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How Inclusive is Hamilton County’s Housing Market?

A countywide study completed in accordance with federal requirements highlights the big challenges for some when it comes to finding safe, affordable housing

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

I

there discriminatory practices going on in these jurisdictions, and if so, what is the nature of those practices and what might we do to mitigate those things?”

To arrive at answers to those questions, CBI held 16 focus groups and received almost 500 survey responses from Hamilton County residents — those in various racial and ethnic groups, those with disabilities, families with children and others — as well as real estate, development and housing professionals.

“What we heard from people is that there is absolutely overt discrimination taking place in Hamilton County,” Blume says. “Young people aging out of foster care in Hamilton County are having a really hard time and are being told that they don’t have enough experience to rent.

We also hear from families with children that they have a hard time finding units.

That’s because it’s hard to find affordable units with two or three bedrooms, but also because they hear from landlords that kids will be too hard on the units, ‘neighbors don’t like kids, we don’t want to rent to people with kids.’ People with disabilities reported are also having a difficult time, partly because they can’t find affordable units and partly because landlords aren’t willing to make the accommodations they need.”

All of those forms of discrimination are illegal under federal housing laws.

Beyond overt discrimination, though, social and market forces also present barriers to fair housing access in many parts of the county.

“I think that discrimination around race and ethnic origin is harder to see sometimes,” Blume says. “People don’t usually

Housing in Avondale PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL

say ‘I’m not going to rent to you because you’re black.’ But there are a lot of places in the county where people just don’t go.

People don’t go to the eastern or western suburbs because they perceive there is no housing available to them and because there is no social network. And if they need to use public transportation, they probably can’t get there anyway.”

Blume says CBI started its assessment by examining how various parts of the county rebounded from the foreclosure crisis and recession in 2007 and 2008.

Some parts of Hamilton County — the far eastern and parts of the far western suburbs, for example, and certain sections of Cincinnati’s urban core — are doing better now than they were pre-recession in terms of building conditions and housing values.

Those areas are places of higher opportunity, with housing that is in good condition, high-performing schools, easier access to quality food, parks and other amenities. But affordable housing and transit access are often scant in those areas.

Meanwhile, other areas continue to struggle, and even some of the success stories have a downside, Blume says.

The long stretch of neighborhoods and municipalities running up the county’s spine — clustered around the Mill Creek or in nearby areas — have had a much more mixed recovery, as have some suburban communities. Many are struggling with increasingly concentrated poverty, greatly

deteriorated housing conditions and lack of accessibility to transit, food and other necessities.

According to Census data, one area in Mt. Airy saw more than 1,000 higherincome people move out and more than 3,500 low-income residents move in between 2000 and 2016, raising its percentage of low income residents from 26 percent to 55 percent.

That pattern repeats in some places outside the city, where smaller municipalities struggle with fewer resources to address issues as poverty moves to the suburbs.

One Census tract in Sharonville saw 1,050 more low-income residents move into the neighborhood and more than 500 middle-to-high-income residents move out.

Its share of low-income population went from 17 percent to almost 38 percent. The neighboring tract to the west saw an even more dramatic change — low-income residents went from about 28 percent of the population to 51 percent.

Even though geographic patterns are changing, some underlying racial inequities are not.

Between 2000 and 2016, most black residents moving to suburbs (almost 26,000) went to places experiencing strong economic decline. Residents of Hispanic origin saw a similar trend. About 1,600 went to high-performing suburbs, while 17,000 went to suburbs decaying economically.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 09

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magine you’re looking for a place in Hamilton County to live. Maybe you don’t make much money. Where do you look? Where do you assume you’ll not be able to find a place? How long will it take to secure housing?

Will it be harder if you have kids? If you’ve recently aged out of foster care?

If you’re disabled? If you aren’t white? If you’re an immigrant?

According to a 300-page study compiled over the last year and a half by Xavier University’s Community Building Institute, the answer to the latter questions is often yes.

CBI completed its 2019 Fair Housing Assessment last August and presented it to the Hamilton County Commission in October. The county is required to commission such a report tracking compliance with fair housing laws twice a decade because it receives money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This time around, officials sought a study that dove deep into dynamics across the entire county.

“Every five years as the result of us receiving federal funds — community development block grants, HOME funds, emergency solutions grants — we’re required to do an assessment of fair housing needs, an analysis of impediments to fair housing,” Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said in October. “This year, as part of our five-year planning process, we worked with the Community Building Institute and the City of Cincinnati at a much broader level, with the perspective being that we do a much better job of analyzing the problems and identifying the solutions if we do it community-wide.”

The study takes a look at issues that are distinct from — but intertwined with — the county’s 40,000-unit gap in affordable housing, CBI Executive Director Liz Blume told the county commission.

“It’s very hard to talk about discriminatory behavior without talking about affordability,” Blume told the County Commission when presenting the report in October.

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CITY DESK

Portion of Cincinnati Homeless Camp Ban Overturned by Appeals Court

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

A ban on encampments by those experiencing homelessness can only apply to public property within the limits of the City of Cincinnati, the Ohio First District Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 20, limiting the scope of the ban a Hamilton County judge ordered in August of 2018.

The ban came after the city ordered a tent city along Third Street near Fort Washington Way removed earlier that summer, sparking a game of cat-and-mouse between the city and camp residents.

Eventually, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters sued the city to get a legal order prohibiting sleeping outdoors in order to stop the tent cities from popping up. That order by Judge Robert Ruehlman was gradually extended to include all of the county.

The New Prospect Baptist Church in Roselawn offered space for those experiencing homelessness to set up camp on its property, though the letter of Ruehlman’s order seemed to make that illegal. Tent city residents eventually ended up on private property in Over-the-Rhine, where they dispersed after they were threatened with arrest.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the city and county on behalf of New Prospect, saying that the church’s

religious liberty had been infringed by the camp ban. New Prospect argues its faith requires it to serve those without homes.

U.S. District Court Judge Tim Black upheld the city’s ban last year, but only on the condition there was enough shelter space to house those living in the tent encampments. That has been a hotlydebated issue, however, with activists saying area shelters A tent city that formed in Cincinnati in the summer of 2018 are full.

PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL The three-judge panel with the state court of appeals between some members of Cincinnati City ruled that a countywide ban that includes Council and Mayor John Cranley about private property is an overreach, but also how to address the camps. Cranley, who upheld the ban within city limits on public argued that the camps were health and property. safety concerns, pushed for the removal The judges also took issue with some of the tent cities. The court ruled he had elements of the city’s handling of the tent “no direct authority” to do so without city cities, noting there was disagreement council’s approval.

Kentucky Attorney General Asks for Federal Investigation Into Bevin Pardons

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L Outgoing Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued more than 650 last-minute pardons and commutations, some quite controversial, after losing a bid for reelection last year.

The former governor has said those convictions — and others for which he issued pardons or commutations — were based on sketchy evidence or improper court procedures.

Now, new Kentucky Attorney General and fellow Republican Daniel Cameron has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to look into those legal reprieves.

“The facts should matter, and we deserve justice every time there has been a wrong done, not only for the victims but society as whole,” Bevin said during a December radio interview. “But the only thing more unjust than not punishing a perpetrator is punishing an innocent person for something they did not do.”

Bevin also pardoned Micah Schoettle, a Kenton County man convicted of raping a 9-year-old. Schoettle had served just 18 months of a 23-year sentence for his conviction.

Some cases, like that of Gregory Wilson, who was convicted of a brutal 1988 murder, did see glaring shortcomings during trial. Bevin commuted Wilson’s sentence to life with possibility for parole after 30 years.

Bevin also pardoned more than 300 inmates convicted of non-violent drug offenses.

But prosecutors and some legal experts say other cases are solid, and that Bevin’s reprieves raise serious questions.

“I stand by the outstanding work of Kentucky’s prosecutors and respect

Those lawmakers, Kentucky Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey and State Rep. Chris Harris, both Democrats, say an investigation is needed to assure the public Bevin’s pardons weren’t the result of corruption.

“Kentuckians deserve to know if the pardon of Patrick Baker, whose family raised tens of thousands of dollars for Gov. Bevin in 2018, was granted improperly,” an earlier Dec. 13 letter from the two asking Cameron to investigate the reprieves reads. “We believe strongly that this and potentially other pardons should be investigated impartially, and are pleased that the Attorney General agrees and has asked the FBI to make sure that happens.”

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L Most of Ohio’s Republican congressional delegation joined 207 members of Congress in signing a legal brief filed Jan. 2 asking the United States Supreme Court to consider reversing a decadesold ruling legalizing abortion across the country.

The filing is the latest salvo in an effort by conservatives to challenge legal protections for abortion so that states can someday outlaw the procedures. A number of laws coming out of state legislatures — including some in Ohio outlawing abortions as early as six weeks after conception — have been aimed recently at challenging those protections under the 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade. The fate of those laws could hinge on coming rulings by SCOTUS. The brief, filed in connection with a case before SCOTUS regarding Louisiana abortion restrictions, argues that the court’s application of Roe prohibiting state laws outright banning abortion has not been consistently applied or clearly interpreted, nor has a subsequent standard for whether abortion restrictions are constitutional set in a 1992 decision on the case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Thus, the filers argue, the court needs to consider the issue again.

“In sum, Roe’s jurisprudence has been characterized by Delphic confusion and protean change,” the brief reads. “These incessant retrenchments show that Roe has been substantially undermined by subsequent authority, a principal factor the Court considers when deciding whether to overrule precedent.”

Ohio Reps. Steve Chabot, Brad Wenstrup, Warren Davidson, Jim Jordan, Anthony Gonzalez, Bob Gibbs, Bob Latta, Troy Balderson, Bill Johnson and Mike Turner signed the amicus brief, as did Ohio’s U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.

No Democratic members of the Ohio congressional delegation signed it, and signatures from Ohio Republican Reps.

David Joyce and Steve Stivers aren’t on the brief either.

Democrats — including members of Ohio’s delegation — issued their own brief last month asking the court to strike down Louisiana’s law.

That law requires doctors performing abortions in the state to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Supporters of the legislation say it increases women’s safety in the case of unforeseen complications with abortions.

Opponents, however, say it is designed to lay down difficult to meet standards in order to close abortion clinics.

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Some of Bevin’s pardons raised eyebrows among Democrats and Republicans alike, including the pardon of Knox County’s Patrick Baker, who was convicted in 2017 of murder and impersonating a police officer during a home invasion. Baker’s family held a fundraiser for Bevin after his conviction. Two other men convicted in the incident, whose families did not contribute to Bevin’s campaign, did not receive pardons, even though prosecutors assert it was Baker who pulled the trigger and killed resident Donald Mills.

the decisions of juries who convict wrongdoers,” Cameron wrote in a letter to Kentucky state lawmakers who have been calling for an investigation. “While Kentucky’s Constitution gives the Governor the power to pardon a person convicted of a crime, I believe the pardon power should be used sparingly and only after great deliberation with due concern for public safety.”

Ohio Republicans Ask Supreme Court to Reconsider Roe V. Wade

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CITY DESK

Northside Co-Op Grocery Effort Moves On From Save-A-Lot Site

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

Cincinnati Police to Expand ShotSpotter to Six More Neighborhoods

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

An effort to establish a co-op grocery store in Northside won’t land at its long-identified first choice site after a vote by the Apple Street Market board Jan. 2.

Originally, organizers wanted to place the co-op market in a former Save-A-Lot building at 4145 Apple Street in the neighborhood. But the group hit a number of funding snags.

Northside community development corporation NEST received more than $500,000 from the City of Cincinnati in late 2017 to purchase the former Save-A-Lot that has been floated as the market’s future home since the low-cost grocer pulled out of the building in 2013.

As part of that funding agreement, the property must be in development on a project at the site within 24 months.

Organizers with Apple Street played a big role in lobbying the city for that money under the assumption the site would be used for the grocery.

At first, it seemed as though Apple Street was making strides toward opening in the market with NEST serving as the owners of the building. Then a number of cards fell out of Apple Street’s financing deck.

At a February 2019 emergency meeting in South Cumminsville, members of the Apple Street Market board told more than 70 of the project’s 1,279 shareholders that a large chunk of the project’s financing had

fallen apart just before implementation.

In late January 2019, the Columbusbased Finance Fund withdrew $900,000 in seed financing from the project because Apple Street had not yet raised enough operating capital. But that was just the start of the bad news.

The market was supposed to close on New Market Tax Credits worth $1.5 million in financing for development costs.

But PNC, the investor in those credits, withdrew from many of its 2019 new market projects due to devaluation in the credits caused by tax reforms passed by Congress in 2017.

“We’re in a totally new situation at this moment,” Apple Street Market Board President Kristen Barker said at the time.

“Losing that tax allocation is a very big deal.

Grocery stores in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods — while they can be very successful long-term — they need subsidy in the short term.”

The loss of funding came after the market spent $377,000 between June 2014 and January last year on expenses like paying three employees (including $130,000 to a general manager over that time); conducting outreach efforts, a market study and retail planning; paying for design and engineering costs; and paying membership dues to Associated Wholesale Grocers, a major cooperative food wholesaler.

NEST said that the funding situation forced its hand to release a request for qualifications for other developers interested in the building.

In early October, NEST tapped Philadelphia-based Pennrose, LLC to build housing on the Save-A-Lot site.

NEST, Pennrose and Apple Street were in talks exploring the possibility of incorporating a grocery store into that development, but in a Facebook post, organizers with the market said the Apple Street board voted to walk away from that possibility because it would not provide enough retail space or parking.

“We know this is a disappointing outcome, but opening a successful store that meets all of the community’s needs is our first priority,” the post said. “Our supplier, AWG, is a strong partner, and they told us this mixed use project has too many red flags… We are thankful for the support we have already received from the community, and believe that continued support from groups like the Northside Business Association, the NCC, and NEST will also be key to finding a new location.”

Organizers say they will form a committee in the next few weeks to begin the search for a new location.

Apple Street says information about an upcoming owner meeting and board elections will be released soon.

Four in Ten Cincinnati Children Live in Poverty, Census Data Shows

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

Roughly four in 10 Cincinnati children live in poverty, according to estimates released late last month by the U.S. Census Bureau — a ratio much higher than the national average.

C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

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The estimates from the American Community Survey also show that roughly one in four children in Hamilton County are living below the poverty line, which is about $25,000 a year for a family of four.

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That’s much higher than the nation’s rate of just less than 20 percent.

Though the way the federal government measures poverty has changed somewhat, the current rate in Cincinnati is below the rate it was in 2014, when 45 percent of people under the age of 18 lived in poverty here.

Overall, more than one in four Cincinnatians lives in poverty, U.S. Census estimates released in September reveal — giving the city the fifth-highest poverty rate in the country among cities with more than 250,000 people.

Almost 40 percent of the city’s black residents and about 16 percent of the city’s white residents live below the poverty line.

The federal government’s poverty threshold is a bare-bones level of existence, most social service experts say, and many other Cincinnatians are at or below 200 percent of the poverty line — the level that starts to be sustainable for individuals to raise families. In 2016, more than 143,000 of Cincinnati’s residents lived at or under that threshold.

When the city’s poverty and childhood poverty levels were at their peak, Mayor John Cranley campaigned partially on lowering those rates. He created the city’s Childhood Poverty Collaborative in 2015 as well as the Hand Up program, which provides $10-an-hour jobs to low-income residents. As of last year, that program has provided jobs to more than 500 Cincinnatians.

Cincinnati isn’t the poorest city in Ohio, which has an overall poverty rate roughly

one point higher than the national rate at 14 percent. Cleveland’s poverty rate is 33.1 percent, the second-highest in the nation behind Detroit. Columbus, Ohio’s capital city, has a poverty rate of roughly 20 percent. Toledo came in just behind Cincinnati with the sixth-highest poverty rate in the nation at an even 25 percent.

Cincinnati’s childhood poverty rate is also lower than some other cities and counties throughout the state. Cleveland’s childhood poverty rate is almost 52 percent.

Youngstown’s is 57.5 percent.

Like the nation as a whole, Cincinnati’s unemployment rate has dropped to just over 4 percent — lower than Ohio’s 4.6 percent.

But wages have remained stagnant and most areas where jobs are growing — the service industry, mainly — do not offer jobs paying the same wages as industrial jobs the city and region have lost over time.

A 2018 study from left-leaning think tank

A technology that detects the sound of gunfire will expand to six new neighborhoods this year, Cincinnati Police say.

ShotSpotter is a system of as many as 25 auditory sensors per square mile placed on rooftops that automatically alerts police about gunfire. Currently, Cincinnati has the technology in areas around Avondale and Price Hill.

On New Year’s Eve, the sensors detected 168 separate gunshots in those neighborhoods, CPD Assistant Chief Paul Neudigate says. The areas also saw a homicide and four other people shot. Some residents in Northside, Mount Auburn, Over-the-Rhine and other neighborhoods also reported hearing rounds of gunfire during New Year’s celebrations.

Cincinnati officials have credited ShotSpotter with a 50-percent drop in shootings after its introduction in Avondale in 2017. But some in other cities have questioned whether the tool is effective, and at least one municipality has ceased using the technology after it missed some gunshots.

Cincinnati is going further with the technology and will roll it out in the West End this summer, Neudigate said in a tweet. Evanston, Millvale, Over-the-Rhine, South Fairmount and Westwood will also receive ShotSpotter coverage by year’s end.

As of Dec. 21, the date of the most recent report from CPD about crime levels, Cincinnati had seen 72 homicides in 2019.

That’s a 20 percent increase in homicides over the 60 for the year up to that date in 2018 and a 13 percent increase over the city’s three-year average to that date. The city also saw 737 assaults up to Dec. 21, 2019, an 8 percent increase over 2018 year to date, but a 2 percent reduction from the city’s three-year average. CPD had recovered almost 1,060 firearms in that period in 2019.

Policy Matters Ohio found that six out of the region’s 10 most common jobs don’t pay a living wage. In the metro area, the most common job last year was in the food preparation field, where the median annual salary is about $19,000 a year.

About 32,000 people in the metro area do this kind of work. Other common jobs not paying living wages included retail sales (another 30,000 local employees), wait staff (20,000 regional employees), stock clerks (more than 17,000 employees in the region) and janitors and maintenance personnel (more than 15,000 workers in the metro area).

FROM PAGE 05

And while the reversals of fortunes in neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine have their upsides, there are also consequences.

Development there has restored myriads of historic properties, brought new businesses to the area and attracted new residents who fill renovated apartments and condos.

But Census data and recent studies suggest that lower-income people, many of them African American, have left OTR in recent years at the same time rents have risen.

The four Census tracts that make up Over-the-Rhine saw 635 more middle-tohigh-income residents move in between 2000 and 2016, while as many as 3,000 low-income residents moved out over time, according to a study from the University of Minnesota Law School’s Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity. The neighborhood is still predominantly low income, though by a much lower margin.

