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NEWS 06 STUFF TO DO 11 COVER STORY 15 BEERFEST 23 ARTS & CULTURE 29 FOOD & DRINK 35 MUSIC 39 CLASSIFIEDS 47

ANNE A RENSTEIN, CASE Y A RNOLD, BRIAN BAK ER, JEFF BE Y ER, JACK BRENNAN, STEPHEN NOVOTNI, BRIAN CROSS, H AYLE Y DAY, JANE DURRELL, JASON GA RGANO, AUSTIN GAYLE, MCK ENZIE GR AH A M, K ATIE HOLOCHER, BEN L. K AUFM AN, DEIRDRE K AY E, JOHN J. K ELLY, JOHN L ASK ER, H A RPER LEE, M ADGE M A RIL, ANNE MITCHELL, TA MER A LENZ MUENTE, JUDE NOEL, M A RK PAINTER, SE AN PE TERS, RODGER PILLE, GA RIN PIRNIA, SELENA REDER, ILENE ROSS, M A RIA SEDA-REEDER, LE YL A SHOKOOHE, BRENNA SMITH, ISA AC THORN, K ATHY VALIN, K ATHY Y. WILSON, P.F. WILSON

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LETTERS

Classic Eats kyrosephoto: One of my fave hole-in-the-walls. bindeye: I love Scotti’s!! mobleymimi: I have so many great memories of Scotti’s. izmebri: Was there last night. Definitely DELICIOUS! True authentic Italian. Comments posted to Instagram/ CityBeatCincy in response to the Jan. 26 post, “While it’s hard to ignore Cincinnati’s booming restaurant scene, it’s incredibly important to pay homage to the restaurants that have stood the test of time in our city. Photo: @peglow.”

CONTACT US ONLINE CityBeat.com FACEBOOK @CincinnatiCityBeat TWITTER @CityBeatCincy @CityBeatMusic INSTAGRAM @CityBeatCincy

Happy Happy, Hippo Paul Ferbrache: Happy Birthday to the greatest Hippo in the world, Fiona. Kamp Susan: I know! Isn't she so special? Such a svelte little thing. Comments posted to Facebook.com/ CincinnatiCityBeat in reply to the Jan. 24 post, “Happy Birthday, Fiona! ‘18 Photos of Cincinnati’s Beloved Baby Fiona to Celebrate her 2nd Birthday.’”

Bar & Grill Sans Books Justin Marshall: While I am extremely happy that the space is being resurrected, I can’t help but think that this is a missed Scotti’s Italian Restaurant is more than 100 years old opportunity on the owners’ part to create a restaurant with the old library atmosphere. P H O T O : PA I G E D E G L O W To me, this looks boxy, generic and suburb-y (word?) It’s an old library — why not keep the history and architecture intact?! Although to be fair... rooftop... I’m there!!! Susan Fisher Moeller: Sad to hear library is gone, but bldg is still occupied so that's good. Sarah Thomas: Susan Fisher Moeller, library expanded and moved up the street. Shannon Holimon: Wonderful area, I need to check this out.

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Comments posted to Facebook.com/CincinnatiCityBeat in reply to the Jan. 24 post, “The Gaslight Bar & Grill is located in the old Clifton branch of the public library and is home to the neighborhood’s first rooftop patio.”

Handheld Traffic Cameras? @itsmydogg: Why can’t they just put those speed limit indicators with cameras on Glenway, Harrison & Montana? You do that and immediately speed drops on those streets and we worry less about our children’s safety while it generates revenue for the city. @pewpewkew: I hope this gets through. Speed is a huge factor in pedestrian deaths. Cinci pedestrians deserve better. Comments posted to Twitter/CityBeatCincy in reply to the Jan. 25 post, “The city says handheld cameras would allow police to ticket drivers via mail and could help improve pedestrian safety in the face of a budget deficit. Cincinnati’s charter currently doesn’t allow for such tactics, so voters would need to approve a change.”

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NEWS Ohio’s Execution Drug Conundrum After concern around the drug midazolam led Gov. Mike DeWine to delay Ohio’s next execution, the state looks for new lethal drugs that don’t cause pain and suffering BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

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ive years ago, prison employees injected convicted killer Dennis McGuire with a two-drug cocktail designed to end his life quickly and painlessly. It took 26 minutes for the mixture of hydromorphone and midazolam to kill McGuire — the longest execution since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999 — and witnesses reported the condemned man loudly gasping for air. The incident eventually led the state to issue a moratorium on executions until it could find a new cocktail of lethal drugs that is more humane. But the choice it settled on — which still contains the controversial drug midazolam — is now under question, leading Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Jan. 25 to delay the upcoming execution of convicted killer Warren Henness and sending the state back to the drawing board in its years-long quest for drugs it can use to put people to death in a manner that is consistent with the constitution. A jury convicted Henness of murder for kidnapping Richard Myers, his drug addiction case worker, shooting him five times in the head, slicing his throat and cutting off his finger to steal his wedding ring before taking his car and credit cards to buy drugs. Henness maintains that he did not commit the crime. Guilty or innocent, however, his attorneys argue he is protected from a painful execution by the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. They also argue that Ohio’s current methods don’t meet that standard because they continue to use midazolam. It’s a problem the state has been

Gov. DeWine has delayed the execution of convicted murderer Warren Henness citing concerns over the current lethal drug cocktail PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

grappling with since before McGuire’s execution. Last decade, the state began struggling to find drug suppliers when European drug manufacturers became unwilling on moral grounds to sell traditional drugs like pentobarbital and sodium thiopental for executions. After depleting its stockpiles of those drugs, Ohio has had to find new ways to put people to death that don’t infringe on the constitution. That has proven tricky. A state inquiry initially reported that McGuire, convicted of the 1989 murder of a pregnant woman in Preble County, did not suffer during his death. But in a 2017 federal hearing on Ohio’s execution methods, the team leader for McGuire’s execution said it was like no other he had seen. McGuire’s daughter said the lengthy

execution filled her with “agony and terror,” and Dr. Kent Diveley, a California anesthesiologist retained as an expert witness in a lawsuit by McGuire’s family against Ohio testified that the execution caused “true pain and suffering.” The family dropped the lawsuit in 2015, when Ohio announced its three-year moratorium on executions as it worked to figure out a more humane way to put people convicted of the highest crimes to death. Ohio resumed executions in 2017 using a new three-drug method. Under that protocol, the drug midazolam is first administered as a sedative. Then, the execution team injects the condemned with a powerful paralytic drug before giving a final dose of potassium chloride to

stop the person’s heart. The state has used the method three times. A scheduled fourth execution was delayed last year because executioners couldn’t successfully insert an IV. During the latest execution, condemned man Robert Van Hook wheezed and gasped before dying. Critics of midazolam say it doesn’t sedate inmates fully, leading to horrible suffering. The two other drugs Ohio will use to execute prisoners cause excruciating pain as they kill if a person is conscious. Further, some medical experts say the 500 ml. dose of midazolam administered can itself cause a sensation similar to drowning or of fire in the veins, CONTINUES ON PAGE 09

CITY DESK

Phase Two of Wasson Way Bike Trail Funded

Cincinnati Police Update Use-of-Force Policies for Tasers BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

