Well before social media made it easier to connect directly to fans, veteran Cincinnati music legends Over the Rhine were already whispering in their fans’ ears via regular notes on the band website, written intimately and poetically by OTR’s Linford Detweiler (mostly). The direct, worded contact fit well with Detweiler and wife Karin Bergquist’s mystical, emotionally resonant music, which has earned the group a dedicated fan base that spans the globe.

Along with a series of excellent albums and mesmerizing live shows across the country and beyond, the couple’s fan-friendliness and fairly consistent engagement no doubt helped not only build that fan base, but also maintain it.
The tight bond between OTR (which has put out albums on its well distributed Great Speckled Dog label since 2007) and its fans was tested in 2010 when Detweiler and Bergquist came to them with a proposition.

Before sites like Kickstarter or PledgeMusic became the hugely popular resources for artists to “crowd-fund” projects that they are today, Over the Rhine (as well as a few others) was a step ahead of the trend, allowing fans to pre-order the album and kick in additional funds for bonus perks. The experiment worked incredibly well and the band ended up with a nice budget to record (with Grammy-winning producer Joe Henry, no less) the exquisite full-length, The Long Surrender, one of the group’s best (and best reviewed) albums to date, which ended up on many “Best of 2011” lists late last year.

The Long Surrender campaign was so successful — at least partially due to the members’ way of making fans feel like they are a part of the resultant records — OTR has returned to its fans for assistance, this time so they can record and release two new albums by the end of 2013.

In a letter on OTR’s website, Detweiler explains the two albums, the material for which has been crafted over the past few years. One of the albums is tentatively titled The Farm and will feature songs written about the couple’s past several years living in an old farmhouse in Highland County, Ohio. The duo even plans on hosting a live performance of the songs on their inspirational property to celebrate the release.

The other project is a new holiday album, Blood Oranges in the Snow. The album will be OTR’s third holiday release, following 1996’s The Darkest Night of the Year and 2006’s Snow Angels. Not your typical Christmas-classics toss-off LP, OTR’s holiday releases, as Detweiler writes, “(hopefully) capture some of the reality of a beautiful — but often conflicted and even heartbreaking — time of year.”

For more on how to donate, click here. There you’ll also find the different tiers and perks, which include everything from digital bonus tracks, a “thank you” in the album artwork and signed posters to a private house concert, admission to any OTR concert through 2014 and … a tree, to be planted on the twosome’s farm and dedicated to the contributor.

Potential donors will have a chance to be swayed by Over the Rhine’s sublime sounds this Saturday, as the group returns to the Taft Theatre to perform many of their holiday tunes (and other songs). This year's event is being billed as “An Acoustic Christmas Concert.” The concert begins at 8 p.m. with opener Lucy Wainwright Roche. Tickets are $37.50 (via ticketmaster.com) or $42.50 at the door.

For those hardcore fans who just can’t get enough, OTR presents its annual “Holiday Sunday Soiree,” a casual, intimate gathering at St. Elizabeth’s (1757 Mills Ave, Norwood). Tickets are not issued for Sunday’s 3 p.m. get-together; sign up and pay for admission to the event ($20) here and your name will be added to the guest list.

Tonight's allegedly the "busiest bar night of the year," so if you like to hang out at places that are really packed, this is your jam. If you like to hear live music when you go out, you're also in luck, as a lot of the top acts seek out lucrative Wednesday-before-Turkey-Day gigs because of the aforementioned packed-ness.

If you want that live music to be (primarily) original, here are a few recommendations.

• Troy, Ohio-spawned Miss May I (whose singer, Levi Benton, recently moved to Cincinnati) is headlining the Alternative Press tour, which conveniently brings the increasingly popular "Metalcore" band back to their homeland just in time for Thanksgiving. The band's most recent release, At Heart (on Rise Records), came out this summer and was greeted with the best reviews of MMI's career and a No. 32 debut on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

The thrashy, melodic MMI headlines tonight at Bogart's in Corryville on a bill that also features The Ghost Inside, Like Moths to Flames, The Amity Affliction and Glass Cloud. Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets to the all-ages show are $20.