Those findings are roughly consistent with a 2017 analysis of Census data by CityBeat suggesting that as many as 1,800 predominantly low-income black residents left the neighborhood during a more specific time period between 2010 and 2016, even as the neighborhood’s white population increased by about 200. A 2015 CBI study using Census data and real estate listings found that even as middle- and high-income housing has increased, the

most affordable housing in OTR decreased by 73 percent from 2000 to 2015, going from 3,235 units to just 869. OTR has also seen a decrease in residents living in the neighborhood who receive rental help from HUD attached to Section 8 vouchers.

In 2004, 545 voucher holders lived in OTR. By 2015, that number had dropped to 326, according to HUD data.

“Some areas in the urban core have rebounded remarkably,” Blume says of Cincinnati’s hotter urban neighborhoods.

“This region has become almost a national market on how you harness revitalization and a preference for urban living. I think that’s a good thing. But it also means that we’re displacing residents in neighborhoods where they historically lived because property values are heating up.”

Exacerbating issues with discrimination and housing affordability, many moderateincome families find it hard to access the capital necessary to purchase a home, CBI’s study suggests.

That dynamic hits people of color especially hard. About 24 percent of black households in Cincinnati owned a home in 2017, for example.

Meanwhile, roughly 50 percent of white households here lived in a home they owned that year, according to an aggregate of five years of American Community Survey results from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Lack of homeownership opportunities isn’t always a matter of scarce supply, according to CBI’s study.

“There are a lot of units in Hamilton County that are available,” Blume says.

“Small, detached single-family brick houses from 900 to 1,200 square feet in good school districts. But most lending institutions don’t want to do mortgages for under $100,000. These houses are under $100,000, which makes them great affordable housing, but the lending just doesn’t work.

Either their credit is bad or they can’t get a mortgage low enough.”

What can Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati do to begin mitigating those issues? CBI issues a number of recommendations in its study. Those include the following: • Affordable housing trust funds at the city and county level with dedicated funding streams • Funding for economic development in areas in the county’s northern reaches experiencing disinvestment and concentrating poverty • Support for neighborhood and regionally-based affordable housing providers and anti-housing discrimination organizations like Housing Opportunities Made Equal • Expanded public transportation offerings in Hamilton County’s disadvantaged suburbs • New lending mechanisms that enable moderate-income families to buy and renovate vacant homes in Hamilton County • Collaboration between municipalities to hold trouble landlords accountable

• Efforts to loosen zoning codes in areas that currently only allow single-family housing and large lots More clarity on how much those solutions could cost and how to achieve them could come with the completion of a comprehensive housing study funded by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and currently being completed by the Greater Cincinnati Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

In the meantime, Blume says there have been encouraging shifts recently.

“People seem to be coalescing around the big pieces,” she says, though many details remain to be worked out.

In October, now-retired Hamilton County Commission member Todd Portune said the county has worked on the various problems the study discussed, and will continue to do so. But, he noted, the county government can’t take on those immense issues by itself.

“The board of county commissioners has over the years been very strategic and deliberative in terms of using every bit of resources it can catalytically to try to invest in these types of solutions, whether it be economic development or housing or et cetera,” Portune said. “But we’ve been very limited in how we can do that.

“This challenges those of us who are in positions of authority to stand up and fight for what has to be done in addressing issues like this.”

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Gallery Talks with Dick Hagar, NASA Apollo Engineer Jan 11 &12 locally by: Sponsored locally by: Destination Moon: The Apollo Destination 11 Mission Moon:exhibit The Apollo is organized 11 Destination Mission exhibit Moon:isSponsored The organized Apollo 11 Mission exhibit is organized by the National Air and Space by the Museum National Air andand theSpace Smithsonian Museum by the National and theAir Smithsonian and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Institution Service.

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The exhibition is made The possible exhibition by the is made support possible ofThe Jeffby exhibition the support is made of Jeff possible by the support of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, and Joe MacKenzie Clark, Bruce Bezos, R. McCaw Joe Clark, and MacKenzie Bruce R. McCaw Bezos, Joe Clark, Bruce R. McCaw Family Foundation, the Family Charles Foundation, and Lisa Simonyi the Charles Family Fund andFoundation, Lisa Simonyi the Fund Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences,for John Artsand andSusann Sciences, Norton, Johnand for andArts Susann and Sciences, Norton, and John and Susann Norton, and Gregory D. and Jennifer Gregory Walston D. and Johnson.

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Final Days!

Closes Feb 17.

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Illustration: Anson Stevens-Bollen

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P R OJ E CT C E N S O R E D G O ES D OW N T H E R A B B I T H O L E TO U N C OV E R T H E TO P 1 0 M O ST I M P O RTA N T U N D E R R E P O RT E D STO R I ES O F 20 1 9 B Y PAU L R O S E N B E R G

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It wasn’t censorship in the classic sense practiced by church and state since time immemorial, but it was an example of something even more insidious, because no clear-cut act of censorship or all-powerful censor was needed to produce the same result of a public left in the dark. Jensen defined censorship as “the suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method — including bias, omission, underreporting or self-censorship — that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in its society.” And the most obvious way to start fighting it was to highlight the suppressed information in the form of the stories that didn’t get widely told.

Thus, Project Censored and its annual list of censored stories was born in 1976.

Jensen’s conception of censorship may be light-years away from how most media figures think of things. But while introducing this year’s list of stories, the volume’s co-editor Andy Lee Roth quotes media legend Walter Lippmann, echoing the same sensitivity in his 1920 book, Liberty and the News: “Whether one aspect of the news or another appears in the center or at the periphery makes all the difference in the world.”

But Project Censored is not just about the individual stories. It is about the patterns of marginalization and suppression that can be seen through the lens of connecting them. In his introduction, Roth says, “identifying these unifying themes is one significant way to gauge the systemic blind spots, third rails, and ‘no go’ zones in corporate news coverage.” For example, in the Top 10, stories No. 1 and 2 deal with press freedoms; stories No. 2, 4 and 9 deal with corporate misconduct; stories No. 2 and 10 deal with technology; stories No. 3 and 4 deal with the environment; stories No. 5, 6 and 8 deal with gender inequalities; and stories No. 6, 7 and 8 deal criminal justice, prisons and detention.

As you can see, these patterns overlap. And there may well be other patterns you discover for yourself. These patterns don’t just connect issues and problems that those in power would rather neglect. They also connect people, communities and potential solutions, which those in power would rather see stay disconnected. Don’t just read the following as a list of stories — read it as an opportunity to connect.

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very year, Project Censored — a media research program founded in 1976 with the stated mission of exposing and opposing news censorship and promoting independent investigative journalism, media literacy and critical thinking — scours the landscape for the most important stories that the mainstream corporate media somehow missed, and every year the task seems to get a bit stranger. Or “curiouser and curiouser” as suggested in the subtitle of this year’s volume of their work, Censored 2020: Through The Looking Glass, which includes their full list of the top 25 censored stories and much, much more about the never-ending struggle to bring vitally important hidden truths to light.

In the foreward, “Down the Rabbit Hole of ‘Media Literacy’ by Decree,” Sharyl Attkisson, an Emmy Awardwinning investigative journalist, highlights the absurdity of “so many well-organized, well-funded efforts to root out so-called ‘fake news,’” which have significantly impacted the kinds of journalists and outlets who have historically produced the stories that make Project Censored’s list in the first place.

“The self-appointed curators, often wielding proprietary algorithms, summarily dispense with facts and ideas that they determine to be false — or maybe just dangerous to their agendas,” Attkisson notes. “Thanks to them, we will hardly have to do any of our own thinking. They’ll take care of it for us.”

Does that seem hyperbolic? Well, read on, dear reader, read on. In Project Censored’s No. 2 censored story this year, you’ll discover Facebook partnering with a NATOsponsored think tank to “monitor for misinformation and foreign interference” — a think tank whose funders include the U.S. military, the United Arab Emirates, weapons contractors and oil companies. And whose board includes Henry Kissinger, the world’s most famous war criminal. Who better to tell you who to believe? Or better yet, decide who you’ll never even hear from?

Through the looking glass, indeed.

In the beginning, Project Censored’s founder, Carl Jensen, was partly motivated by the way the early reporting on the Watergate scandal never crossed over from being a crime story to a political story until after the 1972 election coverage.

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Justice Department’s Secret FISA Rules for Targeting Journalists The federal government can secretly monitor American journalists under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which allows invasive spying and operates outside the traditional court system, according to two 2015 memos from thenAttorney General Eric Holder. The memos were obtained by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Freedom of the Press Foundation through an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which was reported on

by The Intercept, whose parent company provides funding for both organizations, but was virtually ignored by the corporate media.

The secret rules “apply to media entities or journalists who are thought to be agents of a foreign government, or, in some cases, are of interest under the broader standard that they possess foreign intelligence information,” The Intercept reported.

Project Censored cited three “concerning” questions the memos raise: First, how many times have FISA court orders been used to target journalists, and are any currently under investigation?

Second, why did the Justice Department keep these rules secret when it updated its “media guidelines” in 2015?

And, third, is the Justice Department using FISA court orders — along with the FBI’s similar rules for targeting journalists with National Security Letters (NSLs) — to “get around the stricter ‘media guidelines?’”

The corporate media virtually ignored these revelations when they occurred. The subsequent media interest in FISA warrants targeting Trump campaign adviser Carter Page “has done nothing at all to raise awareness of the threats posed by FISA warrants that target journalists and news organizations,” Project Censored observed.

They ended with a quote from Ramya Krishnan, staff attorney with the Knight Institute, summarizing the stakes: “National security surveillance authorities confer extraordinary powers. The government’s failure to share more information about them damages journalists’ ability to protect their sources, and jeopardizes the news gathering process.”

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Think Tank Partnerships Establish Facebook as a Tool of U.S. Foreign Policy In the name of fighting “fake news” to protect American democracy from “foreign influences,” Facebook formed a set of partnerships with three expert foreign influencers in 2018, augmenting its bias toward censorship of left/progressive voices.

In May 2018, Facebook announced its partnership with the Atlantic Council, a NATO-sponsored Washington, D.C. think tank to “monitor for misinformation and foreign interference.”

“It’s funded by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force, along with NATO, various foreign powers and major Western corporations, including weapons contractors and oil companies, (including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell),” noted Adam Johnson, writing for the media watch group FAIR. It went on to note that the major news outlets covering the story said nothing about any of the above conflicts of interest.

In September, Facebook announced it would also partner with two Cold Warera U.S. government-funded propaganda organizations: the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.

In October 2018, Jonathan Sigrist, writing for Global Research, described one of the greatest Facebook account and page purges in its troubled history: “559 pages and 251 personal accounts were instantly removed from the platform…This is but one of similar yet smaller purges that have been unfolding in front of our eyes over the last year, all in the name of fighting ‘fake news’ and so called ‘Russian propaganda.’”

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Indigenous Groups from the Amazon Propose Creation of Largest Protected Area on Earth When news of unprecedented wildfires in the Amazon grabbed headlines in late August, most Americans were ill-prepared to understand the story, in part because of the systemic exclusion of indigenous voices and viewpoints, highlighted in Project Censored’s No. 3 story — the proposed creation of an Amazonian-protected zone the size of Mexico, presented to the UN Biodiversity Conference in November 2018.

The proposal, which is described as “a 200m-hectare sanctuary for people, wildlife and climate stability that would stretch across borders from the Andes to the Atlantic,” was advanced by an alliance of some 500 indigenous groups from nine countries, known as COICA — the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin, who called it, “a sacred corridor of life and culture.”

“We have come from the forest and we worry about what is happening,” declared Tuntiak Katan, vice president of COICA, as quoted in The Guardian. “This space is the world’s last great sanctuary for biodiversity. It is there because we are there. Other places have been destroyed.”

The Guardian went on to note: “The organisation does not recognise national boundaries, which were put in place by colonial settlers and their descendants without the consent of indigenous people who have lived in the Amazon for millennia. Katan said the group was willing to talk to anyone who was ready to protect not just biodiversity but the territorial rights of forest communities.”

In contrast, The Guardian explained: “Colombia previously outlined a similar triple-A (Andes, Amazon and Atlantic) protection project that it planned to put forward with the support of Ecuador at next month’s climate talks. But the election of new rightwing leaders in Colombia and Brazil has thrown into doubt what would have been a major contribution by South American nations to reduce emissions.”

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Car toon by Khalil Bendib

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Car toon by Khalil Bendib

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U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Set to Unleash 120 Billion Tons of New Carbon Emissions Three months after the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that we have just 12 years to limit catastrophic climate change, Oil Change International released a report that went virtually ignored, warning that the United States was headed in exactly the wrong direction.

The report, Drilling Towards Disaster, warned that rather than cutting down carbon emissions, as required to avert catastrophe, the United States under Donald Trump was dramatically increasing fossil fuel production, with the United States on target to account for 60 percent of increased carbon emissions worldwide by 2030, expanding extraction at least four times more than any other country.

References to the report “have been limited to independent media outlets,” Project Censored notes. “Corporate news outlets have not reported on the report’s release or its findings, including its prediction of 120 billion tons of new carbon pollution or its five-point checklist to overhaul fossil fuel production in the U.S.”

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Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Sex Trafficking Criminalized for Self-Defense On Jan. 7, outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown, who had been sentenced to life in prison in 2004 at age 16 for killing a man who bought her for sex and raped her.

Brown’s case gained prominence via the support of A-list celebrities and Haslam cited “the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.” But despite public impressions, Brown’s case was far from unique.

“There are thousands of Cyntoia Browns in prison,” organizer Mariame Kaba, cofounder of Survived and Punished, told Democracy Now! the next day. “We should really pay attention to the fact that we should be fighting for all of those to be free.

When you look at women’s prisons, the overwhelming majority, up to 90 percent of the people in there, have had histories of sexual and physical violence prior to ending up in prison.”

Project Censored wrote, “In contrast to the spate of news coverage from establishment outlets, which focused on Brown’s biography and the details of her case, independent news organizations, including The Guardian, Democracy Now!, Rolling Stone and Mother Jones, stood out for reporting that cases like Brown’s are all too common.”

Later in January, Kellie C. Murphy’s Rolling Stone story quoted Alisa Bierria, another Survived and Punished cofounder, and highlighted several other cases prominent in alternative media coverage. In May, Mother Jones reported on the legislative progress that Survived and Punished and its allies had achieved in advancing state and federal legislation.

“Corporate news organizations provided considerable coverage of Cyntoia Brown’s clemency,” Project Censored noted.

“However, many of these reports treated Brown’s case in isolation, emphasizing her biography or the advocacy on her behalf by celebrities such as Rihanna, Drake, LeBron James, and Kim Kardashian West.”

It went on to cite examples from The New York Times and NBC News that did take a broader view, but failed to focus on sex trafficking or sexual violence.

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Modern Slavery in the United States, Around the World An estimated 403,000 people in the United were living in conditions of “modern slavery” in 2016, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, or GSI, about 1 percent of the global total. The GSI defines “modern slavery” broadly to include forced labor and forced marriage.

Because forced marriage accounts for 15 million people, more than a third of the global total, it’s not surprising that females form a majority of the victims (71 percent).

The highest levels were found in North Korea, where an estimated 2.6 million people — 10 percent of the population — are victims of modern slavery.

The GSI is produced by the Walk Free Foundation, whose founder, Andrew Forrest, called the U.S. figure, “a truly staggering statistic, (which) is only possible through a tolerance of exploitation.”

“Walk Free’s methodology includes extrapolation using national surveys, databases of information of those who were assisted in trafficking cases, and reports from other agencies like the UN’s International Labour Organization,” explained The Guardian.

There are problems with this, according to others working in the field, The Guardian noted. There’s no universal legal definition, and tabulation difficulties abound.

But the GSI addresses this as an issue for governments to work on and offers specific proposals.

“The GSI noted that forced labor occurred ‘in many contexts’ in the U.S., including in agriculture, among traveling sales crews, and — as recent legal cases against GEO Group, Inc. have revealed — as the result of compulsory prison labor in privately owned and operated detention facilities contracted by the Department of Homeland Security,” Project Censored notes.

Newly restrictive immigration policies have further increased the vulnerability of undocumented persons and migrants to modern slavery.

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Flawed Investigations of Sexual Assaults in Children’s Immigrant Shelters “Over the past six months, ProPublica has gathered hundreds of police reports detailing allegations of sexual assaults in immigrant children’s shelters,” ProPublica reported in December 2018. “(The shelters) have received $4.5 billion for housing and other services since the surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America in 2014 (and the reports reveal that) both staff and other residents sometimes acted as predators.”

“Again and again, the reports show, the police were quickly — and with little investigation — closing the cases, often within days, or even hours,” ProPublica stated.

In the case of Alex, a 13-year-old from Honduras used to highlight systemic problems, the police investigation lasted 72 minutes, and resulted in a three-sentence report. There was surveillance video showing two older teenagers grabbing him, throwing him to the floor and dragging him into a bedroom. But ProPublica reported, “An examination of Alex’s case shows that almost every agency charged with helping Alex — with finding out the full extent of what happened in that room — had instead failed him.”

“Because immigrant children in detention are frequently moved, even when an investigator wanted to pursue a case, the child could be moved out of the investigating agency’s jurisdiction in a just few weeks, often without warning,” Project Censored noted. “When children are released, parents or relatives may be reluctant to seek justice, avoiding contact with law enforcement because they are undocumented or living with someone who is.”

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US Women Face Prison Sentences for Miscarriages “There has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions, candidate Donald Trump said in early 2016, which led to a wave of denials from anti-abortion activists and politicians, who claimed it was not their position. These women were victims, too, they argued: That had always been their position. But that wasn’t true, as Rewire News reported at the time. Women were already in prison, not for abortions, but for miscarriages alleged to be covert abortions. And that could become much more widespread due to actions taken by the Trump Administration, according to a 2019 Ms. Magazine blog post by Naomi Randolph on the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, especially if the decision is overturned.

“Pregnant women could face a higher risk of criminal charges for miscarriages or stillbirths, due to lawmakers in numerous states enacting laws that recognize fetuses as people, separate from the mother,” Project Censored explained. “One example that Randolph provided is in Alabama, where voters recently passed a measure that endows (fetuses) with ‘personhood’ rights for the first time, potentially making any action that impacts a fetus a criminal behavior with potential for prosecution.”

Collectively, these laws have resulted in hundreds of American women facing prosecution for the outcome of their pregnancies.

In fact, a 2015 joint ProPublica/AL.com investigation found that “at least 479 new and expecting mothers have been prosecuted across Alabama since 2006” under an earlier child endangerment law passed with methlab explosions in mind. The “personhood movement” got repurposed to target stillbirths, miscarriages and suspected self-abortions.

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Developing Countries’ Medical Needs Unfulfilled by Big Pharma “The world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms have failed to develop two-thirds of the 139 urgently needed treatments in developing countries,” Julia Kollewe reported for The Guardian in November 2018, according to a report by the Access to Medicine Foundation, which “found that most firms focus on infectious diseases such as HIV/ Aids, malaria and tuberculosis but had failed to focus on other serious ailments…

In particular, the foundation called for an infants’ vaccine for cholera and a singledose oral cure for syphilis.”