The Cincinnati Police Department’s use-offorce policies have been amended as they relate to Taser use, according to a memo from City Manager Patrick Duhaney issued Jan. 25. The amendment strikes a section of CPD’s use-of-force manual that specified use of Tasers is permitted on suspects between the ages of 7 and 70. Instead, the new guidelines add more emphasis on deescalation efforts and offers suggestions for situations in which officers should avoid using Tasers. “Officers should avoid using the Taser on persons who reasonably appear to be, or are known to be, young children, elderly, medically infirm, pregnant, or users of a cardiac pacemaker,” the new guidelines provided to Duhaney by Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac read. “Officers are not prohibited from using the Taser on such persons, but use is limited to those exceptional circumstances where the potential benefits of using a Taser (i.e., injury reduction) reasonably outweighs the risks and concerns.” The guidelines were agreed upon by CPD, the city manager, Cincinnati’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 69 and the Citizen Complaint Authority. According to the memo, the new guidelines are written to help officers better determine whether use of force would meet the so-called “objective reasonableness standard,” a benchmark for the appropriateness of police use of force set by the 1989 Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor. The standard “takes an officer’s unique

BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

perception of a situation into account when evaluating their decision-making process in use of force cases,” Duhaney writes in his memo. The changes come after an off-duty Cincinnati police officer tased an 11-year-old girl while working a security detail at Kroger near Spring Grove Village. Officer Kevin Brown was working the detail Aug. 6, 2018 when he tased Donesha Gowdy after he attempted to stop her and other girls whom store employees suspected of shoplifting food. Gowdy continued walking away from Brown after he asked her to stop, at which point he deployed the Taser, hitting her in the lower back and shoulder. Gowdy was taken into custody and later released after a trip to the hospital. Gowdy’s family sued CPD for use of excessive force, and the city and Kroger settled that suit for $240,000 in October. That settlement must be approved by a probate court, which will ensure it is spent on Gowdy’s emotional well-being. Brown was suspended for seven days and was barred from working off-duty assignments for two months as punishment for the incident. Gowdy family attorney Al Gerhardstein says the incident isn’t a one-off, citing CPD data that shows that more than 100 people

More money is coming for a bike path linking Uptown to the city’s East Side, Mayor John Cranley announced Jan. 22, enabling the second phase of the trail to move forward. Cranley held a news conference to announce that the second leg of the Wasson Way Bike Trail will receive $100,000 in private funding from a company called School Outfitters, on top of $500,000 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, $944,000 in federal grants and $800,000 in proceeds in city revenue from railway tax credits. Eventually, Wasson Way boosters want the trail to extend 7.6 miles from Newtown, where the Little Miami Trail runs, to Avondale. CPD District 1 PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL

under the age of 18 were tased by CPD over the past five years — nearly all of them black. “Our investigation shows a pattern of excessive force against nonviolent young people,” Gerhardstein said in a statement. “A thorough review of juvenile policing practices is needed. Donesha was only accused of taking snacks and a onesie. She has written an apology to Kroger. She should not have been subjected to such severe force.” Brown violated multiple department policies, an internal CPD use-of-force report released in September 2018 found.

The first half-mile phase of the trail is already finished and stretches from near Withrow High School to Madison Road in Hyde Park. The roughly $3 million extension will stretch three-quarters of a mile west via a bridge over I-71 to Montgomery Road. Cranley also wants to get the trail east to Ault Park in Mount Lookout by the time he leaves office in 2021. He also said he’s aiming to have the second phase done by the end of the year. That will take some work, he admitted. “Our transportation department believes it will be a miracle to have it completely constructed by the end of the year,” he said during the news conference. “But I am confident we’re going to make it.”

Cincinnati’s Metro Bus App Getting Big Updates BY S E T H W E B ER The city’s bus service has plans to make riding Cincinnati buses more convenient this summer.

“We’re doing this for the 21st-century rider and ensuring our bus service is seamless,” she said. “We know people live and work across the region and are using multiple transit services.” Cincinnati City Council adopted a motion Jan. 16 for a “report on the feasibility of

Cam Hardy, head of the city’s Better Bus Coalition, said he is happy with a technological upgrade as its convenience will likely draw in more bus riders, but has reservations about rideshare companies being added to the app. “The transit agency shouldn’t be spending

City Council member Greg Landsman, who submitted the motion with council member Tamaya Dennard, said the integration of rideshare apps could make traversing the city easier for those looking to use multiple services. “As opposed to saying ‘I’ll just take Uber,’ it looks like I can walk one block, pick up the bus, take that to this Red Bike station and then bike the rest of the way,” Landsman said. The current app has about 40,000 users, Jones said, and she predicts the update will encourage even more people to download.

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Only Metro bus routes are currently supported by the app, going as far west as Cheviot, reaching north into Springdale and bringing riders near Coney Island to the east. By partnering with the Butler County Regional Transit Authority, Clermont Transportation Connection and

The update will also feature bus tracking, allowing riders to watch their bus move in real time, along with an estimated time of arrival.

Development of the update is still in its early stages and a third-party developer has yet to be chosen. Metro is currently in talks with rideshare companies, Jones said, but no decisions have been made yet.

my tax dollars to prop up private organizations such as Lyft and Uber,” he said. “Being a one-stop shop, I can see the usefulness of it, but the idea of Lyft and Uber rubs me the wrong way.”

Also potentially on the horizon: the ability to catch an Uber or Lyft or rent a scooter or bike through the app.

This would eliminate the need for multiple bus passes, as everything can be paid for in-app.

partnering with SORTA, Red Bike, Uber, Lyft, Lime, Bird, and other transit options to provide to citizens and visitors a single ‘app’ that allows people to see all of their transportation options and the ability to select and pay for a trip that might include more than one of these options.”

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By the end of August, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority will be updating its Metro bus app, Cincy EZRide, to include more features, such as bustracking and more expansive trip-planning across the region, said Brandy Jones, vice president of external affairs for Metro.

the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky, SORTA will be updating the app to reach further, allowing bus riders to plan their trip across the region — even into Northern Kentucky — and pay for it all in one go, Jones said.

Could Cincinnati Police Get Handheld Traffic Cameras? BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L

City of Cincinnati officials say they’re considering equipping Cincinnati Police officers with technology like handheld traffic cameras to help improve pedestrian safety in the midst of a budget deficit. But that would require voters approving a change to the city’s charter. In a memo released this week, Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney outlined some of the traffic safety efforts the city has already undertaken and other possible initiatives. That memo comes after an uproar around pedestrian safety caused by a number of recent incidents involving drivers and pedestrians, including multiple fatalities. Drivers hit pedestrians more than 420 times in 2018, CPD data shows. That number, up more than 40 percent in the past five years, included 13 incidents involving students. One, Gabby Rodriguez,

died after she was hit by two cars on Harrison Avenue last year. Cincinnati City Council has appropriated $1 million over the past two years specifically for pedestrian safety. But that’s not enough, the city manager’s memo states — and without the help of technology, Duhaney argues, the city may not be able to afford all the measures it needs to keep walkers safe. “More need to be done,” the memo reads. “However, combined with the myriad of other safety and priority needs of the city, it is very difficult to allocate all the resources needed to address this issue in totality given the operating and capital budget constraints faced by the city. It may be time to consider other options including the use of technology.” Currently, the city faces a budget deficit totaling roughly $19 million, due in part to

cuts to Ohio’s local government fund. That has left less money for a number of city initiatives, including traffic safety. Other camera-based traffic enforcement technology — read: red light cameras — has been highly controversial and legally problematic for municipalities in Ohio. But the handheld cameras, first proposed by Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Landsman, are a bit different. An officer would still be present during a traffic violation, but instead of pulling over a car on a busy street, the camera would record the incident and a ticket would be mailed to the driver later. The city says the cameras could help decrease pedestrian-involved traffic incidents. “Initial reviews of this technology indicate there is a correlation between use of the technology and a reduction in

crashes and speeding incidents in those cities that deploy such technology,” the memo reads. “Speed cameras are widely considered the most impactful tool available in the fight to improve pedestrian safety and decrease crash rates.” Some European studies suggest there is a correlation between speed cameras and a reduction in crashes, though another 2013 study conducted in Arizona didn’t come to the same conclusions. Voters changed Cincinnati’s charter 10 years ago to require an officer to present a traffic ticket to a driver in person on the spot. That would need to be changed to implement the handheld cameras — something voters would have to weigh in on. Would voters opt to give police more options for ticketing drivers? We may find out this year.

