With the MidPoint Music Festival a glorious memory, we turn our attention to the next big local music event: the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. The nominees will be announced — and you will be able to vote — tomorrow at citybeat.com. Vote early before you start worrying about that other little voting thing coming up in November. There will be no paper ballots this year; all voting will be done online. Next year, optical scans. (Kidding … or am I?)

The nominees are another strong batch of the best local musicians in Greater Cincinnati this year. First time nominees in the categories voted on by the public include The Bad Words, The Tillers, Poco Loco, Super-Massive, The Cincinnati Suds, Dusty Bryant, John Walsh, The Dopamines, Dan Faehnle, Khadijah, Eagle to Squirrel and Lost In Holland.

Two first time nominees also scored a boatload of nominations: up-and-coming AltRock band Seabird nabbed Artist of the Year and Album of the Year nods, while Cold Spring, Ky. singer/songwriter Daniel Martin Moore (whose debut for Sub Pop Records, Stray Age, was just released) is up for four trophies.

This year’s show takes place Sunday, Nov. 23 at Over-the-Rhine’s Emery Theater. The event — which has honored local musicians and theatrical artists for 12 years now — benefits the Michael W. Bany Memorial Scholarship Fund, which helps send students interested in a higher education in music to college. The fund is named and maintained in honor of Michael Bany, a veteran local musician who was murdered several years ago after playing a gig in Over-the-Rhine.

This year, the awards will join the anniversary celebration for King Records, the pioneering record label that many feel gives Cincinnati at least partial ownership to the claim of being the “birthplace of Rock & Roll,” by teaming with city and other officials who have fought for a historical marker to be placed at the site of the label’s original Evanston facility. Stay tuned for more news on some exceptional live performances being lined up to honor the King legacy.

You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the full slate of nominees, but here our the noms in the Critical Achievement categories, which are voted on by the nominating committee.

New Artist of the Year
Cash Flagg
The Chauncers
Cut in the Hill Gang
The Emeralds
The Flux Capacitors
The Harlequins
The Koala Fires
Daniel Martin Moore
Bosco Rossi
Wonky Tonk

Album of the Year
Peter Adams: I Woke With Planets in My Face
Banderas: Beast Sounds and Parlour Tricks
Buffalo Killers: Let It Ride
Faux Frenchmen: Oblivion
The Hiders: Penny Harvest Field
Pomegranates: Everything Is Alive
Jeff Scott Roberson: Summer’s Here
Seabird: ’Til We See the Shore
The Sundresses: Barkinghaus
Super-Massive: Super-Massive

Artist of the Year

Bad Veins
Eat Sugar

Buffalo Killers
Daniel Martin Moore
Pomegranates
Kelly Richey
Seabird
The Sundresses
Wussy
C. Spencer Yeh

Daniel Martin Moore promo photo by Jonathan Willis.

Helmet, the alternative metal band from New York founded in 1989 by vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton, is preparing to release its latest album, Seeing Eye Dog this summer. Leading up to Rock on the Range last weekend in Columbus, we were able to catch up with Hamilton via phone for an interview.

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Hunter Hayes is one of the fastest growing, most unstoppable forces rising in Country music. At just 20 years old, he recently released his debut self-titled studio album featuring the hit single “Storm Warning." In less than a year of truly being a part of the Nashville music scene he has found himself on tour with superstar acts Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts and he will be taking the main stage at the CMA Music Festival next month in one of their nightly concerts in front of 70,000+ in attendance.

CityBeat spoke with Hayes by phone recently and discussed his uniquely introspective writing and recording process as well as his passion for the fans that come out to each of his shows. Hunter will be performing at Bogart’s Friday night. It's a great opportunity to see an act that could be headlining stadiums and arenas very soon.

CityBeat: What made you decide to play all of the instruments and parts on your debut album? Do you plan to do this again on the next album?

Hunter Hayes: There is this part of my brain that I got from my Dad that is really technical, that loves technology, I guess, like fixing stuff — not fixing stuff as much as messing with it. I think that became an outlet for me. The more time I spent making music and writing the more I loved the technical side of it.

One Christmas, I asked for a 8-Track recorder and I got it and I didn’t come out of my room for like three years after that. I literally learned more instruments and spent all my time on this machine making demos and I just started building my own recordings. I didn’t know for sure but I felt inside that was the only way these songs were going to become completed and it became a way of working.

I continue to write during that process. When I moved to Nashville, I started songwriting and every time I would write a song with somebody I’d go home that night and I’d start working up a demo. It just became a way I love to work and now is the only way I know how to work. I have sat in a studio across the looking glass with some of the most phenomenal musicians in Nashville and I sit there and I am a very shy guy, naturally. I am naturally very reclusive so when I get nervous around songwriters, I am very intimidated and I don’t share my thoughts a lot like I probably should. I kind of defer to someone else. So we decided to do the record this way because they knew I was comfortable working that way and there is something cool that happens when you start recording the song playing all the instruments. It is a very minute thing but you will notice the consistency in the emotion.