Read CityBeat's interview with Benton here then check out Miss May I's most recent music video, for At Heart track "Day By Day."



• Vintage Rock & Roll stylist Chris Isaak makes his way to downtown Cincinnati tonight for an 8 p.m. show at the Taft Theatre. Tickets range from $29.50-$59.50. Isaak's going to have to play the show then hop on a plane quickly — he's slated to perform in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City. (Click here to read CityBeat's full preview of the show.)

Isaak recently issued a live DVD based on his 2011 double-disc release Beyond the Sun (his first for the Vanguard label). The album was a collection of cover songs originally recorded by artists on Memphis' seminal Sun Records (from Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis to Carl Perkins and, of course, Elvis), a fitting tribute given Isaak's similar approach and sound. The new Chris Isaak Live! Beyond the Sun DVD is a concert flick featuring several songs from the Sun album, as well as some of his big hits. Expect to hear a similar set list tonight. Here's an Isaak original from the DVD, "Live It Up."



• The songcraft experts and flawless musicians of veteran Cincy Pop/Rock band The Newbees host an album release party tonight at Newport's Southgate House Revival. The release show was originally intended to be the second show at the new club (brought to you by the owners/operators of the old, beloved Southgate House across from Newport on the Levee) but a late code inspection held the grand opening up for a week. The Newbs are celebrating their LP Modern Vintage, a patchwork of musical styles and mercilessly catchy songs. Click here for a full review of the album.

The Newbees are joined tonight by The Turkeys, Chaselounge, Honey & Houston, Les Whorenettes, Shiny Old Soul, See You in the Funnies, Sundae Drives and Dave Hawkins. Tickets are $12 at the door (or $14 for those ages 18-20). Showtime is 9 p.m. Here's the Beatles-esque new album track "Up All Night":



• There are also plenty of other local original groups performing tonight. Among the highlights: Reggae/Rock crew The Ohms and soulful, rocking power trio Tattered Roots (which is celebrating its one-year anniversary) join together at Stanley's Pub in Columbia Tusculum. … Rootsy rockers Alone at 3 a.m. are playing a freebie at The Comet in Northside with Jacob Tippey and Matt Wood. … Electronic improvisers Skeetones hold down the party at The Mad Frog in Corryville, joined by guests The B.E.A.T. and Bassface. … Two former members of The Greenhornes — Brian Olive and Eric Stein — perform a free show at Northside Tavern with their current bands, The Brian Olive Band and Stein's Grotesque Brooms. … Rocket-fueled Indie/Blues/Roots/Rock trio The Sundresses headline tonight's free offering at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine, joined by Detroit foursome Jeecy and the Jungle. … And two of the city's best modern rockers — Ohio Knife and State Song — perform a free show at Mayday in Northside (see poster above). 

Click here for even more live music events in Greater Cincinnati tonight.

• A killer triple bill at Bogart's in Corryville tonight features three of the more kick-ass bands from the new breed of Rock & Roll buzz bands. Known for their explosive live shows and shimmery, energized Indie Rock style, San Diego-spawned/Brooklyn-based Delta Spirit headlines, supporting its self-titled breakthrough release from earlier this year. Endearing and invigorating L.A. Garage Pop foursome Fidlar opens things up at 8 p.m., followed by the smoking'-hot JEFF the Brotherhood, a killer duo from Nashville featuring bros Jake and Jamin Orrall. The band's latest album, the addictive Hypnotic Nights, was produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and is JEFF's debut for Warner Brothers Records.  

JEFF the Brotherhood performed "Staring at the Wall" from Hypnotic Nights last night on Conan. Read more about tonight's show here and here.


• Psych/Rock/Roots trio Buffalo Killers’ current tour with rootsy NYC Blues Rock band Hollis Brown winds through Cincinnati tonight for a show at the Ballroom at the Taft Theatre. Tickets are at the door. Showtime is 10 p.m.   