Civil Suit Around Crawford Police Shooting Will Go Forward BY N I C K SWA R T S EL L Much of a civil suit brought by the family of John Crawford III over his shooting death by Beavercreek police in a Walmart will go to trial, a federal judge ruled Jan 28.

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U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice threw out a wrongful death claim against the retail chain. But Rice also ruled that a reasonable jury might find Walmart liable for negligence and other claims made by the Crawford family.

Beavercreek Police officer Sean Williams shot Crawford twice Aug. 5, 2014 after Williams and Beavercreek Police Sgt. David Darkow arrived at the store to respond to a 911 call by customer Ronald Ritchie about a black male carrying and possibly loading a rifle in the store. Crawford had a Crosman MK-177 pellet rifle that he’d picked up in the store slung over his shoulder at the time. Video shows Williams shot Crawford within seconds of seeing him in an aisle at the store. The officers say they shouted verbal commands at Crawford, who did not immediately respond. Crawford, who was on his cellphone at the time of the shooting, died soon afterward. A Green County grand jury declined to indict Williams in the incident. A separate federal civil rights investigation ended in 2017 with no action taken. The civil suit seeks damages from Walmart for Crawford’s death, pointing

out that the pellet gun was out of its packaging when Crawford picked it up and that multiple store employees, including two managers, knew Crawford was walking around with the pellet gun but did not take any action. At least one employee expressed concern that the pellet gun could be mistaken for a real weapon. “In the court’s view, based on the evidence presented, a reasonable jury could find that City Hall Walmart breached PH OTO: NIC K SWARTSELL its duty to take reasonable precautions to protect its customers from instead of leaving it on the shelf out of its foreseeable dangers,” Rice wrote in his package. 38-page ruling. Rice also ruled that a jury could find Rice found that, while it wasn’t against the that Walmart did not do enough to warn law for Walmart to have the pellet gun out Crawford about dangers involved with the of packaging that bore a warning about product it was selling. how realistic the rifle looks, a jury could Walmart has argued that it could not have find that the store should have replaced it

foreseen police officers shooting and killing a man holding a rifle in Ohio, which is an open carry state, and that, because Crawford’s shooting was a potential criminal matter, the chain can’t be held liable for the actions of the officers. The civil trial around the lawsuit will begin Oct. 28.

FROM PAGE 06

causing panic and pain. Prior to the state resuming executions by putting convicted killer Ronald Phillips to death in 2017, some drug experts asked Ohio not to use midazolam. On July 24 that year, 15 pharmacology professors from universities across the U.S. filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in connection with the Phillips case requesting that the use of the sedative in executions be halted. The brief highlights the “national importance” of the case when it comes to lethal injections. “In sum, midazolam’s mechanism of action makes it unsuitable as the first drug in the State of Ohio’s three-drug lethal injection protocol because it is incapable of inducing unconsciousness and cannot prevent the infliction of severe pain,” the filing reads. “The record of midazolamprotocol executions is profoundly troubling.” Attorneys said their challenge to Ohio’s use of the drug could have national implications. “What is happening in Ohio is a matter of great concern everywhere,” attorney Mark Haddad said in a statement after asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in. “The record in the Ohio prisoners’ case firmly

establishes an intolerable risk of resuming executions under the midazolam threedrug protocol.” Other states using cocktails containing midazolam have also seen executions go badly. In Arizona, Joseph Wood gasped for air for nearly two hours before dying in 2014. Arkansas has seen a procession of grisly executions using the drug. And in Oklahoma, Clayton Lockett spent 45 minutes clinging to life after the drugs were administered before succumbing to a massive heart attack. Following Woods’ two-hour execution in Arizona, that state decided to end the use of midazolam. Florida has also discontinued use of the drug in executions. On Jan. 15, almost five years to the day after McGuire’s execution, federal magistrate Michael Merz sitting in the U.S. District Court in Dayton ruled that the three-drug cocktail Ohio has been using to put people to death is likely unconstitutional, citing medical experts who testify that large doses of the drug midazolam can cause pulmonary edema, which produces the sensation of drowning. “If Ohio executes Warren Henness under its present protocol, it will almost certainly subject him to severe pain and

needless suffering,” Merz wrote in his ruling, citing medical experts in saying midazolam could trigger “panic and terror” and comparing use of the drug to waterboarding, a torture method that simulates drowning. It’s not the first time Merz has condemned the use of the drug. In 2017, he ruled executions using midazolam were unconstitutional, though he was later overruled by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite his misgivings, however, this time around, Merz ruled that Henness’ Feb. 13 execution could move forward because Henness had not presented viable alternatives as stipulated under Ohio law. The convicted man’s attorneys suggested oral injection of a drug cocktail or letting Henness drink a heavy dose of the barbiturate secobarbital in juice, both of which Merz rejected because they had not been tried before and would take too long to kill Henness. “This is not a decision with which the court is comfortable,” Merz wrote, noting he was limited by the law in his ability to delay the execution. Henness’ attorney, assistant federal public defender David Stebbins, used the

ruling by Merz to appeal to Gov. DeWine for a stay of execution. “Inflicting severe pain, needless suffering, and terror on Warren Henness during his execution is not something with which the State of Ohio should be comfortable either,” Stebbins wrote in a Jan. 24 letter to DeWine. “Even if the federal courts cannot prohibit an execution that is almost certain to cause severe pain and needless suffering and is almost certain to create a terror comparable to waterboarding, evolving standards of decency should prevent the State of Ohio from knowingly subjecting Warren Henness to such an excruciating execution.” The next day, DeWine issued his stay for Henness, pushing his execution back to Sept. 12. It is unclear what will come next as Ohio searches for suitable execution drugs. Some conservative state lawmakers have suggested returning to older execution methods such as firing squads to put people to death, but there has not been serious legislative effort toward that end yet. In the interim, the governor has directed the state to examine its execution protocol and research other drugs that could be used in place of midazolam.

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STUFF TO DO Ongoing Shows ART: Funniest Joke in Cincinnati Wave Pool, Camp Washington (through Feb. 23)

WEDNESDAY 30

ONSTAGE: Two seniors rage war in Ensemble Theatre’s uproarious Ripcord. See review on page 30. ONSTAGE: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights brings the heartbeat of Washington Heights to the stage at the Playhouse in the Park. See review on page 31. MUSIC: Heavy Metal legends Metallica bring their WorldWired Tour to U.S. Bank Arena. Read an interview on page 39.

Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom

THURSDAY 31

PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

FRIDAY 01

MUSIC: Shoreline Mafia brings West Coast Hip Hop to Bogart’s. See Sound Advice on page 42. COMEDY: Josh Wolf Josh Wolf is a comedian and

actor who has written for several sitcoms including All of Us; Yes, Dear; Cuts and Raising Hope. He has also appeared in a few episodes of the latter. Onstage, his process is looser than it is for the TV screen. “I’ll go onstage with a premise, but it’s a whole different writing process,” he says. When he was on Chelsea Lately as a contributing panelist, it was a combination. “I knew what the topics were an hour and a half beforehand, and I had an idea of what my opinion was going to be and what I could say,” he says. “But I never stuck to a joke if it didn’t add to the flow of a conversation. If two people said something in front of me that took it a little off topic, I wouldn’t stick to my joke just to get my joke in. That would have messed up the conversation. Our best shows were the ones that were conversations.” 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday; 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday. $15-$45.

Funny Bone Liberty, 7518 Bales St., Liberty Township, liberty.funnybone.com. — P.F. WILSON COMEDY: Trevor Noah Stand-up comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is coming to Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center as part of his Loud & Clear Tour. Known for his satirical humor with a political edge, the comedian has sold-out shows on more than five continents. Expect to hear insight on social issues through the lens of Noah’s own personal experiences — like growing up mixed-race in post-apartheid South Africa. The host also authored Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood in 2016 and has several stand-up specials, the most recent being Netflix’s Afraid of the Dark. 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday. $39.50$95. Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinnatiarts.org. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

EVENT: MOVE at Rhinegeist Nonprofit organization Mission 2 Move and Rhinegeist are helping relieve some stress with an event that puts people in motion. MOVE will feature aerial acrobatics and performances from the University of Cincinnati dance team, Exhale Dance Tribe and QKIDZ Dance Team, plus acts from the Cincinnati Circus Company. Dance to music from DJ Alex and DJ LPete as you sip on beers from the brewery. A portion of taproom sales will be donated to Mission 2 Move. 6 p.m.-midnight Friday. Free admission. Rhinegeist Brewery, 1910 Elm St., Overthe-Rhine, rhinegeist.com. — KIARA REECE

SATURDAY 02

MUSIC: Virtuoso acoustic guitarist Jon Stickley brings Bluegrass to the Southgate House Revival with his Jon CONTINUES ON PAGE 12

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ONSTAGE: Dancing with the Stars: Live! Get those dancing shoes on and be ready to tap your feet along with the stars onstage:

Popular ABC competition show Dancing with the Stars is coming to Cincinnati. Experience the magic and glitz of ballroom dance live at the Taft Theatre as a cast of professional, troupe and fan favorite dancers showcase the dance styles seen on TV from Hip Hop and Jazz to Modern, all choreographed by Emmy Award-winning Mandy Moore. Dancers on the tour include famous faces like Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Witney Carson, Artem Chigvintsev, Sasha Farber and more. 6:30 p.m. doors; 7:30 p.m. show Thursday. $49.50-$79. Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown, tafttheatre.org. — KIARA REECE

EVENT: Sip & Spell at the Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom Test the theory that spelling is like bowling — the more you drink, the better you get at it — at Sam Adams’ Sip & Spell monthly spelling bee. Enter as an individual or as a team; one person spells one word per round and players earn points for each word spelled correctly. Prizes will be awarded for first place and the first and second place teams from each month are invited back for a grand finale spelling competition at the end of the year. Must be 21 and older to participate. 7-9 p.m. Thursday. Free admission. Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom, 1727 Logan St., Over-the-Rhine, facebook. com/samadamscincy. — MAIJA ZUMMO

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EVENT: CurioCity Public Landing The Cincinnati Museum Center’s CurioCity series is a 21-and-up social event for those adults interested in history, science, conversation and cocktails. Held at venues inside the museum and across the city, each CurioCity is themed around a different topic for guests to learn about something new from curators and experts. This time, take a step back into the 1850s for a booze cruise on the Queen of the West riverboat. Head to the restored Public Landing inside the Museum Center to see a recreated Cincinnati cityscape: wander the cobblestone streets of the landing and grab a frothy brew from the German biergarten; visit dressmakers and print shops or an openair market; take a selfie in the historic Ball & Thomas portrait studio; and get a general feel for what life was like in 19th-century Porkopolis. 6-9 p.m. Thursday. $15 non-members; $10 members. Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate, cincymuseum. org. — MAIJA ZUMMO

FROM PAGE 11

Stickley Trio. See Sound Advice on page 42.

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EVENT: Sankofa Maiden Voyage People’s Liberty is offering a journey like no other — a journey into the past. People’s Liberty grantee Jennie Wright has created Experience Sankofa inside the Globe Gallery, which will take audiences “back in time” to experience two highlights of AfricanAmerican culture through interactive performances, exhibits and cosplay. Guests can take a trip to the Harlem Renaissance and listen to the sounds of the Cotton Club in the 1920s, and then stop in to see the rise of Hip Hop in the 1970s. “The word Sankofa means ‘Go Back and Get It’ in the Twi tongue of the Akan Tribe of Ghana,” says Wright in a press release. “It is the perfect word to express this truly unique opportunity to explore and celebrate the rich, iconic Harlem Renaissance era and the still reverberating

emergence of Hip Hop culture.” The Sankofa Maiden Voyage will take place Saturday and features special guests Triiibe, setting sail for Harlem “using the power of the mind and harmonics.” The Cotton Club Experience runs Feb. 2-24 and These Are The Breaks, detailing the emergence of Hip Hop, runs March 7-24. Weekend experiences are $10; weekday museum exhibits are free and open to the public. People’s Liberty Globe Gallery, 1805 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, experiencesankofa.com. — KIARA REECE EVENT: Lunar New Year It is about to be the year of the pig in Porkopolis and 3 Points Urban Brewery is hosting Cincinnati’s Asian Cultural Association’s Lunar New Year party to ring in the Chinese New Year. This party will be fueled by a lineup of Asian-American DJs from across the U.S., including KIML, SHEF b2b DOBOY and ASTROPAT b2b DRUSKII, with a Lion Lyra Dance aerial hoop suspension act by Elevated

Aerials. VIP tables with bottle service are available but limited. Free cover but get there early as doors will close at capacity. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday. Free admission. 3 Points Urban Brewery, 331 E. 13th St., Pendleton, godaspo.com. — BEN REES

SUNDAY 03

EVENT: Chocolate in the Chapel It’s almost Valentine’s Day so head to Spring Grove Cemetery for a candy and chocolate tasting. At the fifth-annual Chocolate in the Chapel, local confectioners will be displaying their goods inside the Norman Chapel, offering samples and treats for sale. Participating vendors include Chocolats Latour, SugarSnap! Sweet Treats, Kilwins at the Greene, A Mother’s Touch Cakes and more. Docents will lead a tour of the chapel at 1 p.m. Noon-3 p.m. Sunday. RSVP not required. Norman Chapel at Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum, 4521 Spring Grove Ave., Spring Grove Village, springgrove. org. — MAIJA ZUMMO

