CityBeat | June 12, 2023

NEWS

Pitching After East Palestine

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval tells CityBeat why he thinks voters should approve the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern after East Palestine.

BY MADELINE FENING

It’s unclear when Cincinnati voters will be asked to decide whether or not to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern, but the choice is coming. After a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed from its tracks in East Palestine on Feb. 3 (potentially caused by system neglect from the multi-billion dollar rail giant), a plume of thick black smoke painted a dark picture for the weeks to come. Days-long evacuations, scores of animals dead, anxiety and panic over the safety of the village’s drinking water;

the East Palestine train derailment has been Ohio’s nationally defining story in early 2023, and Cincinnati is the spinoff.

The Cincinnati Southern Railway is a single rail line that starts in a sea of railroads at Queensgate Yard and ends in Chattanooga. The 336-mile commercial freight railway is the only city-owned multi-state railway in the country. Over the years, Cincinnati has leased the line to rail operator Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norfolk Southern. The first lease agreement

with CNO&TP was signed in 1881 and has been renewed on a 25-year cycle ever since. The latest lease agreement turns 25 this year, and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval wants Cincinnati to break up with the commercial rail industry in the form of a sale.

But voters have raised concerns about future safety if the city relinquishes ownership of its railway to the company that caused the fiery explosion of vinyl chloride in East Palestine. Pureval made the pitch to voters less than four months before the

catastrophic train derailment, but four months after the crash, he sat down with CityBeat to give a renewed pitch post-East Palestine.

CityBeat: Thank you for sitting down with me to talk about this sale. To start out, what’s your elevator pitch to voters about why they should vote to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern, even after what we’ve seen in East Palestine?

Mayor Aftab Pureval: For the last 150 years we have leased the railroad to

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval sits down with CityBeat's Madeline Fening to talk about the proposed sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to problematic rail giant, Norfolk Southern.

PHOTO: EMORY DAVIS

Norfolk Southern for its various entities, and the lease is a 25 year lease, that lease ends this year. The contract requires a negotiation of the lease in anticipation of the lease term ending, which the Cincinnati Railroad Board did. Over the last year they have negotiated aggressively in order to get the best possible deal with the city, both for a lease or for a sale. The parties are very very far apart on the lease terms. Norfolk Southern wants the $25 million that we get based on the most recent lease term to continue into the next 25 years. We want a significantly higher lease term. The parties were not able to close the gap on that lease term.

Right now, the $25 million that we get from the lease all goes towards existing infrastructure, and despite that $25 million a year we get on top of our infrastructure budget, we still have a $300 million deficit that is growing every year. We cannot catch up to that growing deficit, we cannot catch up to doing the basic services that a city needs to provide unless we get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shore up our city’s budget for infrastructure, not just right now, but into the future. By selling the railroad we will get a $1.6 billion trust fund to shore up our basic services for generations and we also get the benefit of getting out of a rail industry that is under-regulated, under-managed and risky. Certainly the environmental catastrophe that we’re seeing in East Palestine, no one here wants that and if we continue to hold on to this asset, we could be on the hook for liability if something like that happened here.

The financials

CB: So, if Norfolk Southern were to enter into a new lease agreement with the city of Cincinnati in 2051, it would be less than the annual $25 million we get now?

AP: It would be whatever the third party arbitrator decides. It would be much less compared to a sale. There’s a certain amount of risk involved letting it go to a third party arbitrator because we don’t know what they’re going to decide, but we know that it won’t be $50-70 million a year, which is conservatively what we would get with the sale of the railroad.

CB: The floor is, we get $25 million, which is what the current lease agreement amount is, how is it that we would get more?

AP: So, we would get $1.6 billion in a lump sum from Norfolk Southern to sell the railroad. I don’t trust future mayors or future city council members any more than anyone else does, so in order to safeguard that $1.6 billion, in order to safeguard it from becoming a slush fund for pet projects, we partnered with the state legislature in order for the sale

to move forward. In order for voters in Cincinnati to even vote on selling the railroad, we had to get state law changed. And as a part of that state law we put very, very strict limitations on what that money can be used for, and it can only be used for infrastructure. And it’s exactly the same way we currently use the proceeds of the rail lease to exclusively go to infrastructure.

The other part of the questions is, well, how can we make sure that money will be there? Well, the $1.6 billion principal will not be touched. The $50-70 million we would get every year is based on interest that is accrued by the $1.6 billion principal. So when we invest the $1.6 billion we will only spend down on the interest that is accrued, and we are conservatively estimating that to be $50 to $70 million. Now, the city, even if it is a year where returns are less than that $50 to $70 [million], we still need a specific amount every year from the trust fund. We will get that minimum $25 million, irrespectively of what the returns are if it’s a down year, but for years that it’s an up year, if we get in excess of $50 to $70 [million], all of the returns will go back into the principal. Because the $1.6 billion principal will not be touched, except for in extreme circumstances, that $1.6 billion will be there forever, or in perpetuity. If the $1.6 billion is never touched it’s going to be producing interest, producing money, every year based on that principal investment to go towards infrastructure.

CB: Does this mean we are essentially investing in Norfolk Southern?

AP: No, the Cincinnati Rail Board will hire investment experts to invest the dollars in various financial products that are safe and reliable, something like a mutual fund.

CB: Can you paint a picture of what it would look like if this rail sale doesn’t pass? What are some of our options for filling these deficits if it doesn’t pass?

AP: If this doesn’t pass and our deferred capital maintenance continues to go up by hundreds of millions of dollars then we would no longer be able to maintain the infrastructure we have. Roads will no longer be able to be paved with regularity, potholes will continue to be a challenge. We wouldn’t be able to remove snow effectively and quickly. We’ll have to downsize the number of fire stations and police stations we have, which will have an impact on safety. We won’t be able to maintain the parks we have in our community. The basic blocking and tackling of running a city will no longer be affordable.

Safety

CB: I think a lot of the anxiety around selling the Cincinnati Southern Railway

is about control, but owning the railway doesn’t necessarily mean that we are regulating Norfolk Southern, and selling doesn’t mean they are regulating it, so how do you plan to explain to voters who has the control here?

AP: The federal government has exclusive control over managing and regulating the railroad. Even though we currently own the railroad, we have no power to regulate what goes on the rails. We have no power to require rail companies to give us a heads up when they’re transporting hazardous material. The city has no power to regulate the railroad. So, even if we don’t sell the railroad, we’d have no power to prevent something like East Palestine from happening in Cincinnati. Only the federal government has that power.

CB: Now, obviously, the federal government is who regulates the railroads, but Norfolk Southern is the one who has been lobbying against those regulations. At any point during the hours of the sale negotiation, was the discussion ever had about the lobbying that has been done against safety regulations? Or their Civil War-era brakes?

AP: The railroad board has the exclusive power to manage that relationship with Norfolk Southern, both the lease and/or the sale. In fact, the railroad board has to approve the sale before it can go to council for a vote, and then it goes on the ballot. So all the negotiations were handled by the railroad board. So that’s a good question for them to answer.

CB: About the state legislature’s changes, they made it so that the name Norfolk Southern has to appear on the ballot, with lawmakers citing concerns post-East Palestine. How do you feel about that change?

AP: Look, I supported all the state legislature changes that got put into place. I want a process that is transparent, that the voters understand what they’re voting on. It’s my responsibility to explain to the residents of Cincinnati what the facts are, the challenges that we’re facing, and why this sale is in the best interest of not just current Cincinnatians, but future Cincinnatians. So, I’m incredibly supportive and proud of the partnership that we have with Columbus.

CB: Representatives at Norfolk Southern have only appeared in front of Cincinnati City Council post-East Palestine once, in front of the Budget and Finance Committee, and the conversation was focused strictly on the financial capabilities of Norfolk Southern to make good on their promise to buy the railway, even with the looming possibility they could be sued by East Palestine, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc. Is there a reason why Norfolk Southern has not

appeared before city council beyond that to talk about safety?

AP: I think once the Southern Railroad Board meets and decides whether or not to move forward with the ballot, council will then have an opportunity to weigh in and has to take a vote. So to the extent that any testifying takes place, it will likely take place then. There is no other reason that Norfolk Southern hasn’t testified since the initial sale announcement. But I anticipate that we’ll be talking to Norfolk Southern closer to the actual date.

Convincing voters

CB: When the proposed sale was announced in 2022, most people were finding out we owned our own railroad for the first time, and maybe thinking we don’t want to sell something that’s so special. Once East Palestine happened, the conversation made a sudden pivot towards safety. People then assumed Norfolk Southern would now control our railway. I asked CityBeat’s readers on Twitter and Instagram if they plan to vote in favor of the sale. On Twitter, 51% voted no, 22% voted yes and 25% were unsure. On Instagram, 61% voted no, 9% voted yes and 30% voted unsure. What is your reaction to those numbers?

AP: My reaction is, well, for me the choice is very clear. I am staring down a fiscal situation that is dire with the city not being able to provide basic services that citizens desire. We’re facing a rail industry that puts the city at risk for owning a railroad that the federal government has the exclusive power to manage and regulate, and we’re looking at a sale that could solve both issues. It takes Cincinnati out of the risky liability of owning a railroad, given the derailments that keep happening, and number two, we get an opportunity to secure our fiscal future.

CB: Since East Palestine, the public image of Norfolk Southern and what they gain on their end of the sale has shifted a lot. What level of responsibility do you think Norfolk Southern has to convince voters that this sale is a good idea?

AP: [Inhales and pauses] Um, you know I think it’s really up to me and city leadership to tell the story, to tell the facts, and to persuade people that this is in the best interest of the city. I guess you have to ask Norfolk Southern about their view of their role in it, but, I really do view it as my role as mayor to explain to folks a relatively complex issue. Why, despite its complexity, it is in everyone’s best interest for the sale. I see that more as my responsibility.

CB: I think that the idea of us selling our railway to Norfolk Southern makes it sound to voters that we are partnering with the company, or perhaps deepening

a partnership with them.

AP: Just the opposite. We’re separating from Norfolk Southern entirely. So after this, it’s either having another 25 year relationship with Norfolk Southern, or it’s separating entirely and, not only shoring up our litigation liability, but also getting $1.6 billion dollars to shore up our finances.

