Ann Driscoll at Southgate House

From Citybeat.com:

Singer/songwriter Ann Driscoll is a Cincinnati native who's currently studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But, at age 20, her songwriting already possesses the kind of wisdom, originality and maturity that can't be learned in college.

She began her musical career in earnest just three years ago and her direct Indie Pop sound helped put her on bills with local favorites like Peter Adams and Katie Redier, as well as nationally acclaimed Rock bands like The High Strung. Driscoll's self-released, self-titled EP is an engaging exhibition of blunt, catchy (but not predictable) Pop, with vocals that recall pre-blatant-sex-kitten Liz Phair and a writing style that is obviously informed by prime influences like The Beatles and Nirvana.

Berklee must be on summer break, because Driscoll is returning to the local stage this week, performing at the Southgate House's parlour room Friday with local singer/songwriter Molly Sullivan. 8:30 p.m. $5-$8. (Get details and find nearby bars and restaurants here.) -- Mike Breen

Check out Bob Moses at the Wisp tonight

The Blue Wisp plays host to internationally acclaimed drummer Bob Moses with his Chicago Quartet tonight (5/15). The music begins at 7:30pm with a $20 cover charge for this premium act. This is however, an UrbanCincy Night and mentioning the site (at the door) will get you $3 off your cover.

If you haven't yet heard of Bob Moses, go check out some of his stuff (YouTube video)...you'll be in the groove before you know it. You can make reservations at fasteddief@aol.com or by calling 513.241.WISP (9477).

Blue Wisp (GoogleMap)

Reds Hot Weekends

This weekend marks the first of 8 Reds Hot Weekends this Summer. The festivities will be taking place on Fountain Square and will start Friday and last through Sunday...covering the entire weekend series against the Cleveland Indians.

Friday's activities will include live music by Lo-fi, a local cover band playing funk and rock classics, at 5pm. Following Lo-fi, at 8pm, The Harlequins will take the stage. It will make for a great time to just hang out with friends, and there will be beer available on the Square. What makes it even better is that from roughly 4pm-7pm I'll be serving the delicious adult beverages.

OK Go performing on Fountain Square
Image from myfountainsquare.com

On Saturday the fun continues with DJ Iceburg from 2pm-4pm followed by the first "Movie Night" (featuring Sandlot and The Natural) of the Summer starting at 7:30pm. Beer, soft drinks, and snacks will all be sold on the Square...and people are encouraged to bring chairs, blankets, pillows, etc for "Movie Nights."

Finally Sunday will wrap up the weekend with free UDF ice cream, on the Square, from about 4:30pm-5:30pm...along with some other neat festivities. Be sure to come out even if you're not going to any of the games and just have a great time Downtown on Fountain Square.

Acoustic Lunch Series at Piatt Park

Today marks the first Acoustic Lunch at Piatt Park (GoogleMap) of the 2008 year. The series will run through September 30th and is every Tuesday from 11:45am-1:45pm. As always the concert series is free and will feature live music from a variety of local artists.

It makes for a great lunch hour in one of my favorite hang out places Downtown - Piatt Park (view photos here). There are lots of benches, some tables, and plenty of planter ledges to sit on while you enjoy the music. This week will feature music from Malkum Gibson & The Mighty Juke.


Listen to various music by Malkum Gibson & The Mighty Juke HERE.

View the full concert schedule HERE.

Steve Turre comes to the Blue Wisp - 2 nights only

Acclaimed jazz trombonist and 20-year veteran of the Saturday Night Live Band, Steve Turre, will perform tonight (5/7/08) with the Blue Wisp Big Band. Steve Turre is described as a passionate, dynamic and creative artist. The fact that he'll be teaming with the legendary Blue Wisp Big Band makes the prospect even more exciting.

He will also be performing on Thursday, May 8th with his quartet. Like always, Thursdays are UrbanCincy Nights at the Blue Wisp where you get $3 off your cover charge. For both nights the cover charge will be $15 with the shows starting at 8:30pm.

You are not required to make reservations, but are encouraged to. You can do so by calling 513.241.WISP (9477) or by email at fasteddief@aol.com.

Steve Turre is also available on YouTube...be sure to check out some of his stuff.

Image from www.allaboutjazz.com

Triage at the Blue Wisp tonight!