It’s not all bad news.

“The foundation’s report also highlighted 45 best and innovative practices that could ‘help raise the level of standard practice’ and ‘achieve greater access to medicine,’” Project Censored noted.

“The report highlights examples such as the development of a child-friendly chewable tablet for roundworm and whipworm, which infect an estimated 795 million people,” The Guardian reported. “Johnson & Johnson has pledged to donate 200m doses a year until 2020.”

The possibilities underscore why attention is vital.

Attention makes a difference, Project Censored pointed out: “In an effort to mobilize investors to pressure pharmaceutical companies to make more medicines available to developing countries, the foundation presented the findings of its reports to 81 global investors at events in London, New York, and Tokyo. As of April 2019, Access to Medicine reported that, since the release of the 2018 Access to Medicine Index in November 2018, 90 major investors had pledged support of its research and signed its investor statement.”

But attention has been sorely lacking in the corporate media. “With the exception of a November 2018 article by Reuters, news of the Access to Medicine Index’s findings appear to have gone unreported in the corporate press,” Project Censored concluded.

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Pentagon Aims to Surveil Social Media to Predict Domestic Protests “The United States government is accelerating efforts to monitor social media to preempt major anti-government protests in the U.S.,” Nafeez Ahmed reported for Motherboard in October 2018, drawing on “scientific research, official government documents, and patent filings.” Specifically, “The social media posts of American citizens who don’t like President Donald Trump are the focus of the latest U.S. military-funded research,” which in turn “is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to consolidate the U.S. military’s role and influence on domestic intelligence.”

The Pentagon had previously funded Big Data research into predicting mass population behavior, “specifically the outbreak of conflict, terrorism, and civil unrest,” especially in the wake of the Arab Spring, via a program known as “Embers.”

But such attention wasn’t solely focused abroad, Ahmed noted, calling attention to a U.S. Army-backed study on civil unrest within the U.S. homeland titled “Social Network Structure as a Predictor of Social Behavior: The Case of Protest in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.”

Ahmed discussed two specific patents which contribute to “a sophisticated technology suite capable of locating the ‘home’ position of users to within 10 kilometers for millions of Twitter accounts, and predicting thousands of incidents of civil unrest from micro-blogging streams on Tumblr.”

Project Censored made no mention of any coverage of this story by the corporate media.

Read the full Project Censored report and learn more at projectcensored.org.

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STUFF TO DO

WEDNESDAY 08

ONSTAGE: The Lion King Feel the love tonight with the Broadway-adaptation of Disney’s ever-popular animated (and now live action) film The Lion King.

More than 100 million people around the globe have viewed the six-time Tony Award-winning musical and the phenomenon returns to the Aronoff Center. Vibrant and lush with life, fans of the movie will recognize the music from Elton John and Tim Rice that made it a classic. The show might just leave you feeling worry-free. Or, as Timon and Pumbaa would say, “Hakuna matata.” Times vary.

Jan. 8-Feb. 2. Ticket prices start at $29. Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinnatiarts.org.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

EVENT: Saturday Night Live Trivia Night Live from New York! Since 1975, Saturday Night Live has featured a slew of nowfamous comedians including Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Chris Rock, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler and many, many more, as well

Taft House Party PHOTO: PROVIDED B Y TA F T M U S E U M

as a wide range of celebrity guest hosts (Adam Driver returns Jan. 25 as SNL’s first host of 2020). Put your knowledge of the show to the test at Rhinegeist’s SNL trivia night, which has decades of info to pull from. Teams can be up to six people and, if you win, you might just score a prize. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8. Free. Rhinegeist, 1910 Elm St., Over-theRhine, rhinegeist.com.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

THURSDAY 09

EVENT: Taft House Party: ’90s Game Night It’s time for a #ThrowbackThursday as 1990s mania takes over the Taft Museum’s House Party. Get competitive with a selection of The Play Library’s curated board game collection, as well as What Do You Meme: Taft Edition and a Last Call Trivia competition (with prizes) from 7-8 p.m. Reminisce to TLC and the Backstreet Boys with DJ Nill and craft a

plastic, Lisa Frank-inspired Perler Bead creation worthy of any JanSport backpack. A cash bar with spiked hot chocolate and pizza from Mikey’s Late Night Slice will be available for purchase. Guests can also check out Journey to Freedom: Art Quilts by Cynthia Lockhart and The Poetry of Nature: Hudson River School Landscapes from the New-York Historical Society. 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9. Free admission. Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Downtown, taftmuseum.org.

—MORGAN ZUMBIEL MUSIC: Jason Ringenberg Long before terms like AltCountry, Roots Rock and Americana were used for established genres — heck, even before “Alternative” had entered the musical lexicon — Jason Ringenberg was blazing trails with his red-hot Cowpunk band Jason and the Scorchers. An influential act that received a lifetime achievement award in 2008

from the Americana Music Association, the Scorchers burned bright throughout the ’80s and ’90s, before Ringenberg threw himself into a solo career at the turn of the century. He also started a fun side-hustle that would become a fruitful main gig: Using the pseudonym Farmer Jason, Ringenberg’s children’s music project became highly successful, producing four albums and a series of interstitial videos that aired on PBS stations and earned several Emmy nominations. Ringenberg made his triumphant return to the grown-up music world last year with Stand Tall, his first solo album since 2004. The album was the result of an “artist-inresidence” program with the National Park Service; his time spent in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California sparked a wealth of new material. The album’s deft mix of Country and Rock and Ringenberg’s inspired songwriting made Stand Tall a triumphant

return to form. Country Standard Time said the album “incorporates most everything Ringenberg has stood for” and “recaptures Ringenberg’s fire-brand approach to rockin’ country punk.” 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9. $18; $20 day of show.

Southgate House Revival, 111 E. Sixth St., Newport, southgatehouse.com.

— MIKE BREEN

FRIDAY 10

EVENT: Cavalcade of Customs The Cavalcade of Customs has been showcasing custom cars, hotrods, motorcycles and trucks for auto enthusiasts in Greater Cincinnati (both casual and hardcore) for 60 years now.

The popular, family-friendly car-con returns to the Duke Energy Convention Center this year with its usual mix of automotive coolness and pop culture figures. Officially dubbed the “KOI Federated Auto Parts Cavalcade of Customs presented by Maxmotive,” the 60th-annual

event will feature displays spotlighting Sprint racing and drag racing cars from throughout time, Rockabilly bands, a “pin-up girl” contest and a “pedal car challenge.”

Celebrities attending this year for meet-and-greets/ autograph signings include NASCAR star Kyle Busch, WWE star Seth Rollins and custom car builder and Discovery Channel favorite Aaron Kaufman. Visit autorama.com for the full signing schedule. 3-10 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 10; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12. $19. Duke Energy Convention Center, 525 Elm St., Downtown, autorama.com.

— MIKE BREEN EVENT: Wolf Moon Walk Head to the Cincinnati Nature Center after hours for a special guided hike backdropped by the Wolf Moon, aka the first full moon of 2020. Named after howling wolves, of which there are many in January CONTINUES ON PAGE 22

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FILM: Vision Quest 2020 is here. To celebrate, the Esquire Theatre is kicking off their 2020 VISION series with the 1985 coming-of-age flick Vision Quest. Starring Matthew Modine, it hones in on a high school wrestler who, upon turning 18, decides he wants to do something greater with his life. He sets out on a lofty goal without the support of his coach or father. But when he meets an older woman, Carla, he begins to lose sight of his aspirations. Directed by Harold Becker, it’s also the first film to feature a Madonna cameo. The other two films in the VISION series are 1978’s Eyes of Laura Mars (screening Jan. 16) and 1993’s Blink (Jan. 21). 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8. $7.75 senior/child tickets; $10.25 adult. Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, esquiretheatre.com.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

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SATURDAY 11

EVENT: Second Saturday Art Walk Cincinnati is no stranger to an art walk, and perhaps no artistic endeavors are better deserving of the city’s attention than those in the rising scene in Camp Washington. Hop on over and get to know the neighborhood through the eyes of those who live, work and thrive there, from the American Sign Museum and CampSITE Sculpture Park to Sunny Blu Coffeehouse and Mom ‘n ‘em. Finish the day at The Welcome Project for an opening exhibition from featured artist Keer Xu. With a focus on printmaking, watercolor and drawing, Xu highlights relationships between human beings, technology and nature and interprets Chinese philosophical traditions of humanity’s fundamental harmony with nature “in a creepy and cute way.” 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11. Free. The Welcome Project, 2936 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, welcomecincinnati.org. — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

times” by famed writer Jack Kerouac, the concert will unfold at Memorial Hall. 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12. $25$35. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, vaecinci.com.

—MACKENZIE MANLEY

MONDAY 13

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

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(it’s breeding season!), the walks in Milford’s Rowe Woods generally run for around an hour and a half.

They avoid hills, steps and streams to ensure safety. As you stroll, expect periodic stops to learn about natural history, engage in special readings or simply to enjoy the light of the full moon.

7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10. $5 members; $10 nonmembers. Rowe Woods, 4949 Tealtown Road, Milford, cincynature.org.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

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COMEDY: Chad Daniels “I like the winter; I like playing in the snow and doing all that stuff,” says comedian and Minnesotan Chad Daniels. “But I have to tell you, this past winter, with the 30-below days and a foot of snow every other day — that was a bit much.” Fortunately, Daniels can escape to other parts of the country. “I split custody of my 15-year-old daughter, so I’m home as much as I can be,” he says, “but if I have to take her with me on the road, she loves it.”

Last year, Daniels did a run through the South, allowing him and his daughter to see the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated (now the Civil Rights Museum), as well as MLK’s birthplace in Atlanta. “We went through Alabama and it turned into a civil rights trail. Very cool,” he says.

Onstage, Daniels talks about

being a divorced dad, having a daughter going through puberty and also having a son in college. His one-hour special, Dad Chaniels, is on Amazon Prime. 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11. $22.

Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, gobananascomedy.com.

— P.F. WILSON

SATURDAY 11

FILM: Little Women (1933) Greta Gerwig’s recently released and vibrant retelling of Little Women has garnered much Oscar talk, so it’s fitting that the 1933 Academy Award-winning film of the same name would get yanked out of the vault for the Esquire Theatre’s January series of classic Oscar winners. Based on Louisa May Alcott’s famed novel, this iteration stars Katharine Hepburn as the fiery Jo March. Weaving the tale of the March sisters, who come of age in New England during the Civil War, it’s a story of sisterhood and the inner lives of women in the 19th-century.

Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for their work on the film. 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11; 2 and 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13. $7.75-$10.25. Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, esquiretheatre.com.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY VISUAL ART: Leap Year Cake Farm

2020 marks a leap-year. Art gallery Thunder-Sky opens their first show of their 11th season commemorating that very detail. Mass media works by several artists including Sharon Butler, Bill Ross, Jeremy Johnson, Jan Nickum, Katherine Michael, Jim Damico, John Ross, Jen Edwards, Jessica Wolf, Sara Caswell-Pearce, Kenton Brett, Emily Brandenhoff and Laurel Tope will be featured, celebrating leapyear birthdays “with ‘cake’ at the center,” the event’s Facebook page states.

Opening reception 6-10 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 11. Through Feb. 29. Free. Thunder-Sky, Inc., 4573 Hamilton Ave., Northside, raymondthundersky.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

SUNDAY 12

CLASSICAL: Kile Smith: The Arc in the Sky Currently celebrating their 40th anniversary season, Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble will peer beyond the horizon with composer Kile Smith, who returns after his much-praised work Canticle — a piece that was commissioned and premiered by the VAE in 2016 and released as an album in January 2018.

The Arc in the Sky will get its Queen City premiere by the VAE with conductor Craig Hella Johnson at the helm. Based on the work of American poet Robert Lax, who was named one of “the great original voices of our

EVENT: Who’s Shaping the Future of the City?

As philanthropic lab/ experiment People’s Liberty wrapped up its fifth and final year in Cincinnati, it helped usher in two entities with a similar ethos: In Our Backyards and the Urban Consulate. The latter will find a home at The Mercantile Library, where the organization will host community-oriented conversations aimed at bringing people together to share ideas to better our city. Get in on the discussion at the Urban Consulate’s first parlor talk, “Who’s shaping the future of the city?” Gee Horton and Naimah Bilal of the University of Cincinnati will host alongside the American Red Cross of Greater Cincinnati’s Stephanie Byrd.

6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13.

Free. Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St., Downtown, urbanconsulate.com.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

TUESDAY 14

FILM: Varda by Agnès FotoFocus kicks off their Second Screens series — which will bring film screenings to different venues across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky every second Tuesday of each month in 2020 — with the Cincinnati premiere of Agnès Varda’s final film, 2019’s Varda by Agnès, “a personal and whimsical look back at the director’s prolific career.”

Of the film, Varda said its

mission was to “give keys to my body of work. I give my own keys, my thoughts, nothing pretentious, just keys.” In exploring her career as a filmmaker and photographer, the work touches not only on filmmaking, but also weaves in themes of feminism and aging. She first developed her work and style during the French New Wave with films such as 1962’s Clèo from 5 to 7 and, most recently, collaborated with the artist JR in 2017 on Faces Places.

7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Free. Woodward Theater, 1404 Main St., Overthe-Rhine, fotofocus.org.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

WEDNESDAY 15

EVENT: Science on Tap: Beekeeping Catch the buzz on beekeeping at Urban Artifact, as hosted by Science on Tap, a monthly event spearheaded by March for Science Cincinnati that brings working scientists to pubs across the city. This month, local business Bee Haven Honey will discuss the pollinators’ importance and their various hives — some of which are tucked in the countryside of Clermont County, while others call neighborhoods within the Queen City home. Learn about the inner workings of these fascinating creatures — and the people who keep them — while sipping on a brew. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Free. Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock St., Northside, marchforsciencecincinnati. com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

THURSDAY 16

EVENT: Women’s March Sign-Making Workshop Raised fists. Lady Liberty.

Pink uteruses. These are

some of the symbols that dominated protest signs in over 700 women’s marches worldwide the day after President Trump’s inauguration in 2017. Organize with fellow change-makers ahead of this year’s Cincinnati Women’s March with a sign-making workshop at the Kennedy Heights Art Center. KHAC will provide craft supplies like markers, glue, paint, tape, scissors and fabric scraps — just bring your own cardboard, poster, foam board or other signage material. Signmakers can also visit the gallery’s new exhibition REVOLUTIONARY: Being American Today, which explores “the notion of citizenship and its definitions through personal and community-based stories.”

Whether you plan on painting a powerful slogan or a clever caricature of a certain politician, don’t leave home without a sense of creativity and perseverance.

6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

Free. Kennedy Heights Art Center, 6546 Montgomery Road, Kennedy Heights, facebook.com/UWSCincy.

— MORGAN ZUMBIEL COMEDY: Murray Valeriano A lot of comics pick up TV-writing gigs after they’ve been doing stand-up for a while. For Murray Valeriano, it was the opposite. “I was doing a weekly show at a comedy club with my two partners,” he says. “It was a mix of stand-up, sketch and improv.” The trio got a pilot deal from that, but it didn’t go anywhere. The production company hired Valeriano for another show, though, and it was around that time he started doing stand-up. It’s been a career trajectory similar to the late,

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great Garry Shandling’s.

“The only nice thing Mitzi Shore, the late owner of the Comedy Store, ever said to me was, ‘You’re a good writer. You remind me of Garry Shandling.’ Of course she was 112 when she said that. She probably thought she was talking to her cat.”

Valeriano also hosts the podcast Road Stories and is a rotating co-host of the Rock Solid music podcast.

Showtimes ThursdaySunday, Jan. 16-19. $8-$14.

Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, gobananascomedy.com.

— P.F. WILSON

SATURDAY 18

its world premiere at the anniversary concert and conductor Louis Langrée will summon “gigantic orchestral forces” for the CSO-commissioned Collider, a work by Daniel Bjarnason.

Attendees can also expect performances of Ysaÿe’s Exil! and Duke Ellington’s New World A-Comin’.

Pianists Aaron Diehl and Vadym Kholodenko will perform, as well as the CSO Youth Orchestra and the May Festival Chorus.

8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19. $14-$130. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cincinnatisymphony.org.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY EVENT: Onesie Bar Crawl If New Year’s Eve was for dressing to the nines in glitter and Roaring Twenties party favors, then what is

ER

BREW

Jan. 18 for? Decking out in pseudo-pajamas and rolling up to Over-the-Rhine destinations for “the comfiest party of the year,” apparently.

Dress in your coziest onesie and enjoy drink and food specials at bars like 16-Bit Bar+Arcade, Holiday Spirits, MOTR Pub, Mr. Pitiful’s and more. 4 p.m.- midnight Saturday, Jan. 18. Free with promo code; follow event instructions. Check in at Below Zero Lounge, 1120 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine, facebook.com/crawlwithus.

— MORGAN ZUMBIEL EVENT: Remus Revival Jan. 20 marks 68 years since the death of Germanborn, Cincinnati-based criminal defense lawyer George Remus and several area revelers will be joining together to raise a glass CONTINUES ON PAGE 24

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CLASSICAL: CSO’s 125 Anniversary Concert Celebrate the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s 125th year at their special anniversary concert, which will feature both new and classic works. The sounds of George Gershwin, who performed with the CSO in 1929, will return via a special performance of Rhapsody in Blue recorded for player piano. Also on deck is Scriabin’s Symphony No. 5.

Based on the creation myth of Prometheus, the piece imagines a new instrument — a light organ. Through a video by Tal Rosner, the fictitious instrument will be given life. The composer experienced synesthesia, a condition in which one sense is perceived simultaneously as another; in his case, sound allegedly caused him to hallucinate color. William Winstead’s CSO-commissioned Passages in Time will get

FRIDAY 17

SPORTS: Cincinnati Cyclones Marvel Weekend Beyond the (ingenious) $1 beer nights, the Cincinnati Cyclones have always done a great job of drawing in fans by mixing the on-ice hockey action with various themed promotions that make the games fun for the entire family.

This year already, the ’Clones have hosted games themed around things like Batman, Star Wars, Disney princesses and the WWE. For the team’s second homestand of 2020, young (and young at heart) fans can meet some of their favorite superheroes during Marvel Weekend. For those not in the know, the Marvel comics universe includes the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Black Panther, though it’s unclear which heroes will be on hand for the Friday and Saturday night games. The Cyclones play the Fort Wayne Komets on Jan. 17 and the Rapid City Rush on Jan. 18. Special ticket packages include Cyclones/Marvel posters and the players will be sporting special jerseys during the game that will be auctioned off.

7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 and 18. $18-$30.