CB: What is that campaign messaging going to look like? Are you envisioning yard signs with trains on them? Public forums? What’s the plan?

AP: We’re envisioning a full-on campaign. For my part, I can say that I’ll be making myself available as much as possible through town halls, through meeting interviews, through community events, explaining the issue, and persuading people that selling the railroad is in the best interest of the city, and doing everything I can to educate and inform, but also ultimately persuade.

CB: How can you do that without damning Norfolk Southern while also not making it sound like the city and Norfolk Southern are cozy?

AP: Yeah, I mean, that’s a good question. I understand your perspective about why that might be difficult, but the truth of the matter is really simple. I don’t want Cincinnati to have anything to do with the railway industry. I don't want them to have anything to do with the rail carriers, I don't want us to have anything to do with the rail line. There’s

so much uncertainty, there’s so much risk. So it really is separating entirely from not just Norfolk Southern, but really from the railway industry, or at least the commercial rail industry as a whole. But on top of that, we also get $1.6 billion to fill a fiscal hole that really does threaten the future of our city. So from my perspective it’s a clear win-win.

CB: In most campaigns, usually the messaging around what you’re selling to voters comes from a place of passion and storytelling, but with something like this, it sounds like you need to sell it to people in a stone-cold facts kind of way. Is that the plan?

AP: I think the storytelling is twofold. Number one, the storytelling of protecting Cincinnati from the rail industry, I think is part of it. The second part of it is painting in people's minds a future of Cincinnati that has incredible parks and incredible rec centers that can help particularly in the summer months with our CPS students not in school, making sure they’re doing something productive and healthy with their time, our police and fire stations, to make sure that public safety continues to be a priority. And then just the ability for people to get in and around our city with good public transportation, good roads and bridges, and you know, frankly being able to just plow the snow. I mean, painting that picture of what a modern thriving, prosperous, growing Cincinnati looks like is directly relevant

to whether or not we get this thing passed.

Other options

CB: Why can’t we just do this with someone else? There’s other players, CSX?

AP: It’s multifaceted. It could be someone else, but again, it goes back to the lease terms, which are very favorable towards Norfolk Southern. In addition to a third party arbitrator having to weigh in, having the authority to weigh in, if the parties can’t agree on the lease terms, Norfolk Southern also has the right to a first refusal.

So they have the right to match any option coming from a third party. But more to the point - the reason why Norfolk Southern is in the best possible position to give us the most money to value our railroad the most, or the highest, is because the network leading into the northern part of our railroad is all owned by Norfolk Southern, and the network leading out of the southern end of our railroad is also owned by Norfolk Southern. So they’re really in the best possible position to value our railroad segment the highest in the open market, and on top of that, they also have the right to first refusal and release.

CB: How will this impact the city’s ability to expand passenger rail travel?

AP: Cincinnati is really leading the way to advocate for Amtrak’s grants.

That will open up huge possibilities for us, not just within Ohio, but via Indiana to Chicago along the Cardinal line. None of the non-passenger rail conversations that we’re having will have a negative impact on the passenger rail, and that is a big priority for the city.

CB: As you said when you first sat down, Cincinnati has owned its own railway for a very long time. For so long it was an asset, it was positive, a strength. At what point in our history did it shift from a strength to a liability? From a good thing to bad?

AP: I think the most recent instance of the East Palestine environmental and human catastrophe that continues to unfold, was certainly a large event that made people reconsider the liabilities that’s associated with owning a railroad. So I think that most recently was the biggest instance of that. But I will say, since that catastrophe has occurred and continues to occur, we see almost on a daily basis, headlines from railcars that are derailing, or accidents that are happening, or deaths that are happening. Not just here in Ohio but around the country.

If people don't want the city of Cincinnati having anything to do with Norfolk Southern, then they should vote for the sale. Because the sale of the railroad separates us entirely from Norfolk Southern and its business. If they vote against the sale, they’re forcing the city into a relationship with Norfolk Southern for at least another 25 years.

Since 1880, Cincinnati has been the only city in the United States to own its own railroad. Now, the city wants voters to transform the unique asset into a unique trust fund.

PHOTO: EMORY DAVIS

As its title suggests, Beach Read by Cincinnati author Emily Henry is the quintessential beach read.

PHOTO: EMORY DAVIS

Summer Reading Guide

Summer Reading Guide

Greater Cincinnati’s best authors are ready to fill your beach tote.

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

Summer ushers in seasonal wonders: slowing down, backyard cookouts, music festivals, creamy whip stands, melting your ass off, hammock hangs, vacay and various celebrations from Pride Month to Labor Day. But it’s also long been associated with reading; it’s when libraries host

Jessica Strawser

Jessica Strawer is no stranger to the kind of fiction often picked up by book clubs. In fact, she writes it. Strawser is the author of several novels: Almost Missed You, Not That I Could Tell, Forget You Know Me, A Million Reasons Why and The Next Thing You Know. Strawser’s works are often marked by domestic drama, page-turning thrills and smalltown secrets. Also the editor-at-large and columnist at Writer’s Digest, Strawser has a sixth novel, The Last Caretaker, due in November.

Strawser was the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s first writer-in-residence in 2019 and has earned bylines in the New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more.

Jessica Strawser’s picks:

The Daydreams by Laura Hankin (Penguin Random House, 2023)

“What Daisy Jones & The Six did for 1970s nostalgia, Laura Hankin’s The Daydreams does for everyone who came of age during the Britney/Justin/Christina era. It’s wildly entertaining, surprisingly twisty, fierce, smart and absolutely pitch perfect.”

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley (Penguin Random House 2023)

“This book is the most fun you’ll ever have on a vicarious road trip. Come for the unlikely friendship between two memorable characters, stay for the antics, the suspense and the emotional kick that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.”

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (HarperCollins, 2022)

“If you tend to be contrarian and skip big-name book club picks, make an exception for this one. There’s nothing else out there like it. Believe the hype.”

challenges and people stuff their tote bags full of books and head off to the beach, pool, park or anywhere with sweet, sweet air conditioning.

It’s also when magazines and newspapers release summer reading guides, which is exactly what you’re reading now. Spread out your beach towel, stake

your umbrella, slather on some sunscreen and grab a drink. CityBeat has you covered. We caught up with four authors with local ties and asked them to suggest summer reads, but we didn’t limit the parameters to your typical beach read — the sort of breezy, easy reading many people associate with distant locations

and time off work. Whether you’re into poetry, sci-fi or memoirs, you’re sure to find a good recommendation from an author you trust.

Read on for their picks, as well as 20 additional books written by regional authors to add to your reading lists this summer.

Jessica Strawser is an author and former writer-in-residence at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. | PHOTO: CORRIE SCHAFFELD

Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel. | PHOTO: FAIR USE

The Parting Present, or Lo Que Se Irá, by Manuel Iris. | PHOTO: FAIR USE

Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld’s latest novel, Romantic Comedy, is a New York Times Best Seller and was picked up by Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Released in early April, it’ll likely be a popular pick this season for beach reading. Sittenfeld currently lives in Minneapolis with her family, but she was born and raised in Cincinnati.

Along with Romantic Comedy, Sittenfeld has written six other novels including Rodham, Eligible, Prep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife and Sisterland, along with the collection You Think It, I’ll Say It.

Dr. Yalie Saweda Kamara

Dr. Yalie Saweda Kamara is the current Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate, a two-year position that she stepped into last April. The role promotes poetry throughout Cincinnati via reading, programming and more. A Sierra Leonean-American writer, Kamara has her hands deep in the Queen City’s creative writing scene; she’s also WordPlay Cincy’s director of creative youth leadership and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Kamara is the author of two poetry collections, 2018’s A Brief Biography of My Name and 2017’s When the Living Sing. She’s also the editor behind the anthology What You Need to Know About Me: Youth Writers on Their Experience of Migration and has been the recipient of accolades including the 2017 Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and was a finalist for both the 2020 National Poetry Series and 2021 Cave Canem Poetry Prize.

Yalie Saweda Kamara’s picks: So Listen to My Voice, Bear Witness to My Story (WordPlay Cincy/Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library,

2023)

“This is a poetry collection that highlights the inner landscapes of three talented teen writers — Rimel Kamran, Cincinnati’s inaugural youth poet laureate — and poets Nola Stowe and Audrey Symon. Among the sources of joy and praise found in the chapbook’s pages are mothers, ballet, the Islamic faith, the natural world, bicultural identity, Midwestern geographies, memory and Joni Mitchell. Their poems luxuriate in the colorful, bold, kaleidoscopic and complex nature of the self, society, time, space and the future.”

The African Lookbook: A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women by Catherine McKinley (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021)

“This book celebrates the exploration of African female fashion and traces the histories of the continent’s complex and majestic material culture. Printed in a stately hardcover edition, it rejoices in the survival and diversity of diasporic dress by recovering historical and artistic narratives obscured and decentered by the vagaries of memory and colonial rule. Part historical document, part art

object, this book’s delicate and detailed layering of image and text nourish the mind and eye in equal measure.”

A Sword in Both Hands by Dick Westheimer (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2023)

“It renders and investigates the war on Ukraine through a captivating experimentation of poetic form (found poetry, the duplex, the persona poem and the ghazal are among the forms that find a home in this collection); research on the

Curtis Sittenfeld’s picks: Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon (HarperCollins, 2022)

“Both entertaining and poignant, the former SNL cast member’s memoir chronicles her Cleveland upbringing and the hard work and mischief that led to her stardom.”

Stepping Back From the Ledge by Laura Trujillo (Penguin Random House, 2022)

“Admittedly, this is not a light book, but it’s an honest and moving examination of the suicide of Trujillo’s mother and the steep price of family secrets. And several scenes are set in Cincinnati, where Trujillo lives.”

social and natural worlds; and the study and excavation of public and private histories. Through the careful crafting of narratives, Westheimer implores the reader to engage with the fullness of a humanity that is threatened by oppressive forces, while also reminding the reader of a shared plight dictated by history. In short, the struggle of another can never truly be separated from that of our own.”

