District Judge Orders Cincinnati Imam Ayman Soliman to Remain in Ohio for Now
Without the order, Soliman’s attorneys said DHS could relocate him “literally anywhere” in the world
BY MADELINE FENING
Afederal judge has ruled Cincinnati’s imprisoned imam can remain in Ohio for at least two more weeks, lawyers tell CityBeat
During a July 30 hearing, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio Jeffery P. Hopkins granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) allowing Ayman Soliman, an immigrant from Egypt, to remain at the Butler County Jail for 14 days. This comes after Robert Ratliff, Soliman’s lead attorney, previously filed a TRO to prevent Soliman from being moved to an ICE detention facility out of state. Without the TRO, Ratliff said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the authority to relocate him “literally anywhere.”
“Could be anywhere from Louisiana to Guantanamo to Alligator Alcatraz to Sudan,” Ratliff said during a July 29 press briefing. “This could change the jurisdiction of the immigration court, which could delay his immigration proceedings, resulting in longer periods of detention.”
Soliman’s attorneys from the Muslim Legal Fund of Ohio tell CityBeat that the latest TRO approval allows his attorneys to file additional actions and provide further briefing regarding the court’s ability to proceed on his case before the administrative process is complete. Soliman and his attorneys filed a lawsuit against the federal government in July challenging the termination of his asylum status and asking a judge to prevent DHS from removing him from the U.S. until the case is over.
A judge has given DHS until Aug. 12 to respond to Soliman’s objections to the revocation of his asylum status. It was during this hearing that attorneys also requested Soliman be allowed to continue his graduate school classes online as he pursues a master’s degree in divinity. Since judges do not set detention conditions, Ratliff told reporters he plans to take up the issue with the Butler
County Jail. Attorneys have been trying to get Soliman released from the jail on bond while his case plays out, but on July 28, Cleveland Immigration Court Judge Jennifer Riedthaler-Williams said her court does not have the jurisdiction to grant Soliman a bond hearing.
Soliman has been held in the Butler County Jail since a July 9 check-in at the Homeland Security Office in Blue Ash ended in his arrest. The former journalist had asylum status and worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s hospital, but that status was revoked in June.
Background
Soliman, who has no criminal record, fled to the U.S. from Egypt in 2014, according to immigration advocates at Ignite Peace Cincinnati. Soliman has said he was “escaping death” when he left his family in Egypt more than a decade ago. Soliman was reportedly jailed as a freelance journalist for his coverage of events related to the Arab Spring, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. While in jail, the Muslim Legal Fund, one of Soliman’s legal representatives, alleges he was “beaten and tortured for days at a time.” He applied for asylum status in 2015 and was approved in 2018. He then filed for his wife and child to join him in the U.S. under the same asylum case. He also applied for a green card shortly after being granted asylum; that application remains pending.
But in June 2025, Soliman’s asylum status was officially revoked after federal authorities started looking into his case in December 2024. Before Soliman’s July 9 arrest, advocates said he was extensively questioned by immigration and other federal authorities about his political affiliations.
In 2021, Soliman discovered there was an “FBI flag” on his record when he was offered a position at the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC)
as an Islamic chaplain in 2021. His first background check showed an FBI flag, which caused the Department of Corrections to take back the job offer. Soliman sued the FBI and the Terrorist Screening Center in 2021, claiming his fingerprints did not match prints in the government’s terrorism screening database.
In Soliman’s most recent lawsuit filed against the federal government regarding the termination of his asylum status, he argues the government revoked his asylum due to past ties with the group Al-Jameya al Shareya (also written as Al-Gam’iyya al Shar’iyya) when he lived in Egypt. Soliman said his involvement as a board member of the organization was disclosed to DHS when he was granted asylum. The U.S. government alleges AlJameya al Shareya supported the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt has called a terrorist organization. International experts and Soliman’s lawyers have pushed back on the designation.
“Al-Jameya al Shareya is not a terrorist group,” Soliman’s legal team said in July. “It is a nongovernmental organization that provides medical services and charitable community services. Neither the U.S. government nor the Egyptian government has designated AGS/AJS a terrorist group.”
Soliman’s case has garnered widespread attention and support from local leaders and community members, including many faith leaders in the Cincinnati area. After immigrating to the U.S., Soliman became a board member
for the Clifton Mosque, the Islamic Association of Cincinnati and the Initiative on Islam and Medicine. According to his bio on the Clifton Mosque’s website, Soliman holds undergraduate degrees in Islamic studies, Qura’n and Islamic Da’wah. He holds a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy, as well as a PhD in Islamic Studies.
Tala Ali, chairperson of the Clifton Mosque and the Islamic Association of Cincinnati, addressed reporters alongside several community advocates just hours after Soliman’s arrest. She said Soliman serves families of all faiths in the Cincinnati community.
“He not only serves Muslim families, but families of all backgrounds and faiths,” she said. “He holds presence and pastoral care for all people.”
Also referred to as spiritual care providers, chaplains at Cincinnati Children’s help families by performing prayers upon request, offer emotional support, help doctors understand how a patient’s beliefs affect their healthcare decisions, and more, according to the hospital’s website.
“When parents with sick children come to the hospital, they found comfort with Ayman Soliman,” said Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Ohio. “He was comforting people who might have been on their last day on earth.”
Imam Ayman Soliman immigrated to the U.S. more than a decade ago from Egypt and was granted asylum status, according to immigration advocates at Ignite Peace Cincinnati.
PHOTO: IGNITE PEACE
CPD Identifies Third Suspect in Connection with Viral Attack, Residents Pack Public Safety Meeting
BY MADELINE FENING
We now know the identities of three of the five suspects arrested in connection with a viral brawl near Elm and Fourth Streets in Cincinnati’s Downtown neighborhood in the early hours of Saturday, July 26.
The brawl became national news after videos blew up on social media depicting a group punching and knocking a man to the ground, where they continued to punch and kick him. A woman is also seen being punched to the ground and appears unresponsive with blood on her face. Videos of the alleged attacks gained millions of views online, in part thanks to racist dog-whistle commentary from far-right conservative commentators like Libs of TikTok, Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk.
Arrests
On July 30, Cincinnati Police announced Jermaine Matthews, 39, was arrested and charged with felonious assault and aggravated riot. He appeared in court that same day where his bond was set at $100,000. He appeared alongside alleged codefendants Montianez Merriweather, 34, and Dekyra Vernon, 24. Merriweather and Vernon were arrested July 29 in connection with the attacks; both face felonious assault and aggravated riot charges. Vernon’s bond was set at $200,000 –prosecutors said she had an outstanding warrant for a traffic incident. Upon request by prosecutors, Merriweather’s bond was set at a higher total of $500,000. Records show Merriweather was arrested earlier this month on charges for receiving stolen property. He was also charged with illegally possessing a gun as a felon; his previous charges include aggravated robbery and drug-related charges. A detective with CPD reportedly testified that Merriweather was the “catalyst” of the brawl, calling it a “coordinated attack.” He testified that Merriweather whispered to one of the other defendants moments before the alleged assault broke out. Police also reportedly told the court that investigators have more video footage from a security camera in the area of the incident, which allegedly shows Merriweather and Matthews chasing the victim.