PHOTO: BYRON PHOTOGR APHY

FRIDAY 01

EVENT: Cincy Winter Beerfest Two nights. Hundreds of craft beers. Live music. More than 150 craft breweries. And did we mention beer? The Duke Energy Convention Center is hosting the 12th annual Cincy Winter Beerfest. This event features three sessions where guests can sample from 400 different types of beer from local, regional and national breweries. Tickets include 25 samples, but upgrade to a Connoisseurs package for a souvenir snifter glass, access to premium draft and large-format beers, a coat check and private bathrooms. Food trucks and local restaurants will be on site with snacks for sale and event proceeds benefit the Big Joe Duskin Music Education Foundation. Have fun drinking beer for charity. Anyone drinking at this event is encouraged to use a designated driver or rideshare app and no one under the age of 21 is allowed inside. 7:30-11 p.m. Friday (6:30 p.m. early admission); 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday (noon early admission); 7:30-11 p.m. Saturday (6:30 p.m. early admission). $50$95. Duke Energy Convention Center, 525 Elm St., Downtown, cincybeerfest.com. — BEN REES

THEIR HISTORY OUR STORY NOW OPEN at Union Terminal

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THE KENTUCKY ALE TRAIL

K ITC H EN DW EL LER S // PH OTO: B R A DY C O O LI N G PH OTO G R A PH Y

SATURDAY 02

MUSIC: Kitchen Dwellers and Magic Beans A pair of progressive, improv-minded grassroots groups from the Western U.S. have teamed up for a nationwide tour and, as their “Jam band” credentials and the members’ friendships would suggest, a collaborative spark was ignited right off of the bat, leading to some one-of-a-kind onstage sessions featuring members of both ensembles throughout the jaunt. Magic Beans hail from the Denver area and have been building their following with a sound (as heard recently on their latest album, Casino Cabaret) that borrows liberally from genres ranging from Funk and Rock to Electronic, Americana and World music. Kitchen Dwellers, meanwhile, come straight outta Bozeman, Montana and trend toward the psychedelic Bluegrass/Newgrass side (they call it “Galaxy Grass”). To close out the shows on the on-the-rise bands’ current tour that kicked off Jan. 12, all of the musicians (who’ve repeatedly crossed paths and known each other for about five years) have been gathering onstage for a “Magic Dwellers/Kitchen Beans encore,” recordings from which have been posted at soundcloud.com/kitchendwellers. The cross-pollination has resulted in several covers that encapsulate the musical spectrum of influence behind both Rock Mountain groups’ music, ranging from the Stanley Brothers/Clinch Mountain Boys tune “How Mountain Girls Can Love” to Ginuwine’s “Pony.” 9 p.m. Saturday. $12; $15 day of show. Octave, 611 Madison Ave., Covington, theoctavebar.com. — MIKE BREEN

ONSTAGE: The Cost is Accurate Come on down! The price is... accurate? Hosted by Travis McElroy — podcaster extraordinaire — The Cost is Accurate blends popular game shows from TV history for a night of wild rip-off hijinks. The event will unfold live onstage but audience members will have the chance to participate, with a 1-in-100 chance of winning the evening’s yet-to-beannounced top prize. Plus, attendees can win an array of other prizes or bid in the evening’s silent auction; your first drink and light bites are included in the ticket price. Proceeds support Know Theatre’s 21st Mainstage season. 7 p.m. Tuesday. $75. Know Theatre of Cincinnati, 1120 Jackson St., Over-theRhine, knowtheatre.com. — MACKENZIE MANLEY

YOUR WEEKEND TO DO LIST: LOCAL.CITYBEAT.COM

HERE’S WHAT YOU GET! All day transportation on the party bus. Beers on the bus! Tour of the Lexington Brewing Company plus tasting. Tour of the Town Branch Distillery plus tasting. Lunch provided after the tours. Admission to Keeneland Race Track.

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the now-defunct La Petite Pierre — will go head to head with five other people in two rounds of three and three. The winner of each round will then compete in a third round and the winner of that round will be crowned the Food Fight champion. Half of the door proceeds will go to benefit 1n5.org, a local nonprofit that works to increase awareness of

MUSIC: James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt play U.S. Bank Arena. See Sound Advice on page 43.

April 5, 2019 April 12, 2019 EASTGATE LOCATION FAIRFIELD LOCATION

EVENT: Food Fight 15 Cincinnati’s Food Fight series pits chefs, home cooks, culinary enthusiasts and humans with knife skills against each other in a battle to see who is the best chef. Bring a potluck dish to share and enter your name to be a cook or judge — if you want. If you don’t want to compete (or judge), just hang out and watch the action unfold. In Food Fight 15, current champion Eric Polhamus — of

TUESDAY 05

HOPS & HORSES

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MONDAY 04

mental health and mental health issues. 6 p.m. doors; have your name in by 7:15 p.m. to judge or fight. $10. Karrikin Spirits Co., 3717 Jonlen Drive, Fairfax, facebook.com/foodfight513. — MAIJA ZUMMO

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A sculpture of shoes representing those killed in concentration camps | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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hen Holocaust & Humanity Center Executive Director Sarah L. Weiss was still envisioning the museum’s move to prime space in the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, she said she wanted her nonprofit institution to raise its visibility. Founded in 2000 by Holocaust survivors and their families, its small museum and educational programs had most recently been located inside Kenwood’s Rockwern Academy, a Jewish community day school. “Over the years, people have said to us, ‘You’re a hidden gem,’ ” Weiss told CityBeat last year. “We don’t want to be a hidden gem.” She doesn’t have to worry about that any longer. Recently opened in the concourse mezzanine level at the Cincinnati Museum Center, formerly home to the Cincinnati History Library and Archives, the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center now has approximately 7,500 square feet of exhibition space — three times more than when it was at the Kenwood school — with additional space for offices and programming. Weiss expects the expanded museum to raise attendance tenfold or more, anticipating 75,000-100,000 visitors annually. As designed by the team of Michael Berenbaum and Edward Jacobs, with Jack Rouse Associates and USA Inc., it tells of the mass murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators through exhibits, artifacts, photographs and audio and visual media. There is ongoing relevance in learning from this past, Weiss says. “Oftentimes history is a powerful tool to inform conversation,” she says. “So we definitely think this history, in particular, has relevance to some of the national debates going on today, as well as it brings awareness to all of us that unchecked hate is dangerous and a threat to all of us. On both of those levels, I think it has relevance to the civic conversation.” While the museum shows how the Holocaust was a horrific event centered in Europe that spotlighted humanity at its worst, it also explains how it has had a longlasting impact in Greater Cincinnati. It does so by including stories of those survivors who either escaped the Nazis or survived their death camps and came to Cincinnati to start new lives. Weiss estimates some 2,000 Holocaust survivors made

