The Cincy Blues Society's annual "Winter Blues Fest" is coming up at the end of January, but Monday you can get your Blues fix via a stellar lineup at Play By Play in Silverton. And it's for a good cause: helping area artists spread the good word of Midwestern Blues. The "Road to Memphis 2010" raises money to help local musicians get to Memphis to battle in next month's International Blues Challenge.  

Local Indie rockers The Koala Fires have the honor of producing the first Cincinnati-spawned release of the new year/decade and, therefore, it’s the best local release of the year/decade so far! In all seriousness, The Beeping in Our Hearts is a strong effort that certainly has the potential to be on future “best of” lists.   

The holidays are a good time to be a music fan who lives in a town that has harvested a lot of talented musicians. Many of the ones who have moved away come back home for a visit and want to play a show. Bands that live around here and tour a lot might offer local fans a special performance, something often more casual and fun than usual.  

Get your fill of holiday cheer with Blue Jordan Records' "Winter Show," local Punk pioneers SS-20's, some Free Lap Dances, the third EP release by You, You're Awesome, and some Rockabilly/Psychobilly action at "Greasemas." All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth knocked out in a mosh pit. What do you want... a Tickle Me Elmo?  

It'll be pouring CD release parties this weekend, with five very disparate area bands celebrating the completion of their newest studio offerings: altrockers Seabird, Pop Rock band Lovely Crash, Soul Jazz outfit iolite, Cajun vets Lagniappe and Americana favorites Wild Carrot. Get all the details here.  

Veteran Jazz musician Bruce Menefield formed the Omni Works Music organization to teach about Jazz via after-school programs around the city. He teams up with a local school that does recognize the intellectual importance of music education, Walnut Hills High School, for the first Omni Works Music All Star fundraising event Monday at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club. For the 7:30 p.m. event, Menefield and his Omni Works Music All Stars (which will include Mike Wade, Marc Fields and Billy Larkin) will be joined by the Walnut Hills High School Jazz Band.  

Wednesday night at Covington's Mad Hatter, local Rock foursome Rosemary Device celebrates the release of its self-titled debut. Radio-friendly songwriting makes the band so effective and destined for wider exposure. Though peripherally similar to some of the Pop/Emo music that gets a lot of attention these days, RD's songs come off less forced and calculated and, therefore, a bit more timeless.   

This Sunday, local musicians and the fans who love them will be getting gussied up for the 13th Cincinnati Entertainment Awards honoring local musicians. The CEAs will be presented at a 7 p.m. ceremony at Covington's Madison Theater, a first for the event, and feature live performances from six nominated acts.  

It's a big weekend on the local music scene, as four bands hold album release parties to celebrate new work: Giant Wow (Southgate House Parlour), Sparrow Bellows (Stockyard Cafe), Tickled Pink (Sidebar) and The Minor Leagues (Mayday, formerly Gypsy Hut).  

If you did the zombie dress-up thing for Halloween and grew so attached you want to sport your costume again this weekend, you'd probably fit right in at Covington's Molly Malone's this Friday. That's when local singer/songwriter Beau Alquizola puts on the show "Dead Musicians Society," his annual benefit for the local Stop AIDS organization that features local bands covering their favorite deceased artists.  

BRINK is back! Perhaps the only show you can attend Saturday and not be encouraged to wear a costume, the annual BRINK New Music Showcase returns to the Southgate House Halloween night with three floors' worth of local band freshness. An attempt to spotlight the next crop of local music wavemakers, the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards-sponsored event has hosted scores of eventual big shots in past years.  

Cincinnati Indie/Post Rock trio Mallory returned to the local club scene several months ago after an extended hiatus, and this weekend the band celebrates the birthing of its long-awaited second release, '… Before It Grows.'  

Hard to believe it's time to announce the nominees for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Music. As with previous years, you determine the winners of 16 public categories by voting online at citybeat.com. Voting continues through early November. Winners of the "big three" categories (Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year) are chosen by our panel of local music experts. Awards will be handed out Nov. 22 at the Madison Theater.  

As the city reluctantly says hello to the slow, drab, grey days of autumn, we say goodbye to the warmer months of music fests and outdoor anythings with one last dip in the pool. Symbiotic, which organizes arts and music shows in alternative places, will drain the swimming pool at Over-the-Rhine's Ziegler Park on Saturday for its newest installation art excursion: Six Feet Deep.  

Early fall is starting to shape up as "music festival" time in Cincinnati. After another spectacular MidPoint Music Festival, you'd think folks might want some down time. Instead, they have plenty more "fest" choices this weekend: Popopolis, Clifton Heights Music Festival, Pharaohfest and a Jake Speed-led tribute to Woody Guthrie.