Veteran Cincinnati bass wizard Freekbass (of the band Freekbass, as well as Freekbot, the Kelly Richey Band and Headtronics) is the first Master Class leader to be announced for The London Bass Guitar Show 2014. The event (March 1-2 at the Olympia Conference Centre London) will draw some of the world's greatest bassists to London to "promote the art of bass playing to the general public." The show will showcase new bass products and gear, plus feature clinics and master classes throughout the event.

Past London Bass Guitar Show participants include Mark King, Gary Willis, TM Stevens, Paul Turner, Marco Mendoza, Yolanda Charles, Doug Wimbish, Neil Murray and Dave Marks, Peter Hook, Igor Saavedra, Wojtek Pilichowski, Guy Pratt, Andy Irvine, Jonas Hellborg, Grog & Die So Fluid, Malcolm Joseph, Andrew Levy, David Ellefson, Jah Wobble, Lee Rocker, Nate Watts and Phil Mulford.

Here's some footage from last year's event:


The bassist is gearing up for the next album (click here to download Freekbass' album Concentrate for free) from his eponymous band. Freekbass is working on the new album at Lexington's Shangri-La Studios with Duane Lundy, who has done work with My Morning Jacket, Ben Sollee and others. The album will reportedly feature special guests DJ Spooky, Adam Deitch (a producer/drummer who has worked with everyone from John Scofield to 50 Cent) and Steve Molitz (Particle, Headtronics).

This Wednesday, Freekbot (Freebass + DJ/beatmaster/electronicist Tobotius) will perform a recently announced show at Longworth's in Mt. Adams, 9:30 p.m.-midnight.

The Hamilton County Court of Appeals today refused to delay enforcement of its earlier ruling on the city’s plan to lease its parking meters, lots and garages to the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority, which will allow the city administration to sign the lease as soon as a lower court rescinds its original injunction on the plan.

On June 12, the court reversed a lower court’s ruling and sided with the city over critics of the parking plan, deciding that the city can use emergency clauses to avert referendum efforts on passed legislation, including the parking plan. Emergency clauses also allow the city to avoid a 30-day waiting period on implementing laws.

For Cincinnati, the plan will first produce a $92 million one-time payment. Following that, the city will get an estimated $3 million a year, which the city says will eventually increase to $7 million and continue climbing afterward.

Still, the city says it won’t spend any funds until there is legal certainty, meaning until potential appeals are exhausted.

“The City cannot commit the money in the parking plan until there is legal certainty around the funds,” City Manager Milton Dohoney said in a statement on June 12. “Once there is legal certainty, the Administration will look at the budget to determine if there are items that may need to be revisited and bring those before Members of City Council, as appropriate.”

Opponents are planning to appeal the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Opponents gathered more than 12,000 signatures supporting a referendum on the parking plan. But with the appeals court ruling, that referendum may never come to pass.

The city says the parking plan’s funds will be used to accelerate economic growth, but critics argue the parking plan will hurt downtown businesses by expanding parking meter hours and increasing meter rates.

City Council began discussing potential changes to the parking plan in a Budget and Finance Committee meeting today. The meeting largely focused on whether City Council could repeal or rework the parking plan with a simple majority or supermajority.

Following the June 12 ruling, five out of nine council members signed a motion to repeal the parking plan. But City Council would need to pass an ordinance for any changes to be legally binding.

An ordinance would likely need six votes to overrule the mayor’s veto powers.

City Solicitor John Curp told City Council the mayor also has the power through the City Charter to hold any proposed ordinances until the end of his term on Nov. 30, which means the mayor can effectively stop all repeal attempts.

Mayor Mark Mallory supports the parking plan. Jason Barron, his spokesperson, previously told CityBeat Mallory would reject a repeal.

An infographic from Pew Charitable Trusts shows Ohio ranked No. 46 out of all the states for job creation in the past year, beating only Wisconsin, Maine and Wyoming and tying with Alaska.

Between April 2012 and April this year, Ohio added 4,400 jobs — a 0.1-percent increase in the state's employment.

The three states below Ohio and Alaska — Wisconsin, Maine and Wyoming — had a drop in employment ranging from 0.2 percent to 0.5 percent.

North Dakota topped the rankings with 15,900 new jobs — a 3.7-percent increase in employment — largely driven by the state's ongoing oil and gas boom.

The statistics coincide with previous warnings from liberal and conservative think tanks about the state's economy, signifying that Ohio is not undergoing the "economic miracle" that Gov. John Kasich and other state officials often tout.

Here is the full infographic, which uses job data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Update (1:57 p.m.): Clarified that Ohio tied, not beat, Alaska.

In honor of its 100th birthday and its forthcoming plans to renovate it into a music venue/"multi-use events hall," the owners of the Woodward Theater (1404 Main St., Over-the-Rhine) will show off the new space tomorrow at 7 p.m.

The Woodward was purchased by the owners of MOTR Pub, with help from the Cincinnati Development Fund, this past February. A grand opening seems a bit down the road still, but tomorrow's unveiling is a great first step and more information about the opening will be discussed.

"Funding of the planned $750,000 Woodward renovation project is presently being pursued with Hamilton County Development Company," the press release states. "Target opening date, operational details and benefit to the community will be discussed at the Woodward’s 100th birthday June 18 before TUESDAY’S TURN ON of the Woodward Theater’s 52 façade light bulbs at sunset!"

Directly after the "Turn On," the party moves across the street to MOTR, where nationally acclaimed Cincinnati singer/songwriter/producer/mult-instrumentalist Brian Olive will play a free show.

You can keep tabs on the Woodward's progress through its Facebook page here.

It was the keen eye of photographer and close friend Chuck Madden who first caught the clues on Walk The Moon's Facebook page that seemed to indicate the band would be doing something special for their fans at Bonnaroo this weekend.

On little more than a hunch Chuck insisted that we check out "Kaleidoscope Space Tribe" at 3 p.m. on the Sonic Stage. Sure enough, at five past the hour WTM bounded out on stage and proceeded to artfully bash through a 30 minute set of Talking Heads songs including "Girlfriend Is Better," "Burning Down The House," "Psycho Killer" and more. Considering the huge crowd they played to just two nights ago in the Other Tent, this performance was an ultra rare treat for the clever and faithful two or three hundred fans who figured it out.

Dwight Yoakam seemed mildly irritated at Saturday's 4 p.m. press conference. Perhaps sensing that the Bonnaroo press corps might be too young to know his story, Yoakam quickly sketched a casual crash course on his career dating back to the ’80s. Rather unexpectedly, Dwight struck up a rapport with fellow panelist, comedian Reggie Watts, as the two of them discussed their mutual love of Hee Haw.

Dwight's 7 p.m. performance in That Tent began with an eight-song medley during which the band never paused for a breath, rocking through one continuous segue that included the songs "Please Please Baby," "Little Sister," "Streets Of Bakersfield" and Buck Owens' classic, "Act Naturally."