While still touring in support of Dig. Sow. Love. Grow,, the group’s fourth album which was released on Alive Records this past summer, the BKs have recently issued some even newer material. The local Shake It Records imprint recently released Buffalo Killers’ two-sided single for the Dangerous Highway: A Tribute To The Songs of Eddie Hinton series, on which the trio covers the Muscle Shoals musician’s “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)” and “Still Water Runs Deep.” The group also just recently went into the studio to record two new tunes, “Nothing Can Bring Me Down” and “Baptized,” which are available as pay-what-you-want downloadable singles at buffalokillers.com.

On Nov. 27, Alive is releasing the live compilation, Alive at the Deep Blues Festival, which kicks off with a pair of epic BK tunes. Recorded during the recent Alive-roster-heavy Deep Blues Fest in Minnesota, the album also features a pair of tracks from label mate and fellow local Brian Olive. (Olive and his band play for free at Northside Tavern on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 21.)

Here's an epic version of Buffalo Killers' "It's a Shame" from the live set.

   BUFFALO KILLERS - It's A Shame by Pavement PR

• Downtown at Arnold's tonight, catch influential cult hero Paleface, a man who has been on the cutting edge of contemporary music's continual fascination with traditional Folk music and an influence on some of the more adventurous musicians who seek to translate that vintage spirit into their own voice. Over the past 20-plus years, the singer/songwriter has been an Anti Folk torchbearer and an Indie Folk mentor, first learning songwriting and lo-fi recordings from underground legend Daniel Johnston in the late ’80s. From there he went on to teach a few tricks to roommate Beck (pre-fame), help the so-called "Freak Folk" scene grow freakier and folkier and collaborate frequently with pals The Avett Brothers. Whether directly or indirectly, if you dig today's "Indie Folk" — or any brand of slanted or subversive Americana — you've likely heard the results of Paleface's unique influence.

Paleface's show tonight at Arnold's — a makeup date for a show canceled in late August — is free and great local Folk Pop group Shiny and the Spoon opens the show at 9 p.m. (Click here to read more.)

Here's a mini documentary about the making of Paleface's latest, One Big Party.

• Tonight you can get your roller boogie on as the bi-annual OTR Skate event returns to help raise funds for Cincinnati Recreation Commission’s Over the Rhine Recreation Center and its scholarships and staffing. The roller rink fun goes from 8-11 p.m. at the OTR rec center (1715 Republic St.) and admission is $5, which includes skate rental (you can also bring your own). Along with numerous raffles for items donated by local businesses, skaters can also play pool, air hockey and other games, or ask the Cincinnati Rollergirls roller derby team members on hand for some tips. Giving the event an extra dose of Rock & Roll attitude, local band The Yugos will perform along with Columbus Indie rockers Indigo Wild. (Facebook event here).

Here's a Yugos track released this spring called "You Don't Want Change, Change is for the Deranged"; check out the group's self titled full-length here.


• Hip Hop comes to Northside tonight with a free, 10 p.m. show at The Comet featuring local artist Abiyah, plus Philly's Has-Lo and New York City's Prem Rock (formerly known as Premonition).

Has-Lo's first taste of national attention came when he did well in the 2007 MTVU Best Music on Campus contest. With his intelligent lyrical prowess and dark, dynamic production style, Lo's initial EP releases and last year's In Case I Don't Make It album garnered buzz in the underground for the producer/MC. Anticipation has been building for his just-released long-player, Conversation B, a trippy rewiring of In Case featuring production collaborations with Exile, J-Zone, Oddisee, Kev Brown, Eric Lau, Apollo Brown and others. The results are blissfully psychedelic and unpredictable. Here's a remix of Lo's "Inherit the Stars."



• "Unity Jam 7," a recurrent local music event that showcases a wide range of local artists in the name of bringing different people together, takes place tonight at Centennial Barn (110 Compton Rd., Hartwell). Tickets are $20 at the door, with a portion of the proceeds going to the New School Montessori program. The event kicks off with a "Zumbathon" at 5 p.m. Music starts at 7 p.m. and wraps with a "drum circle" at around 10 p.m. The lineup — which spans from Jazz, Fusion and Latin music to Reggae and a variety of other forms of World music —  features Unity Jam organizer Baoku Moses and his Image Afro-beat Band, Lisa Marie, Azucar Tumbao, Junya Be, Pharaoh Loosey, Mayan Ruins, Salsa Ires, Mr. Brown Mysterious Sounds and Garry Leidy.