Triage will be at the Blue Wisp Thursday, May 1st. I can't think of a better way to kick off the new month than by enjoying an UrbanCincy night at the Blue Wisp with one of Cincinnati's best and a Cammy Award winner.

Triage is made up of Eugene Goss (vocals/percussion), Billy Larkin (keyboards/vocals), and Marc Wolfley (drums). The show will start at 8:30pm and has a $8 cover charge (minus your $3 UrbanCincy discount of course).

Blue Wisp (GoogleMap)

Andy Brown Trio at the Blue Wisp

The Andy Brown Trio will be performing at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club this Thursday, April 10th at 8:30pm. The trio consists of Andy Brown (guitar), Rob Allgeyer (organ), and Ben Cliness (drums). Together the trio makes for some great listening.

Keep in mind this is a Thursday performance, so that means UrbanCincy night at the Blue Wisp. Be sure to go check out the club and the Andy Brown Trio...and most importantly mention UrbanCincy at the door and get $3 off the $10 cover charge.



318 East 8th Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513.241.WISP (9477)

*Blue Wisp's April schedule

Best Week Ever? No, but a really good one

This week has been pretty amazing for the City of Cincinnati and OTR:

1. Bootsy's, Produced by Jeff Ruby is a go

2. Strickland adds more historic tax credits for OTR

3. Outside opens in the Gateway Quarter

4. The Music Now Festival hits the three year mark

5. Rookwood Pottery moves to OTR based on the future streetcar...without even full approval, the streetcar, is already causing economic development to occur.

6. The Banks broke ground

There was also a really good article in the Pulse of the City about the Brewery District










Rendering of Booty's, Produced by Jeff Ruby - Image Provided

Experience Eclipse

4/11 Eclipse @ Constant Springs - Goshen, IN

4/12 Eclipse @ Gypsy Hut - Cincinnati, OH

4/20 Eclipse @ Mad Frog - Cincinnati, OH

4/25 Eclipse @ The Stadium - Oxford, OH


Eclipse is one of my new favorite bands. They have a great sound and can easily go from a jazz fusion sound, to modern hip-hop, to more of a rock sound. CityBeat says, "Energy drips off the stage when they play live. And the audience drinks it up."

Buy/Preview Eclipse's CD, Eclipse, at CD Baby

NatiGroove music festival

A new music festival will fill that Spring time music festival void in Cincinnati on March 22nd at the Southgate House in Newport, KY.

NatiGroove will feature a diverse collection of some of the best regional artists with two popular local artists headlining the event. Local jamgrass heroes Rumpke Mountain Boys and the innovate, style-mashing band Eclipse will headline the event. This event is staring off strong with a solid & diverse mix of artists and should offer something for everyone.

Tickets are just $12 for the the festival and it will begin at 9:00pm as national DJ Rare Groove kicks things off in Ballroom. The eclectic and soulful band Sexual Disaster will follow along the first headliner, Eclipse. Rumpke Mountain Boys will close the event.

I had a chance to interview Frank Meyer, from FMG Entertainment (organizing the festival), and this is a group that is a homegrown company that is looking to provide, "what we're missing in Cincinnati" in terms of the music scene. This is their largest endeavor to date and they are extremely focused in the Over-the-Rhine area and would eventually like to move this event to either Downtown or OTR.


Lineup Info:

DJ RARE GROOVE - Known as the Blueprint's touring DJ, don't miss Rare Groove as he brings his 1988 hip-hop beats and Blueprint flavor to spin fire back in the Nati just before he kicks off his North American tour with Atmosphere and Abstract Rude. 9:00pm – 9:45pm & in-between all sets Downstairs in the Ballroom

SEXUAL DISASTER QUARTET - Is sex good…disaster bad… or what? With universal consciousness, Sexual Disaster Quartet is bringing their soulful, driving, innovative music to the Nati with a disastrously explosive sound that spontaneously combusts into orgasmic jams moving listeners to aftermath of molten, undeniable wetness. 9:45pm – 10:45pm Downstairs in the Ballroom

ECLIPSE - Those high-energy musical innovators Eclipse are back with their style-mashin grooves. With influences ranging from Led Zeppelin to Ozomatli and Herbie Hancock, Eclipse continuously pushes musical boundaries by incorporating elements of rock, funk, latin, jazz & hip-hop into a tight and complex sound. 11:00pm – 12:15am Downstairs in the Ballroom