Cincinnati native Curtis Sittenfield’s latest novel, Romantic Comedy, is a New York Times bestseller. | PHOTO: JENN ACKERMAN

Yalie Saweda Kamara is the current Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate. | PHOTO: MERCANTILE LIBRARY, PHIL ARMSTRONG

J.M. Clark

J.M. Clark loves talking books. After all, he’s an author and a bookseller. Alongside his wife, Clark runs the Tome Bookstore in Mount Washington. While the brick-and-mortar is slated to close on July 1, Clark (real name: Jeremy Spencer) and his wife Autumn Spencer posted a lengthy statement on Facebook on May 22, promising that they’d return, albeit in a new way –– and launching a GoFundMe to help do just that.

“Although we are bidding farewell to our Mount Washington location, we are thrilled to share that our book store will return in a newly imagined way,” reads an excerpt from the statement. “We have some exciting news to unveil within the next 30-60 days, as we finalize the details. Rest assured, our commitment to creating a vibrant literary experience remains stronger than ever.”

Clark is a member of Cincinnati Fantasy Writers and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He has authored The Palace Program trilogy and Three Rings.

J.M. Clark’s picks:

Fairy Tale by Stephen King (Scribner, 2022)

“This book is special in that it was written by Stephen King but is not meant to be scary. It’s an old-fashioned fairy tale that follows a young man from the present day into a world of dying magic and amazing characters.”

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (Tor Books, 2014)

“This book is the best I’ve read in the last few years. It’s sci-fi of the highest order. There are so many morality jewels about who we are on this planet and what may be out there, trying to get here.”

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden (Hollywood Press Upstairs, 2021)

“A thriller novel. Freida is one of the easiest writers to read. The words on the page just flow into your mind and understanding is instantaneous. There are twists in every chapter, which keeps you reading. I finished this book in a day, and I’m no speed reader.”

J.M. Clark is a Cincinnati author and the owner of Tome Bookstore. | PHOTO: PROVIDED BY J.M. CLARK

Cincinnati Scavenger by Kathryn Witt. |

PHOTO: FAIR USE

I Always Carry My Bones by Felicia Zamora. | PHOTO: FAIR USE

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis. | PHOTO: FAIR USE

Other Summer Reading Picks Written by Regional Authors

Beach Read and Happy Place by Emily Henry

If you’re looking for quintessential beach reads, you won’t go wrong with any of Emily Henry’s romance books. Based in Greater Cincinnati, Henry is known for her witty, banter-filled dialogue and relatable characters, who are often found on adventures. A New York Times Best Seller, Henry has authored Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Happy Place and Book Lovers

If you’re packing for a beach vacation and want to get meta with your reading choice, Beach Read is for you — and you can read it ahead of the movie. In April, Deadline announced the book would be adapted by 20th Century Studios with director/screenwriter Yulin Kuang at the helm.

Adaptations of Henry’s The People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers are also in the works.

If you prefer the latest, Henry’s Happy Place was released just this May. Fans of the “pretend relationship” trope, take note: This one’s for you. Happy Place follows a broken-up couple who pretend to still be together during their annual vacation with their best friends, all of whom met in college and have traveled to the same cottage in Maine for years. This year also marks the group’s last in the now-for-sale cottage, hence the secrecy. Can they keep the facade up without fracturing the group’s, ahem, happy place?

The Speaking Stone: Stories Cemeteries

Tell by Michael Griffith

No matter if the weather is rainy, overcast or sunny, there’s nothing quite like a stroll in a cemetery. It’s a feeling Michael Griffith knows well. A professor of English at UC, his 2021 nonfiction novel The Speaking Stone is described as a “literary love letter to the joys of wandering graveyards.” Cincinnati has some beautiful graveyards perfect for strolling, the crown jewel being the expansive Spring Grove and Arboretum.

Established in 1845, and sprawling over 700 acres, Spring Grove is the third-largest cemetery in the U.S. Griffith took almost daily walks in the cemetery and followed up on whatever piqued his interest, which led to this collection of essays uncovering the histories behind any given headstone. Want to take more hot girl graveyard walks this summer? Let The Speaking Stone serve as inspiration.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

It’s Pride and Prejudice but set in modern-day Cincinnati. What more could a hopeless romantic Cincinnatian ask for? Sittenfeld’s 2016 novel was part of the Austen Project, a series that paired six contemporary authors with

a Jane Austen classic. Read Eligible and then use it as an excuse to rewatch Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in the 2005 film adaptation –– as if you need a reason.

Lark Ascending by Silas House

Silas House is Kentucky’s current poet laureate, an honor that came on the heels of a big 2022: House was the recipient of the Duggins Prize, the largest award for an LGBTQ writer in the country, and named Appalachian of the Year. A dystopian tale of found family, Lark Ascending marks his seventh novel. Set in the near future, it sees America in flames (literally) and in the grip of religious nationalism.

The book –– winner of the 2023 Southern Book and Nautilus Book prizes –– follows Lark and his family as they attempt to escape America for Ireland, which may not be the safe haven he thought it’d be.

Bowlfuls of Blue by Alexandra McIntosh

What better time of year to ponder nature’s wonder than summer? Bowlfuls of Blue marks Kentucky native Alexandra McIntosh’s first collection of poems. In it, McIntosh weaves together meditations and reflections not only on core moments from her personal life but on nature itself, from the Kentucky and Ohio River Valley to the cosmos above.

The Parting Present by Manuel Iris Lo Que Se Irá, or The Parting Present, is a bilingual collection of poetry from Manuel Iris, a Mexican poet now residing in Cincinnati. The collection was the Readers’ Choice selection for the 2022 Ohioana Book Awards, the second oldest state literary prize in the nation. A recognition from Ohioana places Iris among some of the state’s most renowned writers, including the late, great Toni Morrison. Iris served as the poet laureate emeritus of Cincinnati from 2018-2020 and is the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s writer-in-residence.

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

Also recognized in the Ohioana Awards was Jasmine Warga for her middle grades book The Shape of Thunder, which tackles tough topics with grace. The book follows Cora and Quinn, best friends and next-door neighbors who haven’t spoken in a year; they’re both navigating grief in the aftermath of a school shooting. But when the pair come together to try to turn back time, they might just re-find friendship.

Though Warga now lives in Chicago, the author shouts out the Queen City in the bio on her website: “Like all other

people from Cincinnati, I am inordinately proud of my little Midwestern city and think that Graeter’s black raspberry chip ice cream is the most delicious food in the whole world.” We agree, Jasmine!

I Always Carry My Bones by Felicia Zamora

Make your summer a Cincinnati-Ohioana triple threat with Felicia Zamora’s I Always Carry My Bones, another collection of poetry. Zamora is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for Colorado Review

Grave Things Like Love by Sara Bennett Wealer

Ready for summer to die and spooky season to take over? Get a dose of autumn (and, yes, Halloween) with the young adult novel Grave Things Like Love, which follows Elaine, a teenager who grew up in her family’s funeral home, as she navigates changing friendships, possible paranormal activity, post-highschool decisions and romance.

Cincinnati Scavenger by Kathryn Witt

Looking for staycation inspiration?

Let Cincinnati Scavenger serve as your guide. Published in 2022, this interactive book lays out 300 riddles spread across 19 of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods. A travel writer who grew up in the Queen City, Witt also penned Secret Cincinnati, which bills itself as a guide to the city’s weird, wonderful and obscure attractions.

Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel

Dayswork is set to be released by W.W. Norton at the tail-end of summer on Sept. 5, giving you just enough time to squeeze it in for end-of-season reading goals. Co-authored by two UC Creative Writing faculty members, Dayswork is set during the COVID-19 pandemic as a woman immerses herself in researching the life and work of Moby Dick author Herman Melville. As she increasingly loses herself in Melville’s world, her own life also faces a reckoning.

The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor lives in Arizona, but she was born in Cincinnati. The acclaimed sci-fi author has scored a host of accolades –– including multiple Hugo and Nebula recognitions –– for her works. Originally published in 2007, The Shadow Speaker is set in a Nigerian village in 2070, post-nuclear fallout. It’s the perfect time to revisit Okorafor’s book; an expanded, deluxe version with a new introduction is due this September, with a sequel set for December. Okorafor has written books for both children and

adults, along with comics including Black Panther: Long Live the King

Sounds Like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman

Now a creative writing professor at Northern Kentucky University, Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman’s debut comingof-age memoir weaves the story of how she once became a fake violinist. Released in 2019, the novel was a finalist for that year’s National Book Critics Circle Award in Autobiography. It follows Hindman as she struggles to pay her college tuition, which leads her to accept a position in an ensemble –– an ensemble that plays with the microphones off. Instead, unbeknownst to audiences, music blasts from a CD player.

Met the End by Holly Brians Ragusa

Another memoir, Holly Brians Ragusa’s Met the End is a heavy read that blends personal history with public. Coined as a “true crime survival memoir,” Brians Ragusa explores the life and death of her father, John Powell, the first known victim of serial killer Donald Harvey. Self-published in late 2022, Met the End hails back to 1980s Cincinnati, when the case first unfolded. The memoir weaves through decades of time, research, news clippings and introspection. Met the End is just as much about the city itself as Brians Ragusa and her family grappling with tragedy.

The Bourbon King by Bob Batchelor

History and true crime buffs will appreciate Bob Batchelor’s deep dive into infamous bootlegger George Remus, who ran his operation out of Cincinnati. Remus served as the inspiration for F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s beloved classic The Great Gatsby, and readers can expect the same theatrics –– murder, booze, romance and heaps of cash –– laid bare in Batchelor’s prose.

The Strikeout Artist by Joseph Bates

Move over Joey Votto, enter… Franz Kafka? Published by BlazeVOX in 2022, Joseph Bates’ fictionalized tale imagines Bohemian writer Franz Kafka as a star pitcher for the New York Knights-Errant. Set in 1912, the story introduces readers (and Kafka) to the Knights-Errant as they face 61 straight losses in their 120-game season. Bates teaches creative writing at Miami University in Oxford.

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

The small-screen adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit enraptured viewers in the early days of the pandemic (and, certainly, was more esteemed than other pandemic viewing — looking at you, Tiger King). It’s a good time to revisit the series, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy as chess player extraordinaire Beth

Harmon. But this time around, pick up the 1983 novel it’s based on. Both the book and movie are partially set in Kentucky, where Harmon’s skills first shine. Tevis grew up in Kentucky, attended the University of Kentucky and later taught at multiple colleges around the region, including Northern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky and Ohio University.