And by no means do I consider myself a professional player of any of the instruments I played on the record but I guess I was fluent enough to get where my mind wanted these songs to go with what I wanted to hear for these songs. I was able to translate it from the same heart I wrote the songs.

CB: What is your favorite song you have ever written and why?

HH: Oh God … to put it in perspective for you, we had 70 songs I wrote specifically for this record that we were considering. So, it is nearly impossible to pick a favorite.

I have to say I was really fortunate because I had a big say in what songs went on this record. I actually picked all but one. This one song on the record, it is not that I don’t love it, but it is so out of character for me, I was worried about putting it on the record because I didn’t want people to get the wrong idea, because it is a very bitter song.

I chose the songs on this record carefully but emotionally. I am definitely attached to every single one of them on this record. I could say that I love everything — “Wanted” “Love Makes Me” “Somebody’s Heartbreak”  and “Storm Warning.” I was very adamant about having a song like “Faith,” I wanted “Cry With You” on the record. I’m close to all the songs on the record.

I think my favorite song I have ever written is probably the one I wrote yesterday and that is always the case. Any time I write a new song, I am jazzed about it for like 24 hours and then I am over it and want to write another one.

CB: That makes sense. How does it feel to be one of the main acts at LP Field at CMA Festival this year?

HH: It’s unbelievable. Last year, I was stoked to just play on a stage in front of the Bridgestone Arena. It was a great turnout and everybody knew my name, which was amazing. I had just wrapped up six weeks on the radio tour. The song had literally just started playing on the radio and there were already tons of people singing along to “Storm Warning” that day and that blew my mind. It was a time lapse thing. I started my radio tour with this big full band showcase in Louisiana. And we initiated it with this full band big showcase for all the industry to come down and make a day out of it.

Then I went out by myself on this radio tour. I would go to these stations. I would literally bring a little mobile studio and I would build “Storm Warning” for them, and they would get their own version of “Storm Warning” by the end of the day.  We did that for six weeks straight. I went home only one day, for Mother’s Day. It was just this crazy schedule.

Fast forward six weeks ahead, I come back to Nashville to play my second ever full-band gig with the band and we were playing to a crowd that was singing along to almost every song. It was really impressive and it was just mind-boggling. It is amazing what a year can do.

I am grateful that they considered me for this spot on LP Field. I have sat in the audience to watch shows there many times so it is really cool to be a part of it this time on the other side.

CB: I have seen your show several times. One of the things that always strikes me when you play is that the girls love you. Have you had any crazy fan experiences?

HH: No, not really. I will say we have a lot of fans that we see many times, a lot of repeat fans, which always makes me feel good. When someone sees a show and wants to see another one, that makes me feel like I am doing something right.

It is so funny, they will come up during the autograph signings and say “I promise you I am not stalking you.” I am like “I don’t mind! I am honored that you have taken the time to come to more than one show.” There is this one girl who has driven thousands of miles and she is always almost apologetic about it, and you don’t even know how much that makes my day. When I see her car in the parking lot and I know she is coming, that makes me feel like I am doing something right. It literally gives me a feeling I can’t describe to you.

We have a lot of fans that are doing that. We have a lot of them who have met at our shows and have become best friends and they go everywhere together now. I just feel this unity at our shows, especially the "Most Wanted" shows, the headlining shows I get to do. They are smaller venues right now and they are growing. Tonight we are doing like 1,000 seats or something like that, but it is amazing this close feeling I feel with everyone in the room. I get to chit-chat with them during the show and goof off with them and it is fun. It is a blast. I am glad to say I have fans.

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Goo Goo Dolls have come a long way since they started in 1986 in the crumbling rust belt city of Buffalo, NY, where the band was probably started for no better reason than to kill time, make some music and hopefully get a few free beers from the clubs where they were lucky enough to get a gig. They have stayed together for over two decades and continue to create hits on the music charts. Their current single “All That You Are” is getting serious radio play and is featured in the newest installment of the Transformers franchise, Transformers: Dark of The Moon.

CityBeat spoke with vocalist and lead guitarist John Rzeznik about tour life, longevity, and the future of the popular group.

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Are you watching the Grammys alone tonight? Wishing you had someone there with you to enjoy the performances and award presentations help make fun of any and everything that deserves to be? Whether you're solo snarking, hanging out with a few pals, throwing your own Grammy mega-party or at the ceremony in person (we hear Taylor Swift is a big citybeat.com fan), join me tonight at this very cyber spot for some hot live blogging action. And when those witty comments pop into your head (or you become outraged with something I've written), feel free to post some comments of your own. The show airs live on CBS at 8 p.m.; pre-show red carpet festivities are probably going on now on E! And you can watch the program (and pre-show activities) through the Grammys site or through the Grammys YouTube channel.

Below is a little "pre-game show," addressing some of the more interesting story-lines this year, the saddest of which began just last evening when superstar Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel room. Even though her tragic death occurred just over 24 hours before the Grammys were set to begin, Houston's shadow will loom large over the ceremony, if not overshadow it completely.

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[Further Thursday coverage: 172 photos here and multimedia show here.]