Heritage Bank Center, 100 Broadway St., Downtown, heritagebankcenter.com. — MIKE BREEN

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SATURDAY 18

EVENT: Cincinnati Women’s March Cincinnati will once again join other cities across the country in hosting a women’s march protesting gender-based inequities and promoting progressive causes related to issues like economic justice and environmental stewardship. After remarks from local activists and leaders, a one-mile march will wind through downtown. After the march, more speakers will address attendees. The event will include a performance by progressive choir MUSE, information tables for various nonprofits and activist groups, plus food trucks. The original Women’s March was held in January 2017 in Washington, D.C. to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has received heated criticism for his remarks about women, including some seeming to condone sexual assault. Local organizers helped put together a Cincinnati iteration of the march that year and in 2018. Both of those events drew roughly 14,000 people, organizers say. Noon-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18. Free. Sawyer Point, 705 E. Pete Rose Way, Downtown. — NICK SWARTSELL

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in his honor. As a lawyer, Remus was considered a pioneer in the use of the “by reason of insanity” defense, but that’s not why he’s being toasted. Remus was better known as “the King of the Bootleggers” thanks to his role in keeping booze flowing during Prohibition in the 1920s. Remus used his sharp legal mind to exploit loopholes in the law banning alcohol sales and consumption — namely the one that allowed liquor to be used for medicinal purposes. He moved to Cincinnati in 1920 because it was centrally located near distilleries and pharmacies that manufactured and sold bonded whiskey; Remus bought those companies, then sold the supply illegally, amassing a vast fortune in the process. The Remus Revival is an annual party presented with help from Lawrenceburg, Indianabased George Remus Bourbon that features an exploration of Remus’ bootlegging exploits, light bites from Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey, plenty

of Remus-themed cocktails, dancing and more. There’s a 1920s theme (logically), so attendees are encouraged to dress accordingly. 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18. $10. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, memorialhallotr.com.

— MIKE BREEN

SUNDAY 19

EVENT: Art on Vine A craft market mingles with craft beer at Art on Vine’s indoor winter market beneath the vaulted ceiling of Rhinegeist’s Over-theRhine taproom. Once a small college project, shoppers can now browse the wares of up to 70 local artists, crafters and creators peddling fine arts and handmade goods while sipping on something sudsy.

Noon- 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19. Free. Rhinegeist, 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, artonvinecincy.com — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

MONDAY 20

EVENT: MLK Day 2020 at the Freedom Center Martin Luther King Day kicks off at the National

Underground Railroad Freedom Center with the sold-out King Legacy Awards Breakfast in the grand hall. The keynote speaker is businesswoman Betty Daniels Rosemond, a Freedom Rider during the 1960s who advocated and fought for equality. (The Freedom Riders consisted of African-American and white civil rights workers who rode buses in the South in protest of segregation and the Supreme Court’s lack of enforcement, despite having ruled segregated buses illegal.) Other special events include a coalition march, which will start at 10:30 a.m. outside of the Freedom Center, and film screenings at 1 and 3 p.m. of True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality. The annual blood drive will run from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and a mobile mammography bus will be located in front of the center from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Freedom Center will be free and open to the public from noon-5 p.m. For an additional $5, visitors can check out the Rosa Parks Experience or Motel X exhibitions. Monday,

BECOME A CULINARY TOURIST IN YOUR OWN CITY! PHOTO: JOHN SHEARER

SATURDAY 18

MUSIC: Morgan Wallen Rising Country star Morgan Wallen’s “Whiskey Glasses Roadshow” tour finds the singer getting back to headlining for the first time in a while after working the circuit as an opening act.

The tour comes on the heels of Wallen’s summertime stint touring with Florida Georgia Line, as well as his latest No. 1 Country hit, “Whiskey Glasses.” Nominated for a 2019 New Artist of the Year CMA, the Tennessee native also found success last year with two very different songs — the EDM-tinged “Heartless” (with Diplo) and “Cover Me Up,” a cover of a popular Jason Isbell tune. Wallen capped off the biggest year of his career by surprise-releasing the reflective new single, “This Bar,” in late December. 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18. $35-$65. Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown, tafttheatre.org. — MIKE BREEN

Jan. 20. Free. Freedom Center, 50 E. Freedom Way, Downtown, freedomcenter.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

EVENT: Taco Bingo The Overlook Lodge may be best known for its foundational tribute to Stephen King’s horror classic The Shining, but on Mondays

TUESDAY 21

MUSIC: Yola British singer/songwriter Yola has been deemed the “Queen of Country Soul” and she’s been attracting more and more subjects to her kingdom — sorry, queendom — since the release of her widely acclaimed debut album, Walk Through Fire.

Produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, the album was released last February

through Easy Eye Records (Auerbach’s Nonesuch Records-distributed imprint) and it instantly became a critical darling, with glowing reviews from Rolling Stone, NPR Music, The New York Times and many other major outlets. A gifted blender of elements of Country, Soul and Rock sounds, Yola has been turning heads on the road of late as well, popping up for shows with the Americana supergroup The Highwomen (Brandi Carlile says she’s an honorary member of the band) and opening arena concerts overseas for Greta Van Fleet. Yola will be joined at the Taft Theatre by special guest Amythyst Kiah. “She has an incredible voice and her songs are next level — she is gonna blow you all away,” Yola said of Kiah in the tour announcement press release. 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 21. $20; $25 day of show. Taft Theatre Ballroom, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown, tafttheatre.org.

— MIKE BREEN

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EVENT: Pursuing His Dream: MLK Day at the Cincinnati Museum Center The Cincinnati Museum Center will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by “Pursuing His Dream,” a day of musical performances, vendors and lectures celebrating the iconic civil rights leader and activist. Activities include black history trivia, storytelling with Omope Carter Daboiku, a D.R.U.M.S. percussion performance and workshop and more. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 20. Free for members; included with Discover Pass, $5.50-$14.50; free kids under 1. Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate, cincymuseum.org.

— MACKENZIE MANLEY

they leave the heebiejeebies behind and make it all about the bingo. If the hype of competition and pure adrenaline rush that comes with stamping off yet another space on your bingo card aren’t quite enough to thrill you on their own, your friendly barkeep will gift you a free taco with your first drink purchase so you can “leave all your worries behind.” 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20. Overlook Lodge, 6083 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge, thatshiningbar.com — MORGAN ZUMBIEL

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Retro/ACTIVE Dayton Contemporary Dance Company February 21-22, 2020 ARONOFF CENTER JARSON-KAPLAN THEATER Tickets: CincinnatiArts.org, 513.621.2787, Aronoff Center Ticket Office

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ARTS & CULTURE

Downbound and Determined Northside’s Downbound Books strives to recapture the community spirit of independent neighborhood bookstores

BY S E A N M . PE T ER S

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Downbound Books PHOTO: BILL BOGENSCHUTZ

Comet, which has a bit more space to accommodate crowds (plus a full bar).

Walk inside the store and there’s a table of featured releases directly facing the door. This serves as a centerpiece to two walls stacked with books. There are not as many sections separated by genre as you might see in other similarly sized shops, but that’s intentional.

“I was not going to have a section for everything and I didn’t want to be one of those small stores that tries to have everything and ends up with a five-book art section and a five-book business section,” Kornbluh says. “What we’ve done here, for a lot of things, is mash them together. I have a big non-fiction section: history is in there, philosophy, business is in there.

It forces people to see stuff they might not have been looking for.”

The curation is why Downbound Books is a good place for readers interested in diversifying their reading material.

Everything comes vetted to earn some of the limited shelf space. Kornbluh credits his friend and employee Sarah Fischer, who helped curate the cookbooks and children’s books, as having had a very big hand in how the store looks.

When asked what his customers read the most, Kornbluh disclosed the two top sellers in his first months of business are

both about Cincinnati: The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott, a recent addition to The New York Times bestseller list, and Six Days in Cincinnati: A Graphic Account of the Riots That Shook the Nation a Decade Before Black Lives Matter by Dan Méndez Moore, a 2017 reprint of a graphic novel originally published in 2012 under the title Mark Twain Was Right: The 2001 Cincinnati Riots.

Downbound Books also offers crafts, stationery and novelty items from locals like Paper Acorn, Cryptogram Ink and Volcano Goods, with more to come. Kornbluh wants to feature local artists that fit the store’s identity and he’s been pleased with the response so far.

There are also plans to include audiobooks on the store’s website, which will enable digital downloads. While audiobooks are not a new concept, their popularity is at a cultural highpoint and it’s common sense for a modern store to offer them, even if they only account for a fraction of the sales of traditional books.

“I listen to things differently than I read them. When someone asks me if I’ve read something in the store and I listened to it instead of read it, I always say that because I do think it’s a different experience,”

Kornbluh says. “I like to listen memoirs because it’s almost always read by the author; it’s a different experience when someone is telling their own story.”

A great bookstore, Kornbluh says, not only serves a community, but creates a community around it.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had neighborhood bookstores everywhere,” Kornbluh says. “I think people don’t even remember what it’s like and what I’m hoping to do is remind people that books, literacy, reading and writing can bring people together.”

Through books, he notes that you can discover points of view, ideas and stories that you didn’t even know you were missing. He adds that Cincinnati’s literary scene is a strong one.

“The writing program at UC (University of Cincinnati) is terrific, they have a lot of writers that are affiliated with it as teaching faculty, but then they’re producing lots of writers,” Kornbluh says. “Joseph-Beth is wonderful, the Mercantile Library is wonderful, Blue Manatee Literacy Project is really great. There is a strong community here.”

For more on Downbound Books (4139 Apple Street, Northside), visit downboundbooks.com or call 513-541-1394.

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ant to buy a book? You have more options today than ever before.

Our species’ collective oeuvre of written works has increased exponentially since the dawn of recorded history, with more being created and published every day. Between online shopping and a bevy of large chain retailers with massive inventories, it can be hard to make up your mind on what to read and where to buy.

That’s why an independent bookstore like Downbound Books is so important in this age of overwhelming information: think “less is more,” with an abundance of thoughtful variety.

Opened Oct. 25 in Northside, Downbound Books is the newest addition to Cincinnati’s community of independently owned bookstores. A Cincinnati native, owner Gregory Kornbluh recently returned from a 13-year stint on the East Coast where he worked as a bookseller at a shop outside Boston and later in sales and marketing for Harvard University Press.

He often traveled for work and along the way he visited many bookstores. In that time, he grew more certain that he wanted a bookstore of his own. There was some consideration for opening one out east, but the time and place didn’t fit his vision.

“It’s hard to be a neighborhood bookstore in the neighborhood that isn’t your neighborhood,” Kornbluh says. “The thing with Cincinnati is I couldn’t really imagine what I would do here other than open a bookstore. I lived in Northside before I left town; Northside is pretty much the only area I seriously considered opening a bookstore.”

Downbound Books occupies the former Park Café building on Apple Street. The building is now owned by Dave Cunningham, who also owns The Comet, another essential Northside destination. Kornbluh, who acknowledges that a lot of nights and money in his younger years were spent at The Comet, considers Cunningham a partner in Downbound Books. There are even plans in the works to host readings sponsored by Downbound Books at The

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FILM

Sitting Down With C. Jacqueline Wood

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On an early December morning at The Mini Microcinema, C. Jacqueline Wood takes a sip of coffee as her dog skitters across the space’s wood floors, later claiming a spot in the theater’s front window, a red-and-white sign that reads “CINEMA” pointing down at her.

The Mini — an experimental film and video hub — was in the process of packing up. Ephemera of past screenings and events laid about, some affixed on a chalkboard above Wood’s desk space.

There were posters, some drawn by local artists, miniature mugs and shelves of film projectors and equipment. It represents over five years of work and, more than that, evidence of deep passion for the community surrounding the nonprofit.

The Mini’s origins can be traced back to 2014. It was then that Wood first began to formulate what would become the cinematheque. Through a $15,000 People’s Liberty Globe Grant, its first iteration opened in summer 2015. It would later live on at Covington’s The Carnegie before coming to Main Street in the fall of 2016. For People’s Liberty — which also helped fund the Main Street location — and for The Carnegie, she says she will be forever grateful.

The closing of their physical space at 1329 Main St. was announced in September of last year, a decision that Wood says took months to reach. Much of the reason for closing, she says, has to do with lack of funding, but resources and time and energy constraints also played a part.

Hope is not lost for fans of The Mini, however. There are talks of a possible film cooperative and pop-up screenings following the closing of the space, though plans are not yet concrete. Of that, Wood says any sort of co-op would be democratically run, allowing many diverse voices to be heard. What she has learned about film curating and programming, she would teach to others.

“There are ideals that I’ve built The Mini with and there’s a reason why they are ideals, because they’re not necessarily possible in the real world,” Wood says of the closing. “And so there was this moment where I was just pretty much in exhaustion and burnout — and burnout is a real thing.

I think I was pretending for years and years that maybe it wasn’t (real) — that I could overcome it — but it really is.”

On the horizon next for Wood, as of this January, is a new job working with nonprofit arts organization FotoFocus.

As announced Dec. 17, Wood has been named their film curator at large, a move that expands FotoFocus’ overall mission

of championing lens-based art. Though the FotoFocus role and The Mini are separate, the former will enable her to continue lending a consistent curatorial voice.

Throughout 2020, she’ll spearhead a FotoFocus series titled Second Screens, an initiative that will bring free film screenings to venues across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky every second Tuesday of each month this year.

According to a press release, its purpose is to “enrich the cineC. Jacqueline Wood matic landscape PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER through public screenings of works that span many years, subjects and genres, including narrative, documentary, avant-garde and animation.”

The Second Screens series kicks off Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Over-the-Rhine’s Woodward Theater with the Cincinnati premiere of 2019’s Varda by Agnès, described as a “personal and whimsical look back” at famed director Agnès Varda prolific career. Future screenings include Terrence Malik’s second feature film, 1978’s Days of Heaven, in February at Cincinnati Museum Center and the HBO documentary United Skates at Rhinegeist in March.

(For each event, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and showtime is 7 p.m.)

“Now that we are moving into our second decade, we are delighted to expand our reach into film with a new curator and new program,” Mary Ellen Goeke, FotoFocus executive director, said in a press release.

“Jacqueline has been an integral part of Cincinnati’s independent film scene and we are grateful to have her insight and expertise on the team.”

In February, FotoFocus, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2020, will

launch an open call for video animators of all skill levels from Greater Cincinnati. The short submissions will be considered for the NSFW (Animations For Adults) event on June 9.

Wood tells me that she’s excited to take on the film curator role. FotoFocus, she said, has been specifically supportive of her and The Mini; as part of 2018’s FotoFocus Biennial event, Wood curated a month-long film series at The Mini called Open Archive, which ran concurrently with the event’s overarching theme. Notably, the film series brought in one of the biggest names that year, filmmaker, artist and writer Miranda July.

As part of her new role, Wood will be traveling to different film festivals — and returning for the Second Screens events — throughout this year to research works to bring to the Queen City.

“I am thrilled to work with FotoFocus and help make their 10th anniversary a true celebration of all lens-based art, including cinema, which is the medium that I have dedicated my career and artistic practice to,” Wood said in a press release.

When asked what the Main Street space

has meant to her, Wood pauses, saying she didn’t know if she could answer without crying.

“Having this home base has meant a lot to me and, I think, the community,” Wood says. “People know that it’s here and they’re going to come back to it. It was always my idea to make it a very warm and inviting space.”

Along with The Mini’s team, she has succeeded in carving out that niche, community-anchored space. Another key player is Peter Van Hyning, who Wood says has been involved almost from the beginning.

A “dedicated and thoughtful right-hand man and programmer,” he has seen much of The Mini’s highs and lows. Other team members include Julian Etienne, Andy Marko, Samantha Drake, Michael Sweeny, Ann Driscoll and Clarity Amrein.

“I would not be who I am today without the opportunity to even dream about The Mini and then start The Mini,” Wood says.

“It’s been pretty incredible.”

Visit fotofocus.org for more on the Second Screens series.

CULTURE

Jazz Giant Benny Golson Comes to Xavier

BY A N N E A R EN S T EI N

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Benny Golson has been playing tenor sax laughs. “But it was very loose, like being in since he was a teenager in Philadelphia — someone’s living room.” and that was 75 years ago.

He is delighted to learn of plans to The legendary performer, composer, restore the King studio building in Evanarranger and educator will soon turn 91, ston, recalling owner Syd Nathan “as if it yet he maintains the energy and enthuwere yesterday. He sat like a judge during siasm of anyone a third his age. So it’s no every session.” surprise that he’s teaming up with 29-yearGolson’s own discography numbers old piano phenom Emmet Cohen and his over 40 recordings as bandleader and as trio for a rare appearance as part of Xavier co-leader (with trumpeter Art Farmer) for University’s Jazz Series on Jan. 17. the famed Jazztet; his catalog of over 300 Despite their 60-year age gap, the two compositions includes scores for TV shows, musicians have much in common. Golson films and commercial jingles, as well as has an extensive discography; Cohen classic Jazz standards like “Blues March,” already has 11 recordings. Both men are “Whisper Not” and “Stablemates.” composers and in addition to busy touring One or more of those classics will be on schedules, they regularly conduct master the Xavier setlist, Golson assures me, along classes for young musicians. with newer material.

“Playing with someone like Emmet Golson has been able to earn respectinspires me,” Golson tells me, speaking able royalties from those standards, thanks from his home in New York. “He shows such imagination in his playing and that’s what we need as performers. He’s very talented and has a lot to say.”

Golson grew up surrounded by a vibrant Jazz community in Philadelphia, a city that fostered the talents of legendary Jazz artists Percy and Jimmy Heath, Stan Getz, Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones and the iconic John Coltrane.

“When Trane and I met, I was 16 and he was Benny Golson 18,” recalls Golson. “He just stood in the door till PHOTO: OLIVER ROSSBERG I asked him to play something, and when he did, he sounded like Duke Ellington’s sax player to being one of the first Jazz musicians to Johnny Hodges.” have his own publishing company. It’s Coltrane and Golson remained friends another instance of Golson’s penchant for and colleagues throughout their lives; he questioning authority. credits their regular jam sessions with “Recording companies would just stick forging his style. their names on the writer’s credit and I After years of thriving on Jazz’s freedom wanted to hold on to my material,” he says. of expression, Golson hit a wall as a music “At first some of the labels were surprised student at Howard University. but they got used to it!”

“They hated to see me coming because Cohen is committed to documenting I challenged everything,” he says with a iconic Jazz masters through his Masters chuckle.

Legacy Series releases, recordings that “One thing in particular they taught was document performances and conversathat, in composing, you had to return to tions with Jazz greats. He recorded with the tonic or base note from the fifth posiGolson earlier this year. tion, no matter what,” he continues, adding As Golson approaches his 91st birthday that he wrote “Killer Joe” years later — a on Jan. 25, he is upbeat about Jazz’s future tune that goes back to the tonic from the and in awe of the newest generation of fourth position. Funny enough, no one’s performers. ever chided that the song “doesn’t come “I listen to them intently, because they back from the fifth position!” represent the future,” he says. “Music Golson dropped out of Howard and moves ahead, like everything else.” didn’t perform for several years, a period Benny Golson and the Emmet Cohen he calls the worst in his life. But in 1951, he Trio perform at Xavier University’s Galmade his first recording at Cincinnati’s lagher Theater (3800 Victory Pkwy, Evanown King Records as part of Bull Moose ston) on Jan. 17. Tickets/more info: xavier.

