The music emanating from Nick Oliveri's latest album, 'Death Acoustic,' represents some of the most brutal sounds the journeyman Punk bassist has ever recorded. The bile and rage continues a pattern radiated throughout his career in Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, The Dwarves, The Knives and his own Mondo Generator.  

Columbus' own RJD2 (he's now based in Philly) has a new album, 'The Colossus,' that contrasts his last polarizing project by adding vocalists like Kenna and Illogic. "Looking to myself for all the elements didn't sound appealing," he says. "Records should be something exciting and fresh, and part of that is keeping the process exciting and different."   

Cure for the winter blues? Winter Blues! The Cincy Blues Society's Winter Blues Fest is beginning to rival the organization's long-running, successful summer Blues Fest in terms of talent and lineup size. The fourth annual event takes place Friday and Saturday, and if you ever wanted to explore the Blues talent in Greater Cincinnati, you won't find a better event.  

Chatham County Line is just now putting the finishing touches on a new album that should be out this spring. The group's current circuit (featuring assistance from Tift Merritt band members Zeke Hutchins and Jay Brown) will likely offer up at least a small sampling of new material. Secure your wigs, socks and faces: CCL is the Bluegrass band that will rock them off.   

He's had a beer named after him. He was on an MTV "reality" dating show where he threw pizza at some bonehead competitor. He's recorded albums live in the studio, playing bass drum, hi-hi-hat and guitar ... simultaneously. And he wears a giant buffalo head "helmet" when he plays live. What's not to love about Scotty Karate?   

In the wake of the 2005 demise of vaunted indie band Ticonderoga, guitarist/vocalist Phil Moore and keyboardist/vocalist Mark Paulson decided to maintain their working relationship. They invited accordionist/vocalist Beth Tacular to complete their resurrection as a band. It was Tacular who dubbed the newly minted unit Bowerbirds, after an Australian species known for the male's mating strategy of building beautiful and elaborate nests.  

The Mimes celebrate their uplifting new album, 'Got to Tell the World,' via 'An Evening with...' type show, performing the entire night sans openers. They'll kick things off with an acoustic set, play the new album in full and close things out with a run through of their back catalog (and perhaps some surprises). In between sets, the Mimes will screen their documentary 'Behind the Mask' as well as other new video footage.   

It's been a good year for The Tillers. They won Best Folk/Americana at the recent Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and now are releasing their second album, 'By the Signs.' The Tillers also are excited about their inclusion in an upcoming USA Network documentary and series of reports about people who live along Route 50, produced and hosted by veteran TV newsman Tom Brokaw.   

When Sarah Borges appeared in Cincinnati last September on the MidPoint Music Festival's closing night, she was ailing, her band was playing the unknown-to-them Know Theatre and they were following the rejuvenated Wussy, clearly one of the local scene's biggest names. Of course, Borges and the Singles retained nearly every Wussy fan and rocked the Know to its very foundation. Her comfort in front of unpredictable audiences comes to Borges naturally.  

When you hear the soaring Post Hardcore roar of Dayton's successful Hawthorne Heights, the first thing you think is probably not, "Wow, that tune would sound great around a campfire performed on just an acoustic guitar." But singer JT Woodruff will do just that (minus the campfire) Saturday in the Southgate House's intimate Parlour room, the same venue in which the Heights filmed a music video and, more recently, performed the final show of their 2009 tour.