Click here for even more live music in Greater Cincinnati tonight.

Over the summer, a video turned up on YouTube of Canadian chanteuse LIGHTS doing an acoustic cover of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” for Britain’s Secret TV. While her bubbly personality was evident, she did look tired and her voice was not at its usual strength. Fans wondered if the rigors of touring were taking their toll.

But there were no such concerns Wednesday (Nov. 14) night when LIGHTS played at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley. Winding down her Siberia tour, the Toronto native sounded absolutely amazing.

Two things are sometimes forgotten in the electronic swirl of LIGHTS’s music — she can sing and she can write. Vocally she was at the top of her game Wednesday. Parts that were sung in a more wispy tone on her two albums were belted out with force, topped with high notes that hadn’t come out in the studio versions.

And, oh yes, the writing. Proving she has both vocal and songwriting skills, LIGHTS excused her band mid-show to deliver a piano-and-voice-only version of “Saviour.” Showing it’s not all done with machines (as she did on her 2010 acoustic EP), LIGHTS delivered a tune that, like her others, can stand apart from the technological wizardry. In between scaling her vocal range, she invited the audience to sing along, which they did enthusiastically (the track was an Alternative radio hit in 2009).

LIGHTS has always toured with a band, pulling a page out the the Thompson Twins’ playbook from back in the day. Chief Twin Tom Bailey always reasoned that it was just more visually pleasing to see musicians on stage and not just three band members bopping around to sequencers and backing tapes. Sonically it helps, too, of course, as the players can improvise and add new dimensions and dynamics to familiar songs. Indeed, one of LIGHTS’s keyboardists even broke out a guitar for one song, playing the keyboard lines on that instead of his synth.

The Arkells from Hamilton, Ontario, opened the show with their brand of Canadian Alt Rock. Lead singer Max Kerman told the crowd that his hometown was the best Hamilton in the world, not the Ohio city just up I-75. The crowd got the joke, which sort of surprised and bemused Kerman.

“I was expecting some boos for that,” he said before the band launched into “Pulling Punches.” The Arkells provided a nice counterpoint to the main act’s fine, occasionally dub-steppy Synth Pop and the group seemed to have several fans of their own in attendance.

LIGHTS returns to Canada at the end of this run of shows, where she will spend the holidays with her new husband, Blesshefall frontman Beau Bokan. The Arkells will support their countrymen The Tragically Hip throughout the winter.

• Instrumental Avant Metal veterans Earth bring their adventurous, spontaneous Dronecore to downtown tonight for a hypnosis session at the Ballroom at the Taft Theatre. Showtime is 8:30 pm. Stebmo, Earth collaborator and progressive Jazz pianist/multi-instrumentalist/composer Steve Moore, and psychedelic, noisy Doom duo Eagle Twin open the show. Tickets are $15.

Guitarist Dylan Carlson gave birth to Earth in Olympia, Wash., circa 1990, and remains the only original member in a band that has seen numerous lineup and stylistic shifts. The group put a pair of albums out on Sub Pop during the "Grunge Revolution" (which they had little in common with), got booted from the label briefly and then welcomed back for three more albums. While Earth's aggressively experimental sound didn't quite fit the Grunge buzz, the group actually used the genre's concept of "slowed down Hard Rock and Metal" and took it to the extreme, decelerating even more and replacing Grunge's Punk and Garage influence with inspiration from avant grade composers and musicians and Carlson's singular vision.

Earth didn't survive the ’90s but returned in the early ’00s to start a run that has included several releases for Southern Lord Records, a haven for "Metal" artists on the more experimental side of the music. Earth's latest release is the improvised Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II, the follow-up to part I (and actually recorded at the same time) which has been praised for its gradual, natural exploration of different tones and approaches. Earth's trippy, glacial sound on Demons of Light II is infused with evocative cello and smoky atmospherics and often sounds like a new slant on modern Jazz, something Mingus might have come up with had he been into Black Sabbath.