their way to the Cincinnati area and that 150-200 are still alive. These are people like Stephanie Marks, Zahava Rendler, Al Miller, Lou Weisser, Conrad Weiner and Henry Fenichel — survivors who appear in a short film that visitors see before touring the exhibits. Onscreen, the local survivors urge viewers to learn from the past by always asking, “How can I be the best of humanity today?” Weiss hopes this will differentiate Cincinnati’s Holocaust museum from others around the nation (like the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.), thus answering those who question why such a high-profile community institution is needed here. “I think one of our responsibilities in Cincinnati, far from where the Holocaust happened, is to tell the story in a way that connects to our community,” Weiss says. “And that connection is through the local individuals who built their lives here after the war. And we know we had World War II soldiers and liberators who were eyewitnesses to some of the atrocities of the Holocaust.” “It’s easy for us to think that the Holocaust was more than 70 years ago in Europe, in such different times,” she continues. “It makes it closer and more tangible when we realize this happened to people in our own community who we may know or encounter, or their children or grandchildren.” Most of the survivors arrived in Cincinnati via Union Terminal, then a bustling train station. One in five military service members also traveled through the station at some point during World War II, Weiss says. So there is a direct connection between the Holocaust & Humanity Center site and the story it tells. That sense of place is very important, says exhibit designer Jacobs. He was in town last week from Israel to install a sculpture on the concourse’s main floor, above the museum, that will feature abstracted figures with facsimiles of the kind of documents needed by survivors to escape the Nazis and get into Cincinnati. “We wanted to start with art. So young people — highschool students — learn how to look at something that’s not a screen that moves. This should have powerful significance,” Jacobs says. “In a world where place doesn’t matter anymore, this place matters. And when I look at something, I understand something of myself and it sets up what this is.”

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A sculpture of abstracted figures and documents on the main level of the Museum Center | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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A wall piece in â€œMassacreâ€? created out of bullet casings | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

“The Food of the Dead for the Living” | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

A window overlooking the train yard | Photo: Hailey

The “Deportation” installation | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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generation,’ ” she says. “What he was trying to say was (with) all of the school shootings and the mass killings, he feels like he sees this on the news. Even though it’s a different context, it started a whole dialogue about today.” Another installation, called “Survival,” tells of the desperate existence in a death camp like Auschwitz. It contains a large reproduction of a painting by survivor David Olère, “The Food of the Dead for the Living,” which depicts him collecting food left behind in crematorium undressing rooms to throw over a fence to prisoners at the women's camp. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, located in Poland, gave the Cincinnati museum permission to show the reproduction. (An exhibit from the Auschwitz Museum is coming to New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage this spring and will include at least one painting by Olère, who died in 1985.) The role of trains in the museum’s narrative is more complex than just pointing out the role of Union Terminal. In the Holocaust Gallery, the museum decided to have windows overlooking the train yards behind the building. However, there is also a nearby installation called “Deportation” that reveals a more sinister use of trains. They were what the Nazis used to deport European Jews to the death camps. (There was actually a Cincinnati Holocaust-related exhibit at the Skirball Museum in 2012, brought here by survivor Sigmund A. Rolat, which also addressed the role of trains. At the time, Rolat told CityBeat that an innocuous-looking train schedule on display was “the most shocking document you will see here” because it recorded the time that a train packed with Jews left Czestochowa for the concentration camp Treblinka in Poland, as well as when the empty train returned to the city.) “Typically, we think about the trains to death camps and destruction,” Weiss says. “But we’re also telling the story here about the trains to life, the trains that brought our survivors here to Cincinnati. Trains have always been this horrific symbol. Yet we’re in a train station; a train station that represents something totally different.”

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The museum consists of two separate galleries — the Holocaust Gallery and the Humanity Gallery — as well as two theaters that are named “Winds of Change” and “Point of Light.” There is also a 63-foot wall mural, created by local artist Keith Neltner and his Camp Springs, Kentucky-based design group, Neltner Small Batch. The mural uses a graphic-novel style to introduce visitors to the stories of 26 people, many with local connections, whose lives were touched by the Holocaust or World War II. Those stories are continued in the museum proper. For all the attempts at localization, the Holocaust Gallery — which unflinchingly describes the details of how this genocide could happen — is the educational and emotional center of the museum. And with the newer, bigger museum expected to bring more annual visitors than the previous one, the Holocaust & Humanity Center will have a greater effect on the city’s cultural identity than ever before. The museum sometimes uses eyewitness testimony from local survivors. That’s evident in a Holocaust Gallery installation called “Massacre,” which tells visitors of how 1.5 million Jews were murdered “bullet by bullet” in mass killings, often near their homes or villages. They never even made it to the camps. The “Massacre” installation uses the audio testimony of a Cincinnati survivor, the late Sam Boymel, to give chilling detail to what happened. He was a boy when Nazis rounded up Jews in his town in Poland for summary execution. His detained mother told him to run, even giving him her sweater. Another part of the installation is a film clip showing the execution of Jews in Latvia by German soldiers with assistance from Latvian collaborators. A victim is seen slain in a snowy trench. For “Massacre,” the museum also commissioned a large wall piece that recreates a historic photograph of one such occurrence — it uses tens of thousands of bullet casings to depict its outrages. Weiss says the installation has already had an unexpected impact on visiting students. “We had a kid (during a focus group) who said, ‘I’m from the massacre

Historical documents on display at the entrance to the Holocaust & Humanity Center | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

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SHINING THE LIGHT

The Holocaust & Humanity Center also aims to offer visitors, in the museum’s words, a hopeful vision of future humanity through “stories of resistance and rescue, of messengers who warned the world while there was still time to act and of upstanders who risked their freedom and even their lives to assist the beleaguered.” This is presented in the museum’s Humanity Gallery, which introduces — through interactive stations — profiles of many “upstanders” who have made a difference; not just Holocaust resisters and survivors but also those who have improved contemporary American life and Cincinnati life in particular. One of those featured is the late Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who escaped the Nazis in 1941 and spent much of his life arguing for international recognition of genocide as a crime. Another is Frank Gerson, a sanitation worker who started the Cincinnati Free Store to recycle still-useful tossed-out objects. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is singled out for her work championing women’s equality as a young law professor and American Civil Liberties Union representative. Locally, Abdullah Powell is acknowledged for serving as creative director of Elementz, an urban arts center that teaches youth to express themselves through Hip Hop music, spoken word, dance and visual arts. Weiss acknowledges that this approach is different from the message of earlier Holocaust awareness efforts that tried to impress the message “Never again” upon the visitors. “It’s one thing to say never again be a victim or never

again be a perpetrator or a bystander, but that’s harder to put into action,” she says. “It’s easier for us to explain the small moments where individuals have done good, or made a choice that helps another person or stood up to indifference. We know there’s still hate and discrimination in the world. Our hope is that our work can help to enhance people’s awareness that each of us has an ability to make a difference.” There is, too, another aspect to this museum. It serves as a respectful tribute and memorial to survivors. When they have all passed, they won’t be forgotten by future generations. Instead, they will be honored at a museum in one of Cincinnati’s most cherished buildings. Stephanie Marks, now 94, thinks such remembrance of survivors is important. After escaping with her parents from the Nazis in Belgium, they went to Portugal and then came to Cincinnati through the sponsorship of cousins who lived here. She had many Polish relatives murdered by the Nazis. “Thousands of us survived,” Marks says. “It’s not just that we survived, we flourished. We married, we had children, our children were educated. We created two or three generations of wonderful people. “We want people to know that despite what we went through, we progressed. We offered something to the world, in spite of it.” To buy tickets to visit the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center at Cincinnati Museum Center, go to holocaustandhumanity.org/visit.

ILLUSTRATING HEARTBREAK

By Steven Rosen

Photos by Hailey Bollinger There is an important history in the use of the graphic-novel form to tell a Holocaustrelated story. The American artist Art Spiegelman won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his book Maus, about his father’s experiences surviving the Holocaust as a Polish Jew.