Jackson’s R&B band. edu/musicseries.

“We had to sing on that recording,” he

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VISUAL ARTS

Hannah Good and the Art of Self-Care

BY N I C O L E B R OW N I N G

Hannah Good incites in her Instagram followers an intriguing juxtaposition of feelings: fierce, unapologetic courage paired with the comfort of being wrapped in a blanket and watching your favorite shows.

Messages she touts include: surround yourself with strong women; you don’t exist to work; nobody remembers the dumb thing you said at the party.

Her Insta, @hannahgoodart — which has over 26,000 followers — is filled with illustrations orbiting one consistent theme: self-care. They range from iterations of pop culture icons — Carrie Fisher with the words, “Stay afraid, but do it anyway” — to gentle reminders to take a break, grab a cup of coffee and keep moving.

February 8–May 3

Hannah Good’s Pep Talk Calendars

Discover one of America’s greatest visual storytellers, N. C. Wyeth, who interpreted many classic novels of fantasy and adventure, including Treasure Island—a swashbuckling tale of buccaneers and buried gold!

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Explore more & get tickets at

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taftmuseum.org + save on admission when you purchase online!

N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives is co-organized by the Brandywine River Museum of Art and the Portland Museum of Art. Exhibition Sponsors Josephine Schell Russell Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Trustee

Season Funder

Operating Support

The Sutphin Family Foundation IMAGE: N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945), Treasure Island, endpaper illustration (detail), 1911, oil on canvas, 32 3/4 × 47 1/8 in.

Brandywine River Museum of Art, purchased in memory of Hope Montgomery Scott, 1997

PHOTO: COURTESY OF HANNAH GOOD

“The act of creation is always just an important part of my identity and my life.

And so anytime that I exercise that kind of discipline is really rewarding and is a form of self-care,” the 22-year-old says. “And then sometimes, not drawing is a form of self care.”

A recent Western Kentucky University English graduate, Good has a warmth that transcends her internet persona — a joyous smile, giddy laugh and an open heart bring sunshine to those who might need a mood boost.

Although she’s often told so, she doesn’t necessarily consider herself a positive person. Much of her self-care-centered artwork is for herself as much as it is for her followers. Often she says the positivity manifested in her art is her “faking it,” an exercise that reminds her to think productively.

A Northern Kentucky native, and recently based in Louisville, she remembers buying notebooks with her dad at the county market in Alexandria before she even knew how to write.

“I just scribbled and drew stuff,” Good says. “The way that I put it is, I knew that

I had things to say, but I didn’t know how yet.”

As a teenager, Good posted her art on Tumblr. Just before her junior year in high school, she was stressed about her summer reading assignments and drew what became her first “Pep Talk.” The most prominent of her illustrations, they depict monthly words of encouragement to her followers.

“It popped off — it got like five digits of notes, which was unheard of in my tiny teen brain,” Good says.

Her followers encouraged her to post a pep talk every month, leading her to make Pep Talk Calendars, which she sells on her Etsy shop. She drew the first calendar by hand for 2015. She’s made six calendars so far, having since moved to digital art. (Her 2020 calendars are now available.)

“My early pep talks were like, ‘No excuses, do your work! What do you think you’re doing?’ And so it was very aggressive, just the language of it was quite abrasive,” Good says. “Now, the tone of my illustrations is so much gentler. It introduces more nuance and balance.

“Know when to slow down. Know when to take breaks. Be kind to yourself.”

Her artwork has also expanded beyond just drawings of herself to include a more diverse, inclusive audience. Good realizes her large Instagram following also comes with a social responsibility.

“I think I got an Instagram DM that was like, ‘Do you ever draw anything other than skinny, white girls?’ And I was like, ‘You’re right,’ ” Good says. “I started to think more about the responsibility of image making, and how just drawing a cis white woman all the time was kind of irresponsible if you have a big audience.”

Good loves welcoming artistic communities and finding common ground with those online and in the real world. When others relate to what she illustrates in a pep talk, she says it speaks to the “commonality of the human experience.”

Her success on Instagram and her journalism pursuits in college — where she served as editor-in-chief of WKU’s Talisman magazine — have led her to a social media and web fellowship at Washingtonian Magazine in Washington, D.C., where she recently moved.

“I think the most important thing is to make stuff that feels honest,” Good says.

“To just speak to the complexities of being a person… but also to realize that the impact of it all is so much bigger than accumulating followers.”

Follow Hannah Good’s art on Instagram or check her stuff out on Etsy (including the 2020 Pep Talk Calendar): @hannahgoodart

TV

Joe Meets His Match in You’s Second Season

BY JAC K ER N

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The internet’s favorite psycho-stalker addict and the western medicine-denying boyfriend is back. The guy viewers knew lesbian to the hypocritical, privilege-laden as Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) in last eco-millionaires. year’s debut season of You (now streaming Solid performances abound, including a on Netflix) is now Will Bettelheim. He’s surprising serious cameo by comedian bro relocated from New York City to Los AngeChris D’Elia. Badgley manages yet again les, the least likely of homes for our jaded, to make viewers feel for and relate to — or bookish Joe/Will. at least be transfixed by — a despicable But that’s the point — to go where no human (Dexter could never). Pedretti is one can find him, especially his ex Cana true breakout, Robin Lord Taylor (the dace (Ambyr Childers), who showed up in real Will Bettelheim) is always a treat and the final moments of Season 1 after being Jenna Ortega, as Will’s new neighbor, is a presumed dead. Will sulks through La La promising young talent.

Land a changed man — at least he hopes to The writing, full of twists and reveals, be, trying to deny his stalker urges and be is amped up this time around. If You was a normal, good person. Do you trust this as dark as its most disturbing moments Will? the whole time, it would be unbearable to He falls into another book-selling job, watch. But comedy is woven in so expertly, and for a refreshing Angeleno aptly named it’s a Beverly Hills thrill. Even Joe would Love (Victoria Pedretti). And while Will approve. may descend into similar problematic patterns of his past, Love is definitely different from his target last season, Beck (Elizabeth Lail).

Joe kind of always despised Beck — their relationship embodied the phrase “hate-fuck.” He really had to dig to mold her into what he wanted her to be. (Which, don’t get me wrong, is all shades of messed up.) It’s all part of Joe’s obsession with control. And while there are certainly aspects of Love that are not ideal, she and Victoria Pedretti (left) and Penn Badgley in the second season of You Will seem to have a PHOTO: BETH DUBBER /NETFLIX genuine connection completely different from Joe’s relationship with Beck.

I do feel a pang of guilt enjoying such But true love — if that’s really what a problematic story and, admittedly and it is — doesn’t prevent our problematic quite frankly, finding Joe/Will kind of… protagonist from getting wrapped up in hot. His behavior represents so much of dangerous situations that end with serious dangerous male culture. But as regrettably consequences and casualties. In some dreamy as he may appear, he’s definitely ways, Will’s a man on the mend; in others, painted as a bad dude. We see him slip up he’s even more frightening than Joe. even more this season, and if he continues After a surprising first season that on his path as a stalker and serial killer, it’s originally premiered on Lifetime, You is only a matter of time before he gets caught. now a Netflix original that has truly found His relationships at their best are a fantasy, its stride. Last season’s language censora fraud, and at worst a death wish. It is ing (hello Cable TV) really interrupted titillating to watch it play out, but nothing the dialogue and the incessant bleeping desirable to experience. didn’t make much sense when consider You exposes how we so often believe the incredibly adult themes and scenes men and vilify women. And in a certain throughout. sense, Joe/Will does get what he deserves.

The move to L.A. is a fun change of So if you want a happy ending for the guy, pace and an interesting foil for Joe/Will, that says more about you than You. who is predictably disgusted by all that is Contact Jac Kern: @jackern quintessentially California. Every cliché is represented, from the poor little rich boy

27 Years of Live Stand-Up Comedy in Cincinnati!

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FILM

Just Mercy Will Make You Wanna Holler

BY T T S T ER N - EN ZI

The book Just Mercy by attorney Bryan Stevenson is the story of a movement, a quiet revolution started by one man with help from some like-minded allies. It plays small, like a buried history (like a lot of American history). In its focus on a quiet man who refuses to rage against the machine — and instead takes one step at a time — it stirs the soul.

The film of the same name, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12), follows the same model. Without a doubt, this is a film full of conviction. For Hollywood, it’s a slam dunk for this particular moment in our political history. The story isn’t trying to be brave in its presentation of racial discrimination; it is content to reveal its facts clearly. To do otherwise would draw attention to the fundamental truth that we are a country founded on a series of wrongs that we have doubled and tripled down on over the course of our existence with little to no shame.

Sit.

Stay.

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Savor.

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4335 Glendale-Milford Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45242 (513) 794-1610 browndogcafe.com

Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx in Just Mercy PH OTO: JAKE GILES NE T TER / WAR NER BROS.

Which begs a question of both the book and the film — where is the righteous anger? Watching this adaptation, from Cretton and co-screenwriter Andrew Lanham, it becomes immediately obvious that Stevenson couldn’t have been played

by Denzel Washington — not in an alternative life where his story breaks through, say a decade or two sooner, during Washington’s moment. Washington would have eventually wanted to unleash his trademark fire and brimstone, that seductive fury everybody loves from him. (Just Mercy has drawn comparisons to the 1999 film The Hurricane, which starred Washington.)

Instead, we get Michael B. Jordan, a performer who knows a thing or two about righteousness and its rendering onscreen.

Remember the unforgettable fire he brought as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther? Or the blazing, frustrated innocence he brought to Fruitvale Station? Though two very different turns, there is not an ounce of heedless self-righteousness in

either, even when we think we know that these characters are wrong and blindly pursuing a dead end. Jordan convinced audiences of the deep-seated faith of these men and the lengths they were willing to go to live up to their beliefs.

And while Stevenson is cut from a similar mold, in terms of his faith in our system of justice and mercy, he refuses to succumb to his emotions, his outrage, even his fear in the face of abject human depravity. Jordan captures every instance where Stevenson tightens up, placing a lid on what should be his explosive reaction to the absurdity and hypocrisy he encounters, providing us snapshots of a man who would be a saint, an otherworldly role model.

What release we get comes from Jamie Foxx and it is indeed welcome. As Walter McMillian, a wrongly convicted man serving time and waiting for an inevitable execution, Foxx lets us appreciate that McMillian is past giving up. This is what it feels like to be black (and, as an afterthought, American) in this country. It is no country at all for black folks. Before cell phones, dash and body cameras, there were just plain old lies serving as testimonies that locked us away and strapped us into electric chairs when old fashioned lynchings attracted too much attention.

Justice and mercy were words without meaning, and it could be argued that they remain that way even now. Racism is as common and elemental as the air we breathe; it is a fact, but even facts are up for debate nowadays.

I suppose that is why rage and rebellion don’t matter anymore. Having read the book as part of a social justice book club, I wanted the film to provide a twist of sorts, to give into the passion and hurt, to seethe at the injustice on display. I wanted Jordan’s Stevenson to be transformed into a true social justice warrior, the fighter/ king at the head of an army attacking the system and its nefarious forces.

I longed for these impossible alternatives. Why couldn’t Just Mercy be a thrilling legal rewrite in the vein of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained or Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood — not just for the protagonists of the story, but far more importantly, for the many men serving on death row for crimes they did not commit.

I want justice, but just this once, could we forego the gift of mercy on our flawed system? I’m tired of turning the other cheek.

(Opens locally Jan. 10) (PG-13) Grade: B

FOOD & DRINK

China Gourmet Endures Despite a change in ownership in recent years, the longtime Hyde Park restaurant still provides solid service and tasty menu offerings

Hyde Park’s China Gourmet PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

R E V I E W BY PA M A M I TC H EL L

I

China Gourmet 3340 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, facebook.com/chinagourmet3340

me to that part of town. I was recently reminded of China Gourmet and decided to give it a try after a couple decades since my last visit.

When we arrived on a rainy, cold Friday night, I really didn’t know what to expect. If a restaurant has stayed in business for this long, it must be doing something right. Yet I wondered whether it might be hanging on because of past glories and serving locals who return out of habit rather than conviction. Happily, my four companions and I had a pleasant experience at China Gourmet.

The restaurant is quite spacious, with two large dining rooms and a separate bar with more tables. There’s an intimate, extra dining room (“the atrium”), which has tall windows with colorful, decorative mobiles and views of the sky. They have spaced the tables so that the seating is cozy but by no means claustrophobic and even with most tables filled, conversation was easy. It was a nice break from the majority of restaurants nowadays that bombard you with too much noise.

Service was prompt and adequately attentive. Interestingly, we didn’t have a single waitperson and nobody announced that they’d be “taking care of you tonight.”

I liked that the entire staff worked as a team to make everything run smoothly.

Another atypical service facet here is that entrées are plated for you, so that a team member gives each diner a plate with part of their entrée and a helping of rice, then sets the remaining entrée beside you.

They call it French-style table service, and

it’s a classy way to elevate the experience.

Once you get past the soups, salads and appetizers section on the menu, China Gourmet presents main courses under the headings “China Gourmet Classics,” “Hyde Park Specialties,” “What’s New” and “Traditional Favorites.” Among the five of us, we dabbled in most of the categories. We did share a couple of appetizers, the best of which was bacon-wrapped scallops ($12), two large scallops and bacon covered by a scrumptious black bean sauce.

For mains, my friend Patty selected the China Gourmet stir-fry classic (shrimp, pork, chicken and veggies in brown sauce; $18). Bob went with Mu Shu Duck (with veggies wrapped in flour pancakes; $18) and I ordered April’s Seafood Noodle Stir-Fry (shrimp and scallops with veggies over stir-fried noodles; $26 or $15 for a halforder), both from the What’s New category.

Susan and John each picked a Traditional Favorite — shrimp with snow peas for Susan ($18) and sweetand-sour pork for John ($16). Everyone selected brown over white rice as an accompaniment although my noodles made rice unnecessary.

The only one of these entrées to disappoint was the stir-fry, which had a notably bland sauce. I liked everything about the shrimp with snow peas, as did Susan. The shrimp were large and succulent, cooked just right, and the peas had the perfect level of crispness.

My seafood noodle dish stood out as well, with its pleasing combination of flavors and textures. It had some of that

April’s Seafood Noodle Stir-Fry PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

excellent shrimp and also quite a few scallops, crisp vegetables and — best of all, really — it all rested on a bed of nicely browned, crunchy noodles. One of the team of servers had recommended this selection when I couldn’t decide what to order, and he was spot-on.

Later I discovered that the server was actually Matt Loomis, the owner. In a follow-up interview, he told me about the renovations he has overseen since taking over the place from the Moy family.

They’ve been fairly minor, although he has plans to do more in the coming months and years.

At the rate they’ve been going, China Gourmet could end up outlasting all of us.

FIND MORE RESTAURANT NEWS AND REVIEWS AT CITYBEAT.COM/ FOOD-DRINK

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grew up in various suburbs around the United States, in an Air Force family, and Chinese food was one of the very few “ethnic” cuisines we encountered. It was an occasional treat to chow down on Moo Goo Gai Pan, egg rolls and wonton soup instead of mom’s tuna casserole or (really quite good) fried chicken. Later in life, though, I came to suspect that the Chinese dishes we enjoyed were Americanized versions of foods that many Chinese natives wouldn’t recognize.

But then a couple of years ago I went to a dinner and show hosted by a Chinese student association at the University of Cincinnati and, to my surprise, the meal was indistinguishable from all my prior experiences with that cuisine. Maybe Chinese and Chinese-American food aren’t as different from each other as I had thought.

China Gourmet has been in East Hyde Park since 1977. Back then, Bing and Jean Moy left mainland China for Hong Kong and then the States, eventually settling in Cincinnati and opening the restaurant.

Current owner Matthew Loomis, who bought it from the Moys’ son three years ago, started as a dishwasher there in 1995 and became familiar with the food the family recreated from their home in China.

“Chinese food is very diverse,” Loomis says. “(The cooking) varies a lot depending on where you live in the country.” But, he concedes, “most Asian food in the U.S. has been Americanized.”

What China Gourmet has done over all these years, Loomis adds, is build around the basic, familiar dishes by including gourmet touches and ingredients. A patron can order a meal of Chinese restaurant standards but also have the option of trying filet mignon, beef short ribs or a rack of lamb, he says.

The restaurant is tucked away on Erie Avenue with no street presence and you enter from an obscure parking lot behind a row of buildings that has had a lot of turnover in recent years. The Hyde Park branch of Coffee Emporium is what got

33

THE DISH

Eight ‘Wild’ Tacos with Unexpected Fillings to Try at These Greater Cincinnati Restaurants

BY L AU R A L E AV I T T

Cold weather might inspire a lot of us to wrap up in four blankets, only letting our hands out into the chill to grab a bowl of soup or stew. But there are actually a lot of great options when it comes to foods to help you warm up. I personally can’t get enough of spicy, flavorful tacos in the winter and I know I’m not alone.

The burgeoning “artisan tacos and cocktails” restaurant concept has brought to the table more than the typical chicken, pork or steak fillings — which are, admittedly, already delicious just as they are. But the best part of a taco feast is that you don’t have to choose just the novel or just the gold standards. Pair one or two of these wild taco combos with your favorite carnitas on a tortilla and experience just how cozy a taco can be.

The Sensei Taco from Agave & Rye

As far as meats that have to travel miles to get to your taco, Agave & Rye might have all others beat with their Sensei taco, which features “soy and ginger kangaroo tenderloin.” Paired with orange rum glaze and spicy peanut chili oil, it is just one of the interesting menu options available. Skip a traditional lobster roll and instead feast on the Agave & Rye Crown Jewel lobster taco, topped with sautéed mushrooms and mac-and-cheese. Agave & Rye’s epic tacos come with a crunchy, hard shell inside of a soft shell, which really levels up the experience: the crisp snap of the taco without the explosion of fillings makes these easier to eat than average. 635 Madison Ave., Covington, agaveandrye. com.

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The Huitlacoche Taco from Bakersfield OTR

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Bakersfield has been dishing up tacos made with carefully-balanced flavor profiles for a while, keeping the residents of and visitors to Over-the-Rhine happy at their bustling Vine Street eatery. If you haven’t tried their huitlacoche taco before, it’s time you stopped by for something both vegetarian and totally unique. From the corn truffle that forms the central filling of the taco (huitlacoche is a sort of mushroom-like fungus that grows on maize) to the warming poblano, added corn, cotija cheese and the depth imparted by the cilantro, the sum of this taco’s flavors is way more than its parts, all served in a handmade tortilla. 1213 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, bakersfieldtacos.com.

