It is shaping up to be a great summer in Cincinnati for fans of popular, contemporary Country music. First it was announced that the giant Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney tour (with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals opening up) would come to Paul Brown Stadium on July 1. Now, Riverbend has unveiled an impressive lineup of some of the top names in Country scheduled to appear at the outdoor shed this year (including Miranda Lambert, pictured at the right). An on sale date for the individual concerts has yet to be announced; the lineup was released this morning because of the return of the B105-sponsored "Country Megaticket" offer, where fans can save some money by purchasing ticket packages that will get them into all seven concerts. The "Megatickets" (packages range from $200-$385) go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. through www.Riverbend.org or www.B105.com. Click here for more details and check below for the full lineup.

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Zeng is an award-winning performer and a music educator but he’s never ventured into song writing, until now. He’s currently working on an upcoming album titled Through These Doors about the discrimination he’s faced and he wants to influence others.

"During difficult times in my life, I have always turned to music. This time, for the first time, I was inspired to write and perform my own music. After personally experiencing discrimination, I hope that my music will help others who face similar situations,” said Zeng in a press release.

Combining his story with his professional knowledge in opera and musical theater to create an album that’s both emotionally driven and musically appealing.

His singles “Through These Doors” and “Now” are currently available on iTunes and other major music distribution sites, but audiences have to wait until October to get the full album.

Zeng is hosting a free launch party on Friday, Oct. 19 from 8-10 p.m. at the Below Zero Lounge in Over-The-Rhine. The party is open to the public and those attending will see Zeng perform his singles as well as unveil other album songs.

Touring the country in a van is not for softies. It's a daunting proposition for even the heartiest, scrappiest bands (see Henry Rollins' melodramatic yet entertaining Get in the Van for proof). But for anyone with a rusty Econoline and a rag-tag group of fellow-minded musical miscreants, it's a sort of birthright that's there for the taking. It's also a definite American rite of passage.

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The MidPoint Music Festival returns to Over-the-Rhine (including inside the newly unveiled Washington Park, which hosts the main "Main Stage") Sept. 27-29. After weeks of speculation, we now we have the first lineup announcement for MPMF.12, which features, once again, top-line Indie artists — from new buzz groups and some current, critically-acclaimed favorites to a few true Alt music pioneers.

Longtime supporters Dewey's Pizza had the scoop on the announcement this morning. Visit them here on Facebook.

Below are the first 19 acts to be announced. About 150 to go! Stay tuned.

Grizzly Bear
The Dirty Projectors
Sleigh Bells
Dinosaur Jr.
Best Coast
Cloud Nothings
Imperial Teen
Willis Earl Beal
Frankie Rose
Tennis
Julia Holter
Laetitia Sadier
Craft Spells
Seapony
Lord Huron
The Black Belles
Zeus
The Growlers
J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound

Be sure to visit mpmf.com for all the latest updates and to score your tickets. VIP and “Early Bird” (read: discounted) all-access passes are available now through cincyticket.com here.

If you’d like some face time with the MPMF authorities, just head down to Fountain Square this Friday for the free MidPoint Indie Summer concert at 7 p.m. The event is a world tour of music, kicking off with local Ska/Reggae/Soul masters The Pinstripes, who join Malian artist Khaira Arby and Funk/Soul headliners The Dynamites.

Before its current successful run of reunion concerts across the globe, The Afghan Whigs played its final live show at a New York City club called Hush on Sept. 29, 1999. But that was a private concert. The Whigs last public appearance was Sept. 25, 1999, at Cincinnati's Bogart's with special guests Howlin' Maggie. (The set list featured a large chunk of final album 1965, as well as lots of dips into cover tunes and snippets, including opener "The Boys Are Back in Town," and dashes of "Superstition," "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," "Little Red Corvette," "People Get Ready," "Hot for Teacher," "All You Need is Love" and Madonna's "Express Yourself," among others.)

Today it was announced that The Afghan Whigs will return to the scene of the crime and perform their first hometown show in over a decade on Oct. 25 at Bogart's, one month and 13 years after that final concert. Tickets are $33.50 ($45.86 with fees). The fan pre-sale starts this morning at 10 a.m.; tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 a.m. Click here for info. (Check The Afghan Whigs' official site for a password to get in on the pre-sale.)

Though the neighborhood has changed a lot since The Whigs roamed the earth originally, the band returning to Corryville is fitting. While frontman Greg Dulli would eventually bring his band The Twilight Singers to Newport's Southgate House frequently, Bogart's was the Whigs hometown concert home. Before that, the group played many shows at long-since-shuttered Sudsy Malone's across the street from Bogart's, while it and Top Cat's just a few blocks up the street were the sites of a few epic "secret shows," warm-up gigs for tours where the band would perform under a pseudonym like The Havana Sugar Kings or Gato Negro. 

Update: The fan pre-sale password for Bogart's is uptownagain. Use it here starting at 10 a.m. today.

Update2: The pre-sale is now at noon today, according to the ticketing site.

There is a pretty good chance you haven’t seen the members of Cincinnati’s powder-keg Freak Punk Soul Pop maniacs Foxy Shazam around town lately. That’s because the piano-driven band appears to tour more than stay home these days, ever since the release of its cult-favorite classic, Introducing Foxy, on the indie label Ferret Records back in early 2008.

Things are going to get any easier for the band anytime soon — besides its massive upcoming tour with Swedish new wavers The Sounds (which will take them to every inch of the country for the next seven weeks straight, including a local stop at Covington's Madison Theater on Nov. 3), it was recently announced that the group’s next album will be its first for major label Sire Records

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The best music-related viral video this week has been footage of Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy doing the weather on Chicago "superstation" WGN (see below), which Pitchfork immediately awarded a 9.3 rating, calling it the best TV weather reporting since the members of Neu!'s infamous "Das ist snow!" Krautrock version on German national television in 1973. Though it appears to be a one-off, the station would nail down the 35-55-year-old hipster dad/music critic demographic if they'd offer him the position full time. We pray this was just a try-out/preview of the new Wilco News Network (WNN), with foreign correspondent Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche taking on the Jeanne Moos role. Perhaps local network news should take note — I would pay $1,000 to see Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker from local Indie Rock band Wussy anchor the evening newscast on Fox 19, even for just one night (heck, I'll pay $100 for 30 seconds).

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One of Cincinnati's all-time greatest bands, The Afghan Whigs, have announced numerous overseas dates on its forthcoming reunion tour, but the only U.S. show announced was the Sept. 22 concert headlining the Greg Dulli co-curated "I'll Be Your Mirror" event in Asbury Park, NJ. Today, another American show was announced with the release of the 2012 Lollapalooza lineup (the event takes place in Chicago's Grant Park, Aug. 3-5). The Whigs were up pretty high on the poster for the event, but the top-billed acts announced are soon-to-be Rock & Roll Hall of Famers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, Black Sabbath and Jack White. (Check the full lineup here and the announcement video below.) Lolla tickets are on-sale here.

That sets up a loose timeframe for more U.S. dates for the Whigs — Aug. 3-Sept. 22 (minus about three days in August when they'll be back overseas). We've been hearing about a few offers to the band for shows in Cincinnati from a pair of larger festivals, but so far nothing official has been ironed out (at least to the point that an appearance could be announced). Stay tuned. The band now has about 20 dates booked worldwide.