Rather, she thought the form might be a good way to introduce visitors to the stories ahead.

“The final piece is a combination of digital illustration and hand-rendered layers of brush strokes, paint splatters and line work to create a dramatic finished piece,” Neltner explains in a Q&A done for the museum. “We wanted to create a sense of drama using color and not be too dark or intense with the tone.” The mural — which also has a separate wraparound section on a nearby column — has fairly dark, blue-ish background alternating with white-bordered sections of flying “documents.” The importance of documents is a theme throughout the museum. Within the mural, stories of 26 individuals, most with local connections,

Chosen by the museum after a recommendation from ArtWorks, Neltner says he was selected because his company has done work with a lot of layering and depth — like a Brewery District mural and portrayals of heritage Country and Americana musicians, as well as graphic-oriented poster art. Before landing a job, Neltner did a sample graphic-style portrait of Heinz (Henry) Blumenstein, who, as a 3-year-old Austrian child in 1939, traveled aboard the St. Louis, the famous ship with Jewish refugees from Nazism that had

“The piece was pretty dramatic,” Neltner says of that first portrait. “It was using a lot of black tones in the background and taking the subject matter and striking that tone of seriousness and also vulnerability. If you see current portraits of survivors, they look like your grandparents. Then you learn their story and about their hardship.” The finished mural incorporates a portrait of the elderly Blumenstein, which Neltner created from a provided photograph, and also one of him as a child with his mother, looking through a ship’s portal. “Heartbreaking,” Neltner says succinctly.

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Neltner Small Batch’s Keith Neltner created the mural with Tom Post, Chris

The mural was not painted directly onto the wall, but rather is a digital print on museum-quality linen.

For instance, local survivor Bella (Benozio) Ouziel remembers how, “At Auschwitz they took my sister from my arms,” while an illustration shows one Nazi restraining Ouziel while a second has grabbed the small child. Another illustration shows an African-American soldier arriving at Union Terminal — the caption quotes Herb Allen remembering that the first time he left home was to head to basic training in Georgia from the Cincinnati train station.

to return to Europe when Cuba wouldn’t let them disembark and the U.S. wouldn’t accept them. The family left the ship in the Netherlands, but once the Nazis invaded there in 1940 they were at risk. Henry survived the Holocaust in hiding; his mother and grandmother perished. He joined his father — who had escaped Austria earlier and was trying to have his family get to safety on the St. Louis — in the U.S. in 1946, after World War II’s end. Blumenstein lived for a time in Cincinnati before moving.

“Graphic novels are today very successfully being used in schools, so we thought this was a way to give some snapshots of the stories and the people they would meet in the museum in a kind of modern and fresh way,” she says.

“The cool thing about the graphic-novel style is it’s really approachable,” says Neltner. “We can tell this really dramatic story that’s also relatable to all age ranges. And the subject matter is really intense.”

come to vivid, colorful life via illustrations and captions.

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Sarah L. Weiss of Cincinnati’s Holocaust & Humanity Center was certainly aware of that book, but it wasn’t a predominant reason for commissioning Kentucky’s Neltner Small Batch to create a 63-foot graphic-novel-style wall mural for the entrance to her museum’s new home at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Dye, Andi Bussard and Andy Sohoza.

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DD Booth

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Jake Sweeney

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ARTS & CULTURE

In Conversation with Jamel Brinkley The National Book Award Finalist will discuss his new short story collection at the University of Cincinnati I N T ERV I E W BY JAS O N G A R G A N O

PHOTO: ARASH SAEDINIA

you pay attention to the granular details of people’s lives, the more you sort of get the rhythms, the shapes, the colors — all those things that make up the details of someone’s life — the more you can capture that, the easier it is to see what that life has in common with a completely ostensibly different life. I really do think that you can’t just leap directly to the universal. You have to go through the things that are particular and that are detailed in order to bring that character’s story to life so that people can connect with it on a higher level.

CB: What role do books — and specifically fiction writing — have in the fast-paced, attention-altering, technologydriven world we live in these days? JB: It’s a good question. I’m heartened to see that book sales are doing pretty well and that independent bookstores are thriving in ways that maybe a few years ago we didn’t expect them to. You’re right, we do live in a fast-paced social media environment of hot takes, but, especially at this moment in this country, we have a very poisonous political atmosphere that’s really about lies in the worst sense — lies in the interest of greed, lies in the interest of harming people. And I think that fiction writing, telling stories, is sort of like lying for good. The fact that we can exercise our imaginations — tell stories to try to entertain each other, to try to edify each other, to try to get people interested in lives other than their own — I think that’s the value. Because so much of what is out there prompts us to be selfish and negative in

some ways, I think fiction writing is important to train the brain in another direction. CB: You seem to have been drawn to reading stories and the immersion of oneself in the imagination at an early age. How did that come about for you? JB: Probably for a few reasons. My mother was very invested in my being a reader from when I was very young. She would always take me to the Mott Haven Branch of the public library in the South Bronx and I would just come away with stacks of books all the time. That’s one reason. Another reason is that I think a lot about physical space and how much space people have. Growing up we didn’t have a lot of space. There wasn’t a lot of room. It was hard to find your own space, hard to find privacy, and for me, an important way of finding privacy and space was through reading stories and reading about characters. Creating space in my own mind through books was really important for me. I’ve always been a very internal person, sort of retreating into my own mind; stories have really made that possible. Jamel Brinkley reads from and discusses A Lucky Man, 4 p.m. Friday (Feb. 1) at the University of Cincinnati’s Langsam Library. Fore more info, visit artsci.uc.edu.

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CB: Your prose style is pretty straightforward and accessible as opposed to using florid language or long, complex sentences. Was that an overt choice on your part? How did you develop your voice? JB: Interestingly enough, in my early attempts at writing, my language was more ornate. Part of what I had to learn fairly early on was how to quiet that down. I do love language for the sake of language but I think I was overusing that, using it as a crutch and not paying attention to some of the other elements. As I’ve been developing as a writer, I think that, yes, language is important but character has sort of risen to the top of what’s most important to me. I don’t think I have enough control of really ornate language for it to reveal character

in a way that I would want it to. If I were to use that kind of language, I think it would sort of obscure the story and obscure the characters. I had to find a medium ground where the language can still be beautiful but also clear enough that it doesn’t get in the way of the story.

CityBeat: Your stories are very detailed and specific in terms of the descriptions and setting but they are also quite universal in their themes and the types of things that happen to the characters. How did you go about balancing those two things? Jamel Brinkley: If I’m not mistaken, I think Flannery O’Connor said, “The more you stare at an object, the more of the world you see in it.” I think that’s true. I think the path to the universal, the path to the things that people have in common, is through the specific. It seems like a paradox but I think it’s true. The more that

Jamel Brinkley

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amel Brinkley has gone from aspiring author to one of the most buzzed-about writers in recent months, racking up a raft of critical praise in the process. A Lucky Man, the New York City native’s short story collection, debuted last May. Readers were immediately drawn to its detailed and often moving evocations of character and setting. Its a National Book Award Finalist and, most recently, garnered the Ernest J. Gaines Award, which recognizes rising African-American writers. The book’s nine stories center on black boys and men. Brinkley’s meticulous visions yield a mix of compassion and wonder; his straightforward prose and character-driven narratives are both emotionally complex and oddly universal. The people that populate these stories ache to find their place amid often challenging circumstances. Brinkley loved to read as a kid, which eventually led him to study literature at Columbia University. He later attended the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, where his first stories began to take shape. CityBeat recently connected with Brinkley, who discussed everything from his evolution as a writer to the role of fiction in today’s chaotic cultural and political landscape.