Little is known about the victims, but Cincinnati Police Detective Barney Blank reportedly said in court that the woman who was hit is Russian and has returned to her home country since
the event.
Following the July 30 hearing, Merriweather’s family members told reporters that he was spat on and called racial slurs in the lead-up to the fight.
During a July 29 meeting of Cincinnati’s Downtown Neighborhood Association, CPD Chief Teresa Theetge –who said she was in “complete disgust” immediately following the viral video’s release – said her department needs to conduct a fair investigation to understand the whole story.
“I know there are many out there that are waiting for me to make a statement from this side denouncing some participant’s behavior in that activity, and I know there is some on this side who are waiting for me to denounce the other half of that fight’s participation in that activity. Here’s where I have to operate, folks,” Theetge said, gesturing to the center aisle of the room. “I have to operate in the neutral zone as the facts are being gathered by the investigators.”
Downtown residents speak out
During the public meeting, city leaders addressed concerns from residents about crime in Over-the-Rhine, downtown’s Central Business District and the Banks.
The meeting was scheduled well before the weekend’s viral brawl, but more than a hundred people turned out for the meeting at the downtown public library. A line of frustrated attendees stretched into the hallway unable to get into the packed conference room, and at least one person was removed from the meeting for outbursts.
While city leaders addressed the viral brawl, City Manager Sheryl Long spoke about the city’s overall efforts to reduce crime, especially among the city’s youth. She said kids “need to be home” during the late hours of the night, prompting the most enthusiastic response from attendees during her speech.
Long and Theetge said they are looking into the legality of a mandated curfew for minors Downtown, possibly modeling Cincinnati’s off a similar program in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“I need some way to have an adult be accountable for some of the kids’ behavior,” Theetge said, also receiving the most enthusiastic response of her presentation. “That should not be the police.”
A Downtown Neighborhood Association member announced the group would be launching a new public safety committee. They are actively looking for members to pitch ideas.
More than a hundred people turned out for Cincinnati’s Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting July 29.
PHOTO: MADELINE FENING
Neonics Are Harming Our Environment — Here’s How You Can Fight Back
BY MICHELLE BAKER
When you were last outside, did you happen to notice how there aren’t as many bugs as there used to be? Rarer butterfly sightings, fewer honey bees buzzing around — the disappearance of our insects is becoming more noticeable. And it’s not just a suspicion; a shocking 2017 study revealed that insect populations have decreased by 75% within the last three decades.
Although some of you may be celebrating the thought of fewer flies buzzing around the house, it’s important to keep in mind that we need our bugs. The pollination from our honey bees alone is responsible for 80% of crops grown in the United States, valued at nearly $14 billion. All of these stats beg the question: What’s happening to our insects?
The decline of insects is linked to many human-related environmental impacts such as habitat disruption, climate change and, most significantly, pesticide usage. Although synthetic insecticides have been in use since World War II, a catastrophic group of pesticides reached commercial markets in the 1990s — neonicotinoids [pronounced NEE-OH-NICK-OH-TIN-OID], or “neonics” for short.
Why are neonics bad?
Neonics are “systemic” insecticides, meaning that after application — which typically results in chemicals leaching into surrounding soils and waterways — the plant soaks up the toxin and distributes it into all tissues. This is what makes neonics so effective — nearly the entire plant contains the insecticide. Yes, even the parts you are eating.
There is no such thing as a “safe” pesticide. A chemical designed to kill cannot tell a “good” bug from a “bad” bug, and will treat each one aggressively. Neonics are a group of pesticides with highly neurotoxic active ingredients. Chemically like nicotine, they disrupt the nervous system of insects, inducing paralysis and ultimately death. For those who remember the era of DDT, the insecticide that nearly caused the extinction of bald eagles and other raptors, neonics are estimated to be 6,000 times more toxic to insects than DDT. In addition to its toxicity, the catastrophic effects of neonics on the environment are heavily amplified by prophylactic, or “just in case” use. These chemicals are used to treat plants even when there are no pests present, meaning toxic chemicals with known
negative consequences are being used simply as a pest preventative on our food. So, when your local honey bees come across a soybean farm that’s been treated with neonics, they’ll encounter these chemicals or their toxic residues in the pollen they collect, oftentimes even bringing it back to their hives and causing the death of entire colonies. Although our community’s bugs are taking the most damage, the biological effects of neonics are not limited to insects. According to a groundbreaking 2014 survey, these chemicals were found in 90% of honey, 72% of fruits and 45% of vegetables that were commonly available on the market, meaning we often eat food items that contain one or more neonics. And questions about the consequences of consuming neonic residues have only increased as new studies are being published, with results showing increased risk of various cancers, issues in fertility and fetal development, hindered neurological development and functioning. With the effects of consuming these chemicals beginning to show, the public health implications of neonics could be formidable.
Neonic regulation
and what you can do to help save the bees
Many European countries have banned the use and import of neonics due to their harmful effects. France, for example, began placing restrictions on neonics in 2018 and has become a
global leader in limiting its utilization. The United States, however, is not as motivated to put restrictions on these hazardous pesticides. Despite the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizing that neonics have significant negative effects on pollinators, there are few regulations on its usage.
The Ohio EPA currently has some neonics on the Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) list. While this is a great success for Ohio, the RUP list only controls who can use the pesticides with no other regulations on usage. With the harmful consequences of neonics, action needs to be taken to protect not just our pollinators but also our community.
You can help protect Ohio pollinators by signing the petition to ban neonics here, and sharing it with others by posting on social media. Other ways you could get involved include expressing your opinion about neonics to the offices of Ohio lawmakers via email or over the phone, supporting crucial pollinators by planting native plants in your garden, or informing others about neonics and their impact on our community. To save our bees and pollinators, we need to act for those that can’t — let’s save the bees!
Michelle Baker is a Biology and Environmental Science undergraduate at Miami University in Oxford, OH. She is working with StudentPIRGs to promote their Save the Bees campaign, addressing the need for action to be taken to protect honey bees and other pollinators.
The decline of insects is linked to many human-related environmental impacts such as habitat disruption, climate change and, most significantly, pesticide usage.
