Music Tonight: From the land of Bob Dylan comes Thomas Kivi and Sarah Pray, a Minneapolis-based Folk duo styled after Dylan and Joan Baez's collaborative performances and similar to contemporary duos like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings or current breakout stars The Civil Wars. The twosome performs a free, 9 p.m. show tonight at Sitwell's on Ludlow Ave. in Clifton, part of their four-week U.S. jaunt called "The Better Weather Tour" (oops — sorry for the rain, y'all!). Joining forces in the summer of 2010, Kivi and Pray wasted no time taking their music to the world, embarking on an 11-week, 11-country tour of Europe in the fall of 2010. The pair have also found time to tend to their solo careers —a year ago, Kivi released his debut, Crying Child, to widespread local acclaim, while both artists have new recordings coming soon. Below, enjoy some great footage put together by bandwithsessions.com when the duo was in Ireland on that first big tour (billed as "Minnesota Nice").

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Saturday, one of the more anticipated bands performing at this year’s MidPoint Music Festival, Okkervil River, jump back on the road for several weeks of dates around North America, picking up the tour for its latest album, the Jagjaguwar Records release I Am Very Far. Before they get to Cincinnati (the third-last tour stop), the band plays West Coast dates with The Decemberists, several other festivals and shows around the Midwest/South with buzzing Indie duo Wye Oak. As the Indie group begins its road to MPMF ’11, a new 7-inch and free MP3 have been issued. Click the arrow above to listen to “Your Past Life As a Blast” (free download here), recently issued as a 7-inch vinyl single. Below is a video clip from IntoTheWoods.tv featuring a live performance of Okkervil outtake “I Guess We Lost.”

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Music Tonight: The MidPoint Indie Summer Series on Fountain Square features some of Cincinnati's finest this week. Tonight's free show (7 p.m. start) is headlined by beloved local Indie Pop duo Bad Veins, which recently posted on Facebook that their second full-length is finished and they need extras for a video shoot for one of the new LP's tracks (go here for more info). No word on a release date (or a label — BV and Dangerbird Records, home to the duo's debut, appear to have broken up, removing all reference to each other from their various websites).

Newer Electronic/Rock/Post Punk group Kry Kids and Nashville's The Clutters, featuring keyboardist Andrew Higley, also perform. Higley is a former local musician (now Nashville pro) who remains a frequent collaborator with Cincinnati's The Chocolate Horse, also performing on the Square tonight, just before Bad Veins. The Horse is celebrating its just released new album, Beasts.

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Grammy-winning Classical music ensemble eighth blackbird will be joined by Philip Glass tonight at Memorial Hall for Day 2 of the MusicNOW festival (which kicked off last night at the Christ Church Cathedral and Westminster Abbey assistant organist James McVinnie). Glass — also in town to check out the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's world premiere of one of his latest works Friday and Saturday at Music Hall — will join 8bb onstage for the performance of his piece, "Music In Similar Motion." The ensemble will also perform a piece by Glass protege Nico Muhly (likely to be in the audience or guesting at some point, as he's performing at tomorrow's MusicNOW event) and other material, including a specially-composed tribute to Glass.

The appearance is 8bb's birthday/thank you gift to the legendary, now 75-year-old modern composer.

“Our entire concert is a birthday present for Philip Glass,” 8bb flautist and spokesperson Tim Munro told our Anne Arenstein. “When we knew we’d be collaborating with Philip, we decided to create a program with three compositions that represent three times in his life. We also have four pieces by composers influenced by Glass.”

Read the full interview with 8bb here.

Sandro Perri is also on tonight's bill. Read Jason Gargano's interview with Perri here.

The event's website says only limited tickets will be available at the door, so if you're planning on going and don't have your tix yet, be sure to arrive early. Doors open at 7 p.m. and showtime is 7:30 p.m.

When the phrase “guitar hero” gets tossed around, it’s naturally in reference to some of the greatest six string figures in Rock history. But if there is a subset of that hallowed group — guitar heroes in waiting, as it were — then Natalie Wells surely deserves to be included on that hopefully short waitlist.