Defenestrate by Renée Branum

Released in early 2022, Renée Branum’s debut novel is narrated by Marta who, along with her twin brother Nick, has long been fascinated with their family’s history of falling and defenestration, or the act of throwing someone (or something) out of a window. The term has a long history with the city of Prague, the origin of their family’s supposed “falling curse,” and where the twins move after a fight with their devout Catholic mother. Branum lives in Cincinnati and is currently pursuing a doctorate in fiction writing.

What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart

Need an adventure this summer? Step into the life of actor Charlie Outlaw, who takes a trip to an island to escape fame and nurse his wounds after a breakup.

Instead of peace and quiet, Charlie’s trip takes him deep into the jungle. What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw grapples with fame, public identity and what it means to play a hero –– both on screen and in real life. Stewart, who teaches at the University of Cincinnati, is also the author of Body of a Girl, The Myth of You and Me, Husband and Wife and The New Neighbor

Happy Place by Emily Henry. |

PHOTO: FAIR USE

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga. | PHOTO: FAIR USE

ARTS & CULTURE

Size-Inclusive Summer Fun

University of Cincinnati graduate Taylor Long’s swimwear brand Nomads is gaining national recognition for its sustainable and size-inclusive designs.

BY KATIE GRIFFITH

Three years after launching her destination-inspired, size-inclusive swimwear brand, University of Cincinnati graduate Taylor Long is being recognized nationally for her evolving brand’s sustainability practices and unique designs.

Media outlets from Sports Illustrated to Marie Claire and Essence have praised Long’s brand, Nomads, for its elegant looks, size-inclusivity and sustainability. Since May, online and instore retail chain Anthropologie began carrying Nomads’ swimsuits – an achievement Long claims as one of her best yet.

Long tells CityBeat that Nomads is currently the most size-inclusive swimwear brand that Anthropologie offers; it also happens to highlight designs she created for her capstone project at UC’s college of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

“With Anthropologie being a major national retailer, a household name, it’s an incredible achievement, especially being such a young brand,” Long says. “As a solo founder and pretty much one-person team, it’s even more crazy to think that this is something that has

been accomplished. But it’s also a really big deal that we’re the most size-inclusive swim brand they carry currently.”

The Nomads’ one-shoulder, onepiece swimsuit featured on Anthropologie employs Long’s signature inclusion of mesh, which not only adds elegance but comfort and a flattering, hold-in aspect.

“The power mesh is great because it gives you a little bit of that sex appeal, but it also is functional in that it’s adding lift and holding you in,” she says.

“And not in an uncomfortable way, but for additional support in all the areas that you need it.”

While there are a number of designs available on Anthropologie’s website, Long’s DAAP creation is a two-piece featured in “pebble” and “espresso” colors with an intricate design that imitates lace. Every Nomads swimsuit is double-lined for comfort, and some fabrics are cinched at the waist and straps, which provides extra support and an additional stylish detail.

Long’s patterns are inspired by photos of international locations that she’s taken while traveling over the years. Her first suits (and capstone work) featured

Australian-inspired looks. The patterns are abstracted and simplified so they aren’t obvious landscapes, a refreshing turn away from the typical palm tree, sunset or beach scene print.

“I had just come back from a trip to Australia,” Long says. “And I had these really cool photos of rocks and different things I saw in nature that I thought at the time were really cool, but it kind of struck me as really interesting if each collection was destination-inspired by places that I’ve gone to, experienced, photographed and then those would make up the color story and themes for the collections.”

Long says she received a lot of positive feedback from friends and peers, who began asking if the pieces were for sale. She said she had no idea where to start, but began searching for manufacturers before she graduated. This was the unassuming start of Nomads. In June 2020, one year after Long graduated from DAAP, the line officially launched.

While Long’s fashion background was enhanced by her studies, her first experience in the fashion world was through modeling. She landed a

contract with Wilhelmina Models – a top modeling agency headquartered in New York City – during her time at DAAP and experienced firsthand the industry’s bias toward “straight sized” people. Long cites “straight” sizes as zero through 14, and “plus” sizes as 15 and up.

Not only were plus size designs matronly and unflattering, she says, but the shopping experience was “abysmal,” and often shoved to a dark corner in a store, without the same options as other departments. Long says when shopping, she often feels like certain brands deem her “unworthy” of their products because they don’t design for her body type.

“It really wears on you,” she says. “It really wears on your psyche. It’s kind of wild to think that people can kind of cherry pick and choose what sizes they want to design for when the average American woman is now being defined as size 18-20.”

Long says fatphobia is rampant throughout the fashion industry, and she’d like to see plus sizes morphed into a continuation of straight sizes, instead of showcased in different areas and with different designs completely.

Nomads is a great example of not regarding plus sizes as an afterthought or separate from any other designs. The website offers a sizing guide with specific measurements ranging from XS-5X.

“I think a lot of what you’re told

Each Nomads line is inspired by designer Taylor Long’s international vacations.

PHOTO: NIKI CRAM

and what the industry would have you believe is that straight sizes have to be designed one way and plus have to be designed another,” Long says. “And while there are some different things you have to take into account when designing for plus sizes because the body is different, that doesn’t mean that the design has to be totally changed or covered up or anything like that. So it was really important for me to have a really diverse size range.”

Not only are Nomads’ designs created with different body types in mind, materials are sourced ethically and the swimsuits are manufactured in the U.S. and they make use of a cutting-edge biodegradable material.

Nomads is based in Atlanta and employs a woman-owned factory in Los Angeles called Lefty Production Co. for all of its manufacturing. Some of the fabric used to create Nomads swimsuits are made by Amni Soul Eco, which produces a biodegradable material that is eliminated from the planet in approximately five years, according to its website. Amni Soul Eco manufactures yarn that is utilized by a variety of manufacturers, from swimsuits to winter jackets and sportswear to luxury clothing.

Long says that making the switch was costly but worth it. The use of Amni Soul Eco products places Nomads a step above other sustainability efforts, which Long believes defines her as a designer who takes environmental protection seriously. Long tells CityBeat that the average fabric sells for $1 per yard, while the biodegradable product can be anywhere from $11-$15 per yard. She added that if designers aren’t creating for the vast majority of people and average sizes, there will be tons of excess material that doesn’t “just disappear” while Amni Soul Eco actually

does. The price increase allowed Long to reimagine her process and begin to create small-batch lines, which adds to the brands’ high-end but approachable appeal.

“I didn’t want to be another designer that was contributing to the overproduction problem and creating things just for the sake of creating them, with no end of life in mind for those garments,” Long says. “So that really forced me to kind of think of the entire lifecycle of the garments from design to production, all the way to the end of life. And I haven’t been able to find a fabric that’s softer than this one. Literally no other fabric is as buttery or silky as this biodegradable fabric.”

Nomads’ most recent collection launched at the end of May. “St. Maarten” is inspired by a trip to the Caribbean paradise and it features classic Nomads looks with muted, beachy colors and patterns. It’s a cohesive line that ties in tropical tones balanced with subtle, soft patterns.

In late June, Shopbop – a global online retail company – will carry Nomads designs, Long says. And her next project will feature patterns made in collaboration with artist Reyna Noriega, who focuses on positive representation for women of color, according to her website.

“As a small brand, to be able to advocate in this way is important,” Long says. “There are bigger brands that have been around much longer than us who don’t even come close in the size range department. And to think that we have only been around for three years and are already making these changes – like industry-wide changes – is really a proud moment for me.”

For more information about Nomads, visit nomadsswimwear.com.

Nomads swimwear is made using biodegradable material.

PHOTO: NIKI CRAM

Cincinnati Music Theatre is Celebrating Women Composers, Lyricists with ‘Musicals She Wrote’

BY RICK PENDER

The people most often identified as the creators of musical theater are men — Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kander and Ebb, Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim — even Lin-Manuel Miranda. But that’s not the whole story. Although they’ve often been overlooked in favor of more wellknown male composers, women have been writing musicals since the 19th century. They’re finally getting their due in a studio production presented by Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT) in late June: Musicals She Wrote

Creator and academic Joe Stollenwerk has assembled an eclectic, cabaret-style revue that traces the history of women writing music or lyrics for more than a century, spanning Tin Pan Alley, musical theater’s “Golden Age” and continuing to the present. In a recent phone interview with CityBeat, he explained that his production will include familiar tunes and hidden gems, from emotional power ballads to comic numbers.

Stollenwerk was a theater professional in Cincinnati 20 years ago, one of the founders of the Ovation Theatre Company that ceased operations in 2007. His academic ambitions led him to Indiana University where he earned a Ph.D. in musical theater in 2016, culminating with a dissertation titled, “A Musical of One’s Own: American Women Writing Musicals 1970-1985.” Since completing that degree he’s been teaching in the theater department at the University of South Dakota (USD).

As a musical theater scholar, it was a

natural path for Stollenwerk to combine scholarship with performance. “They can go hand-in-hand. At USD, for their ‘Women’s Studies and Gender Conference,’ I did a lecture/cabaret, which was about 40 minutes of me talking and about 20 minutes of me singing.”

Showcasing and uplifting the voices of women writers has been Stollenwerk’s long-time passion. In late 2021, he pitched Musicals She Wrote to CMT, a venerable local community theater, for its studio series. “This will sort of be the flip of my event in South Dakota, about 97 percent singing and about 3 percent connective dialogue.” Stollenwerk compiled the show, which he’s directing but not performing.

The cast of Musicals She Wrote includes Anna Snyder, Carter Bechral, Emily Burns, Julie Wartner, Jolle Reid, Kennedy Florence, Lisa Breithaupt, Lori Valentine, Mollie Bryson, Monica Weber, Peyton Hahn and Susan Brabnec. Music director J. E. Kurzynski will be part of a four-piece band — piano, string bass, drums and saxophone — accompanying the performance.