PHOTO: PIXABAY, PEXELS
An Imperial Return
In Over-the-Rhine’s Mohawk district, a group hopes the renovation of a former theater can be the beginning of a thriving arts district
On the edge of Overthe-Rhine, a renaissance is budding. At its center is a former theater, where vaudeville performers of the early 20th century once entertained countless audiences. Then came the films, first silent, and then “the talkies,” that filled the auditorium with romance and adventure, imagination and emotion. Now, this space has been empty for decades, the audiences and their laughter, tears and oohs and aahs now mere ghosts in the haunting but beautiful Imperial Theatre.
After sitting vacant for over 20 years, the Imperial is ready for its next act — this time as a community-focused arts and education center, but also much more. The team behind its redevelopment sees it as the anchor that can revitalize and catalyze a largely forgotten neighborhood into a thriving arts district.
Mohawk redux
The Imperial Theatre as it was may be gone, but it hasn’t been forgotten. The building sits in a prominent location, marking the end of Mohawk Place where it intersects with McMicken Avenue. Despite its time-worn appearance — or perhaps because of it — it still catches the eye as you drive or walk past the impressive Art Moderne marquee with faded red block letters, with a regal crown above them.
That eye-catching nature of the Imperial’s, even almost 115 years after it was first built, and its vital location as a nexus between core Cincinnati neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine, the West End, CUF and Camp Washington, is part of what drew developer Julie Fay to it.
“It has that high visibility. Everybody knows it,” Fay explains as we stand in the Imperial’s empty auditorium that’s practically frozen in time, with
BY KATHERINE BARRIER
the original theater seats arranged in front of us and the original vaudeville structure still on stage; an invisible audience waiting for the show to go on. “It’s amazing how many people know the building and always wondered what was inside.”
Like many buildings in this area, the Imperial is in need of TLC. But Fay and the rest of the Mohawk Neighborhood Community Development Corp see its potential as the crown jewel of the neighborhood, and the perfect start in reviving a part of Over-the-Rhine that was once a bustling business and brewery district.
When Cincinnati was still in its infancy, this area was a separate village called Mohawk. Mohawk was annexed to the city of Cincinnati around 1849 and flourished thanks to its prime location along the Miami and Erie Canal. From the front of the Imperial Theatre, you can look down Mohawk Place and see Central Parkway. That would’ve still been the canal when the theater was built in 1912.
“With this crossing of the canal and the tightness of the canal and the hillside, this became the business district,”
Fay says. “And that’s what the Mohawk Neighborhood Community Development Corp is working on to bring this back first. We had ‘live, worship, work, play and shop’ here, and that’s what we’re trying to bring back.”
For a hopeful arts district that will be developed with a strong sense of community, the Imperial is the place to start. When it opened in 1912, it was a vaudeville theater — a type of entertainment that drew in neighborhood audiences.
“This is one of about eight other theaters that were built around the same time. They seem to be built mainly for the neighborhoods, so each neighborhood had their own space,” says Marta Hyland, the director of theater
development and consultant for the Imperial Theater Mohawk Alliance, the nonprofit raising the funds and awareness around rehabilitating the historic theater and building a performing arts and education annex next door.
“From the day it began, the community would gather here to talk about issues of the day: tuberculosis, World War I. Later on, the Republican Men’s Club used to meet here, and then they would do their annual holiday charity party with all of the children in the neighborhood. So, a long history of engaging with the neighborhood, as well as performing for them. We want to continue that.”
As vaudeville faded from popularity, the theater converted into a movie house. A projection room was built; decorative plaster coverings were added to the auditorium’s windows to block out the light that was once needed for the vaudeville performances but not so much for the films; and the theater underwent an Art Moderne makeover, mostly the exterior and the lobby. The detailed work on the front of the theater was scraped off and replaced with porcelain enamel tiles, and the iconic neon marquee was added.
“One of the coolest things they did when they put this marquee on is they centered it on the intersection, not on the building. So even then, they were thinking, ‘OK, how do we best get people in the door?’ Not only flashy lights, but making sure you can see them from all directions,” says Hyland.
The flash will return to the Imperial, as one of the main objectives is to restore the marquee to its former glory. While the rest of the lighting will be LED to help the building earn LEED Silver certification, the marquee will be redone with neon.
As for the programming, Hyland says they plan to be open 363 days a year and they’re remaining open to
everything, from live theater, dance and music to film festivals, burlesque, comedy and even the return of vaudeville.
Like it was in the early 1900s, the Imperial will also be a place to gather. There will be spaces available to rent for events and classes, and the lobby will open during the day to the public, offering a space to have a drink, talk to other artists, collaborate and even work on your next big project. Kids are also welcome to stop by, work on homework and enjoy a space to relax. Hyland also hopes they will be able to offer tours of the theater and be a satellite location for other theaters that may have had a show sell out and are looking for another space where it can be performed.
“So I say we won’t be a community theater, but we will be a theater for this community and for the wider Cincinnati region,” Hyland says. “We plan to be both affordable and accessible.”
The affordability and accessibility are big parts of what will make the Imperial a community space. In 2020 and 2021, the team conducted 20 working groups with artists and arts organizations throughout the region to help them focus on how they could both revitalize the theater to best support artists and audiences, as well as be self-sustaining.
“We asked them very specifically: What do you need? What do you want? What would be awesome to have? Design your dream space for us,” Hyland says. “The designs we have now are pretty much the iteration of all of that put together in a way that was affordable to build, but also would maintain affordability once open, both for our artists to use and rent, but also for our audiences [to not pay] exorbitant ticket prices.”
Raising the curtain
The journey to reopening the Imperial
began in 2014. Developer Fay has a long history of working on federal historic tax credit projects in Over-the-Rhine — the Imperial is her 43rd project — as well as creating affordable spaces for artists, including the Iris building on Main Street, where she owns the Iris BookCafe and several rent-affordable apartments. Since first arriving on Main Street in the ‘90s, Fay has seen the need for artists, as well as those in the service industry, to be able to live close to where they work.
“They want to be around other creative people, and they can’t afford a whole lot, but they’re very innovative, and they’re very important to what makes an area attractive,” Fay says.
But by 2008, Over-the-Rhine’s renaissance south of Liberty Street was well underway, and people like the artists and arts-adjacent workers were starting to feel the financial pressure. Fay wanted to continue building a community and housing opportunities where artists could still work and live nearby.
“Everybody’s getting priced out. I’m still holding my rents low because I want those people,” Fay explains. “So we (Fay and her business partner at the time, Mike Markiewicz) started looking and came up [to Mohawk]. And because there were so many vacant buildings, nobody down there was looking up here to buy anything or to do anything. … So [the Imperial] was the key building, and we felt if we could get this building back on track, never thinking it would be this many years.”