The Independence, Ky., native is quickly becoming one of the Greater Cincinnati area’s most powerful live forces with a guitar presence that stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the giants of Rock. A teenage student of the Blues, Wells felt an affinity for first generation masters like Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt and next gen ’60s acolytes like Johnny Winter, Big Brother’s Sam Andrews and James Gurley, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher and a host of others. Wells’ brilliance in her own guitar pursuits has been in her supernatural ability to absorb a rainbow of Blues and Rock influences and translate them through her own unique interpretive gifts. As she showed on her largely original debut, Mind the Gap, she may have learned from the greats but she’s much more interested in running the guitar flag a little farther up Rock & Roll Hill.

On her new mini-album, Live from Earth, Wells and her chugging rhythm section (bassist Curt Hall and drummer/vocalist Michael Hodges) offer up an all-cover set that simultaneously proves how much she loves her influences and demonstrates her translational power.

Live From Earth’s seven tracks represent just four factions of Wells’ estimable influences and they’re more than tangentially connected; Buddy Guy is one of the primary links between the old acoustic and new electric school of Blues, while Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower represent those who most effectively reimagined the Blues in a Rock context. Wells injects swinging new life into Led Zep chestnuts “Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid” and “What Is and What Should Never Be” while distilling Hendrix’s complex chemistry to a simpler but still impressive formula with her takes on “Stone Free/Third Stone From the Sun” and his avowed classic “Voodoo Chile.”

Wells finds the heart of Guy’s gentle “My Love is Real” and the soul of Trower’s blistering “Day of the Eagle,” all delivered with her fluidly original guitar stylings and a voice that is part husky Blues shouter, part Cher Pop powerhouse. Wells may still has a few minor vocal timing issues to fine tune, but Live on Earth is solid evidence that her guitar chops are cooked to perfection and ready to serve to a wider audience.

At this point, Natalie Wells’ guitar does not gently weep; it cries a bucket of tears, screams with passionate abandon, howls like a steroid-amped wolf and demands to be heard.

Cincinnati-bred/Austin-based rockers Heartless Bastards' new album Arrow is due in stores on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), but you can hear the long-player in its entirety right now via NPR's website (here). The NPR promotion is just the latest in the build-up to the excellent album's release. Arrow — the fourth HB full-length overall and first for new label Partisan Records — was named by The New Yorker as one of the most anticipated albums of 2012, while Rolling Stone and KCRW have premiered tracks from the album and Spin's website premiered the below video clip featuring the first single, "Parted Ways." Pre-orders for Arrow are being taken on iTunes and through the Partisan site (here), as well as through the band's own site (here), where you can order the album in various formats and as part of various goodies-filled bundles.

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On this day in 2003, Iggy Pop reunited The Stooges to perform at the 2003 Coachella festival in California. Well, as much of a "reunion" as possible — original bassist David Alexander died in 1975. But you can't do much better than Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE) as a substitute. Pop re-teamed with guitarist Ron Asheton and drummer Scott Asheton for a few tracks on his Skull Ring album, which led to talk of playing some shows (joined by Steve Mackay, who played sax on Fun House).

Like the Pixies, the reunion seems never-ending. The original reunion shows usually stuck to material from the group's first two albums, but eventually they added material from Raw Power (which featured James Williamson on guitar and Ron Asheton on bass) and the band's mixed-reviewed new album, The Weirdness.

In January of 2009, Ron Asheton died of a heart attack. He was 60. The remaining Stooges issued a statement saying, in part, "We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron's death. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed."

Then they replaced him. By May, the group had announced plans to keep going with former guitarist Williamson rejoining the band. Pop told NPR, "Although 'The Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there is still 'Iggy and the Stooges'."

The group picked up reunion-touring that November, adding more Raw Power material to their set. In 2010, after a lot of clamoring from fans and even just those who understood the influence of Pop and Co., The Stooges were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I saw the first Stooges reunion a couple of times and Pop and the band, while perhaps not as "dangerous" as they once were, still put on a great live show. It would be hard for Pop not to at this point, though it should be interesting to see how much longer the seemingly bulletproof 65-year-old can keep prancing around, shirtless (of course), on stage like a 25-year-old. Is 70 too old? 80? Will Pop keep throwing himself around the stage and working out until his veins protrude from his skin when he's 90? He certainly doesn't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Here's a bit from the historic 1970 Iggy & the Stooges show here in Cincinnati at the ol' Crosley Field (yes, it was broadcast nationally on TV). Read all about the event here, from a 2010 CityBeat feature story on the 40th anniversary of the Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival.