The Mantis Taco from Condado Tacos

Condado makes it easy to create your own unique dish with their build-yourown taco concept (and order forms), all of which are served in a brightly-painted

Drunken Tacos’ Bulgogi Taco

Nada’s Caramelized Cauliflower Taco

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

interior alongside tasty signature margaritas. While there is a combination to match every flavor preference, among their suggested tacos is the Mantis. The Mantis pairs smoky jackfruit with cheese, onions, mango habañero salsa and a taco shell combo called the Sweet Lucy — a hard corn shell inside of a soft flour shell for maximum sturdiness, with queso and guacamole pre-added like some sort of wonderful taco glue. 195 E. Freedom Way, Downtown; 3329 Vandercar Way, Oakley, condadotacos.com.

The Bulgogi Taco from Drunken Tacos

Bulgogi (aka Korean marinated beef) is hinly enough to fit inside of a taco and not make the whole thing fall apart. The restaurant puts all kinds of East Asian flavors to work on their fusion-food menu, proving that a wide variety of cuisines taste great in a tortilla. Be forewarned: The beef may have a delicate sweetness to it, but it is also packs serious spicy heat. You’ll forget about winter’s chill after a couple of these, and there are plenty of more familiar Latin flavors on the menu to complement and maybe even combine as you eat. 200 W. McMillan St., Clifton Heights, facebook. com/ucdrunkentacos.

The Caramelized Cauliflower Taco from Nada

Tacos can be a surprisingly fruitful playground for non-meat-eaters, with a variety of vegetables and legumes to combine to make a meal hearty, healthy and fun. While the caramelized cauliflower taco at Nada is not vegan due to a luscious dollop of garlic-whipped goat cheese, the combination of scallion for freshness, fresno pepper for flavor and marcona almond for crunch is unbeatably tasty. Nada does a great job at combining

textures that set off your taste buds just as much as the spices and cheese.

600 Walnut St., Downtown, eatdrinknada. com.

The Mushroom and Beet Taco from Mazunte Centro

You’d be hardMazunte Centro’s Hongos y Betabeles (mushroom and beet taco) pressed to find a more nutrientPHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER dense taco than this one, though other with short rib seasoned with CincinnatiMazunte flavors — including the roasted style chili flavors, plus a hot dog and zucchini and roasted stuffed pepper mustard. Together, it’s a meaty, local tacos — come close. Combining braised mouthful that you aren’t likely to soon greens, roasted beets (full of color and forget. 101 E. Freedom Way, Downtown, sweetness), mushrooms and salsa, the jeffersonsocial.com.

Hongos y Betabeles taco will fill you up.

Ricotta cheese adds a nice richness to The Fried Chicken Taco from the plate. 611 Main St., Downtown, centro.

Django Western Taco mazuntetacos.com.

My first love at Django is definitely their totchos, a preposterous pile of tater tots The Taconey from Jefferson swirled with queso, carnitas and crema, Social but there are definitely other excellent This taco has peak-Cincinnati energy options on the menu. The fried chicken and is served just steps away from Great taco combines fried chicken, pimento American Ball Park. Jefferson Social’s cheese and chipotle honey and will take Taconey combines many flavors while your tastebuds south of the Mason-Dixon maintaining the integrity of both a taco line. Sure, fried chicken isn’t a staple of the and a Cincinnati chili cheese coney. traditional taco-filling scene, but it’ll make Batting for the taco team is a flour tortilla, you crave a big glass of sweet tea more pico de gallo, roasted tomato sauce and than a frosty marg. 4172 Hamilton Ave., Northside, djangonorthside.com. cream, while the coney aspect is fulfilled

THE DISH

Secret Pizza Pop-Up Returns to OTR Bakery

BY S E A N M . PE T ER S

Mainwood Pastry co-owner Dave Hart PHOTO: SEAN M. PETERS

Sicilian-style pizza is basically focaccia bread with sauce and cheese, so when the two pieces fit together in Hart’s mind, it was set.

“What I did this time was I made the dough (two nights ago), bulk fermented it at home, brought it down here last night, scaled it out to the size of what a pizza is and put it on those trays and fermented it on those trays overnight,” he says. “When I got it out, it was so relaxed, you don’t have to fight with it at all. I just ease it into the tray’s corners.”

The dough has a hydration level of about 70 percent, which, along with the longer fermentation time, makes for a softer, more malleable dough.

This night, Hart baked “The Classic.” It’s a universally appealing pizza: light and airy dough with a pleasantly crisp bite, tomato sauce infused with classic Italian herbs, a light shower of sharp shredded provolone and torn pearls of mozzarella baked to a perfect char. The sizzling hot pie is finished with fresh basil, a glug of olive oil and coarse sea salt. Slices are cut into squares.

“You get a good crunch on the bottom from the crust, but it’s not hard,” Hart says.

“It’s never going to hurt my mouth. The middle is pillowy. The sauce is a little bit tangy, a healthy amount of garlic. The basil cools it off and provides an herb-y relief.”

Secret Pizza has a target launch date of Jan. 16 and service will be available every other Thursday. Online pre-ordering for a limited number of whole pies will begin a week before bakes. Toppings will be available based on what looks good at Findlay Market. Mainwood Pastry has a liquor license, so you can take advantage of their roomy dining area and enjoy a glass of wine or beer with your pizza. Walkup service offers individual slices. Vegan and vegetarian-friendly options will be available.

For more on Secret Pizza, follow @secret_pizza_night on Instagram and visit facebook.com/secretpizzanight.

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J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

Secret Pizza night is returning to reclaim its title as the worst-kept secret pop-up pizza party that offers the best Sicilianstyle pies in the city. Headed by Dave Hart, co-owner of Collective Espresso and Mainwood Pastry, this opportunity offers full pizzas and individual slices every other Thursday at Findlay Market’s Mainwood Pastry.

Some things have changed with Secret Pizza, which launched in 2018 before taking some time off, but it’s only getting better. To start, the pizza is now made with flour sourced from Janie’s Mill in Illinois, an organic family farm. Instead of using their flour marketed to pizza-makers, Hart wanted something with a higher protein content — he makes his dough with a mixture of bread flour and spelt, an ancient grain touted for its health benefits and easy digestibility.

“The first delivery of flour I got, Harold, the farmer who grew it, delivered it himself,” Hart says. “He sat down and had a cup of coffee and talked to me about his farm.”

The farm and mill, about a four-hour drive from Cincinnati, is helmed by the Wilken family, fifth-generation farmers who stone grind wheat, rye, corn and more grown in their certified organic fields in a biodiverse rotation. The products used to make Secret Pizza’s pizza are free of potassium bromate, which is added to many commercially available flours to aid in the dough’s elasticity and ability to rise, despite being classified as a category 2B carcinogen.

“Flour is naturally not as bad for you as it is now,” Hart says. “Along the process of bulk milling, they separate the different parts of the grain. When you get white flour, they’re going to take a lot of the stuff that’s actually healthy out of it, process it, then put it back in. A whole grain is better for you, easier for your body to break down and it’s closer to a complete protein. It’s a living thing. Flour shouldn’t last indefinitely — it’s something that should have a shelf life.”

The new ingredients aren’t all that distinguishes this next run of Secret Pizza: This autumn, Hart had a pizza breakthrough.

“The secret is that I’ve added extra time in here,” he says, pointing to a pizza he’s about to bake in Mainwood Pastry’s oven.

“When I used to do it, I’d make the dough the day before the pizza bake and I’d spend the whole day-of fighting with the dough to get it to form into shape correctly,” Hart says. “So, this fall I went to (Asheville, North Carolina) and took a sourdough baking class at The Walnut Schoolhouse.

“The longer a dough sits, the more it relaxes. The more it relaxes, the easier it’s going to be to form into shape. (The teacher) was talking mostly about bread but while we were there he baked a couple of focaccias with scrap dough.”

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BEST OF CINCINNATI

2020

C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0

BEST OF CINCINNATI 2020 MARCH 25 | THE PHOENIX

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50 WEST | AMERASIA | BONBONERIE | CAPITAL GRILLE (VIP) | CITY BBQ | COFFEE EMPORIUM | COPPIN’S | COURT STREET LOBSTER BAR | DEWEY’S | FIERY HEN | FIRST WATCH | FLIPDADDY’S | GRAETERS | HEN OF THE WOODS | HOLTMAN’S | IZZY’S | KEYS CHEESECAKES & PIES | MATT THE MILLERS | MAZUNTE | MORTON’S STEAK HOUSE | POMPILIO’S | QUEEN CITY EXCHANGE | QUEEN CITY HEMP | AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! WWW.BESTOFCINCINNATI.COM

MUSIC

Fab Adjacent A colleague of The Beatles, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, Peter Asher is bringing his songs and stories to Cincinnati

BY S T E V EN R O S EN

P

our first day and that was one of them. At the end of the session, there was no doubt among anyone that it was going to be our first single.”

Among the anecdotes Asher may tell at his 20th Century show is how he played a key role in introducing Lennon to Yoko Ono. In 1966, as Asher’s music career was going swimmingly, he joined with John Dunbar and Barry Miles to open a London bookshop and gallery. Dunbar, in charge of the Indica Gallery, decided to ask Ono — an avant-garde artist with a developing international reputation — to have a show.

“Deals were made and dates were set,” Asher says. “As is customary, we closed the gallery for a few days while it was all set up. Prior to the actual press opening, we invited friends over for an informal preopening viewing. We did invite The Beatles, who by that time numbered among our friends. John was the one who came, and that’s when he and Yoko met.”

As an executive at Apple Records, Asher had to take part in one of The Beatles’ more utopian promises to the public — listening to unsolicited demos from fans with dreams of being signed as Apple artists.

“We were expecting to find some hidden treasures, and we didn’t,” he says. “Some were not very good, some were somebody sending in 50 pages of closely written lyrics they were absolutely certain John Lennon would want to set to music when they didn’t rhyme or make any sense. A lot of seriously strange stuff came in.”

But Asher did find his own hidden treasure while at Apple. Danny Kortchmar, an American guitar player who had accompanied Peter & Gordon on tours and then stayed in touch, had subsequently been in a New York band called The Flying Machine with James Taylor. When it broke up with little success and Taylor went to London to visit a girlfriend, Kortchmar gave him Asher’s number to call.

“James called me and I invited him over,” Asher says. “He’d made a demo tape and played it, and I thought it was some of best music I ever heard in my life. That was the beginning of our relationship. I signed him to Apple and within not that long a period ended up leaving Apple, becoming his manager and moving to America.”

The subsequent self-titled 1968 Apple album, produced by Asher with some lovely orchestrations from Richard Hewson, contained such now-famous Taylor songs as “Carolina in My Mind,” “Knockin’ ‘Round the Zoo” and “Something in the

Peter Asher P H O T O : J AY GILBERT

Way She Moves.” It created some buzz, but not enough to break Taylor to a wide audience. So Asher quit Apple and moved to Los Angeles to help Taylor’s career. He got him a recording contract with Warner Bros. and produced 1970’s Sweet Baby James, which remains a landmark of introspective, Folk-oriented singer/songwriter Rock music.

Asher is currently happy about the popularity of the 2019 documentary about another great American singer he worked with, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice. While Ronstadt had some success before Asher started producing her albums, it was their collaboration on 1974’s Heart Like a Wheel — that made her a top-selling artist.

Because she was primarily a vocal interpreter with wide, eclectic tastes, rather than a singer/songwriter working

exclusively in a Rock, her reputation has somewhat faded in recent decades — especially as an illness has left her unable to sing. But Asher is glad to see the movie sparking renewed interest in her and the art of interpretative singing.

“People are realizing how important she is, how important her music is and above all what a great singer she is,” he says.

“She’s really good at choosing songs, has a great ear for cool writers and she inhabits the song, makes it sound as if she wrote it.

She gets the sensation that ‘I have to sing that song.’ I do believe she has been underrated. I can’t tell you how delighted I am she’s getting the respect she deserves.”

Peter Asher performs Friday, Jan. 10 at the 20th Century Theater. Tickets/more info: the20thcenturytheatre.com.

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eter Asher, who with Gordon Waller recorded such British Invasion hits as “A World Without Love,” “Woman” and “I Go to Pieces” in the mid-1960s, has had a series of career reinventions that have kept him a vital presence in the world of popular music.

In the 1970s and ’80s, he became one of Rock’s top producers and artist managers, guiding James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt to their superstar success. More recently, he has toured with a show mixing his performance (with accompanists) of Peter & Gordon songs coupled with reminiscences of his life. It’s called A Musical Memoir of the 1960s and Beyond and he brings it to Cincinnati’s 20th Century Theater on Jan. 10. (Waller, his partner in the Peter & Gordon vocal duo, died in 2009.)

Of the many artists to have smash American hits during the British Invasion era, Asher is an especially good choice to provide a colorful, anecdotal and intimate history of the time. He was especially close with The Beatles — Paul McCartney provided him with many of Peter & Gordon’s hits, including the No. 1 1964 record “A World Without Love” and also “Woman,” “Nobody I Know” and “I Don’t Want to See You Again.” And after Peter & Gordon split in 1968, Asher became head of Artist & Repertoire at The Beatles’ new label, Apple Records. He moved to the U.S. in 1970 to guide Taylor’s developing career.

Asher — who recently released the book The Beatles from A to Zed: An Alphabetical Mystery Tour — got to know McCartney because the latter was dating his younger sister, the actress Jane Asher, and spending much time at the family’s London house, beginning in 1963.

“Eventually our parents offered him the guest room,” Asher recalls in a phone interview. “He accepted and moved in, and he and I shared the top floor of the house for about two years.”

Asher heard McCartney’s “A World Without Love,” a song written earlier, and liked it. “Paul explained it was a reject because John didn’t like it and The Beatles weren’t going to do it,” he says.

Around the same time, Peter & Gordon were heard playing in a club by a talent scout for EMI Records and offered a contract. Asher needed material.

“I went back to Paul, and (asked) if there was any chance we could try that song and he said yes,” he says of “A World Without Love.” “It turned out to change my life forever. We recorded five or six songs on

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C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

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SPILL IT

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Cincinnati Metal Band Blessed Black Unleashes Debut Album

BY N I C K G R E V ER A N D B R I A N B A K ER

Heavy Metal is an evolving genre that has spent decades expanding on the early successes of its pioneers, resulting in tracks that are increasingly louder, faster and more intricate. But in recent years there has been a rise in young bands lovingly throwing it back and paying homage to the likes of Black Sabbath and others who initially paved the highway to hell. By focusing on toned riffs, thunderous, tribal drumming and impactful vocals, these bands have proven that what’s old can be new (and exciting) again.

Beyond the Crimson Throne, the debut LP by Cincinnati quartet Blessed Black (recently nominated for two Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, including New Artist of the Year), is an intense ode to that not-so-bygone era of the genre.

Sporting seven tracks and clocking in at less than 35 minutes, Beyond the Crimson Throne packs a lot of meat into a lean package. Much like their influences — like High on Fire, The Sword and the aforementioned Black Sabbath — riffs are the core of each song. Vocalist/guitarist Joshua Murphy and guitarist Chris Emerson come together to write the same kind of addictive, pile-driving riffs that have kept Tony Iommi in such high regard among Metal fans and musicians for a half-century now.

The heavy, mid-pace guitar work keeps up the energy while also highlighting the soulful Blues base upon which Metal was built. The riffing is tailor-made to make you headbang but also feel something more than just a headache the next day.

Brad Bellamy’s clean bass tone and Ray Bates’ crisp drumming also do their part to instill an old-school flavor to the album. By finding the pocket, nestling in and playing the shit out of their instruments, Bellamy and Bates are able to give the guitars plenty of groove to build and expand upon. The rhythm section is also given their own sections to shine, like on “Heavy is the Crown,” which includes a break that highlights Bellamy’s simple but resonant bass lines and Bates’ splashy cymbals before the riffs start layering over top. It’s a simple but effective interlude that showcases the true talents of all of the members of the band.

Soaring above the instrumentation are Murphy’s dynamic vocals. His large frame and imposing onstage presence stand in contrast to the lyrics, which are based on the popular fantasy character Elric of Melniboné, created by writer Michael Moorcock. Murphy’s naturally higher register and clean delivery is yet another holdover from the Heavy Metal titans of old, before the genre began to rely more and more on aggressive, guttural vocals. This isn’t to say that the vocals are weak; Murphy’s delivery runs the gamut, from the forceful antagonism found on “Arioch’s Bargain” to the longing introspection of “Finding the Limits.” The vocals give each track a swell of intentional emotion that can be difficult for some to conjure, but is done eloquently

in the hands of Murphy.

After playing live for a little over a year, with Beyond the Crimson Throne, Blessed Black has constructed an album that showcases its distinct identity while also reminding Metal fans of what exactly made the genre so electrifying from the start.

Blessed Black hosts an album release party on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Urban Artifact (1660 Blue Rock St., Northside, artifactbeer.com).

Showtime for the free, all-ages show is 9 p.m. Cincinnati’s Casino Warrior and Central Ohio’s Gudger open.

For more on Blessed Black, visit blessedblack. bandcamp.com.

(Review by Nick Grever)

German Label Issues Cincy Electro Punk Band The Serfs’ Debut Full-Length Album

As in medieval Blessed Black’s Beyond the Crimson Throne times, serfs seem P H O T O : B L E S S E D B L A C K . B A N D C A M P. C O M to be everywhere in the new millennium. Unlike in medieval times, Post Punk group Mardou, who are listed as many of today’s serfs are Serfs, proper the hosts of the Serfs’ local album release nouns with a musical mindset. You can’t party concert Friday, Jan. 10 at MOTR Pub swing 10 leaping lords without hitting a (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub. band called The Serfs these days. In our com). The show is free and begins at 10 general area alone, there’s a Power Pop/ p.m. with Cincinnati’s Black Planet and Rock band out of Columbus, Ohio called Chicago’s Bruised.

The Serfs and there’s a Cincinnati Celtic Sonically, The Serfs reveal themselves Punk band christened The Serfs, although to be a powerful and evocative Coldwave they appear inactive at the moment. outfit. They released a debut EP, Songs of But The Serfs being highlighted here Serfdom, early in 2019 and that six-song seem to prefer mystery over publicity. The cassette has now been expanded to a trail goes cold rather quickly when trying full 11-track album and re-titled Sounds to track them down, largely because of of Serfdom. The LP is being released on the surplus of Serfs obfuscating search 12-inch vinyl through Berlin, Germany engines at every turn. But on a Facebook label Detriti Records. event page, these Serfs are identified as The Serfs draw dark influence from a a “Cincinnati Electro Punk act” and they potent moment in ’70s Post Punk and appear to have some connection to local

New Wave, when synthesizers began to dominate the landscape and minimalism became the watchword of the day. It’s not hard to draw straight lines from The Serfs to giants of the cutting-edge synth movement of the late ’70s — Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, Tubeway Army, The Units and early Devo all surface in some form or fashion in the band’s sonic architecture. This would all be little more than genre window-dressing without good songs and the Serfs have that well covered, as their songwriting is as impressive as their apparent record collections.