At the time, the Imperial was owned
by the church New Life Outreach Ministries. It had fallen into disrepair, with water damage throughout the theater, and there were liens on the property. Fay says the church’s reverend was hesitant to sell to her at first, hoping his parishioners could help repair the building, but in 2014, he sold the Imperial to Fay, as well as the lot next door. She first had to deal with the liens on the property; then, there were several cleanup sessions.
“By that time, water was pouring into the building in places … a lot of things were just soaked,” says Hyland. “[The reverend] had giant tarps, like the cover of boxcar trains, full of water over the stage. And so the first thing was to get a new roof on.”
Because the Imperial is a historic tax credit project, everything has to be approved by the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program. It took 18 months for Historic to approve the standing seam roof Fay wanted to install. It then took another 18 months to put on the roof, and then, not long after, came the pandemic.
But even during a pandemic, the theater’s team of volunteers was able to get work done. The water-logged carpet was removed, a lot of cleaning was done and the theater dried out. Since then, the City of Cincinnati has also awarded the project three $100,000 early action, catalytic grants that are now contributing to stabilizing the property, including tuckpointing, or repairing the mortar between the bricks, and new doors.
As the building is stabilized, Fay,
Hyland and the rest of the team are now also turning their attention to building a board and figuring out where their priorities lie, including mapping out programming, how to get the word out about their revitalization efforts and the launch of their fundraising campaign that will help bring the renderings of the Imperial to life.
Arrested decay
Even water damage and wear-and-tear couldn’t dull the shine of the Imperial. Standing in the auditorium, it’s still an impressive sight. There’s original decorative plasterwork along the ceilings and walls and original or near-original seats from the American Seating Company. Those will stay; the theater team will choose 425 to 450 of the best ones to polish up and reinstall. Even the Art Moderne makeover of the ‘30s didn’t flow much into this space, with the long gold sconces in the first-floor seating area being the only discernible feature from that era. Standing on the balcony, it’s easy to see the theater team’s vision.
But Fay doesn’t want the theater to be Disney World-esque in its remodel. The Imperial of the 21st century will honor the past but form its own identity, with a style called “arrested decay,” or, in the Imperial’s case, limiting the replacement of the original ornamentation.
“Where we’ve lost the embellishments, we won’t necessarily recreate them. What we’ll do is give an echo in some form,” says Hyland. “So, for example, this here—” Hyland points to
a dark gold decorative molding along the ceiling, “will probably get refreshed in a gold of some kind. So where we’ve lost that embellishment, after the drywall or plaster is put on, we’ll paint a gold stripe.” A continuation, not a replacement.
On the balcony, the seats will be re-tiered and there will be a drink or laptop rail along with standing room. From there, we step out onto a fire escape where there’s a small courtyard below. True to their mission to make sure every space in the Imperial can be activated for art or community or both, Hyland and Fay are hoping to turn this into an outdoor space with tables and chairs that can be accessed from the lobby and also provide additional access to the building for those with disabilities.
The projection room is also up here, and it’s another space the team would like to activate.
“We’re hopeful that one of the film societies or film festivals in the city might partner with us. We would really like to keep this a museum space for people, especially with all the exciting things going on with film, with Film Cincinnati and all of the film festivals we do. … We think people are going to come here for film anyway, why not be able to show them a real, key piece of history?” Hyland says.
On the first floor, the stage is the star. While the original vaudeville structure on stage will come down during the rehab, the stage itself will remain, with the addition of a sprung dance floor,
Imperial Theatre’s first floor
PHOTO: KATHERINE BARRIER
which absorbs impact and is easier on performers’ bodies.
“Once the structure is gone, you can see quite a wide space to play with, which is really exciting. All of our artists were like, ‘Don’t change this stage!’” Hyland laughs. “We won’t change it. For [performers], it’s great — a lot of depth, a lot of options. For us, it also offers incredible flexibility.”
This flexibility, which will also be enhanced by the 10-line fly system to be installed, means multiple performances or events can happen in a single day.
For example, on a Saturday morning, the Imperial can host a kids’ film series. In the afternoon, they could raise another curtain and have a full theater set ready to go for an 8 p.m. show.
The setup will also include state-ofthe-art lights and sound systems that will allow groups to plug in with their own equipment, if desired. Everything will be digital, so they can design from anywhere in the space.
A theater for modern audiences
The lot to the left of the Imperial that Fay also purchased in 2014 is currently vacant, but in a few years, that space will be the site of the theater’s modern annex.
“One thing we’ve learned through the League of Historic American Theaters … every theater in the country, whether you’re in Chicago or New York or cantilevering over an alley, you want the lot next door, because most historic theaters don’t have all the amenities that you would need for performances of today,” says Hyland.
The annex will be three floors, with the team aiming for LEED Silver certification, the second tier in the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system of sustainable building practices. Plans call for an air-source heat pump, LED lighting throughout and numerous solar panels.
“We’re excited to show that even though it’s a historic building, you can still be environmentally friendly. It also keeps our operational costs much lower,” Hyland says.
Todd Berling of Harvey Marshall Berling Associates is the theater’s designer and planned the whole theater to equity standards. The first floor will feature the new main entrance to the building to keep the theater accessible to those with disabilities. Being a historic building, the Imperial’s step out front can’t be touched, and the building is too close to the street for a ramp. Everyone will enter the building via the ramp into the lobby, where there will be benches, as well as tables and chairs, a bar, a small kitchen, the box office and restrooms.
On the second floor, there will be a cut-out lobby with a movable bar that
can be activated for events. This floor will also offer a classroom space, and possibly extra space for things like table reads, auditions and small meetings. And the third level will feature another classroom, plus a rooftop deck, offering an indoor-outdoor space for rentals. Backstage, there will be 30 dressing stations, two full bathrooms with showers and private changing areas. There will also be a new rehearsal space equipped with a sprung dance floor, just like the stage, as well as a simple lighting grid and sound system. The space will be the same size as the stage, offering seamless transitions for groups rehearsing and going into tech.
In addition to the multiple spaces in the new annex and old theater, the
Imperial will also have a movable sound pod you can rent to record podcasts, voiceovers and other audio projects.
And, scene
The Imperial Theater Mohawk Alliance has been hosting once-a-month programming for the past year and is currently in its summer performance series at OTR Stillhouse. The events are aimed at raising awareness of the theater revitalization efforts, as well as raising a little bit of money. Ticket money is split 50/50 with the performers, a model the team wants to continue once the Imperial reopens.
“Our hope is that it’ll be an example of how we wish to run things, as well as
the types of people we hope to welcome onto the stage when we get here,” Hyland says.