Born This Day: Musical movers and shakers sharing an April 27 birthday include: legendary Rock drummer (John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, Elvis Costello) Jim Keltner (1942); Soul singer/songwriter ("I Can't Stand the Rain") Ann Peebles (1947); lead singer for the Soul group The Main Ingredient ("Everybody Plays the Fool"), Cuba Gooding, Sr. (1944); singer/songwriter/guitarist for Beatles-approved rockers Badfinger ("Come and Get It," "No Matter What"), Pete Ham (1947); vocalist with New Wave group The B-52's, Kate Pierson (1948); original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley (1951); Scottish Pop star Sheena Easton (1959); former Belle & Sebastian singer/cellist Isobel Campbell (1976); frontman for Fall Out Boy and solo artist Patrick Stump (1984); and America's countdown king, broadcaster Casey Kasem (1932).

And now, a long-distance dedication (to be read it in Kasem's voice):

Dear Casey,

When I was a youngster, I was addicted to your American Top 40 syndicated radio show. I'd listen every Saturday, just as I'd watch the morning cartoons (which you were also a part of, as the voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo, as well as Robin on my must-see TV of the time, SuperFriends, among other shows.)

In a few years, my musical tastes would develop and I became less and less interested in most Top 40 music, so I didn't listen as much. But I'd still pop in every now and then, to check and see how my favorites, like Men at Work or The Police, were doing that week. And, if I was lucky, you'd throw in a fun fact or two about the artist behind the next song you were going to play (like, "… and that gas-station attendant was none other than Sheena Easton").

As I grew older, I also listened to commercial radio less and less, and I lost touch with my old friend, though I loved the clips of you losing it while recording your show. Earlier today, I noticed on Wikipedia that you officially retired from your radio shows in 2009 (and, apparently, you were still voicing Shaggy until that year as well). I felt bad that I thought you disappeared from the radio in 1986. So, Casey, could you please play Killing Joke's "Eighties" for my old pal, you, on his/your 80th birthday?

Oh, and YOU keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

Sincerely,

Mike B. from Ohio

Last year before their appearance in Cincinnati at the MidPoint Music Festival, Athens, Ohio, band The Ridges allowed us to premiere a cool promo video they had made prior to the festival to promote their appearance. The orchestral Folk/Indie/Pop ensemble ended up being one of the highlights of last year's festival, with their buoyant, endearing and original take on classic American music sucking the audience in like the sole space-heater in Antarctica. (They also featured a local guest star, singer Molly Sullivan, who is currently singing harmony vocals in Brian Olive's band.)

Since MidPoint, The Ridges have continued to work to raise their profile, most recently doing their own Daytrotter Sessions installment, performing live for the site's many followers (check it here). The band returns to Cincinnati on Feb. 2 on its Midwestern "mini tour" (though three show really feels more like a "jaunt" than any sort of "tour," no?) for a free show at MOTR Pub with fellow MPMF.11 act Paper Thick Walls. And they've crafted another video clip to get the word out.

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Music Tonight: Swedish producer/DJ Avicii comes to Covington for a show at the Madison Theater. Avicii (born Tim Bergling and also known as Tim Berg) took the modern-age promo route, earning widespread praise on dance music blogs with his crafty House sound. He broke through initially with the track "Bromance"; a version with vocals called "Seek Bromance" became a huge international dance smash, particularly across Europe. DJ Tony Desaro opens tonight's 9 p.m. show. Tickets are $40 at the door. Below check out "Seek Bromance" and the more recent "Fade into Darkness."

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Cincinnati-spawned rockers The Afghan Whigs surprised fans last week with the announcement that the band would perform at the "Fader Fort" party at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. Last night, they surprised the music world when superstar Usher joined the Whigs for half their set, performing hits like his own "Climax" and "OMG," as well as The Afghan Whigs' "Something Hot." "Afro-futurist" funkateer Sinkane also joined the party with a version of "Runnin.'"

Murmurs about the surprise appearance were minimal (though a photo of the Whigs' Greg Dulli with Usher and Sinkane surfaced on the band Facebook page earlier in the day), so the special performance turned out to be one of the biggest and most buzzed ones of the entire SXSW fest.

Here is the full video of The Afghan Whigs' performance at SXSW last night. Usher (who asked the crowd for good thoughts for his pal, Lil Wayne, who wasn't on his death bed, despite an outlandish TMZ report) comes in about 15 minutes into the set.