Here's Demons II track "The Corascene Dog":


• Acclaimed by both fellow artists, critics and her dedicated fan base, Iris Dement  has been one of the more compelling singers in the Americana movement since she put out her first album in 1992; her mesmerizing voice has a timeless soul that recalls the best early Country female vocalists. Dement's sound has evolved and taken detours over time. After two straight-forward Country/Folk Pop LPs, the 1996 album The Way I Should showcased a Rock vibe and some serious political commentary. She followed that up by collaborating with John Prine on his In Spite of Ourselves album, which scored her a Grammy nomination, but Dement took a break from music after that.

In 2004, Dement returned with her first album in eight years, Lifeline, released on her own label after her Warner Brothers contract expired. But Lifeline was primarily a collection of centuries'-old Gospel covers. This year, Dement released Sing the Delta, her first album of new material in 16 years. The songs harken back to that purity of her first couple of albums, but also shows how Dement has matured as a composer and performing. She writes with more confidence and has become an even better lyricist, creating an album that is mournful, poignant and poetic.

Dement performs tonight at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley with The Tillers, one of Cincy's finest Folk acts who are coming off of a successful release party for their recent live album. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $25-$30. Here's DeMent's "Go On Ahead and Go Home" from Delta.



• Milwaukee-based Psych rockers Moss Folk perform a free show tonight at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine with like-minded locals Children of the Emerald Fire. Showtime is 10 p.m.

Formed in Michigan in the mid-’00s by founder Andrew James Shelp, Moss Folk entrancingly collages influences into a sound that draws from a wide range of music that could fall into the "Psychedelic" category. You'll hear elements of Kraut Rock, Pink Floyd, World music, Tangerine Dream and Spacemen 3 mingling in Moss Folk's ambient, hypnotic melange and the band has been known to match the lysergic sonics with fitting visuals (from video projections to cameos by various non-musical performing artists).

Here's a live clip of Moss Folk:

moss folk - red from brownshoesonly on Vimeo.

I’m not going to pretend I knew what synesthesia meant before listening to former Cincinnati/current Columbus-based Hip Hop artist Ill Poetic’s latest release, Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement. But after diving into the seven-song EP (and looking up the title on dictionary.com), I discovered that synesthesia is something like a music-induced hallucination where the afflicted see music as colors, which is the perfect description the album has on its listeners.

In the short amount of time it takes to get through this EP (just under 24 minutes), Ill Po takes the listener on a funky, soulful trip through his creative process. On the  first track, “Be Cool,” Po is kind of like Samuel L. Jackson in the diner scene of Pulp Fiction (without the Jheri curl), urging everyone from politicians to status rappers to just chill the fuck out and re-birth the cool like Miles Davis.

“Be Cool” then melts into a laid-back Soul cut, the highlight track “On My Way,” which features crooner CJ the Cynic. It’s probably just the producer in him, but Ill Poetic lets CJ take the reins of “On My Way” for almost the first two minutes before he brings his spoken-word lyrical styling to the production, which is reminiscent of early Kanye or Eryka Badu with, dare I say, an added dose of creativity.

The wait for Po's words is well worth it, however, when he spits that “Ghostface is my real estate agent." Again, I really don’t know what this means, but the sheer image of calling Sibcy Cline or Century 21 and getting Ghostface Killah on the other end of the receiver is pure imagery gold.

On the sixth track and first single off the EP, “Gone,” the song cleverly describes Po’s struggle to leave Cincinnati and pursue his dreams (his every body part attempting to convince his brain to dip-out), while the Jazz-style production makes the listener want to roll-up and take a road trip with this song on repeat.

The best part about this album, though, is when Ill says “You don’t have to be cool to listen to this; you don’t have to listen to this to be cool.” So for all the nerds, dorks, dweebs and losers out there looking for new music, have no fear. You don’t have to be cool to listen to this and listening to Ill Poetic won’t make you cool. But it surely couldn’t hurt.

Click below to preview and purchase Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement. For more on Ill Poetic, visit his official site here.