“People don’t realize how many musicals were written by women, particularly how many older musicals. A lot of early musical theater and late operetta had lyrics and scripts written by women. Probably the most enduringly famous operetta song, ‘Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life,’ had words written by Rida Johnson Young.” That song was part of Naughty Marietta, a 1910 operetta composed by Victor Herbert. “Young has been completely erased by history,”

Stollenwerk suggests, “by the practice of identifying a song by its male composer and ignoring the female lyricist.”

He structured Musicals She Wrote to begin with a medley of disparate songs by men that “put women into very limited boxes and various tropes that we see over and over in musical comedies.” But his show quickly moves on to two of the most significant lyric writers of the 20th century: Dorothy Fields (“On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “Big Spender”) and Betty Comden (“The Party’s Over,” “Just in Time”). “They wrote songs that many people know, even if they don’t know the women behind them,” says Stollenwerk. He’ll also include material by Mary Rodgers (composer Richard Rodgers’ daughter), the composer of Once Upon a Mattress, in which comedian Carol Burnett made her Broadway debut as Princess Winifred the Woebegone.

In the second half of the revue, Stollenwerk’s cast will explore the generation after Broadway’s Golden Age, starting in the 1970s. “There was an explosion of musical theater scores written completely by women.” He points to I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road (1978) by Nancy Ford and Gretchen Cryer, A… My Name is Alice (1983) by approximately two dozen women, Quilters (1984) with music and lyrics by Barbara Damashek, and The Secret Garden (1991) by Lucy Simon and playwright Marsha Norman.

The latter part of the 20th century, according to Stollenwerk, saw a significant contraction of women writing

musicals, but the 21st century has featured a big rebound. “Particularly in the last decade,” he says, “there’s been quite a bit more women writing: The revue’s last six songs are from Fun Home, Waitress and Come From Away,” all shows with females as central characters and songs by female composers and lyricists, including Jeanine Tesori, Lisa Kron, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and Irene Sankoff. “A lot of the songs in the show’s second half deal with issues that women face in our patriarchal society. A lot of them are funny, and many are really inspiring.”

Asked to single out a favorite number, Stollenwerk points to a number suggested by his music director, “Change Shall Come,” from The Beautiful Lady, a 1984 show by Elizabeth Swados. “I heard a recording of this song and became obsessed with it,” he says. “It’s the closing to Act 1, a very powerful song lyrically and musically, the perfect set-up for the second half of the show where we see many more women writing over the last 50 years.”

It’s about time that women creators of musicals get some recognition. Joe Stollenwerk leads the way with this show.

Cincinnati Music Theatre presents Musicals She Wrote from June 23 through July 1 at the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Bank Theater. Info: cincinnatimusictheatre.org.

The female cast members of Musicals She Wrote, presented by Cincinnati Music Theatre.

PHOTO: ERIC BARDES

Cincinnati Opera’s ‘The Knock’ Explores the Stories of Three Women Waiting for News of Their Deployed Husbands

BY ANNE ARENSTEIN

language helped her to create a more powerful libretto.

“I have an intuitive knack for writing for music even though I don’t read music and I can’t sing,” she explains. “Working with opera has made my language more poetic and active.”

Vrebalov noted that the libretto’s brevity brought emotions into sharper focus and provided firm structure for creating musical tension.

“I connected with the range of emotions, but I always knew that there was tension throughout,” Vrebalov said. “When there are good feelings, the gentle tonal language conveys that, and when there emotional scenes become more intense, my sonic palette became denser, darker, with more anxiety”

a different perspective. The stage demands a more immediate visual language and we’re working to achieve that.”

Three members of the Glimmerglass cast reprise their roles for Cincinnati. Mary-Hollis Hundley sings Jo Jenner, the mother of a newborn; Stephanie Sanchez is the commanding officer’s wife and Armando Contreras is the conflicted bearer of bad news, Lt. Roberto Gonzalez.

Conductor Stephanie Rhodes Russell makes her Cincinnati Opera debut. When asked how military families responded to The Knock, Vrebalov and Brevoort are looking forward to hearing from audiences for the first time.

An opera focusing on military families receiving the worst possible news has its world premiere this month at Cincinnati Opera.

The Knock is an intimate one-act opera that tells the story of three women waiting for news of their deployed husbands and the lieutenant who must inform one of them that her spouse has died. The bad news is delivered in a formalized ritual beginning with a knock at the front door.

Playwright Deborah Brevoort, who wrote the script for The Knock, devoted several years to interviewing military families for her play The Comfort Team, commissioned by Virginia Stage in 2008 and premiered in 2012 with rave reviews from critics and audiences.

“It was a three-year project because the military community wouldn’t open up unless I committed to forging relationships and really listening to them,” Brevoort tells CityBeat. “So, I did that, and it was a very powerful experience. I stay in touch with many of those women today.”

The Comfort Team has been produced throughout the U.S., but Brevoort said she felt the story of families grappling with the emotional turmoil of a spouse at war had potential as an opera. She spent another two years searching for an appropriate composer.

Several years earlier, Brevoort was paired with Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov in an American Lyric Theater workshop for fledgling opera composers and librettists. “We hadn’t seen each other in years,” Brevoort recalled, “But when we met and I told her the story, she started crying and I sensed I’d found the composer.”

Vrebalov’s response was triggered by the story’s resonance to her own family’s history.

“My grandfather is a national hero, and my father grew up as a war orphan,” she tells CityBeat. “My family had pride in having someone who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“But on the other hand, my father grew up without parents — his mother died shortly after his father during WWII. None of that pride helps when you’re by yourself. So, we always had that sense of a double-sided tragedy.”

Cincinnati Opera co-commissioned The Knock with Glimmerglass Opera, with Cincinnati Opera commissioning a chamber setting for the Harry T. Wilks Theater’s intimate space in Oxford. Originally scheduled to premiere at Glimmerglass in 2020, a COVID-19 resurgence forced its cancellation. But Glimmerglass artistic director Francesca Zambello pushed for creating a filmed version. Cincinnati Opera will premiere the stage version and the film is available on Cincinnati Opera’s website.

The filmed version is a stunning piece of work. The ominous sense of dread and urgency is heard in Vrebalov’s brooding opening phrases as a woman approaches a lovely house set in an idyllic fall landscape.

But despite the almost unbearable tension and the knowledge that a knock is coming, the music is lyrical, passionate and beautifully scored, heightened by words that are true to the hearts of the characters singing them.

The opera opens with three women, one with an infant, waiting to hear from their husbands who are deployed to Fallujah in Iraq. Two hours away from the opera’s setting in Colorado, a disgruntled army lieutenant confronts his terror at informing one of the women that her husband has been killed.

For Brevoort, opera’s economy with

The stage premiere is a unique reversal in the performing arts world: a film originally meant for the stage is now having its stage premiere.

“The film process changed how we saw the piece,” explained Alison Moritz, who directed the film version and will stage Cincinnati Opera’s production. “We are going back to the drawing board because the performing space in Cincinnati is such an intimate space.”

Moritz, who has staged acclaimed productions for companies in Washington, D.C., Austin, Omaha, Oregon and New Orleans, is encouraged by successful productions in the Harry T. Wilks Studio including As One and Blind Injustice

“After visiting the Wilks space and meeting with Cincinnati’s production team, we came up with a concept that will feel intimate and restore the theatricality of the opera.

“Opera can stop time, and that’s what this piece does,” Moritz says. “In the film, close-ups and wide shots provided

“We couldn’t meet our audiences because of COVID,” Vrebalov said. “It will be amazing and exciting to meet them in Cincinnati and I’m humbled to have that experience.”

Cincinnati Opera has several related programs planned, including talkback sessions after each performance with cast and community members.

For Moritz, these sessions are crucial to the success of any opera, but especially for The Knock

“These are women whose stories we never hear,” she said, “And they and their families put themselves on the line for the rest of the country every day.

“The team in Cincinnati sees this as a vehicle for conversation, looking at it from a holistic point of view,” she added. “It takes those people on the ground in Cincinnati to see the potential for resonance within the community.”

The Knock, Cincinnati Opera, June 23-July 7. Info: cincinnatiopera.com.

Mary-Hollis Hundley as Jo Jenner in The Knock

PHOTO: GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL

Armando Contreras as Lt. Gonzalez in The Knock

PHOTO: GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL

Celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community All Month Long at These Pride Events in Greater Cincinnati

BY EMILY KELLER

Cincinnati Black Pride’s Black Alphabet Film Series

6-10 p.m. June 15

Cincinnati Black Pride and the Black Alphabet Film Festival are partnering together to present four films for Cincinnati Pride’s free Pride film series. These four films include Body Language (shining a light on the experience and body image for Black queer men), Black Rainbow Love (a heartwarming documentary that explores the stories of the Black LGBTQ+ community through interviews with couples, family members, activists and more), Dirty Laundry (a modern prodigal-son story with a plot twist) and Rainbow Box (stories shared by Black LGBTQ+ individuals with interdisciplinary offerings, by internationally recognized artist Michael Coppage). All these films will be screened for free on June 15 at Esquire Theatre. Those who wish to attend are encouraged to swing by the Esquire Theatre box office to pick up a ticket in advance.

6-10 p.m. June 15. Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, esquiretheatre.com.

Cincinnati Ballet Pride Night

8 p.m.-midnight June 16

Cincinnati Ballet is hosting a Pride Night event — an afterparty Pride celebration at Somerset in Over-theRhine — during their Bold Moves Festival. Everyone attending will receive a free copy of the Cincinnati Ballet’s Rainbow Legs poster. Don’t want the fun to stop? Try out the ballet’s signature Pride cocktail courtesy of Somerset.

8 p.m.-midnight June 16. Aronoff

Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut Street, Downtown, cincinnatipride.org.

Improv Cincinnati Pride Night: Sketch Comedy

8 p.m. June 17

Come on down for a prideful night of fun with improv and sketch comedy on June 17. Join Improv Cincinnati as they highlight voices from the LGBTQ+ community for a night of rebellious comedy and laughter. Part of the proceeds will go to Treehouse Cincinnati, an LGBTQ+ resource center. Tickets start at $10.

8 p.m. June 17. Clifton Comedy Theatre, 404 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, improvcincinnati.com.