The team is planning to hit the ground running with a dedicated fundraising campaign soon. The total cost of the project is currently estimated at around $14.5 million, and once the money is raised, buildout will take 12 to 18 months.
“This is a real opportunity to help create something special, sustainable and that will truly transform this neighborhood and this part of the city,” Hyland says. “Really and truly, there’s nothing like it in Cincinnati or the Tri-State region.”
It’s a finish line that’s emerging after a long, 10-plus-year journey to reinvest in the Mohawk district and build a thriving community for artists.
“You have the opportunity for housing here that can house artists,” says Fay, who also bought and renovated the apartment building next door to rent at artist-affordable rates. “Those are the folks who work in the bars and restaurants and do art — performance, movies, comedy, sculpture, opera — and they’re not making big bucks, but they’re a very important part. And I think when the city only embraces 400-500 square-foot, one-bedroom units, they are taking away the possibility for people living here for a long time. They’re taking away from that concept of community that we see could be here. … There’s just a lot of opportunity here and a wonderful place to live.”
For more information on the Imperial Theatre, or if you’re interested in attending one of its programs or donating to the renovation efforts, visit imperialmohawk.org.
Imperial Theatre prior to ‘30s makeover PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/IMPERIALTHEATER
The SCPA and CCM grad credits her Cincinnati roots for shaping her career.
BY RICK PENDER
Growing up in Cincinnati’s Northside neighborhood, being onstage came naturally for Kimber Elayne Sprawl. “I was always a performer,” she said in a recent Zoom interview with CityBeat. “As a family, we were active in dance together at the Arts Consortium with the Cincinnati Black Theatre Company. I knew right away I had a passion for the arts, and I wanted to be a performer for a living. I fell in love with musical theater there. I did The Wiz. I love to sing; I love to dance. It was just something that I gravitated toward.”
D’Andre Kamau Means, the Black Theatre Company’s director, encouraged her to audition for the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, a professional company that presents shows at the Taft Theatre for thousands of kids. By the seventh grade, Sprawl was enrolled at the Cincinnati Public School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). She remembers, “There was never a time when I wasn’t writing or singing or being in a play.”
Following her 2010 SCPA graduation, she landed in the venerable musical theater program at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). “I had no idea how competitive it was,” she says. An SCPA friend was fixated on CCM, and she followed his lead, not fully realizing that fewer than 20 students were enrolled after hundreds of nationwide auditions. “For me, it just made sense. It was in my backyard. I didn’t look anywhere else. Sometimes that sort of blind confidence gets you places.”
At CCM, Sprawl refined her professional skills. “What I learned at CCM was discipline, knowing how to work my skill set, knowing exactly what I could do, how I can do it and the best ways to package it and present it. I was by no means the best or the favorite, but it’s a conservatory that really sets you up, lets you develop your tools and know how to use them.”
Soon after her UC graduation in 2014, she performed in The Addams Family at the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly called “The Muny”).
In 2017, she joined the national touring company of The Lion King. “It came at the right time for me, giving me time to figure out what kind of actor I wanted to be, what kind of part I wanted to play. The show requires a certain number of African American players, and they taught me the language and the music. They meditated with me. It was very spiritual. I left that tour closer to myself, closer to my roots. Lion King really gave me my sense of self as a Black woman.”
In 2018, Sprawl made her Broadway debut in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and was a replacement in A Bronx Tale. In 2020, she was cast in a key role in Girl from the North Country, which began its pandemic-interrupted Broadway run that year, then resumed in 2022. She played Marianne, the Black daughter of a white couple who ran a 1930s boarding house in Minnesota. That show convinced her that she could do more than musical theater. Working with a cast of serious actors — including Todd Almond, another CCM
alum 15 years her senior — she says, “They just fed into me and taught me so much about what it means to study the craft. Bob Dylan was a genius. [Playwright] Conor McPherson was a genius. I really loved Marianne: She was this striking soul, she knew what she wanted but she didn’t know how to get there. That really resonated with me. It’s sad that we didn’t get the run that the show deserved, but I was very grateful for it.” It was recorded on video and distributed recently on PBS’s Great Performances series.
In 2023, she was cast as Nessarose in the long-running Wicked, the first actor of color to play the role. In 2024, she worked with respected Black theater professional, director Kenny Leon, on a Roundabout Theatre Company production of SammArt Williams’ Home. This year, Leon cast her in his staging of Shakespeare’s Othello alongside superstar Denzel Washington. She played Emilia, Desdemona’s lady in waiting, her first Shakespearean role. She was eager to learn from Washington, “to be able to work with him, to be able to see into his eyes and sort of shine with him, it was an unreal experience.” The Actors’ Equity Foundation honored her
with its 2025 Joe A. Callaway Award for her performance.
Leon, a nurturing veteran director, mentored her. “Working with Kenny is almost like working with an uncle. He is so personable, so giving — he shares so many things about his life and his past. Emilia isn’t usually played by a woman of color. He really wanted the voice of the show to be a Black woman. At the end, when she is really upset [by Desdemona’s murder], I was afraid to go there because I didn’t want to be seen as this angry Black woman. He encouraged me to really open my voice. He made me feel like my anger was nuanced and believable.”
In October at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Sprawl will perform in Spunk, a musical with material adapted from celebrated Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston. Sprawl’s career arc continues to ascend, but she hangs onto her Cincinnati roots with frequent visits to family — and to get a fix of her favorite Grippo’s Potato Chips.
To learn more about Kimber Elayne Sprawl, visit instagram.com/ kimberelaynesprawl.
Kimber Elayne Sprawl
PHOTO: ANTHONY CHATMON
CULTURE
Arts & Culture Briefs
The
latest arts & culture stories in Greater Cincinnati
BY KATHERINE BARRIER
Tri-State Trails Invites Cyclists of All Ages and Abilities on Community Bike Ride This August
Bicyclists of all ages and abilities can hit the trails as part of a big community bike ride this August.
The third-annual Tour de CROWN, hosted by Tri-State Trails, is happening Saturday, Aug. 23. The ride starts and ends at Fifty West Brewing Company in Columbia Township along the Little Miami Scenic Trail, with route options for a 9-mile, 17.5-mile or 35-mile loop, with varying departure times depending on the route, starting at 8 a.m. All routes feature ride guides, rest stops and on-route support from Reser Bicycle Outfitters and Tour de CROWN volunteers.
Tri-State Trails says Tour de CROWN is a celebration of the growing Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network (CROWN), a vision for Cincinnati’s first-ever urban trail loop that would connect neighborhoods, landmarks and hidden gems. Communications and Events Manager Caitlin Sparks says the ride changes slightly every year to reflect the trail network’s growth.