• Baltimore Noise Punk foursome Dope Body introduced itself to the Indie Rock world with the donkey punch that was last year’s Nupping, the band’s first full-length. The group returned this year with the Natural History album on Drag City, on which a chaotic barrage of guitar harmonics, muscular drum/bass pummeling and howling vocals combine for something that sounds like The Jesus Lizard jacked up on speed (or Gang of Four jacked up on The Jesus Lizard). There is an artfulness to the noise, but it’s the group’s hectic energy level — which sometimes makes it seem like they’re going to fall apart at any second — that first draws the listener in, as if sucked up by the tornadic swirl, Dorothy-and-Toto-syle. The herky-jerky rhythms are also alluring, occasionally falling into a seemingly impossible groove that feels like some sort of alien Funk. You can dance to Dope Body — you just might look a little convulsive.

After an appearance at The Comet earlier this spring, Dope Body returns to Cincy tonight for a free, 10 p.m. show at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine. Brooklyn trio Call of the Wild opens the show. Check videos from both acts below.





• Singer/songwriter James McMurtry (son of successful author Larry) performs tonight at the Southgate House Revival in Newport. The Americana song stylist kicked his career off in 1989 with his debut Too Long in the Wasteland and has continued to make album after album of modern Roots songs, which often showcase his deft lyrical ability (something perhaps in his blood). McMurtry has been celebrated for the short story style of writing, though in recent years he's addressed political issues for frequently and directly. His 2005 song "We Can't Make It Here" fit the Occupy movement's message so perfectly, he gave it away as a free download when the movement began, then re-recorded it with Steve Earle and Joan Baez for inclusion on the Occupy Wall Street benefit compilation, Occupy This Album. You can hear that version below. (Read more about McMurtry in Brian Baker's preview from this week's CityBeat here.)

McMurtry performs tonight at the new Southgate with his band, which at one time was dubbed "The Heartless Bastards," until some bratty kids from Cincinnati stole it for their own and have been using it quite successfully. Locals Monkeytonk open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.



• Canadian ElectroPop star Valerie Anne Poxleitner — who legally changed her name to Lights when she turned 18 and has performed under the moniker ever since — comes to the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley tonight for an 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $18. Canadian AltRock group Arkells opens the show. Similar to Robyn's approach, Lights' sound is a mix of more vintage Synth Pop, modern Electronic styles (yes, including Dubstep) and straight-up, ready-for-Top-40-radio Pop. Lights is a bonafide Pop star in Canada, with her albums, EPs and singles selling chart-worthy numbers, and though she has a faithful following in the U.S., she hasn't matched the same level of airplay, exposure and sales. Yet. Lights' sound has an ear-grabbing quality that could make her a chart and radio fixture in the States in an instant.

Here's Lights' latest single from 2011's Siberia, "Timing Is Everything."



Click here for even more live music events in Greater Cincinnati tonight.

Singer/guitarist Glen Campbell is truly Country music’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Starting out as a masterful, much-used session musician, in the ’60s and ’70s, Campbell represented the genre as one of its premier stars and was also embraced on the pop charts, scoring huge crossover hits with singles like "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Southern Nights" and "Rhinestone Cowboy."

This past year, Campbell's 50 years in the music business was celebrated at the Grammys, where he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and honored with a musical tribute by The Band Perry and Blake Shelton that was capped off by Campbell joining the musicians for a version of "Rhinestone Cowboy."

After his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in the summer of 2011, Campbell decided to hit the road one last time while he still could. After releasing the collaborative album Ghost on the Canvas (featuring covers of songs by modern artists like Jakob Dylan, Teddy Thompson, Paul Westerberg and Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard), Campbell kicked off his extensive “Goodbye Tour," which comes to the Taft Theatre in downtown Cincinnati this Sunday. For ticket info, click here.

CityBeat was privileged to have the opportunity to speak with Campbell about changes in music from when he started to today and how close he stays with his family on tour.

CityBeat: How did you choose songs and artists to collaborate with on Ghost on the Canvas?



Glen Campbell: Julian Raymond is my producer. He found the majority of the material. However, he kept notes of things I said or did and some of this material makes its way into the album. (Closing track) “There’s No Me…Without You” is an example of this.

CB: What has it been like to see the changes in music technology from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD to IPod? Do you think music sounds better or worse with the new technology, analog vs. digital?

