Walk the Moon's Frontman and songwriter Nicholas Petricca counts Talking Heads and The Police as influences. What comes out of that influence is a refreshing Art Pop shimmer that sounds like The Killers playing a Shins tribute band in a Jonathan Demme movie.  

Until recently, Walk the Moon’s membership had more turnovers than the Bengals in the fourth quarter. The band’s lineup has fluctuated since vocalist/keyboardist Nicholas Petricca officially put WTM together three years ago, but that situation changed in 2010. Since recording their debut full length I Want! I Want! in late 2009, the band underwent yet another complete shift.  

Saturday night the annual BRINK New Music Showcase returns for its 10th year and spreads its wings. The showcase, a cousin event of the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, first went down in 2001 as a way to showcase the next generation of great local musicians before the big CEA event honored the current crop. Plus news about new albums from Walk the Moon and Greg "Tex" Schramm.  

Cincinnati Hip Hop cleaned up at the fifth annual Ohio Hip Hop Awards Sept. 18 in Cleveland, taking home many trophies in some of the event’s biggest categories. Local crew Beat Gang won “Best Group” and “Best Single” for its track “Mr. Miyagi” (the group’s B. Luck also won “Best Graphic Designer”).  

We had joy, we had fun. We had some frustration and anger, too. Such has been the way of the MidPoint Music Festival since its origins in 2002. But, in the end, MPMF’s 2010 edition proved to be the most successful yet, drawing thousands of music lovers to downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Newport over the course of three days.