New this year is a trail through Xavier University, as well as a new
signalized crosswalk at Montgomery Road. Riders will also experience a new connector through Mariemont’s historic Trolley Park, which will eventually link to the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
“People are having eye-opening moments as they discover bike lanes or trail sections they didn’t even know existed,” Sparks told CityBeat. “That’s partly because the network isn’t perfectly connected — yet. This ride helps people experience what we have right now, see how it’s coming together and understand how it can be improved to be safer and more accessible for everyone.”
Sparks adds that what makes the Tour de CROWN special is that it provides experiential learning in real-time. Riders will travel on separated trails, protected bike lanes and on-street bike lanes, allowing them to feel the difference between the trails and understand the safety and comfort that well-designed biking infrastructure provides.
“I love this ride because it’s purpose-driven,” she said. “It’s not just fun — it builds awareness and
advocacy.”
Volunteers will also be along the routes for added safety, so riders can focus more on having fun. And Tri-State Trails also works closely with Columbia Township to close an entire lane of traffic on US-50 so riders on the 17.5- and 35-mile routes can safely ride down the hill from Mariemont to Fifty West.
“Our volunteers play a huge role in creating that experience. They’re caring, wise and help make the ride feel safe for everyone,” said Sparks.
Following the ride, participants will be treated to a burger and beer, soda or milkshake at Fifty West. There will also be an expo featuring trail partners and community organizations.
You can sign up for the ride at tristatetrails.org. Proceeds will go toward supporting Tri-State Trails’ advocacy for a more connected regional trail and bikeway network. Sparks says in 2024, the ride nearly doubled the number of participants from the inaugural event from around 325 to 600. This year, they hope to have at least 900 riders.
College Hill’s Library to Relocate to Neighborhood’s Business District
The College Hill branch of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) is getting a new home.
The library, currently located at 1400 W. North Bend Road, will be moving to the neighborhood’s business district as part of CHPL’s Facility Master Plan recommendation to relocate the branch and offer new, expanded facilities. CHPL and the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC) are currently working to finalize terms for the purchase agreement for the property at the corner of North Bend and Hamilton Avenue (1609 W. North Bend Road) for $2.1 million.
CHCURC says the library’s move to the business district will help continue its mission to create a thriving urban core that offers learning and business opportunities, as well as a space for community connection, that will bring more families to the area.
“This is very much a generational decision that was approached with deep thought and purpose,” Emmanuel Karikari, CEO of CHCURC, said in a press release. Bringing the library into the heart of College Hill is more than a move. It’s a strategic investment in the vibrancy of our business district, the strength of our community and the long-term vision we’re building for generations to come.”
The library will also serve as an anchor hub for learning and community engagement, CHCURC adds.
“At CHCURC, we believe that a strong, connected community is key to economic success,” said Karikari. “This relocation enhances the business district’s appeal and accessibility, while ensuring that our residents have convenient access to the library’s incredible resources. It’s all part of our vision for a thriving College Hill.”
The plan to relocate the College Hill library is currently in the planning and design phase, according to CHPL, with an estimated completion date to be determined. A 90-day due diligence process on the property at 1609 W. North Bend Road will begin immediately.
You can learn more about the library’s Facility Master Plan at chpl. org.
The Tour de CROWN is happening Saturday, Aug. 23, starting at 8 a.m.
PHOTO: KEVIN WILLIAMS
Study: Great American Ball Park is One of the Best Stadiums for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse
Heads up, Cincinnati: If you want to survive a zombie apocalypse, should one arise, you’ll want to head to Great American Ball Park, according to a new study.
With 28 Years Later, a post-apocalyptic horror film and sequel to the 2002 film 28 Days Later, now in theaters, FlashPicks, a sports betting brand, wanted to see which Major League Baseball stadiums were best equipped to help the world survive should any primates infected with a Rage-esque virus ever be freed from a medical research lab. Turns out, Cincinnati is ideally situated for such an end-of-theworld scenario thanks to GABP (and Hamilton County taxpayers).
Using eight survival-related factors, FlashPicks analyzed all 30 of MLB’s stadiums and found GABP was the third-best stadium for living through a zombie apocalypse with a 65.5% survival rate — much better odds than the Reds making it to the World Series this year (100-1, according to most recent estimates). Each survival factor was given a set number of points, with all factors totaling 100, and included: Can crops be grown on the pitch? (20 points)
Distance to the city center (10 points)
Distance to the nearest natural water source (20 points)
Does the stadium have an accessible underground area? (10 points)
Number of stadium levels/tiers (10
points),
Is there a roof? (10 points)
Is the roof retractable? (10 points)
Population of area around the stadium (10 points)
FlashPicks says while GABP’s security features aren’t the best (no roof and just three tiers in the stadium), we are located in an area with the fourthlowest population of all the MLB parks, with a little over 309,000 people living in the city of Cincinnati, although we’re sure we’re going to have to contend with the nearly 2.57 million people in the metropolitan area. We’ll save you some room, Northern Kentucky. But this lower population means less likelihood of a huge zombie swarm.
GABP is also the third-closest stadium to a natural water source — only 0.05 miles away from the Ohio River. We would also be able to grow crops on the pitch, thanks to the Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass playing field.
This ranking also makes GABP the best place to survive an apocalypse east of the Mississippi River, with the other two top spots out west. The Seattle Mariners’ T-Mobile Park ranked first, with a survival rate of 72.4%, and second place went to the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field in Arlington with a 67.8% survival rate. The worst stadium for surviving went to Comerica Park in Detroit. Sorry, Tigers fans; your odds of survival at your home stadium are only 23%.
Great American Ball Park
PHOTO: SAM CHAVEZ
Eats Briefs
The latest food & dining stories in Greater Cincinnati
BY KATHERINE BARRIER
March First Brewing Shutters its Fountain Square Businesses
March First Brands has shuttered all of its downtown Cincinnati locations as of July 23. The local brewery and distillery brand owned a March First taproom and Laveau, an upscale restaurant with New Orleans-inspired fare and cocktails that paid homage to famous Voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau, on Fountain Square. Both locations, as well as the Cincinnati Distilling bottle shop inside the March First taproom, closed abruptly two weeks ago, with signs on the doors reading, “Thank you Fountain Square! We’re grateful for your support and patronage & look forward to serving you at our other locations with
top-notch services and experiences.”
The March First taproom first opened at Fountain Square in the summer of 2023; Laveau followed that September. While March First has not officially announced the closures online, the information for the Fountain Square taproom has been removed from the brewery’s website; Laveau’s website remains up at this time. CityBeat reached out to both March First and its Fountain Square landlord, Fifth Third Bank, for comment on the closures, but has not heard back.
Other March First brands and businesses that remain open include the flagship brewery in Blue Ash, Cincinnati
Distilling in Milford and FigLeaf Brewing in Middletown. The brand is also opening a Cincinnati Distilling bottle shop at Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Monroe.