I wanted to chime in on two fun events from the opening night of the 2009 MidPoint Music Festival that not many people saw: the kick-off shows on Fountain Square and Deke Dickerson at the Southgate House.

The Young Republic at the Blue Wisp after playing Fountain Square

Rain kept the Fountain Square crowd down, obviously, but the two bands who performed (Shanya Zaid & the Catch from New York and The Young Republic from Nashville) were energetic, happy to be in Cincinnati and ready for their regular club showcases later in the evening. The sound, provided by ICB Audio, was excellent.

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I usually shy away from album reviews, but when I opened the FedEx package on my doorstep and found the new Dirty Heads album, complete with promotional rolling papers (presumably to accompany the album), I decided to take a second look because obviously this was intended to take my worries away and make everyone feel great.

In 2008 The Dirty Heads splashed onto the music scene with their debut album Any Port in a Storm; this year, they follow it up with their long-awaited album Cabin by the Sea. Cabin is a true master class that sticks to the So-Cal altrocker vibe for which The Dirty Heads are known. When popping the disc in the dash of the car, the first chord of "Arrival" instantly enthralls you and throws you into the cabin by the sea with a group of friends enjoying life the way it was intended to be. The song that really struck a chord with me was “Spread Too Thin” because I think everyone can relate to being pulled in many directions every day and wanting to just slow down for a minute; Cabin by the Sea allows you to take a break and do just that. Cabin is the perfect summer album, ranging from the summery feel-good Reggae of "Your Love" to the Hip Hop vibe in "Smoke Rings" to the poppy acoustic flow of the title song.

Every time I listen to Cabin by the Sea it takes me away from the daily grind and monotony. There are many collaborations on the album, including with Matisyahu, Del the Funky Homosapien, Rome and Ky-Mani Marley. One of the coolest parts of this album is the accompanying DVD, which takes you behind the scenes of the recording process at Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas.

Cabin by the Sea is a must have for the summer. The album hits the shelves and online outlets tomorrow.

Last week, Cincinnati's stars-in-the-making Walk the Moon issued the first release under its deal with RCA Records. Though only three songs, the effort is illuminating and a hint of what's to come on the band's forthcoming, so-far-untitled RCA full-length debut (due to be released this May). The Indie Dance Pop foursome has seemingly been touring and doing business related tasks non-stop for at least the last year. Now that it has a release on RCA, that will only increase. The recording is called Anna Sun EP, named for the band's irresistible tune that (along with a stellar music video) helped initially generate much of the buzz they've received fairly consistently over the past year or so.The song "Anna Sun" is on the EP, but those who have i want! i want! (the group's stellar self-released LP containing the original track) might still want to listen. It's a new version of the catchy song, slicked up a bit for radio and seemingly (inexplicably) sped up.

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It was another epic Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony tonight at the Madison Theater, as a full house celebrated some of the best Greater Cincinnati music has to offer. And drank. A lot.

The show went off great, with some excellent live performances from nominees and lots of fun from new host Ted Clark. I'll have more on the CEA show tomorrow (the afterparty is still in full effect as I type this), but gotta give props to CityBeat's own Jac Kern, who provided one of the funniest moments in CEA history before presenting the CEA for Hip Hop. Beyonce ain't got nothing on you, Jac!

More tomorrow (fear not — the show will actually be broadcast on cable this year; details coming soon), but, in the meantime, here's who won what at tonight's ceremony. Wussy — which has been on a serious roll since releasing the fantastic Strawberry near the end of 2011 (it made the cut-off for this year's awards, since the album came out around the same time as the last CEAs) — had the best night, taking home both the Artist of the Year and Album of the Year CEAs.

Congrats to all of the nominees and winners and everyone who showed up to party. Y'all are crazy.

1 Country - Mason James

2 Jazz - Blue Wisp Big Band

3 Singer/Songwriter - Kelly Thomas
4 World Music/Reggae - The Cliftones
5 Metal - Pulse8

6 Blues - Ricky Nye
7 Alternative/Indie - The Seedy Seeds
8 Hip Hop - Gold Shoes
9 Folk/Americana - The Tillers

10 Rock - Buffalo Killers

11 Bluegrass - Rumpke Mountain Boys

12 Electronic - You, You're Awesome

13 Live Act - 500 Miles to Memphis

14 Hard Rock - Chakras

15 R&B/Soul/Funk - The Cincy Brass

16 Punk - Switchblade Syndicate


17 Best new Artist – DAAP Girls

18 Album of the year - Wussy's Strawberry
19 Artists of the year - Wussy

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, “underground” and “indie rock” in the U.S. was birthed by a glut of bands that sprung up in the initial wake of the Sex Pistols. The luckier (or well-financed) bands—back when every stoned, obnoxious suburban kid and art-damaged bohemian miscreant was in a band—would self-release only one or two singles in limited pressings. Surprisingly, a lot of this stuff is remarkable rock ‘n’ roll rather than formulaic drivel, thanks to the fuck-it-do-whatever-you-want approach that defined the punk movement.

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