Check out The Serfs at detritirecords. bandcamp.com. (Review by Brian Baker) Contact Mike Breen: mbreen@citybeat.com

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SOUND ADVICE

Red Death PHOTO: MORGAN PA R R I S H

Albert Lee

C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

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Wednesday, Jan. 8 • Southgate House Revival

40

Renowned fingerstyle guitarist Albert Lee has certainly not gone unheralded in his amazing 60-year career. If the list is long enough and not tainted with the stench of commercial pandering, he is often cited as one of the best six-stringers on the planet; for five consecutive years, he was named Guitar Player’s Best Country Guitarist. And yet he absolutely deserves to be enshrined in the pantheon of guitar greats, alongside peers like Scotty Moore, Mark Knopfler, James Burton and all of the genre-blending icons that routinely top such lists, such as Eric Clapton, who Lee accompanied for five years in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Lee was born in Herefordshire, England and raised in London, learning to play piano at age 7. As a teenager, Lee became enamored of Buddy Holly and switched to guitar at 15; a year later, he dropped out of high school to play music full time.

After knocking around with regional Rock, Country and R&B outfits, Lee joined British icon Chris Farlowe in his band, the Thunderbirds, raising his profile immeasurably. He left the Thunderbirds in 1968 to concentrate on his affinity for Country music, leading to his membership in Poet & the One Man Band, which morphed into Heads Hands & Feet, the stellar British Country/Rock band that opened for Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad and Humble Pie, among others.

After HH&F’s 1973 breakup, Lee became a guitarist for hire. His relocation to Los Angeles led to plenty of session work and eventually a 1976 offer to replace James Burton in Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band. Lee released his first solo set, Hiding, in 1979, which was followed by nine more albums,

including his most recent, Gypsy Man, a tribute to Buddy Holly that was released earlier this year. Lee has also released studio and live albums fronting Hogan’s Heroes, an acclaimed Country band featuring steel guitarist Gerry Hogan, and his résumé is littered with astonishing guest appearances on albums by such luminaries as Jerry Lee Lewis, John Prine, Bo Diddley, Dolly Parton, The Everly Brothers (Lee was the catalyst for their 1983 reunion), Joe Cocker, Earl Scruggs and Holly’s backing band, the Crickets.

Albert Lee doesn’t need the validation of a “greatest guitarists” list; he’s better than a fair percentage of the ones who appear on them, and the proof is in every performance. (Brian Baker)

Albert Lee PHOTO: GLENN FRANCIS P A C I F I C P R O D I G I TA L . C O M

Red Death with Enforced, Sanguisugabogg and Treason

Wednesday, Jan. 8 • Northside Yacht Club

Red Death’s menacing mix of Hardcore and Thrash recalls ’80s genre staples without falling down the influence hole completely. The Washington, D.C.-based band’s freshly minted third album, Sickness Divine, is again awash in disillusionment, as song titles like “Exaltation of Decay,” “Ravage,” Dreadful Perception” and “Sheep May Unsafely Graze” attest. Frontperson Chad Troncale’s vocals are front and center, cutting through the slashing dual guitars and frenzied drumming on “Face the Pain” as he ominously sing/screams, “Time, is dying out like a flame/Burn, before you fade in vain.”

Curiously, the angst was at least in part inspired by the most successful movie franchise ever conjured — specifically

writer/director Rian Johnson’s 2017 Star Wars effort that alienated some fans for supposedly straying too far from the formula.

“The Last Jedi came out like two weeks after the last record did, and it blew my mind,” Troncale said in a recent interview with Hard Noise. “I know people like to hate The Last Jedi but not me. I love it! I will stand and die gladly for that belief. Rian Johnson was a huge inspiration for me this time around, one of the biggest, honestly.

His ability to make something look retro yet do something so weird and new with it is awesome.”

“Now, I’m obviously not trying to mimic anyone,” Troncale continued. “I’m just trying to further something in my own unique way. Rian Johnson perfectly did that and it inspires me big time. The cover art for Sickness Divine was actually inspired by a shot from his first movie, Brick.

“How do I get Sickness Divine in Rian Johnson’s headphones?” (Jason Gargano)

NIGHTLY FREE LIVE MUSIC AND LATE NIGHT EATS DAILY LUNCH AND 1/2 OFF HAPPY HOUR WED 8

SLUTBOMB, CHELSHOTS (IN), AND THE ABDO-MEN

WED 15

CRUZER (RICHMOND, VA), ISABELLE HELLE & THE HELL’S BELLS, AND STALLONE N’ ROSES

THU 9

SLOW GLOWS, GOTH DAD (HATTIESBURG, MS), AND VIREO

THU 16

THEM COULEE BOYS (EAU CLAIRE, WI) W/ FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE (ASHEVILLE, NC)

FRI 10

THE SERFS (RECORD RELEASE), BRUISED, AND BLACK PLANET JANE DECKER, BERSHY AND RYAN FINE COUNTRY WESTERNS (NASHVILLE) W/ TOON TOWN

S AT 11 SUN 12

F R I THIS PINE BOX (ALBUM RELEASE), JOHNNY CONQUEROO 17 (LEXINGTON), AND SUGADAISY (BOWLING GREEN, KY) S AT 18 SUN 19

MON 13

SHARP TOYS, PLANET BLIP, YUSEF QUOTAH, M O N 20 AND QUIET LIVES

TUE 14

7:30, MOTR MOUTH | STAND-UP COMEDY 9, WRITER’S NIGHT W/ ROB FEAT. MIKE HASKINS

TUE 21

MOIRA, BLOSSOM HALL, AND STROBOBEAN STEF CHURA (DETROIT) W/ LEGGY SHARP TOYS

W/ STATIC FALLS

WRITER’S NIGHT W/ DAVE FEAT. JAKI HOWSER

1345 MAIN ST. IN OVER-THE-RHINE | SINCE 2010

Sunny Sweeney P H OTO : DAV I D M U N OZ

Sunny Sweeney with Erin Enderlin

Saturday, Jan. 11 • Southgate House Revival

1404 MAIN ST (513) 345-7981

1/22

MIPSO WITH BRIDGET KEARNEY & BENJAMIN LAZAR DAVIS

3 /13

OF MONTREAL WITH LILY AND HORN HORSE

2/8

CINCY PROHIBITION PARTY 2020

4 /2 6

ALL THEM WITCHES

BUY TICKETS AT MOTR OR WOODWARDTHEATER.COM

J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

Don’t let Sunny Sweeney’s given name lull you into a false sense of security about her songwriting disposition. She can certainly exude the positivity expected from someone christened with her bright and shiny moniker, but she’s also walked her share of dark roads and is more than capable of conveying that experience in her music. Witness the songs on Sweeney’s third album, 2014’s Provoked, a good many of which — “You Don’t Know Your Husband,” “My Bed,” “Second Guessing” — offered fairly direct commentary on the end of her first marriage.

Sweeney got her degree in Public Relations from Texas State University after a brief relocation to New York City.

After graduation, she assembled a band and played in and around Austin before self-releasing her debut album, 2006’s Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, and booking

a European tour. All this activity sparked the interest of Big Machine Records, which signed Sweeney in 2007 and reissued HHOF. Sweeney became the first artist signed to Nashville Republic, a collaborative label started by Big Machine and Universal Music. Her debut single for the label, 2010’s “From a Table Away,” was Sweeney’s first national charting release, eventually reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The following year, she released her sophomore album, Concrete, which yielded another pair of Top 40 hits, “Staying’s Worse Than Leaving” and “Drink Myself Single.” In 2012, Sweeney left Big Machine and formed her own imprint, Aunt Daddy Records. Through PledgeMusic, Sweeney crowd-funded her third album, the aforementioned and excellent Provoked, followed three years later by the equally amazing Trophy, which featured co-writes with Grammy-winning singer/ songwriter Lori McKenna.

Sweeney is among the current crop of incredibly talented women — including Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert,

41

SOUND ADVICE

Upcoming shows Smells Like Grunge Night Saturday, January 4 The Ultimate Prince and the Revolution Tribute Band - The Prince Project Saturday, January 11 Nine Shrines // Enmy // American Sin Friday, January 17 Hyryder Saturday, January 18 Ultimate 90’s Country with Morgen & Alan & The Achy Breaky Hearts Saturday, January 25

COZY, ECO FRIENDLY CAF CAFÉ É BREAKFAST & LUNCH LOCALLY SOURCED Open Daily - 8am | Sundays - 9am Open Late - Thursday, Friday, Saturday

CALL FOR CATERING 513-381-3436

Jo Dee Messina Saturday, February 1

C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0

Riff Raff “Cranberry Vampire” Album Release Friday, February 14

42

The Dead South PHOTO: BRANDON WHITE

PERFORMS

Soul Asylum with Local H Saturday, February 15

TRIBUTE TO NO DOUBT AND RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Fri Jan 10 7:30pm @ The Sonic Boom Room Sun Jan 12 7pm @ The Southgate House Revival

Margo Price and Brandy Clark — who seamlessly blend traditional Country with Rock, Blues and hard-won experience, presented with subtlety and a razor-sharp sense of humor. (BB)

Jacob Bryant Saturday, March 7

MUSIC OF ELTON JOHN AND BILLY JOEL Sat Jan 11 7:30pm @ The Sonic Boom Room Sun Jan 12 4pm @ The Southgate House Revival

The Dead South

Perpetual Groove Wednesday, March 25

MUSIC OF JIMI HENDRIX Fri Jan 17 7:30pm @ The Sonic Boom Room Sun Jan 19 4pm @ Northside Tavern

Brother Ali Friday, March 27

21ST CENTURY ROCK REVIVAL Sat Jan 18 7:30pm @ The Sonic Boom Room Sun Jan 19 7pm @ Northside Tavern

Where Performances Become Legend

riverfrontlivecincy.com Ticket Information 513-321-2572

ROCK ‘N’ GROHL: TRIBUTE TO DAVE GROHL Fri Jan 24 7:30pm @ The Sonic Boom Room Sun Jan 26 4pm @ The Woodward Theater MUSIC OF FLEETWOOD MAC Sat Jan 25 7:30pm @ The Sonic Boom Room Sun Jan 26 7pm @ The Woodward Theater ARENA ROCK (Adult Performance Program) Sat Feb 15 8pm @ MVP Sports Bar & Grille

Ticket and other information available at

Mason.SchoolofRock.com Now Enrolling for Spring Shows & Adult Performance Programs

Tuesday, Jan. 14 • Bogart’s

Over the past six years, The Dead South has become something of a phenomenon within and beyond the Bluegrass realm by melding their traditional foundation with the passion and energy of an Indie Rock band.

The Saskatchewan, Canada quartet features guitarist/vocalist Nate Hilts, whose gravelly baritone sets the mood for most of the band’s songs, banjoist Colton Crawford, a Metal guitarist who switched to banjo after hearing Steve Martin, mandolinist/ vocalist Scott Pringle and cellist/vocalist Danny Kenyon, who plays his instrument strapped on like Paul McCartney’s Hoffner bass on steroids. The band lit up the internet with over 160 million views of their music video for “In Hell I’ll Be in Good Company” from 2014’s Good Company. Last year, The Dead South adrenalized UK fans with an incendiary set at

the Glastonbury music festival, a feat that American followers experienced at Colorado’s renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre two weeks earlier.

From the outset, The Dead South has offered more than Bluegrass’ standard operating procedure. Their 2013 debut EP, The Ocean Went Mad and We Were to Blame, showed a band that could go from playful to menacing at the drop of a fingerpick, and their full-length debut the following year, Good Company, cemented their burgeoning reputation as a group that was a cut above paint-by-numbers traditionalism. The band’s Juno win for 2016’s Illusion & Doubt was clear evidence of their increasing popularity in the provinces and their recent third album, Sugar & Joy, was met with almost universal acclaim upon its release last fall.

Sugar & Joy shows The Dead South’s impressive range, from the banjo-less “Crawdaddy Served Cold,” written by Hilts just after Crawford quit the band for nearly two years due to chronic insomnia, to the Ennio Morricone-flavored “Spaghetti,” which, like the album as a whole, showcases the quartet’s estimable songwriting skills as well as their impeccable musicianship.

Given the arc of their six-plus year

Stef Chura PHOTO: KELSEY HART

history, it’s scary to think that The Dead South has yet to come close to reaching their peak. (BB)

Stef Chura with Leggy

Sunday, Jan. 19 • MOTR Pub

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Stef Chura’s voice is simultaneously modest and singular, with an emotive vibrato that brings to mind a cross between cult folkie Victoria Williams and Rilo Kiley-era Jenny Lewis, another artist not afraid to reveal her fears and frustrations in song. A native of rural Michigan, Chura moved to the Detroit area in 2012 and started kicking around the music scene, recording songs on her own and playing live with various friends.

Chura’s full-length debut, Messes, inspired in part by the unexpected death of a friend, surfaced via the tiny Urinal Cake Records in 2017, and it wasn’t long before the venerable indie label Saddle Creek Records took note and rereleased it

in early 2018.

Car Seat Headrest frontman Will Toledo was a fan, so when it came time to record the follow-up, last year’s Midnight, Chura approached him to produce. The result is tighter and more dynamic than her debut, an ebb-and-flow album moving from the noisy Garage Pop of “Method Man” to the plaintive, piano-backed “Trumbull” to the Psych-tinged “Sincerely Yours” with equal aplomb.

“I definitely want to work with a producer again, I really liked that,” Chura told Stereogum when the album dropped last June.

“It was amazing working with Will since he has such a dexterity with all instruments. I definitely want to have that again, or have people playing who I can work with in that way. I really like the band I have right now…

It’s cool to get different voices and opinions and styles on stuff.” (JG)

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LISTINGS

CityBeat’s music listings are free. Send info to Mike Breen at mbreen@citybeat.com. Listings are subject to change.

See CityBeat.com for full music listings and all club locations. H is CityBeat staff’s stamp of approval.

WEDNESDAY 08

BLIND LEMON - Tom Roll.

8 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

H

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Jim Connerley Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz.

Free.

H

KNOTTY PINE - Dallas Moore and Lucky Chucky. 10 p.m. Country.

Free.

H

MOTR PUB - Slutbomb with Chelshots and The Abdo-Men. 10 p.m.

Punk. Free.

H

NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB - Red Death with Enforced, Sanguisugabogg and Treason. 8:30 p.m.

Metal/Hardcore. $10, $12 day of show.

SILVERTON CAFE - Bob Cushing. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

H

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - Albert Lee. 8 p.m.

Rock/Country/Fingerstyle/ Various. $27.50, $30 day of show.

STANLEY’S PUB - Singer/ Songwriter Night with Jonathan Luck. 9 p.m. Various.

Free.

VINOKLET WINERY Bluegrass Wednesdays with Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass. 6:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0

MOTR PUB - Slow Glows with Goth Dad and Vireo. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Split the Abyss, Automaton, Bloodgate and Flesh Warfare. 8 p.m. Metal.

Free.

THE PIKE BAR AND GRILL - Bob Cushing. 6 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Open Mic. 7 p.m. Various. Free.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT Po-Jazz with Phil Burkhead.

8:30 p.m. Jazz/Poetry.

Cover.

H

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - Jason Ringenberg. 8 p.m. Roots/Rock/ Country/Various. $18, $20 day of show.

H

STANLEY’S PUB Spherical Agenda with Byrd Law. 10 p.m. Jazz/ Rock/Progressive/Fusion/ Various. $5.

FRIDAY 10

H

20TH CENTURY THEATER - Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the ’60s and Beyond. 8 p.m. Rock/ Pop/Various. $32-$35.

Pop singer/songwriter Angela Predhomme plays Stanley’s Pub with Olivia Frances on Friday, Jan. 10.

PHOTO: PROVIDED

Tenille Townes. 7 p.m.

Country. $39.99-$129.99.

H

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Faux Frenchmen. 9 p.m.

Gypsy Jazz. Free.

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - The Sly Band. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Rock/Dance/Various. Cover.

Electro/Rock/Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Rockstead, Higher Education and Jamwave. 10 p.m.

Reggae/Rock/Various.

Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE Huckleberry Jam. 7:30 p.m.

Bluegrass. Free.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - T.A. Clayton and the Soulminers. 8 p.m.

Americana. Free.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Philip Paul Trio.

7:30 p.m. Jazz. Free.

JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Deuces Wild. 9 p.m. Country. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Warren Ulgh (9 p.m.); Brad Lark (6 p.m.). Acoustic. Free.

BIG ASH BREWING Ricky Nye and Matt McCoy. 7:30 p.m. Blues. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - 90 Proof Twang. 10 p.m. Country/ Rock. Cover.

BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Mark Macomber. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

H

LUDLOW GARAGE Orleans. 8:30 p.m. Pop Rock. $25-$50.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT The Mandy Gaines Trio.

8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

H

CAFFÈ VIVACE - El Ritmo del Manana.

7:30 p.m. Jazz.

H

COLLEGE HILL COFFEE CO. - Ricky Nye. 7:30 p.m.

Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free.

THE SONIC BOOM ROOM - School of Rock Mason: Tribute to No Doubt and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 7:30 p.m. AltRock. $6, $8 day of show.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - St. Mary, St. Michael. 6 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Hickory Robot. 8 p.m. Bluegrass/Americana. Free.

THURSDAY 09

C I T Y B E AT. C O M |

KNOTTY PINE - Mitch Greve. 9 p.m. Various. Free.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Blue Wisp Big Band. 8 p.m. Big Band Jazz. $10.

H

44

Schmidt Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz.

Free.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Steve

CAFFÈ VIVACE Original Farm League Big Band. 8:30 p.m. Jazz.

H

HERITAGE BANK CENTER - Alan Jackson with

THE MAD FROG Jason Leech featuring Northbound, Abby Vice and Toph. 9 p.m. Alt/Rock/Pop/ Electronic/Various. $10.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - The Soul Pushers. 9 p.m.

Blues. Cover.

H

MOTR PUB - The Serfs (album release show), Bruised and Black Planet. 10 p.m. Post Punk/

THE REDMOOR - A.C.M. presents: Emperors of Soul - A Tribute to The Temptations. 8 p.m. Temptations tribute. $20.

RICK’S TAVERN - Deadwood Alley. 9 p.m. Cover.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Cash O’Riley. 9:30 p.m.

Roots/Country/Rock. Free.

H

STANLEY’S PUB Olivia Frances and

Angela Predhomme. 10 p.m.

Acoustic/Pop. $10.

TALON TAVERN - The Pandora Project. 9 p.m.

Rock.

URBAN ARTIFACT - Sun Delay, Saint Aubinin and Darity. 9 p.m. AltRock.

WASHINGTON PLATFORM - Mike Wade Quartet.

8:30 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/ drink minimum).