In April, March First also shuttered Woodburn Brewing in East Walnut Hills after announcing the opening of its Monroe bottle shop. The brand says, as part of this shift, it was moving Woodburn’s management team to support the launch and temporarily closing the brewery. March First added that the brewery’s future was undetermined; however, in June, March First listed Woodburn’s brewery, taproom and branding for sale.
More info: marchfirstbrewing.com.
Walnut Hills Restaurant to Appear on Newest Season of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’
AWalnut Hills restaurant will appear on one of The Food Network’s most popular shows later this summer.
The Pickled Pig is best known for its smoked meats, made-from-scratch sandwiches, soups and salads, as well as small-batch fermented and pickled goods. On social media on July 21, the restaurant said it recently received a visit from the Mayor of Flavortown, Guy Fieri, for an episode of the hit reality show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, which features Fieri traveling across the country in search of the best eats at greasy spoons, hidden gem restaurants and vintage eateries.
“The ‘Pig is out of the sty’ we are so pumped to finally let yall know the
news! We will appear on @guyfieri DDD on @foodnetwork @citizenpictures August 22 at 9pm eastern, (check your local listings),” The Pickled Pig owners, Gary Leybman and Libby Power, wrote.
The episode The Pickled Pig will appear in will be Season 42, Episode 3, titled “Flavortown Flavorfest.”
“There’s a husband-and-wife team in Cincinnati specializing in farmto-table and fermentation, plating a prime-time pork burger with kimchi, plus smoked turkey and sauerkraut on sourdough,” reads the episode description.
The Pickled Pig is the second local restaurant to be featured in the newest season of Triple D. Ft. Michell Italian
Over-the-Rhine’s Ghost Baby Named One of ‘Bars of the Year’ by
USA Today
Apopular underground lounge in
Over-the-Rhine is getting some more national recognition.
Ghost Baby, a nightclub and speakeasy located five stories under Republic Street in a 170-year-old lagering tunnel, was recently named one of the 2025 “Bars of the Year” by USA Today. The list celebrates standout watering holes across the country
This latest honor joins acknowledgments in features by national magazines and publications like Condé Nast’s Traveler, Forbes and earning a spot on Esquire’s list of “Best Bars in America” in 2022.
“These are the places where locals and visitors alike gather for good conversation, warm vibes and a little slice of the city’s character – whether that means savoring a Rusty Nail aboard a simulated flight in Phoenix, chasing an Orange Crush down the beach in Delaware or pairing a salty margarita with a deep-fried hot dog at a Florida dockside bar,” writes USA Today.
“Ghost Baby was conceived as an homage to both history and possibility — a space where time slows, conversation matters, and the senses are awakened,” Josh Heuser, founder and owner of Ghost Baby, said in a press release. “This recognition reflects the vision and dedication of our entire team, and it’s a testament to the creative spirit and cultural depth that thrives here in Cincinnati.”
The bar offers two distinct spaces, The Rattle Room and The Den, that offer their own ambiance and curated musical programming while immersing guests in a blend of Old World charm and contemporary experiences. From the list, Cincinnati Enquirer’s food and dining writer Keith Pandolfi writes, in part:
restaurant Camporosso appeared in the first episode of the season on July 11. Fieri tried the restaurant’s primo pancetta bucatini and a “next-level” Neapolitan pie. If you missed that episode, it will air on The Food Network’s channel on Friday, Aug. 22 at 11:30 p.m., or you can watch it with your TV provider’s information on watch. foodnetwork.com.
The Pickled Pig’s episode will air at 9 p.m. on Aug. 22 on The Food Network.
The Pickled Pig, 645 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills. More info: smokedandpickled.com.
Camporosso, 2475 Dixie Highway, Ft. Mitchell. More info: camporosso. com.
“The aesthetic is 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald meets 1980s Bret Easton Ellis. There are disco balls and chandeliers, bistro tables and classic cocktails. The entertainment might be an out-of-town jazz band or the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.”
“At Ghost Baby, our goal is to create experiences that resonate on a deeper level — where atmosphere, sound and service come together to leave a lasting impression,” added Adammichael Gesell, director of hospitality at Ghost Baby. “When guests feel transported and return seeking that same feeling, that’s when we know we’ve done something meaningful.”
Ghost Baby, 1314 Republic St., Overthe-Rhine. More info: ghost-baby.com.
Laveau has a sign posted on the door reading, “Thank you Fountain Square! We’re grateful for your support and patronage & look forward to serving you at our other locations with top-notch services and experiences.”
PHOTO: KATHERINE BARRIER
MUSIC
The Wonderful Wizards of Ozomatli
The purveyors of Chicano rock celebrate 30 years of music and social protest with a dance party tour — and everyone is invited.
BY BRIAN BAKER
In 1999, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Raul Pacheco, guitarist/ founding member of Latino rock outfit Ozomatli. Named for the Aztec god of dance, fire and music, Ozomatli was a virtual melting pot of musical style, an unconventional hybrid of every conceivable subset of Latino music (cumbia, norteno, merengue, salsa) as well as ska, funk, reggae, jazz, hip-hop and punk, all presented with the panache of a savvy rock band.
The band was forged in the crucible of activism; the members met while fighting to form a labor union for disenfranchised workers and discovered their musical talent and commonalities in the process.
After their 1995 formation, Ozomatli
quickly became known for their frenetic live performances, earning rabid fans in and around Los Angeles. Fledgling indie label Almo Sounds signed them and released their eponymous 1998 debut album. Their subsequent 1999 tour stopped in Cincinnati, leading to a CityBeat assignment and my conversation with Pacheco.
One of Pacheco’s many stories was his account of Ozomatli’s then-recent opening for Santana, and how Carlos Santana sought them out backstage after his set. The world-famous guitarist was intent on sharing wisdom with his young openers, telling them to work on their interpersonal relationships so that they would know they could trust and rely on each other going forward.
The six founding members of Ozomatli remain the band’s heart and soul, and they’re now in the midst of their 30th anniversary tour. It would seem Santana knows a thing or two about a thing or two.
“That’s probably the most important, because you’re individuals and everyone is different,” says Pacheco of Santana’s advice. “Everyone has desires and you have to be open to how those desires are being met. We’ve learned how to do that as best as we could and it’s allowed us to keep it together for this long.”
Ozomatli’s absolute dedication to activism and the pursuit of equality has been woven into the fabric of the band from the start. That passion was
recognized 20 years ago when the U.S. State Department named Ozomatli official Cultural Ambassadors, sending them on global tours to promote unity and acceptance, experiences as impactful on the band as it has been on their multinational audiences. When Pacheco reflects on the band’s numerous musical and political accomplishments — their Wikipedia page is a scrolling list of notable benchmarks — he cites the heart of Ozomatli’s motivation as his personal pride point.