Pride Bar Crawl

4 p.m.-midnight June 17

Start your Pride celebrations off right at the sixth-annual Pride Crawl. The crawl begins at Bloom OTR with check-in from 4-6 p.m. Guests must present their ticket QR code to get their voucher and start the party. The voucher includes two drinks or shots per bar, free entry to a featured drag show, food specials at partner venues and more at participating bars The Drinkery, Mecca OTR, MOTR Pub, Pins Mechanical Co., Queen City Exchange and The Hub.

Tickets start at $20.

4 p.m.-midnight June 17. Multiple locations, crawlwith.us/cincinnati/ pride.

New Richmond Pride Festival

11a.m. June 17

Now in its second year, the New Richmond Pride Festival has decided to pack all of the Pride fun into one

day full of festivities. The festival offers local LGBTQ+ vendors, artists, live performances and music, a dog parade, food, educational resources and the comfort of a whole community connecting to celebrate over 50 years of Pride in New Richmond.

11 a.m. June 17. New Richmond Bandstand, 116 Susanna Way, New Richmond, newrichmondpride.org.

Blackout Dance Party

9 p.m.-2 a.m. June 17

Esoteric Brewing Company invites you to “come out, be out, dance it out” at Cincinnati Black Pride’s dance party on June 17. They offer two dance floors and two DJs — DJ Kaotic and DJ Fred Pierce. Come as you are and have fun wherever you are.

9 p.m.-2 a.m. June 17. Esoteric Brewing Company, 918 East McMillan St., Walnut Hills, cincinnatipride.org.

Pride Cookie Decorating

6:30-8:30 p.m. June 22

Be the rainbow, decorate the rainbow… taste the rainbow. Cincinnati Cake & Candy Supplies hosts Pride Cookie Decorating, a tasty and colorful way to celebrate Pride. The beginner-level class involves decorating four Pridethemed sugar cookies using royal icing. The class is $50 per spot.

6:30-8:30 p.m. June 22. Cincinnati Cake & Candy Supplies, 1785 E. Galbraith Road, cincinnatipride.org

Queens & Cocktails: A Burlesque Dinner Show

6:30-9 p.m. June 23

Head down to the Bell Event Centre on June 23 to enjoy the most alluring

burlesque dinner show in town: Queens and Cocktails. Enjoy a four-course dinner while watching performances from dancer and choreographer Ginger LeSnapps and drag king Alexander Cameron. Sip on signature cocktails made with spirits from Northern Row Brewery & Distillery while watching this exciting performance. Tickets are $125 per person. This event is for adults 21 years and older.

6:30-9 p.m. June 23. The Bell Event Centre, 444 Reading Road, Pendleton, cincinnatipride.org.

Leather Pride Night

8 p.m.-2 a.m. June 23

There’s no better time of year to celebrate your kinkier side than during Pride month. Break out your best leather gear and join your friends for this spicy event at Bar 901. Leather and fetish gear are encouraged but not required.

8 p.m.-2 a.m. June 23. Bar 901, 901 Race St., Downtown, cincinnatipride.org.

Pride Roll-Out by the Cincinnati Rollergirls

6-11 p.m. June 24

Roll down to the third-annual free Pride Roll-Out event on Friday, June 24. Bring your own skates or borrow some at the Riverfront Outdoor Rink. Food trucks, vendors and two DJs will be waiting to rock your night away. Come celebrate Pride while rolling under the rink lights. 6-11p.m. June 24. Riverfront Outdoor Rink, 925 Riverside Dr., Sawyer Point, facebook.com/events.

Cincinnati Pride Parade

11 a.m.-1 p.m. June 24

Celebrate equality and community as the Cincinnati Pride Parade takes over the streets on June 24. The route of the parade starts at Seventh Street and Plum, goes down Vine Street past Fountain Square and ends at the Cincinnati Pride Festival at Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove.

11 a.m.-1 p.m. June 24. Downtown Cincinnati, cincinnatipride.org.

Cincinnati Pride Festival

Noon-9 p.m. June 24

Celebrate pride and unity at the Cincinnati Pride Festival following the parade. Have some fun in the sun with food and drinks, vendors and entertainment. No pets or coolers allowed.

Noon-9p.m. June 24. Sawyer Point & Yeatman’s Cove, 705 E. Pete Rose Way, cincinnatipride.org.

The Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival takes place on June 24.

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

FOOD & DRINK

Hitting the Spot

Hyde Park’s Al-Posto serves up elevated Italian fare with a stunning backdrop.

REVIEW BY PAMA MITCHELL

The home of Teller’s of Hyde Park for 25 years reopened this spring as “Italian-inspired” Al-Posto, an Italian phrase which translates to “at the spot.” Based on one weeknight dinner, it seems that the restaurant already is a hit – and for good reason. I liked everything about it.

Teller’s was a go-to spot for many of us back in the late ‘90s when Cincinnati had relatively few contemporary restaurants. I had just moved here from Atlanta, and Teller’s was one of the very few places in Cincinnati that offered wine flights. It also was ahead of its time in featuring craft beer and somewhat adventurous menu items. The two-story former bank building with an outdoor terrace on the second floor was a fun and lively space.

After Teller’s ran its course, new owners did an extensive renovation and opened in fall 2020 as Dear Restaurant & Butchery. The team shifted gears early this year, scrapping the rather esoteric concept of combining a working butcher shop with a fine-dining

restaurant. A few weeks later, it became Al-Posto.

I never made it to Dear, but based on the first of what I expect will be many dinners at Al-Posto, the shift to an approachable Italian menu goes well with the ambiance of the space that had been renovated for Dear. The main dining room, on the first floor, has an airy feel, a soaring ceiling punctuated with a skylight and bright geometrically patterned wallpaper and floor tiles. Local interior designer Michelle Pinales, who also designed Boca and Sotto, deserves kudos for the result.

Those pleasant surroundings certainly make a good first impression. Our host escorted us upstairs to a booth facing the skylight and wall art, and then our young server, Troy, took good care of us. That’s despite the two flights of stairs second-floor staffers have to negotiate every time they go to the kitchen.

The menu is as well designed as the dining space, clearly laid out in sections, with most of the dishes

listed by their Italian name followed by its ingredients, mostly in English. Prices hover around midrange for a fine-dining establishment, with pastas at $19-$24, seafood entrees $25-$34 and meat dishes from under $20 for a gourmet cheeseburger and up to $84 for a 28-ounce porterhouse steak. The compact list of wines available by the glass, according to the menu, is “hand selected by wine director & sommelier, Austin Heidt.” (Heidt happens to be one of the owners, along with Giovanni

Ranieri). The selection of just 14 choices — two-thirds from Italy — features an organic pinot grigio from Veneto as the house white, a luscious falanghina from Campania and a smooth Super Tuscan from the Camigliano winery south of Florence, Italy.

I’m a by-the-glass wine drinker because I love variety and almost never order two glasses of the same wine during a meal. But after enjoying the falanghina with our appetizers, I broke that rule and had another glass with

Al-Posto is housed inside a two-story former bank building in Hyde Park.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/AL-POSTO

Al-Posto offers a number of classic and delicious pasta dishes, including the pictured orecchiette pasta.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/AL-POSTO

my entrée. You don’t see this varietal on many area wine lists, especially by the glass. It’s an unoaked, medium-bodied white wine with a distinctly floral aroma that is great on its own or to accompany most any food except fatty red meat.

Happily, the food we tried was as satisfying as the wine. I especially enjoyed the appetizers and desserts. For starters, we split the burrata appetizer and a chickpea and cucumber salad. The appetizer consisted of a generous portion of fresh burrata cheese accented with olive oil and a touch of sweetness from strawberry mostarda (a spiced condiment), accompanied by delicious, whole-grain grilled bread.

The salad was wonderful, based on frisée lettuce and full of savory, crunchy and salty ingredients. Other intriguing starters were arancini (rice balls stuffed with mozzarella and fried, served with a side of tomato sauce) and funghi fritti, or fried mushrooms, with a lemon aioli. There is also a panzanella salad as well as the house salad with shaved fresh fennel and parmesan cheese.

The pasta section offers an embarrassment of riches, making it hard to choose just one of the seven listed. We went for the orecchiette sauced with the classic combo of bitter greens, sausage and cheese; in this version, kale, two kinds of sausage and pecorino. I’d have liked it better, though, if the pieces of sausage were larger and the dish had a bit more sauce. I also prefer the traditional rapini instead of kale. Of course, kale is much more readily available and, no doubt, more familiar to Cincinnati diners.

Our other entrée was Pugliese skirt steak braciole, a dish originating in the

southeastern region of Italy along the Adriatic Sea. Thin slices of steak are stuffed with prosciutto, rolled, baked in a tomato sauce, then topped with toasted breadcrumbs. Al-Posto’s version suffered from meat that was overcooked and, once again, a skimpy amount of sauce.

The menu features four seafood entrees, including grilled branzino and swordfish “alla Ghiotta,” two fish that I love. Next time, I’ll definitely try one of those. The branzino has a caper and parsley gremolata and toasted almonds, and the swordfish’s enhancements include tomatoes, anchovies, capers, chili and pine nuts. The latter is a classic dish from coastal Calabria, the tip of the boot of Italy.

Dessert comes last, of course, and for this meal, it was a knockout. Pastry chef Kayla Hunley wowed us with an off-menu special called strawberry cheesecake tiramisu. It wasn’t like any cheesecake or tiramisu we’d ever tried, but that is in no way a critique. It looked more like cheesecake, served in a wedge-shaped slice. What made it exemplary was the placement of the thinnest possible slices of perfect, local strawberries in peak season along the edges of the slice. Beautiful as well as yummy. We also had a cannoli, but it was eclipsed by the cheesecake-tiramisu.

My message to the restaurant: be more generous with the sauces. And, by all means, make more desserts like Hunley’s strawberry creation. Overall, bravo! And we will be back.

Al-Posto, 2710 Erie Ave., Hyde Park. Info: al-posto.com.

Al-Posto’s menu is well designed and organized in such a way for even the Italian food novice to find their perfect menu match.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/AL-POSTO

Enjoy Authentic Italian Food at Newly-Opened VV The Italian Experience in Mt. Lookout

BY KELSEY GRAHAM

Anew café and shop, VV The Italian Experience, opened in April on Mt. Lookout Square, promising to dish up an authentic Italian experience in the Queen City. Owners and husband-and-wife team Melissa and Andrea De Giorgi moved from Italy to Cincinnati eight years ago and always knew they wanted to honor their homeland in their new country.