SATURDAY 11

20TH CENTURY THEATER - Forever Diamond. 8 p.m. Neil Diamond tribute. $15, $20 day of show.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Rooster Ridge. 8 p.m. Americana. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Cee Love & Connie (9 p.m.); Tyler Strittmatter (6 p.m.). Acoustic. Free.

BLUE NOTE HARRISON - The Eagles Project. 7 p.m.

The Eagles tribute. $10.

BOGART’S - Thunderstruck with Mojo Risin and Dr. J & the Apostles. 8 p.m.

AC/DC tribute/Rock. $10.

BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Mandy Gaines with The Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Brent Gallaher Quartet. 8:30 p.m.

Jazz.

THE COMET - Shag Lab, Old Pictures/New Pictures, Watterson and Tigershark.

10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Sarah Sugar and the High Crimes. 8 p.m.

Rock. Free.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Dixie Karas Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz.

Free.

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - The Good Hooks Band. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Rock/ Dance/Various. Cover.

JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Michelle Robinson Band. 9 p.m. Country. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - Naked Karate Girls. 10 p.m. Pop/ Rock. Cover.

H

LUDLOW GARAGE Najee. 8:30 p.m. Jazz.

$35-$65.

Free.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Voodoo Spiders. 9 p.m.

Blues. Cover.

THE COMET - Comet Bluegrass Allstars. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

MOTR PUB - Jane Decker with Bershy And Ryan Fine.

10 p.m. AltPop. Free.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Mike Darrah. 10:30 a.m. Jazz. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN Teknik 2020 with Heather Heart + DJs PK, X-Ian and Jeremy Zang. 10 p.m. EDM. Free.

LATITUDES BAR & BISTRO - BlueBirds. 8 p.m.

Rock/R&B. Free.

NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB - The Spiders with DJ Bryan Dilsizian. 9 p.m.

David Bowie tribute. Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE LoopManDan. 7:30 p.m.

Acoustic/Loops. Free.

RICK’S TAVERN - Wayward Son. 9 p.m. Rock.

Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE - The Prince Project. 8 p.m.

Prince tribute. $15.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT Phil DeGreg Trio. 8:30 p.m.

Jazz. Cover.

THE SONIC BOOM ROOM - School of Rock Mason: Music of Elton John and Billy Joel. 7:30 p.m. Pop/ Rock. $6, $8 day of show.

SORG OPERA HOUSE The Motortown All-Stars: The Music and Magic of Motown. 8 p.m. Pop/R&B/ Soul. $25-$30.

MOTR PUB - Country Westerns with Toon Town.

8 p.m. Rock. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - School of Rock Mason Performs Elton John and Billy Joel and No Doubt and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 4 p.m.

Rock. $6, $8 day of show.

MONDAY 13

BLIND LEMON - Ben Armstrong. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

MOTR PUB - Sharp Toys with Planet Blip, Yusef Quotah and Quiet Lives. 9 p.m.

Alternative/Rock. Free.

SUNDAY 12

BLIND LEMON - Jeff Henry. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Blue Wisp Big Band. 8 p.m.

Big Band Jazz. $10.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Pat Kelly Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - Dallas Moore and Lucky Chucky.

10 p.m. Country. Free.

MANSION HILL TAVERN Losing Lucky. 8 p.m. Roots.

Free.

H

MOTR PUB - Cruzer with Isabelle Helle & The Hell’s Bells and Stallone N’ Roses. 9 p.m. Rock.

Free.

TUESDAY 14

STANLEY’S PUB - El Ritmo Del Manana. 9 p.m.

Latin Jazz. $7.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Ben Levin. 7 p.m.

Blues. Free.

BOGART’S - The Dead South. 8 p.m.

Bluegrass.

BREWRIVER CREOLE KITCHEN - The Twirlers. 7 p.m. R&B/Classic Pop/Standards. Free.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Billy Larkin & Amy McFarland. 7:30 p.m. Jazz.

H

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL - Music Live@Lunch with The Faux Frenchmen. 12:10 p.m.

Jazz. Free.

VINOKLET WINERY Bluegrass Wednesdays with Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass. 6:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

THURSDAY 16

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Philip Paul Trio.

7:30 p.m. Jazz. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Billy Otten. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

BOGART’S - Led Zeppelin 2. 8 p.m. Led Zep tribute. $10.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Caffè Vivace Jam Session. 7:30 p.m. Jazz.

THE COMET - Mynah Tones. 10 p.m. Pop/Rock/ Various. Free.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Hogan and Lauren. 6 a.m. Acoustic.

Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN

HILTON NETHERLAND

PALM COURT - Brad Myers Trio with Meghan Watkins. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - Kenny Cowden. 9 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

LUDLOW GARAGE - Fuel.

8:30 p.m. Rock. $20, $25 day of show.

H

MOTR PUB - Them Coulee Boys with Fireside Collective. 10 p.m.

Americana. Free.

H

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - Blossom Hall, WYD and Brianna Kelley. 10 p.m.

Indie Rock. Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Open Mic. 7 p.m. Various. Free.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT Double Double Bass Night with Andrew Walits. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

H

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Mt. Pleasant String Band. 8 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

H

STANLEY’S PUB Restless Leg String Band and Feed The Dog. 10 p.m. Bluegrass/Americana. $10.

WESTSIDE VENUE - Bob Cushing. 9 p.m. Acoustic.

FRIDAY 17

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Moonshine Drive.

8 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Jamonn Zeiler (9 p.m.); Kyle Singerman and Udoka (6 p.m.).

Acoustic. Free.

BOGART’S - One Direction Vs. Jonas Brothers Tribute Night. 8 p.m. Pop. $7-$20.

BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

H H

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Ric Hordinski Trio. 8:30 p.m. Various.

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - The Cincy Brass. 8 p.m. Led Zeppelin tribute. Free.

H

GALLAGHER STUDENT CENTER THEATRE - Xavier Jazz Series with Benny Golson and Emmet Cohen. 8 p.m.

Jazz. $10-$35.

H

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT Now Hear This. 9 p.m. Jazz.

Free.

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - Airwave Band. 9:30 p.m. Pop/Dance/Various.

Cover.

JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Danny Frazier. 9 p.m. Country. Free.

KNOTTY PINE - Sunset Mafia and Partytown. 8 p.m.

Rock. Cover.

THE MAD FROG - Saints Among Us, Day of the Sun, Kryptaker and Mantra of Morta. 7 p.m. Rock. $10.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Tickled Pink. 9 p.m. Blues.

Cover.

MAURY’S TINY COVE Ricky Nye. 7 p.m. Blues/ Boogie Woogie. Free.

H

MOTR PUB - This Pine Box with Johnny Conqueroo and Sugadaisy.

10 p.m. AltRock. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN AmpFibians Surf Night. 9 p.m. Surf Rock. Free.

H

OTR LIVE - Blac Youngsta. 11 p.m. Hip Hop. $15.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE Troubadours of Divine Bliss.

7:30 p.m. Folk/Americana.

Free.

RADISSON CINCINNATI RIVERFRONT - Basic Truth. 8 p.m. R&B/Soul/ Funk. Free (in the Fifth Lounge).

THE REDMOOR - Fox Soxx with Extansion. 8 p.m.

Funk/Rock/Progressive/ Jam. Cover.

RICK’S TAVERN - HiFi Honey. 9 p.m. Pop/Rock/ Country/Various. Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE - Nine Shrines, ENMY, American Sin, Counting Stars and Here Come Here. 8 p.m.

Rock. $10.

Rock. Free.

H

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - Joey Allcorn. 8 p.m. Country/Honky Tonk. $7, $10 day of show.

STANLEY’S PUB - Terrapin Moon. 10 p.m. Grateful Dead tribute. $5.

H

URBAN ARTIFACT Blockhead with Arms and Sleepers and il:lo. 9 p.m. Electronic/Alt/Various. $15, $20 day of show.

WASHINGTON PLATFORM - EWI Quartet featuring Walfredo Reyes Jr,. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

WESTSIDE BREWING - Bob Cushing. 8 p.m.

Acoustic.

SATURDAY 18

H

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - The Newbees.

8 p.m. Rock. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Donna Frost (9 p.m.); James Knight (6 p.m.). Acoustic. Free.

BOGART’S - Signs Of Life.

9 p.m. Pink Floyd tribute. $12.50-$15.

BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Mandy Gaines with The Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Eric Wurzelbacher Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz.

CLUB TRIO - Pandora Effect. 9:30 p.m. Rock.

THE COMET - Evening Redness, Ghostdriver and One Rock Taylor. 10 p.m.

Rock. Free.

DESHA’S - Misterman and the Mojo Band. 8 p.m.

Blues. Free.

H

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Peridoni with Electric Orange Peel. 9 a.m. Rock/Prog/ Jam. Free.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT Ben Walkenhauer Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Cover.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Gary Morrell/Jim Connerley Quartet.

9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Colin Richards and Spare Change. 9:30 p.m. Psych

JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - Brass Tracks Band.

9:30 p.m. Classic Rock.

Cover.

J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0 | C I T Y B E AT. C O M

WASHINGTON PLATFORM - The Ludlow Trio.

8:30 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/ drink minimum).

H

SILVERTON CAFE - Bob Cushing. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

H

URBAN ARTIFACT Vehicle. 8:30 p.m. Rock.

BLIND LEMON - Thom Stephenson. 6 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

STANLEY’S PUB - Jazz Jam with The Stanleyband.

9 p.m. Jazz/Improv. Free.

H

STANLEY’S PUB Maria Carrelli Band with Lindsay Jordan. 10 p.m.

Country. $8.

WEDNESDAY 15

NORTHSIDE TAVERN Shiny Old Soul. 9 p.m.

Rock/Roots/Various. Free.

BLIND LEMON - Nick Tuttle. 8:30 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

H

STANLEY’S PUB - Trashgrass Troubadours. 9 p.m.

Bluegrass. Cover.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN Northside Jazz Ensemble.

9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Redemption Brothers. 9:30 p.m. Roots/Pop/Rock. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - Sunny Sweeney with Erin Enderlin and Matt Woods. 9 p.m. Country. $20-$75.

- Will Orchard, Brianna Kelley and Phil Cotter. 9 p.m.

Singer/Songwriter/Various.

Free.

45

PUZZLE JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Gen X Band. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

Starless and Don’t Feed The Giants. 7 p.m. Rock. $8, $10 day of show.

KNOTTY PINE - Wayward Son. 10 p.m. Classic Rock.

Cover.

H

LUDLOW GARAGE - The Levin Brothers Band. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. $20-$30.

MADISON LIVE - Tyler Jarvis with Abby Holliday and Cory Breth. 8 p.m. $10, $12 day of show.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Jay Jesse Johnson. 9 p.m.

Blues. Cover.

H

MOTR PUB - Moira with Blossom Hall and Strobobean. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

H

NORTHSIDE TAVERN - String Machine with Soften and Creamboy. 8 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

THE PIKE BAR AND GRILL - Ricky Nye Inc. 8 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Buskin Blue. 7:30 p.m. Country/ Rock/Various. Free.

THE REDMOOR - Soul Pocket. 8 p.m. R&B/Pop/ Dance/Various. $10.

RICK’S TAVERN - Bad Habit. 9 p.m. Rock. Cover.

RIVERFRONT LIVE - Hyryder. 9 p.m. Dead tribute. $10.

SCHWARTZ’S POINT Erwin Stuckey Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. Free.

C I T Y B E AT. C O M   | 

J A N . 0 8 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0

THE SONIC BOOM ROOM - School of Rock Mason: 21st Century Rock Revival.

8 p.m. Rock. $6, $8 day of show.

46

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) Lexy Dunn. 9:30 p.m.

Country. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL ROOM) - Cincinnati Noir. 10 p.m. Alt/Dance/DJ. $5.

H

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (SANCTUARY) - Into The Skies (farewell show) with The World I Knew, Friday Giants,

STANLEY’S PUB Queen City Blues Alliance with Casey Gomez, Fred Gillespie & the Swamp Bees, Leo Clarke Trio and Tumbling Dice. 10 p.m.

Blues. Cover.

H

TAFT THEATRE Morgan Wallen with Jon Langston and Ashland Craft. 8 p.m. Country. $35-$65.

THOMPSON HOUSE Reign Over Me, Dreadful Rumor, Hyoscene and Mother Ocean. 7:30 p.m.

Rock. $10.

H

Tossing Back A Few Beers

BY B R EN DA N E M M E T T Q U I G L E Y

Jazz/Soul. $15, $17 day of show.

1. Cabrera of CNN

AC R O S S

H

MOTR PUB - Stef Chura with Leggy. 8 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

4. Crabs (and the like) nobody eats?

NORTHSIDE TAVERN School of Rock Mason: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (4 p.m.) and 21st Century Rock Revival (7 p.m.). Rock. $6, $8 day of show.

14. My pronoun, for Merkel

MONDAY 20

BLIND LEMON - Ben Armstrong. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

H

CAFFĂˆ VIVACE - Animal Mother and On a Limb. 7:30 p.m. Jazz.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Nick Fryer Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free.

8. Exactly

15. Literary orphan sent to the Lowood Institution 16. How some grounders are fielded 17. Music genre that evokes an earlier time

19. Like sub-zero temperatures

20. “Actually, that’s bullshit�

21. Fashion designer Saab

23. Pipe down?

24. “Golic and Wingo� chanel

URBAN ARTIFACT – Blessed Black (album release show) with Casino Warrior and Gudger. 9 p.m.

Metal. Free.

H

WASHINGTON PLATFORM - Pam Mallory Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

STANLEY’S PUB - Jazz Jam with The Stanleyband.

9 p.m. Jazz/Improv. Free.

25. Deadly African snake

SUNDAY 19

TUESDAY 21

29. Spanish province or its capital

MOTR PUB - Sharp Toys with Static Falls. 9 p.m. Rock. Free.

27. He’s a pig

65. Cummerbund, e.g.

31. Japanese dumplings

44. Spritz things up?

66. Albuquerqueto-Lubbock dir.

32. Like payments made with your cellphone, briefly

46. Marc of the Toronto Raptors 48. “Gimme�

BLIND LEMON - Jeff Henry. 8 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Cheryl RenÊe. 7 p.m. Blues. Free.

30. Acting all emo

1. Eagle’s landing pad

33. Bills from the government, e.g.

COLLEGE HILL TOWN HALL - Ricky Nye Inc. 7 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie/ Jazz. $10.

BLIND LEMON - Nick Tuttle. 8:30 p.m. Acoustic.

Free.

32. “Live at the Barbeque� rapper 33. Actor Felton of the Harry Potter movies

2. Atomic structure physicist

34. Private discussions

49. Elba of “Cats�

BREWRIVER CREOLE KITCHEN - The Twirlers. 7 p.m. R&B/Classic Pop/Standards. Free.

36. Where things stand today

3. Felix V and Alexander V, e.g.

35. Operation specialists, briefly

51. Wise guys

4. Site admin’s concern, briefly

37. Rain forest resident that resembles a zebra

THE COMET - Comet Bluegrass Allstars. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

H

FRETBOARD BREWING COMPANY - Memphis or Bust International Blues Challenge Fundraiser featuring Lil Red and the Rooster Band, Jimmy D. Rogers, Ralph and the Rhythm Hounds and Troubled Waters. 2 p.m.

Blues. $5.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Rob Allgeyer. 10:30 a.m. Jazz.

Free.

LATITUDES BAR & BISTRO - BlueBirds. 8 p.m.

Rock/R&B. Free.

H

MADISON THEATER - Ripe and The New Respects. 8 p.m. Funk/Jam/

40. Theses defenders: Abbr.

CAFFĂˆ VIVACE - Mandy Gaines & Steve Schmidt.

7:30 p.m. Jazz.

41. Thunder, on scoreboards

THE COMET - Mynah Tones. 10 p.m. Pop/Rock/ Various. Free.

43. Strip off the Mediterranean

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Emily Jordan Trio. 5 p.m. Jazz. Free.

46. Test cases?

STANLEY’S PUB - RumpRyder. 9 p.m. Jamgrass. $10.

H

TAFT THEATRE - Yola with Amythyst Kiah.

8 p.m. Country Soul. $20, $25 day of show (in the Ballroom).

SEE CITYBEAT.COM FOR FULL MUSIC LISTINGS AND ALL CLUB LOCATIONS.

42. The tops

45. Al’s is 13: Abbr.

52. Perfect 54. Fighting 55. “That’s a good ___!�

DOWN

5. With a less neurotic personality 6. Amusingly odd 7. Old snap tone 8. ___ A. Bank 9. Paris-based arts org.

10. Get for a song 11. Original “Buffy� network 12. More in need of an ice pack

56. More than you can count

13. Met tragedy, say

57. Tanker’s route

18. Fix up a loose board

59. Entertaining lavishly 61. Highly decorated 62. Woman’s name that means “pure�

63. Woody picture 64. Trash

22. Certain style 26. “Tik Tok� singer 28. Strand with code 30. Hadley and Bradley on the Moon: Abbr.

47. Fetal positions

50. Actress Davis

38. National Radon Action Mo. sponsor 39. Very deadly 43. Really bother

53. Author Madeline L’___ 58. “Shut Up ‘n Play ___ Guitar�

(Frank Zappa album) 60. Brick oven residue

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We’re family-owned, locally grown, and internationally known.

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LEGAL NOTICES Extra Space Storage hold a public auction at the location indicated: 2526 Ritchie Ave Crescent Springs, KY 41017, January 21 st 2020 at 1:00 pm 624BC , 612 The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

Extra Space Storage hold a public auction at the location indicated: 2900 Crescent Springs Pike, Erlanger KY 41018 on January 21st 2020 at 12:45pm 217, 244, 266, 283, 292, 338, 436, 559, 602, 740, 813, 1128, 1160 The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

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hold a public auction at the location indicated: 8080 Steilen Drive, Florence, KY 41042 on January 21st, 2020 at 12:15 pm.

Unit 209, Unit 528, Unit 737, Unit 831, Unit 843, Unit 1013, Unit 1027, Unit 1110, Unit 2111, Unit 2237, Unit 2241, Unit 2243, Unit 2303, Unit 2633, Unit 2909 The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com.

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Extra Space Storage hold a public auction at the location: 7 Sperti Dr Ste 200, Edgewood, KY 41017 on December 17, 2019 at 1:15 PM 1074, 1530, 1511, 1312, 1541, 1104, 1502, 1310 The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

will hold a public auction at the location indicated: 525 W 35 th St, Covington, KY 41015 on Tuesday January 21st, 2019 at 1:30 PM. Unit-2121, Unit-2302, Unit-2328, Unit-2405, Unit-2418, Unit-3108, Unit-3206, Unit-3221, Unit-3246, Unit-3254, Unit-3502, Unit-4109, Unit-4119, Unit-4127, Unit-4419, Unit-4429, Unit-4602 The auction will be listed and advertised on storagetreasures.com.

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auction at the storage facility listed below: 5970 Centennial Circle, Florence, KY 41042, 859-408-5219, January 21 st , 2020, 12:30 pm Unit 721 , Unit 326 The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

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