“I think it’s just playing to huge crowds who don’t know us and rocking the shit out of it,” says Pacheco. “Connecting with strangers who don’t even speak our language in some part of the world where we’ve never been. That’s
Ozomatli
PHOTO: ASHLEY BALDERRAMA
very unique, special and fun, and it’s a testament to the power of music. You show up and it’s like, ‘I’ve never heard this band. I love them!’ That’s something to be proud of, just basic human connection with strangers. I’m really lucky that I have the ability to do that, and I’m really happy that there are people who are open to not knowing what’s about to happen and be like, ‘All right, lay it on me.’ That spirit of fearlessness, on both sides, is really important.”
Given Ozomatli’s reputation in L.A. — the city once declared April 23 as Ozomatli Day — it’s no surprise that the current immigration policies being enforced in California are of particular concern to the band. Their specific focus is the disinformation being disseminated and the potential escalation that could result.
“I have places in New Mexico and Los Angeles. I grew up in Los Angeles, and I’m mainly there,” says Pacheco. “Because of social media and how they portray it, and the level of violence that’s happening when people resist, it’s on every street corner. It’s not. It’s in a very small section of Los Angeles. The thing is, they’re rounding up people without questions and it’s disturbing. I’m afraid that people on both sides are going to start shooting at each other, and that’s an excuse for the government to become more militarized.
And there’s an element of someone not identifying themselves, and people having to defend themselves. It’s a weird game, and that’s scary because innocent people could get hurt. None of us want to go that route.”
Ozomatli’s emphasis on social activism and touring constantly to spread their messages has had the unintended consequence of limiting the band’s studio efforts. Although they’ve only released eight studio albums in their 30-year history, they have all been powerful musical statements. Thankfully, new Ozomatli music is on the horizon; the new single “Red Line,” a reference to the underground rapid transit track running between North Hollywood and downtown, was released in late July (another new track drops soon). Unsurprisingly, there’s a message in “Red Line.”
“It’s the idea of communities that are separated and how public transportation is this defining thing for people,” says Pacheco. “If you have money, you tend not to take it, especially in L.A., which is a very car-centric culture. And it’s not very efficient. It’s better than it has been, but working people need that part of their lives to be easier. A person who jumps on the bus, then takes a train to the other side of town, does their work and goes home, that’s a real commitment. There’s dignity in
choosing that because that’s what you need to do to provide for your family and yourself. The chorus — ‘Don’t take the Red Line’ — is the outsider looking in, but we’re also speaking from the place of the insider, like, ‘If you don’t come, it’s OK. We don’t need your approval for the choices we make to survive.’ It’s touching on all these elements of classism, and I think that will always exist at some levels.”
Pacheco finds that, after 30 years of trying to effect change in a world that desperately needs it, most situations boil down to a singular cause.
“There are people who like sharing, and people who don’t,” he says simply. “That’s been around since the beginning of time. We’re on the part of sharing because that’s how we grew up and how we got by. It’s not unnatural for us to be on that side of the fence, so to speak, and to bring light to those kinds of issues. We’re seeing a lot of that in this country right now, but it happened in the late ‘60s, the ‘70s and at different times in the ‘80s. There’s always been moments of trying to solve issues in a way that some people would say is cruel and other people would say, ‘It’s about time.’ We’ve always been on the side of the have-nots, and the perspective of our songs aligns with that side.”
Returning to our original interview, Pacheco recalled how Santana
personally introduced Ozomatli to his audience, where he called the band “the future of music.” With 30 years in the rearview mirror, and hundreds of accomplishments notched and accolades bestowed, does Ozomatli feel like they’ve lived up to Santana’s sweeping prophecy?
“He was referencing the egalitarian mix of acknowledging the beauty and admiration of music and its traditions all over the world,” says Pacheco. “I think we’ve lived up to that tradition, that he is a big part of, and that many bands all over the world are a part of. I love North African music, and the transference of cultural music from that region that came to America with slaves and some of it turned into blues and it fueled American music, then it went back to them in a different form. We’re always borrowing; there’s always layers on top of one another. You see it in food, in music, in language, and it’s normal. It’s been going on forever. This is how cultures are made, transformed, grow and change. This sense of being at the center was what Santana was referring to because, in his mind, the center is all of us. We’re in a long line of bands that have done that and will continue to do that.”
Ozomatli plays the Ludlow Garage on Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m. More info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.
SOUND ADVICE
THE SMITHEREENS
Aug. 15 • Ludlow Garage
Not every veteran band can survive and still thrive after the loss of their lead singer/ songwriter, but in the case of the Smithereens — that’s the frequency, Kenneth. Founded back in 1980 in New Jersey, the Smithereens have delivered bristling, British Invasion-style pop/rock for 45 years now. With the death of leader Pat DiNizio in 2017, the remaining original bandmates, Jim Babjak on guitar, Dennis Diken on drums and Mike Mesaros on bass, rallied and have used guest vocalists since then.
Marshall Crenshaw and Robin Wilson (Gin Blossoms) both traded guest turns touring as lead singer for the Smithereens — and now John Cowsill, from his ‘60s family band namesake the Cowsills, has joined as this tour’s guest vocalist. This makes sense since the Smithereens’ relationship with Cowsill goes back to the early ‘90s when they met and Cowsill sang harmony vocals on their Blow Up record.
Early in the college radio ‘80s scene, the Smithereens melded the jangle pop of their British heroes, like the Beatles and the Kinks, with a harder-edged, alt-rock sound to create an inimitable Mersey by way of
Jersey music.
In their prime, the Smithereens toured and held their own with classic acts like the Ramones, Tom Petty and Lou Reed. The quartet even basked in some Top 40 hit success in that era with “A Girl Like You” and “Too Much Passion,” vital singles still played live today.
But after losing DiNizio, their main songwriter, almost a decade ago, the
Smithereens have since released a few covers compilations featuring songs by the Beach Boys, Springsteen and other influences.
With their 45th anniversary in mind this year, Diken recently spoke to The Sharp Notes about their legacy and remembering DiNizio: “Yes, I still think he’s with us in a certain sense. I think we’re keeping his music, our music alive. Every time we hit
the stage, we’re keeping his memory alive. We’re keeping his spirit going, and the songs deserve to live on, and they still resonate with our audience. … We’re grateful that after 45 years of doing this, there still is a very dedicated and loyal fan base that come out to our shows.”
The Smithereens play the Ludlow Garage on Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. More info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com. (Greg Gaston)
The Smithereens in 1984 PHOTO: PROVIDED
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