“As Italians, we just love our country, our food, our traditions, our culture,” Melissa De Giorgi told CityBeat. “So, we tried to bring some of Italy with us.” Opening a restaurant was a natural next step to bring their vision to life and pass on their Italian traditions. “This was our dream to create a place as Italians, as we used to do and enjoy in Italy,” said Melissa.

The couple wanted to recreate an Italian la cafeteria, a place for family and friends to spend time together, relax for breakfast and lunch and enjoy aperitivo, or happy hour with delicious bites. The space is simple yet elegant and combines both vintage and modern Italian styles in a seamless and welcoming manner. “We want to show what it means to be in Italian style,” said Melissa.

When you first walk in, you’re greeted with a display of Italian pastries you can grab for breakfast or as a mid-day pickme-up. “All the pastries and desserts are 100% authentic Italian,” said Melissa. The filled cornetto looks similar to a French croissant, but Melissa describes them as softer, similar to brioche. These Italian pastries are made in-house,

available plain or vegan, or filled with pistachio, custard, apricot, chocolate and Nutella. “Nutella’s a must,” laughs Melissa. Next to the cornetto is the conchiglie, made with more flaky puff pastry dough and filled with luxurious chocolate.

Behind the counter, you’ll see a full-service coffee bar ready to craft your favorite steamed or cold java the Italian way, including cappuccino and espresso. The coffee beans are imported from Lecce, the owners’ hometown.

“It’s our mission just to let customers taste our coffee and taste real cappuccino.” One of Melissa’s favorite drinks is the espressino freddo, made with one shot of hot espresso with cold espresso cream on top. “It’s the kind of summer treat we used to have on the beach in Italy,” she said.

As you walk further into the store, you’ll see a medley of scrumptious Italian desserts in the side display case, like cannoli, torta della nonna and tiramisu. Nestled amongst these classic desserts is one of Melissa’s favorites, the bomboloni, which she describes as similar to doughnuts, available plain or filled with custard or chocolate.

And it’s not just baked goods you’ll find here, but also a variety of freshly made paninis, made with Italian meats and cheeses. One of the show-stopping sandwiches in the display case is the Focaccia Nessun Dorma, filled with orange-flavored onions, greens, Stracciatella cheese, pistachios, and organic extra virgin olive oil, all sandwiched between two thick slices of light and

delectable focaccia.

Along with the fresh-made paninis, the lunch menu also offers fresh salads and soups, like the Sofia Loren made with greens, shrimp, marinated zucchini, mixed seeds and organic extra virgin olive oil, or a classic Caprese salad made using mozzarella imported from Italy.

And would it truly be an authentic Italian experience without pasta? Of course not. The menu offers a mix of new and old favorites on the menu like the classic Bologna made with a tasty homemade meat ragu overtop tagliatelle. “We couldn’t miss the Bolognese,” laughs Melissa. “It’s a must.” For Melissa, it was essential to represent the wide variety of Italian cuisine and be inclusive of different dietary preferences. For example, Melissa describes a seafood option, Salentina, that tastes like the “flavor of the Italian sea,” made with rapini, friscous (similar to couscous) and a fish spread.

Offering a vegetarian dish was a natural choice, too; as Melissa said, “In our region, we really use a lot of products from the land.” The veggiefilled Pugliese is made with housemade orecchiette mixed with cooked and sundried tomatoes, black olives, mint and burrata.

The aperitivo menu rounds out the food choices with a chance for family and friends to gather and enjoy drinks and light bites at the end of the day. Some of these tasty bites include trays with Italian cured and uncured meats, cheeses, vegetables and spreads that can be enjoyed with Italian cocktails, like a negroni, Paloma or the housecrafted VV cocktail made with rum, apple liquor, simple syrup and lime juice. For kiddos, there are smaller versions of their delicious pasta dishes.

Customers will also find a selection of Italian specialty goods from the couple’s specialty foods company, Vigne Vecchie, along with imported foods and fine chocolates straight from Italy. When asked how they choose what items to bring into the shop corner, De Giori says she thinks of things that “Italians can’t live without.”

Overall, Melissa wants VV The Italian Experience to be a gathering place for all. Whether meeting up with friends and family or going out on a date, she wants it to be known as a classy and friendly spot for people to gather, which is a big reason why they chose to open in Mt. Lookout. “There is an energy around the square,” said Melissa. “It’s very positive and strong.” While she plans to offer themed classes and events in the future, the couple are taking it one day at a time and enjoying sharing their authentic Italian culture with the community.

VV The Italian Experience, 1026 Delta Ave., Mt. Lookout. Info: vvitalian.com.

VV Italian had its official opening celebration in April.

PHOTO: KEEPSAKE PHOTO STUDIO

VV Italian serves up a selection of Italian desserts, like cannoli, torta della nonna and tiramisu.

PHOTO: KELSEY GRAHAM

MUSIC

Finding Their Way

Young the Giant is taking their special, immersive tour to Cincinnati to promote their latest album, American Bollywood.

BY ALAN SCULLEY

Young the Giant head out on tour this summer in support of American Bollywood, an album that is easily the most ambitious and complex work to date from the band.

Written primarily by singer Sameer Gadhia, whose parents moved from India to the United States in 1984 shortly before he was born, American Bollywood tells a multi-layered, multigenerational story of the journey to

reconcile the very different cultures of an immigrant’s Indian heritage and his new home in America and reach a place where he feels he belongs and is centered within his own unique background and experiences.

American Bollywood is divided into four acts with four songs each that were first individually released as EPs to help make the project, with its multiple threads and subtexts,

more digestible for fans. The four EPs are now assembled as a full 16-song album.

As the band’s bio for American Bollywood describes it, the four acts represent Gadhia’s “grandparents in the old world (‘Origins’), his parents finding themselves strangers in a new world (‘Exile’), his fight to maintain his culture while also trying to fit in (‘Battle’) and finally, reconciliation and transcendence for future generations (‘Denouement’).”

Gadhia said the idea behind the American Bollywood story had been percolating in his thoughts for some time, but it was during the pandemic — when Young the Giant couldn’t tour and there was time to think and create — that both a musical and lyrical

structure for the album came into focus.

“I think, in part, it was a story I had been always around and I just didn’t really know how to best tell it sonically and live in it,” Gadhia told CityBeat. “I think it was the self-titled song, ‘American Bollywood,’ that really opened the floodgates for me. I was trying to find a way to like meld things sonically that didn’t feel overly like fusion or anything and felt contemporary on either side of the coin of Eastern traditional and Western pop music. And I’d been wanting to tell the story of how I got here. In a fundamental way, I believe that us as a band, we’re all children of immigrants, and ending up in suburbia through the lens of maybe an American perspective, it’s like oh,

Young the Giant

PHOTO: NATASHA WILSON

that’s the beginning of this story of suburbia. But for us, it’s the end of a lot of trials and tribulations that may be generations long for our families to find (an identity) and arrive in a place like this. So I always was excited about telling a multi-generational story.”

American Bollywood stands as an impressive achievement for a band that started out with seemingly modest intentions. Originally formed in 2004 under the band name The Jakes (which was spelled from the first-name initials of the five original band members) while the band members were still in high school, their first music and image was light-hearted and even humorous at times.

The Jakes evolved into Young the Giant in 2009 after a shift in the lineup rendered the Jakes’ name inapplicable. The revamped lineup of Gadhia, guitarists Eric Cannata and Jacob Tilley, drummer François Comtois and bassist Payam Doostzadeh was signed by Roadrunner Records that year and in 2010 emerged with the eponymous Young the Giant album and an expansive guitar pop/rock sound.

By the time the debut album finished its run, it had established Young the Giant as a band to watch and yielded a pair of top-five alternative rock hits on the Billboard charts in “My Body” and “Cough Syrup.” The band members then began to broaden their sound on the 2014 album Mind Over Matter, working synthesizers and other new textures into their guitar-centered sound. The sophomore outing included a top-five alt-rock single, “It’s About Time,” while the title track peaked at No. 17.

The band’s next two albums each produced an additional top 10 alt-rock single — “Something To Believe In” from 2016’s Home of the Strange and “Superposition” from 2018’s Mirror Master — while adding new dimensions to Young the Giant’s sound and broaching a few of the immigrant themes that are now explored with depth and grace on American Bollywood.

The new album not only represents a lyrical triumph, it takes Young the Giant’s music to a new level as well. Especially over the first half of American Bollywood, the band finds ways to cohesively weave Eastern instrumental sounds into several of the songs. (Gadhia’s father even plays tablas on the album). This blend is especially effective on songs like the hooky rocker “Wake Up,” which takes on a mystical musical quality with its droning tones, and “Insomnia,” whose dreamy effect is enhanced by the blended instrumentation. The Indian elements, though, don’t diminish the band’s established sound; American Bollywood is still an album of accessible, frequently epic

pop-rock.

Young the Giant are touring to promote American Bollywood for much of the remainder of 2023, and the presentation figures to match the scale of the album and help enhance the narrative of the new songs.

“We wanted this to feel like you’re out to see a play,” Gadhia said, noting the band is picking their spots to use the video screens that are so common at concerts. “We will have moments, because there is a strong filmic element to American Bollywood. We kind of made a contiguous short song list of all of the videos we created. We’re working to re-edit those a little bit and tell this act structure. So we will have these moments of video, where people can kind of take themselves out for a second in a way. But we do want people to just kind of see what’s happening on stage. I can’t give all of it away, but I’m just really excited for all of it.”

As for the set list itself, older songs will be woven within the structure of the American Bollywood material in a way Gadhia hopes will please fans new and old.

“It’s a fine balance of stuff for ourselves and stuff for the fans at the shows,” he said. “I think in a lot of ways, American Bollywood, the way it was structured, is kind of a culmination of our full discography. There’s a way songs from each record fit into the narrative of this four-act structure.”

While Gadhia explored a wide range of issues that relate to his life experience on American Bollywood, there remain issues to explore and resolve. He noted he still feels like, as he puts it in the song “My Way,” “a kid from nowhere looking for a place to find.”

