Cincinnati Roots Rock foursome Ben Knight & the Welldiggers celebrate the release of their excellent new album, American Highways, with a rare all-ages afternoon show Sunday at Southgate House Revival (111 E. Sixth St., Newport, Ky., southgatehouse.com). Music starts at 4 p.m. (doors open at 3 p.m.) and the $10 cover charge includes a copy of the album on CD.
Recorded largely live in a single room with minimal overdubs in studios in Nashville, Tenn., and Cincinnati, the album has an earthy, intimate and timeless feel that matches the soulful songs. Knight and the band combine various Americana forms (from Country and Folk to vintage Rock & Roll and more contemporary Heartland Rock) and give them a hearty pulse and Rock-edged veneer. But American Highways isn’t a tourist-y exploration of genres — the band has its own distinct identity, building its sound around Knight’s remarkably engaging songwriting. It’s an impressive album with a long shelf life from one of the best Roots bands in a city full of amazing Roots bands.
For more on Ben Knight & the Welldiggers, visit benknightandthewelldiggers.com. Check out the new track “Yo-Yo” here.
• Local Indie Pop/Rock quintet Coconut Milk hosts a free release party in honor of its second EP, We’re Sorry, Friday at Northside Tavern (4163 Hamilton Ave., Northside, northsidetav.com). The band will be joined by fellow Cincinnati band Founding Fathers, as well as Columbus, Ohio’s Fine Animal and Dayton, Ohio’s Forage.
On its Facebook page, Coconut Milk describes its sound as “Beach Rock,” which is one of the more precise self-descriptions by a band you’ll ever see. Like the best oceanfront-linked music (going back to The Beach Boys, but think more “Warmth of the Sun” than “Surfin’ USA”), there is a compelling blend of airy contentment and wistful melancholy to Coconut Milk’s sound. The breezy melodies of tracks like “Tea” and “Wave Your Hands” linger and stick with you like memories of an intense summertime fling. And Coconut Milk also reminds you of the joyful abandon beach time brings — opening cut “Before Dark” is upbeat and buoyant, driven by some Jerry Lee Lewis keyboards and even more spectacular melodies. If Belle and Sebastian and Nada Surf went on a writing retreat to some small beach town on the West Coast, they’d probably come up with something similar to what Coconut Milk lays down on We’re Sorry.
Check out some of the band’s music at coconutmilk.bandcamp.com or click below.
• Cincinnati Indie Pop artist Jane Decker, who found some national acclaim with her former band Belle Histoire and with an appearance on the popular singing competition TV show The Voice, recently had her new single/video “Stonewallin’ ” premiered internationally on yahoo.com (watch it below). This Friday, Decker will be celebrating the release of her new three-track EP of the same name with a performance at Rohs Street Café (
245 W McMillan St., Clifton Heights, rohsstreetcafe.com
). Decker joins local up-and-coming AltRock band Harbour for its first headlining show, which also features Columbus, Ohio’s Indigo Wild. The all-ages show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance (through cincyticket.com) or $10 day of show. More information on Decker can be found at jane-decker.com.
• Cincy Americana trio The Rubber Knife Gang will be giving local fans first dibs on its new album, Broken Lines,
at Newport’s Southgate House Revival during
this Saturday’s “
Taste of Whispering Beard” event, one of a series of shows leading up to the popular summertime Whispering Beard Folk Festival in Friendship, Ind. (Visit whisperingbeard.com for more fest info.) The show also features performances by area Roots/Americana bands Whiskey Bent Valley Boys, Arlo McKinley & the Lonesome Sound and Woody Pines. Tickets are $10 in advance (through southgatehouse.com) or $12 at the door. Showtime is 8 p.m.
The Rubber Knife Gang’s Broken Lines will officially be released Tuesday. More info, as well as a stream of the Bluegrass-fueled, harmony-laden new album track “Bringing Rain,” can be found at therubberknifegang.com.
• The international Record Store Day is this Saturday and pretty much every independent record store in the area will be participating, offering RSD’s exclusive, limited-edition releases from hundreds of artists and other fun throughout the day. Many of those local stores will also be carrying a unique local exclusive, Bootleggers & Hustlers Volume One, a vinyl compilation album put together by Chris Breeden (manager of legendary local bar Arnold’s) and local graphic designer Keith Neltner of Neltner Small Batch (neltnersmallbatch.com). Limited to just 300 signed and numbered copies, the album features tracks by local (mostly Roots/Americana) artists who have performed at Arnold’s over the years: Cincinnati Dancing Pigs, The Part-Time Gentlemen, Jake Speed and the Freddies, The Tillers, The Kentucky Struts, River City Roustabout, The Goodle Boys, Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle and The Sundresses (St. Louis band ClusterPluck also contributes a track). So get out there Saturday and support both local independent businesses and local music.
CONTACT MIKE BREEN :
mbreen@citybeat.com or
@CityBeatMusic .
This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2015.