RUMPKE MOUNTAIN BOYS - Just the good ol' boys, Never meanin' no harm. Call it Newgrass or Jamgrass or Bluegrass -- any way you slice it, Rumpke Mountain Boys are one of the Nati’s premiere Bluegrass crews and have built a solid following throughout the city and the Midwest with their lively, jamming sound. 12:30am – 1:45am Downstairs in the Ballroom

RUSTY VAN BAND - Rusty Van Band mixes it up with a blend of jam rock, reggae, bluegrass, and blues. They play mostly original music throughout a range of venues in the Nati. 12:15am – 1:30am Upstairs in the Parlour

It pays to read UrbanCincy

As mentioned before, UrbanCincy has worked out a relationship with the Blue Wisp Jazz Club downtown. Thursday nights offer UrbanCincy readers $3 off of the cover charge. This week includes the talented Rob Allgeyer Organ Trio w/Dan Drees and Ron Enyard.

Additionally, UrbanCincy now also has a deal with the Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. If you mention UrbanCincy you can get Buy 1, Get 1 half off Adult tickets to any evening performance (not valid on opening night). The next show to start up is Radio Golf (3/19 - 4/6) and you should not miss this show. All you need to do is contact the box office at 513.421.3555 (you can not get this offer online, only by calling). Tickets are going extremely fast to this performance so get 'em while they're hot.

Get out and take advantage of these UrbanCincy exclusive offers. The more you do, the better the chance more of these pop up in the future.

Thursdays at the Wisp

There is a new weekly activity that is sure to please…Thursday nights at the Blue Wisp are now UrbanCincy nights. When you go you can now get $3 off of the cover charge – typically $8 reduced to $5 for readers of UrbanCincy. The first Thursday night special will be on Valentines Day with the Dan Faehnle Quartet taking the stage. Dan Faehnle is know for his jazz guitar and even better - he's an Ohio native.

But before the first Thursday night special, there is another performance which is definitely worth checking out. World renowned organ virtuoso, Joey DeFrancesco, will be performing with his trio on February 12^th for two shows (7:30pm & 9:30pm). This is a fantastic opportunity to check out a simply outstanding performance that will be full of blistering speed and fantastic control. Make sure you come and see what the hype is about and make your reservations now.

Spread the word and tell everyone you know about the new UrbanCincy nights at the Blue Wisp.

Preview Dan Faehnle's latest record - Ohio Lunch - now!
Preview Joey DeFrancesco now!

Great Local Music in Cincy Right Now

Right now the Cincinnati music scene is producing some great bands. I thought I would share a few of my favorites

Heartless Bastards:

-probably our number one musical export right now (maybe Over the Rhine); played Lollapalooza

Seedy Seeds:

-the Mates of State only happier

Wussy:

-Melodic Phrasing, major key tonality and vocal duets

and a random person I discovered today

Ann Driscoll:

-she has a campy Vic Wulsin publicity stunt song, but the rest of her stuff is pretty good.

Save the Music!!!

Well Cincinnati Public Schools have been cutting their budget to make ends meet. Theres multiple things we could blame for this...state funding (or lack thereof), the diminishing tax base of CPS, or possibly poor management of funds by the district. But it seems that as of late CPS has started to get their act together. Their State Academic Rating has risen and is considered one of the best 'urban school districts' in the State of Ohio. And like I said, they are looking at ways to trim the budget, but at some point you have to realize what you are trimming and the potential fallout from those decissions.

CPS was one of the earliest receipients of Save the Music funding (VH1 headed project) is set to become of the first districts, in the nation, to have all of their elementary schools equiped with instruments/equipment by Save the Music. However, part of the agreement is that the schools partnered with Save the Music must have a music program and therefore a music teacher on staff (makes sense). However, CPS has cut music teachers at some of their schools partnered with Save the Music, therefore putting the relationship in jeopardy. This could make CPS the first example of Save the Music having to revoke intruments/equipment do to a breach of contract.

It doesn't take much vision/foresight to realize the importance of fine arts as part of the curriculum. It also doesn't seem to be too difficult to understand that by saving roughly $56,000 a year (average teacher salary for CPS), puts an entire program at risk. Spend the 56k and ensure the future of music education for inner-city youths. VH1 Save the Music is paying for the darn program...all CPS has to do is employ a music teacher...56k doesn't seem to much to ask for.