, appearances by the current projects of musicians who’ve worked with Phratry in the past and a slew of special guests. The shows begin at 8 p.m. each night and are open to music fans of all ages. Admission is just $5.
Friday night, the Phratry showcase will present non-Cincinnati signings Ultrasphinx (Akron, Ohio), Tyranny is Tyranny (Madison, Wisc.) and The Shanks (Toronto), plus currently active local Phratry bands Mad Anthony and Gazer. Friday will also see the return of Covington and thistle, whose own Tiberius Records teamed up with Dirr just as Phratry was getting started to release the compilation album Organelle. It will be thistle’s first show in three years. Friday’s lineup is rounded out by Indie Folk artist A.M. Nice, Reggae/Rock crew New Third Worlds, a reunion of former local Punk favorites Saturday Supercade and Jonathan Lohr & the Angel Shale, an AltCountry project that features former members of Caterpillar Tracks (whose debut album was Phratry’s first release).
Dirr’s own band Knife the Symphony plays the Phratry showcase Saturday, joined by one of the label’s most recent local signees Smoke Signals …, the hard-touring Ampline, progressive Post Punk/Metal band Mala in Se, State Song (which released the spectacular full-length Sleepcrawling earlier this year on the label) and blistering Punk group Swear Jar. Also performing Saturday are Pittsburgh-based Ed fROMOHIO, the former singer/guitarist of Mike Watt’s post-Minutemen band fIREHOSE whose more recent band Food records for Phratry, experimental unit Aperiodic and Heevahava, a former Greater Cincinnati band now based in Roanoke, Va. Saturday also features a pair of reunion shows local Punk fans should be pretty psyched about; both East Arcadia (which included/includes members of Phratry band Arms Exploding) and The Scrubs will reactivate their wonder-twin powers for the event.
For more on Phratry, visit phratryrecords.com.
More Local Notes
• For family-friendly fun with a local music component, the Neltner’s Farm Fall Festival in nearby Camp Springs, Ky., is a great option. The eighth annual event, running every weekend in October, offers pumpkin picking, a petting zoo, a barrel-train ride, crafts and many more kid-friendly activities, as well as some excellent area Americana music. Musical guests this weekend are Herald Bluegrass Tradition (Friday) and Steve Bonafel (Saturday); next weekend, catch The Tillers (Oct. 25) and Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle (Oct. 26). Music starts at 1:30 p.m. and admission is $5. (neltnersfarm.com)
• Brian Newman, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, has been popping up on national television a lot recently thanks to his role as the bandleader of Lady Gaga’s Jazz projects. Now New York City-based, Newman and his group, which features fellow CCM grads (and fellow onetime players in Cincinnati’s music scene) Steve Kortyka (saxophone), Alex Smith (piano) and Scott Ritchie (bass), have been working with American music icon Tony Bennett, thanks to Bennett and Gaga’s recent collaborative album, Cheek to Cheek. The full CCM-schooled crew will be featured on Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE!, part of PBS’ “Great Performances” series. The hour-long concert special premieres on Cincinnati PBS channel WCET at 9 p.m. on Oct. 24.
CONTACT MIKE BREEN: mbreen@citybeat.com or @citybeatmusic.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2014.