“I think that’s still a feeling that I have. I think a lot of immigrants and first-generation Americans, and even people who just feel like they don’t really fit into their hometowns or they don’t fit into what is prescribed for them by society, there are some of us who are misfits and will always see themselves as that,” Gadhia said. “And I think in part, it was just I was a guinea pig for this family culture. I didn’t have a pre-set idea for how things were going to be. It’s not like I could ask my parents like, ‘OK, like what was your prom like?’ That was part of navigating through a new world. And then also, it’s still about feeling just not quite understood in India. I was not born and raised there. Indian-American culture has its own feeling and its own nuance that I think is obviously just different from being from India. So I still feel that.”

Young the Giant plays the Andrew J Brady Music Center at 7 p.m. June 20. Info: bradymusiccenter.com.

SOUND ADVICE

COUNTING CROWS

June 18 • PNC Pavilion

Every time it looks like classic rock may finally be extinct, a sonic relic from the past, some veteran band steps up and still proves its vitality and connection to rock’s vintage years. Consider the Counting Crows, who began their illustrious career in 1993 with the release of their classic debut, August and Everything After With their dramatic arrangements, hit singles like “Mr. Jones” and “Round Here” spawned massive alternative radio success, and also demonstrated lead singer Adam Duritz’s love for rock royalty like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison. Whether it’s Duritz’s emotionally-charged vocals, the band’s guitar jangle hooks, or the moody melodies of their rich roots-rock, something nostalgic about the Crows resonates with both older and younger generations of fans.

The underrated Somewhere Under Wonderland was the Crows’ last fulllength record in 2014, but more recently, they put out EP “Butter Miracle Suite One” in 2021. Duritz discussed their last EP with Entertainment-Focus in 2022: “I hadn’t had the urge to write or put anything out for a while until then. Butter Miracle kinda caught me by surprise and I was so excited about wanting to do it.”

Despite not releasing music at the same regularity as they did in decades past, the Counting Crows still tour regularly and can be expected to play a full range of their material at their PNC Pavilion show.

The Counting Crows plays the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center at 7:30 p.m. June 18. Dashboard Confessional opens the show. Doors open at 6 p.m. Info: riverbend.org. (Greg Gaston)

MY MORNING JACKET

June 24 • MegaCorp Pavilion

My Morning Jacket brings their larger than life sound and cosmic live show to town from just down the road.

Frontman Jim James’ expressive vocals and songwriting alongside the highpowered and dynamic band propelled My Morning Jacket to being one of the most revered bands of the last 20 years.

The Louisville band brought a little touch of southern charm to the rock and roll revival in the early 2000s with their 2003 breakthrough record It Still Moves and single “One Big Holiday,’’ along with plenty of elements of classic rock, psychedelia and experimentation that grew with each record.

The band’s 2005 follow up, Z, expanded further on their sound with bigger production, even more versatile structures and a bit more melodic and soulful vocal delivery. The critically praised album was ranked in Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time in 2012.

They reached a new level of notoriety with the Grammy-nominated Evil Urges in 2008, which contained more R&B influences, use of nontraditional rock and roll instrumentation and wildly divergent songwriting in “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream, Pt. 1” and “I’m Amazed.”

Their highest charting album, 2011’s Circuital, received yet another Grammy nomination and was followed by a break where James participated in high-profile side projects, like The New Basement Tapes, and released the first of a handful of praised solo records.

After constant touring and the recording sessions that became The Waterfall (2015) and The Waterfall II (2020), the

band didn’t know if they would return. After some reflection, they reconnected for a 2021 self-titled release and continued touring. Catch them at this stop for a chance to see one of the latest generation’s greats.

My Morning Jacket plays MegaCorp Pavilion at 6 p.m. June 24. Jaime Wyatt opens the show. Info: promowestlive. com. (Brent Stroud)

TOAD THE WET SPROCKET

June 26 • Taft Theatre

When Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “All You Want 2023 Tour” arrives at the Taft Theatre later this month, the seats will surely be filled with fans ready to sing along. MTV darlings in the early ‘90s, the band (made up of Santa Barbara, California, pals who met in high school) produced a handful of smooth, indie-pop hits, grabbing national attention with the catchy “All I Want” from their platinum-selling third album, fear

They followed that soulful confection with the darker, if lilting, “Walk on the Ocean.” Not content to be a one-album wonder within a market dominated by grunge, the band released Dulcinea in

1994, which produced two more hits — “Fall Down” and “Something’s Always Wrong.”

After the next album, 1997’s Coil, failed to hold the public’s ear, the band broke up, focusing on solo projects while still occasionally doing short tours. In 2013, they released New Constellation, a Kickstarter-funded collection of new music on their own label, Abe’s Records. They’ve been making music together ever since, including the 2021’s album Starting Now

The group’s goofy name (swiped from a Monty Python skit) hasn’t aged as well as the songs, even for lead singer Glen Phillips. In a 2018 interview with Stereogum, he admits, “I don’t love it. It was a joke and it’s a good lesson in how … if you make a joke it might just stay with you.”

But he’s made his peace with it, adding, “It’s what we are, at this point.”

Shows on the tour offer a blend of the biggest hits and deep cuts. If you think you’ve forgotten the lyrics to those songs, just wait for the opening chords. The words will come flooding back.

Toad the Wet Sprocket plays the Taft Theatre at 8 p.m. June 26. Doors open at 7 p.m. Info: tafttheatre.org. (Jack Heffron)

Jim James of My Morning Jacket

PHOTO: WEEKLY DIG, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Counting Crows

PHOTO: EHUD LAZIN

Toad the Wet Sprocket

PHOTO: KELLY VERDECK, FLICKR

TAYLOR SWIFT

June 30 and July 1 • Paycor Stadium

Taylor Swift is reclaiming her girlhood one sold-out stadium show at a time, and she’s coming to Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium on June 30 and July 1. The Ticketmaster-breaking sale for “The Eras Tour” perfectly foreshadowed the record-breaking craze that has been the “Eras,” um, era. Fans unearth Swift’s lore in the form of hyper-specific costumes, creating a fever dream masquerade ball themed around a singular millennial woman’s life. Swift’s 10 wildly successful albums have cemented her as the world’s best self-portrait artist,

but her methodology of re-recording her masters has revealed her to be just like us –unafraid to admit she’s not always over the distant past.

A track on Swift’s latest release, Midnights, hints at the emotional toll of re-recording tracks about John Mayer from 2010’s Speak Now, which comes out July 7. In “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” Swift writes, “God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be. The tomb won’t close, stained glass windows in my mind. I regret you all the time.” The song’s Nashville performance in the pouring rain alongside The National’s Aaron Dessner flooded Swiftie algorithms for weeks. Swift walks the “Eras” tour

audience through the stained glass windows of her past loves, fights, victories and growth like a one-woman show, but with the razzle-dazzle of an all-encompassing Vegas residency. The viral fascination with a tour about her past is brought to the ultrapresent under the looming context of her recent breakup from longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Fans dig for clues about her feelings on the breakup like kids in a sandbox, interpreting every wink, eyeroll and hair flip as code.

Now, Cincinnati “Eras” passengers are preparing for Swift to visit the Queen City for the first time in 13 years, her famously lucky number. One can predict Swift’s

nostalgia for 2010, the year Speak Now was released, has inspired a set list with a surprise track from the album not performed yet during “Eras,” of which there is usually one per show. Audiences may just stand before a stained glass window from Swift’s mind in the shape of “Dear John.” If this writer’s prediction comes true, the entire Tri-State will hear the sound of bloodlust from more than 60,000 Swifties screaming for baby Taylor, but also, screaming for the “John” that hurt them.

Taylor Swift plays Paycor Stadium at 6:30 p.m. June 30 and July 1. Info: ticketmaster. com. (Madeline Fening)

Taylor Swift

PHOTO: GILLES DUFRESNE, FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

CROSSWORD

Across

1.  Like a bagged lunch?

5.  Not colorized, for short

10. Top cards

14. Lacoste rival

ROY’S GARDEN

BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM

40. “The Banshees of Inisherin” setting

41. Tori on a piano

42. Rowing gear

43. Pooch grunt

44. Directing word

Down

1.  Choreographed unfurling of a massive banner at a soccer match

2.  Hit Netflix series about laundering

3.  Deep pass

4.  Lit crit poem

15. 1986 rock bio with a chapter titled “River Deep”

16. Rain delay protection

17. Uber cost

18. Dark red fruit

20. Non-profit address part

21. Can-do

22. Assist

23. Highest-paid model (2017-present)

28. Busy activity

29. Sharpness measurements

30. Rep who said “deplatforming works,” briefly

32. Scream out loud

34. Juvenile justice advocate

36. Norwegian royal name

37. Classic pirate’s line

45. ___ Perignon

46. X, C, L, etc.

52. Pound the pavement

53. Ghost town’s population

54. Grunt said while hitting the sweet spot

56. HBO series whose main characters are at the starts of this puzzle’s theme answers

60. Hideous brute

61. A thousandth of a meg

62. One taking a fall

63. ___ Benedict

64. Getting into others’s business

65. Blows the scene

66. Salon supplies

5.  Basque metropolis

6.  Ring-shaped reef

7.  Food writer Slater

8.  Stuff in a make-up test?

9.  Ghostly looking

10. Got some Hello Fresh, say

11. One overseeing a lot

12. Flub up

13. “A ___ in the House of Love” (Anais Nin book)

19. Deplatforms, e.g.

21.

31. Store with comically long paper receipts

32. Fan’s noise

33. Jet packs?

34. Capital city once called Philadelphia

35. Position that the characters in 56-Across are jockeying for: Abbr.

36. “A Promised Land” memoirist

37. 6-Down surrounder

38. Spring forecast

39. Singer/actress Mandy

44. Wind instrument?

45. Chain offering a Brisk-It-All Melt

47. Hard to see through

48. Join sides

49. Maine’s state animal

50. Slow to respond, as a computer network

51. Base fellow

55. “Napoleon Dynamite” director Jared

56. Male delivery

57. Game with Skip cards

58. Letters on a Banana Boat tube

59. ___ soda

60. It added “deepfake” in 2023: Abbr.

LAST PUZZLE’S ANSWERS:

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