GC: It has been wonderful to see all of the technological advances with recorded music. I think the music sounds better with the new technology.

CB: You are often highly autobiographical in your own songs. Do you regret ever sharing any of your stories through your music or songs?



GC: I have no regrets about the autobiographical songs I recorded.

CB: Are your children still on tour with you? What is the best part of having them on the road with you?



GC: My son plays drums for me. Shannon is on guitar and Ashley plays keyboards and bass. It’s wonderful sharing the stage with them. I love it. They are terrific musicians in their own right. The best part of having them with me is that our whole family and my wife Kim are all together and doing great shows which people have warmly embraced.

CB: What is your favorite guitar solo on any recording that you have done?



GC: One of my favorite guitar solos I recorded was for Frank Sinatra on his “Strangers in the Night.” I also like my guitar solo on “Wichita Lineman.” Jimmy Webb never finished the song so I just filled the hole with the guitar solo.

CB: What is your favorite guitar to play?



GC: Ovation.

CB: What is the longest time you have gone without playing guitar?



GC: I play every day.

CB: Would you ever consider playing with a Beach Boys reunion? (Campbell filled in for Brian Wilson on tour in the mid-’60s and recorded on Pet Sounds and other records.)



GC: I would not want to do a Beach Boys reunion at this point. They just celebrated their 50 years together with a big tour. I think that more than covered it.

CB: How has music helped you cope or deal with your Alzheimer's diagnosis?

GC: The music has brought me much joy and comfort.

The Heights Music Festival returns this weekend for its fall event and another wide-ranging sampling of Cincinnati’s original music scene. Music will run Friday and Saturday night from 7 p.m. until about closing time at four venues in Clifton Heights near the University of Cincinnati campus — Baba Budan’s, Mac’s Pizza Pub, Christy’s Biergarten and Rohs Street Café (the only location open to music lovers of all ages).

Here's the full lineup/schedule for this year.

FRIDAY
Rohs Street Cafe
: 7:00 – Music Resource Center showcase; 8:00 – Wendy’s Yellow Poncho; 
9:00 – MC Forty and Wonder Brown
; 10:00 – Cowgirl; 
11:00 – The Yugos

Baba Budan’s: 
8:00 – Sulla; 
9:00 – Second Chance At Eden; 
10:00 – Damn It To Hell
; 11:00 – Buenos Crotches
; 12:00 – Grey Host

Mac’s Pizza Pub: 
8:00 – The Celestials; 
9:00 – Majestic Man
; 10:00 – The MJ’s Blues
; 11:00 – Hickory Robot; 
12:00 – Jeremy Pinnell & The 55′s; 
1:00 – The Founding Fathers

Christy’s Biergarten: 
8:00 – The Marmalade Brigade; 
9:00 – The Heavy Hinges; 
10:00 – The Perfect Children; 
11:00 – Shrub (Columbus, OH); 12:00 – The Guitars

SATURDAY
Rohs Street Cafe
: 7:00 – Elementz Hip Hop Youth Center showcase; 
8:00 – Alex Evans
; 9:00 – For Algernon
; 10:00 – Young Heirlooms
; 11:00 – Oui Si Yes

Baba Budan’s: 
8:00 – Pursuing Hounds
; 9:00 – Sweet Ray Laurel
; 10:00 – Jamwave; 
11:00 – The Regrettes (Columbus, OH); 
12:00 – The Natives

Mac’s Pizza Pub: 
8:00 – Tangerine Sound Machine
; 9:00 – Somebody’s Something
; 10:00 – Big Rock Club
; 11:00 – Valley High
; 12:00 – Junya Be & Wazali

Christy’s Biergarten
: 8:00 – Killer Looks & Noise
; 9:00 – Horsecop; 
10:00 – Loudmouth; 
11:00 – Black Signal
; 12:00 – DAAP Girls; 
1:00 – The Frankl Project

Tickets are $5 per night if purchased in advance through cincyticket.com here. Admission is $8 for one night or $12 for both if purchased at the festival. Visit the fest's official site here for more info. Here's a sampler the organizers compiled featuring some of the performers: