Posts Tagged ‘Buffalo Killers’

Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival

March 10th, 2010    Posted in Local Music, music festivals
 

The 6th Annual Nelsonville Music Festival is set to take place May 14-16 in the beautiful hills of Southeastern Ohio, about three hours from downtown Cincinnati. The first festival took place in 2005, in the downtown Nelsonville Historic Arts District, and celebrates the coming together of the music and arts on both a local and national level. The festival is produced by Stuart’s Opera House, the cornerstone of the historic Public Square in Nelsonville. Working with Rural Action and the Hocking College Green Club, last year’s event saw over eight-thousand gallons of recycled wastes. This year’s festival includes headliners like Loretta Lynn, The Swell Season and Man Man.

Weekend passes are onsale now and available for just $45. Individual day passes will go onsale beginning April 1, and weekend passes will rise to $50 and then $55 in May. Tickets will be $60 at the gate. For everything you need to know about the festival regarding the lineup and schedule, tickets, directions, accomodations and volunteering, please visit their website here.

Artist Lineup

Loretta Lynn, The Swell Season, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Man Man, Todd Snider, Billy Joe Shaver, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Michael Hurley, Detroit Cobras, Buffalo Killers, Drakkar Sauna, Those Darlins, Southeast Engine, Alwood Sisters, Lydia Loveless, The Givers, Duke Junior & the Smokey Boots, Adam Torres, Missoula Oblongata, She Bears, Manor Animals, Seascapes, Chris Biester, Flyaway Saturn, The Fed, John Atzberger, Steve Zarate and many more to be announced!

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St. Patty’s Day on Fountain Square

March 9th, 2010    Posted in Concerts, Local Music
 

It would appear that Spring has finally sprung. The several feet of snow that covered my yard for the past month or two has almost completely melted away and the forecast for the month of March is looking to have an average of about fifty-something degrees. The good weather has arrived just in time for St. Patty’s Day. Celebrate the holiday downtown with green beer this weekend, with the annual St. Patty’s Day Parade, followed by the first outdoor concert event of the year on Fountain Square. There’s a lot of great bands playing this Saturday, from locals like The Tigerlilies, who kick things off at 1 pm, the Mt. Pleasant String Band, The Tillers and the Buffalo Killers. The Super Desserts from Columbus, and Rhode Island indie-folk band Deer Tick, are also on the bill. Here’s the full schedule:

1 pm The Tigerlilies
2:05 pm Mt. Pleasant String Band
3:10 pm Mark Utley and Magnolia Mountain
4:15 pm The Super Desserts
5:20 pm The Tillers
6:25 pm Buffalo Killers
8 pm Deer Tick

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Seedy Seeds Come Away Big at 2009 CEA’s

November 23rd, 2009    Posted in Best of 2009, Local Music
 

The 2009 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Show ended not even two hours ago at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. Over eighty bands were nominated in twenty different categories, which would ultimately represent the best in local music, as decided by critics, venue owners, radio personnel, fans and many countless others in between.

This year’s show featured standout performances from the Lions Rampant, Mark Utley & Magnolia Mountain, You, You’re Awesome, II Juicy, Small Time Crooks and Brian Olive. The event was hosted by Jen Dalton of Channel 12, and featured other keynote speakers like Dan McCabe of CityBeat Magazine, Jim Tarbell, Aaron Sharpe of WNKU, Marvin Hawkins, Elliot Ruther, and Kelly Thomas of the Rivertown Music Club, who gave a heartfelt speech about the Red McCormack Recording Grant Fund. This year’s recipient of the recording grant was Mark Utley and Magnolia Mountain.

Once again, congratulations to all of those who won, those who were nominated, and even those not nominated. Cincinnati has an exceptional music scene not just because of the talent and diversity, but also because of the continuing support of its devoted fans. You hear about places with strong music communities like New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans and Austin, but I like to think that those places don’t have quite the heart that we have here. There’s no reason Cincinnati can’t be on the same level as those cities. Let’s keep it growing!

2009 CEA Winners

Artist of the Year
Bad Veins

Album of the Year
The Seedy Seeds, Count the Days

New Artist of the Year
You, You’re Awesome

Alternative/Indie
The Seedy Seeds

Bluegrass
Rumpke Mountain Boys

Blues
J. Dorsey Blues Revival

Country
Dallas Moore

Experimental/Electronic
Chick Pimp, Coke Dealer at a Bar

Folk/Americana
The Tillers

Hip Hop
Eclipse

Jazz
Northside Jazz Ensemble

Metal/Hardcore
Beneath the Sky

Punk
The Frankl Project

R&B/Funk
Freekbass

Rock/Hard Rock
Buffalo Killers

Singer/Songwriter
Kim Taylor

World Music
The Pinstripes

Best Musical Ambassador for the City
Heartless Bastards

Best Live Act
The Seedy Seeds

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And the CEA Nominees Are…

October 14th, 2009    Posted in Local Music
 

cea logo

The nominees for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards have just been announced, and as always the categories are stacked with talent. The winners could be anyone’s guess, as each of these artists are well-deserving of the awards. To cast your vote, click here. The awards show will take place on Sunday, November 22 at the Madison Theater in Covington, KY. Performing artists have yet to be determined.

Artist of the Year: Bad Veins, The Dopamines, The Lions Rampant, Pomegranates, The Seedy Seeds, The Sundresses, The Tillers, Wussy

Album of the Year: Bad Veins: Bad Veins, J. Dorsey Blues Revival: Get Right Church, Frontier Folk Nebraska: Pearls, Brian Olive: Brian Olive, Pomegranates: Everybody, Come Outside!, The Seedy Seeds: Count the Days, Jake Speed & the Freddies: World Come Clean, Wussy: Wussy

New Artist of the Year: The Atriums, Enlou, Brian Olive, Shiny and the Spoon, Small Time Crooks, State Song, Kelly Thomas and Ryan Malott, You You’re Awesome

Alternative/Indie: Bad Veins, Pomegranates, The Seedy Seeds, The Sundresses, Wussy

Bluegrass: Moonshine Drive, Mt. Pleasant String Band, Rattlesnakin’ Daddies, The Rubber Knife Gang, Rumpke Mountain Boys

Blues: J. Dorsey Blues Revival, Jon Justice Band, Mudpies, Ricky Nye Inc., Kelly Richey

Country: Dallas Moore, Kinsey Rose, Straw Boss, Kelly Thomas and Ryan Malott, Mack West

Experimental/Electronic: Chick Pimp Coke Dealer at a Bar, Pete Fosco, The Sleep, C. Spencer Yeh, You You’re Awesome

Folk/Americana: Frontier Folk Nebraska, Magnolia Mountain, Matthew Shelton’s Picnic, The Tillers, Wonky Tonk

Hip Hop: Buggs Tha Rocka, Eclipse, Famous Mr. Nobodies, Jayce Miguel, Small Time Crooks

Jazz: Wade Baker Jazz Collaboration, Dan Faehnle, Faux Frenchmen, Dan Karlsberg, Northside Jazz Ensemble

Metal/Hardcore: Beneath Oblivion, Beneath the Sky, Oh God the Terror, Paralyzer, Suicide Pact

Punk: Black Dove, The Dopamines, The Frankl Project, Loudmouth, The Read

R&B/Funk: The Blue Birds, Daughters & Sons, Freekbass, II Juicy, Los Honchos

Rock/Hard Rock: Banderas, Buffalo Killers, Cash Flagg, Chakras, The Lions Rampant

Singer/Songwriter: Billy Catfish, Nathan Holscher, Matthew Shelton, Kim Taylor, Wake the Bear

World Music: Duppy a Jamba, Lagniappe, The Pinstripes, Poco Loco, Super-Massive

Best Musical Ambassador for the City: Bad Veins, Foxy Shazam, Heartless Bastards, Wussy, C. Spencer Yeh

Best Live Act: Banderas, Dandelion Death, Eclipse, The Lions Rampant, The Seedy Seeds

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30 Bands I Want to See at MidPoint 2009

September 20th, 2009    Posted in MidPoint Music Festival
 

Out-of-Town Picks

Like a lot of people, my first taste of Chairlift came about because of their hit song “Bruises” that was featured in an iPod commercial. But when they opened for Peter, Bjorn and John this past April at the Southgate House, I saw a band that was about more than writing catchy songs that could become radio-friendly hits. In the beginning they were inspired to create music for haunted houses, but perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that the synth playing and vocals of Caroline Polachek has a somewhat haunting, mystical feel.

Some several years ago, I discovered Jason Isbell when he was playing guitar in the Drive-By Truckers during Widespread Panic’s summer tour. As one of three key songwriter’s in the Truckers, it was easy to see that he was destined to succeed with his own name. Following his divorce of the Truckers bassist, Shonna Tucker, Isbell left the band in 2007 and has since put out two albums. The first album came just months after his departure, but it was the self-titled, follow-up album that really seemed to reach fans and critic’s with the formation of his backing band, the 400 Unit. 

I decided to put the Heartless Bastards on the out-of-town list because they are now technically not a local band, even though I’ll always think of them as locals. This year has probably been the best in the band’s career which has seen a reincarnated lineup, the release of the highly, critically-acclaimed album The Mountain, tours with Wilco,  The Decemberists and Jenny Lewis, as well as appearances at nearly every major music festival. Welcome Erika and company back home when they perform Friday night at Grammer’s.

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
Extra Golden
The Young Republic
The Baltic Sea
The Lighthouse and The Whaler
Bowery Boy Blue
The Dø
Micachu and the Shapes
The Bloodsugars
The Wildbirds
God Made Me Funky

Local Picks

There’s a lot going on with nearly every band I’ve decided to put on my local list. Most of them have either released new albums within the past year or are currently working on projects that will soon be released. A couple of them, you could even say, are somewhat newly formed bands. Cincinnati is stacked with amazing talent, and coming up with these fifteen picks was not easy. I’ve seen all of these bands perform live, some more than others and it even feels like I’ve seen some of them about thirty or forty times. I’ve been a long supporter of the local music and arts scenes, and I can tell you that if I had to choose the best bands in the area, I could have easily added at least fifty or so more bands to this list. So I present to you fifteen local picks for MidPoint 2009.

Travis Talbert has been gracing the local music scene for years as one of the finer lead electric and slide guitar players in the area, formerly with Norust and now with Frontier Folk Nebraska. The band has seen its share of lineup changes over the years, but it appears they have found the right combination of people, which you can certainly feel on their latest album, Pearls. Frontman Michael Hensley seems to fall somewhere between a Neil Young or Ryan Adams, but this is a band that even fans of My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses could get into. Look for Pearls to earn some nominations at the CEA’s later this year.

The formation of indie-popsters, Pomegranates, couldn’t have come at a better time. The four guys of the band (Joey Cook, Isaac Karns, Jacob Merritt and Josh Kufeldt – even their names make them sound like indie pop stars) formed the band in late 2006 when indie pop seemed to be at its highest peak ever. Signed to the highly respectable Lujo Records within a week of the release of their first EP, the Poms have since shared the stage with Jimmy Eat World, Peter, Bjorn and John and Islands, to name a few, as well as marking their first performance at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival this past March. Though there appears to be an overflow in the indie-pop world, the Poms stand out as one of the best in the midwest, with a sound that at times is reminiscent of both Modest Mouse and The Shins, although there’s enough there that they sound completely original. They’ve got the look and the sound, so nothing should stop them from being indie pop’s next big thing. I look forward to following the careers of these young gents.

Buffalo Killers
The Lions Rampant
The Seedy Seeds
The Sundresses
Ellery

Three of my favorite discoveries of the year in the local music scene include State Song, The Harlequins and mallory.

Featuring former members of local punk bands like The Invitational, The Dopamines and Black Tie Bombers, State Song is more post-punk-like, with their sometimes dark and heavy, ultra-dynamic brand of melodic pop-rock. They’ve been working hard all year long on their debut full-length album, which is looking like will be released very late this year or very early next year, at the earliest.

The address that The Harlequins use for their MySpace page includes the phrase “remember that band”, as in www.myspace.com/rememberthatband, which shouldn’t come off as presumptuous because after one listen of their recent, debut album, Baron von Headless, you will indeed remember this band and their mix of experimental, psychedelic pop rock. Michael Olivia and company were able to chalk up a nomination for “Best New Artist” at last year’s CEA’s even without a full-length under their belts.

mallory has been a staple in the local music scene for several years now, although it wasn’t until this past summer when I finally made it out to see them. They put a lot of focus on visuals aspects and instrumentation, which reminds me of bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky and even Ampline. There’s huge, noisy walls of sound in their music, but they’re pretty damn good at hiding beautiful, intricate melodies in there as well. Mark your calenders for their CD Release Party on October 23 at the Southgate House.

Eat Sugar
The Minor Leagues
Matthew Shelton’s Picnic
Stick Figure Drawings

I’ve been listening to Ryan Adcock longer than any other local musician, so I always get excited about anything he’s involved in. Lately he’s been up to a new project called Flaregun with The Vinyltones Craig Dockery. The songs for their debut album, Ten Sundays, actually date back several years, where Ryan was writing music inspired by the ideas of various sermons at a local church. There’s always been a spiritual aspect to the songs Ryan writes, but Flaregun wouldn’t exactly consider themselves Christian rock. By using spirituality and God as the subject matter in music, one can often overcome hard times through faith and love, which has certainly helped me at times.

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MidPoint 2009 Artist: Buffalo Killers

September 9th, 2009    Posted in MidPoint Music Festival
 

Buffalo Killers (Cincinnati)
Blues/Psychedelic/Rock

The life of a musician can often be a rocky road, that is, if you happen to be lucky enough to find directions leading you down that road. Now just imagine how rough that road may become when you’re playing in a band alongside one of your siblings. It could be a breaking point, but it can also be a great thing, bringing you and your sibling closer together. As they say, “What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger.”

Meet Cincinnati’s greatest musical brother team, Andrew and Zach Gabbard. The Gabbard brothers come from a musical family, where their guitar-playing father brought them up on the sounds of Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and New Riders of the Purple Sage. The Gabbard brothers were first a part of one of the most important and influential garage rock bands in the Cincinnati area with Thee Shams, who formed in 1999. Although Thee Shams had a short-lived career, they had the guidance of one of the most respected artist’s and producer’s in the area, John Curley of the Afghan Whigs. Thee Shams put out four albums during their seven years together, which were all released on a number of smaller labels that included Fat Possum and Shake It Records. In 2006, when things weren’t exactly working out musically for the band, the brother’s took a step back and had to re-evaluate the direction in which they were going.

In come the Buffalo Killers. Andrew and Zach created this band with former Thee Shams keyboardist, Joe Sebaali, who would play drums. It didn’t take long at all for the Buffalo Killlers to strike a record deal, which actually happened in less than a week, after they released a five-song demo independently. Alive Records wanted to release the demo as it was, but the Buffalo Killers quickly wrote and recorded five more songs to add to that demo, which would come to make up their debut, self-titled album.

Things were getting really good really quick for them, as they were recognized by some highly respected artist’s in the biz, one being another musical brother team, Chris and Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes, and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Auerbach produced their sophomore album, Let It Ride, which was released in July of 2008. Half of that album was written while the Buffalo Killers were on their first major tour with the Black Crowes. After the tour they immediately went it to the studio, which only took a few days, leaving Auerbach feeling like he “captured the raw, live sound of the band.” Soon after, a tour with the Black Keys followed.

The Buffalo Killers have a more polished sound than Thee Shams, but are more rooted in swampy, blues-rock, inspired by psychedelic, garage rock from the 60’s. They have put more focus into the songwriting, and have taken away some of that Southern rock influence, which you can hear on the final Thee Shams album, Sign the Line.

Although it’s hard to make that brother-brother team work in music, like the Gallagher brothers of Oasis and even the Robinson brothers of the Black Crowes, it appears that the Gabbard brothers are traveling along a smoothly, paved road to success, drama free.

Catch the Buffalo Killers during MidPoint 2009, when they play the Southgate House on Saturday, September 26.

Check ‘em out if you’re into: The Rolling Stones, Blue Cheer, Mountain, The Black Crowes or The Black Keys

Listen to the Buffalo Killers on MySpace

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