Two Seniors Wage War in the Uproarious ‘Ripcord’ R E V I E W BY H A R PER L EE

Ripcord stars two people who possess polar opposite personalities: one is uptight; the other is easygoing. Forced to make a home together in a small space, tensions boil beneath the surface and conflicts unfold and then escalate. Finally, the longsmoldering friction ignites and becomes a full-blown confrontation. Meanwhile, the audience can’t stop laughing. Currently making its regional debut at the Ensemble Theatre, David LindsayAbaire’s side-splitter Ripcord resuscitates a familiar premise made legendary by Neil Simon’s comic masterpiece, The Odd Couple. In place of Oscar and Felix, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lindsay-Abaire gives us Abby Binder (Dale Hodges) and Marilyn Dunne (Pamela Myers), a pair of widows who share a choice piece of real estate at the Bristol Senior Living Facility. Marilyn is a glass of champagne: bubbly and giggle inducing. Her roommate Abby, however, is a shot of pure acid that burns through friendships before they’ve even fully formed. They want different things. Abby wants to be left alone. Marilyn, on the other hand, wants the bed by the window. Hijinks ensue when the pair make a bet: If Abby can make Marilyn angry, then she has

to move out, which would restore Abby’s precious solitude. But if Marilyn can scare Abby, then Marilyn’s sleeping quarters will get a significant upgrade and a view of the park. Abby’s caustic curmudgeonly attitude and Marilyn’s cheerful optimism are oil and water. Much of the fun — and horror — of the production extends from the heinous, heartless and hilarious pranks they play on one another. In one scene, Marilyn appears delighted to chat with complete strangers who call her in response to a fake Craigslist ad, posted by Abby. And when Marilyn tricks Abby into skydiving, she doesn’t blink. Instead, Abby rejects fear just as Marilyn rejects rage. Anger, Marilyn says, leads to a dark, scary place that she doesn’t want to visit anymore. Cincinnati favorites Hodges and Myers make a delightfully entertaining team of rivals. Each leans way into her character, allowing the contrast between the two to fully emerge. Hodges deals in sharp edges and searing sarcasm; Myers is the human incarnation of a birthday cake. Jokes pop and land together as the two performers conjure up satisfying and precise comedy. An energetic supporting cast portrays a cadre of family members and health care

NERUDA!

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SUN FEB 3 • 3 pm Craig Hella Johnson conductor Memorial Hall

Experience the rhythm and racket of consonants, the patterned flow of vowels and the sumptuous sound of Pablo Neruda’s poetry brought to life by the Vocal Arts Ensemble. Craig Hella Johnson won a Grammy for his interpretation of Radcliff’s Ode to Common Things. Don’t miss this special performance which will also premiere a VAE commission from Timothy Takach. We can’t wait to sing for you.

Buy tickets now!

vaecinci.org • 513.381.3300

CRITIC’S PICK

ONSTAGE

providers — performed by Carter Bratton, Lisa DeRoberts, Justin McCombs and Ryan Wesley Gilreath. Each is lively, textured and deepen the story unfolding between the two women without Dale Hodges (left) and Pamela Myers in Ripcord being a distraction. D. Lynn Meyers’ stagP H O T O : R YA N K U R T Z ing on Brian c. Mehring’s unfussy set gives the production a lean, efficient quality. As the Which is why you gotta pull the ripcord, plot moves from the antiseptic interior baby! Slow yourself down and look around of a retirement home to the disturbing while you can!” vignettes of a haunted house and even to Bitter Abby has lost her ability to taste, the rumbling guts of an aircraft packed a side effect of a medication. Her favorite with skydivers, the audience moves with it, dessert, peach cobbler, feels like paste relishing in its gleeful flow. in her mouth. Hodges gives subtle life to Both women wield their demeanors like Abby’s journey back to finding a zest for life, battle garb. Thankfully, however, the play quietly replacing her broken heart with is not flatly extolling the virtues of putting hope for the future. Lindsay-Abaire’s play on a happy face. A skydiving instructor is about grappling with the ripcord, jerking waxing poetic about leaping from planes ourselves free of a blind and vicious plumand hurtling toward the earth hints at the met to briefly bask in the view, the laughter play’s true core. of a true friend or even the taste of peaches. “It’s just like life!” he says. “You get Ripcord runs through Feb. 16. Ticket/more shoved out into nothingness. Then it’s a info: ensemblecincinnati.org. long terrifying free fall to certain death.

Don’t miss these upcoming VAE performances! The Choir Master MARCH 10 Considering Matthew Shepard MAY 23

ONSTAGE

Join Us for Opening Night February 1, 6-8 PM

The Beat Goes On in In the Heights R E V I E W BY R I C K PEN D ER

Sponsored by Whole Foods and Covent Garden!

FREE and open to the public!

FEBRUARY 1 – MARCH 24, 2019 CRITIC’S PICK

Thoughts Made Visceral Curated by C. M. Turner Britni Bicknaver Vittoria Daiello Elese Daniel Alex McClay Exhibition Sponsor Whitney and Phillip Long

Alex McClay - (un)Mutually Exclusive, 2018, emergency blanket, reflective tape, thread, 19 x 14 inches

FEBRUARY 1 – APRIL 7, 2019 Dominic Guarnaschelli: Incognitum Exhibition Support: Anonymous

Migiwa Orimo: Proximity of Syllables Exhibition Co-Sponsors: Anonymous; Judge Mark and Sue Ann Painter/Cincinnati Book Publishing

Admission is

Aronoff Center for the Arts / 650 Walnut St., Cincinnati, OH 45202 / www.WestonArtGallery.com

FREE

2018-19 Season Sponsor: Dee and Tom Stegman The Alpaugh Foundation The LaBoiteaux Family Foundation

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Sun up on a hot, early July morning. Usnavi (Ryan Alvarado) opens his bodega, a stop-and-shop that deals mostly in café con leche, fueling the energy of the struggling but generally happy residents of Washington Heights, a Hispanic community at the northern tip of Manhattan. Yes, it’s the opening scene of In the Heights, the frenetic, energetic first work by Lin-Manuel Miranda. He’s the guy behind the megahit Hamilton, due for The cast of In the Heights a largely sold-out tour stop next month at Cincinnati’s PHOTO: MICHAEL BROSILOW Aronoff Center. Back in 2007-2008, Miranda burst forth as Usnavi in In the Heights, his first brighter future that she buys a lotto ticket Broadway musical — which garnered four daily to fund a dreamed-for return to her Tony Awards for its star and creator. In a home in Cuba. piece of savvy scheduling, the Playhouse These characters — half of the 20-person is presenting this show to address the cast — constitute a stew of bubbling bottomless appetite for Miranda’s work. activity. The other performers are steadily (Every Tuesday during the show’s run, a onstage, crossing an intersection with minimum of 100 tickets will be available a walk/don’t-walk signal and graffiti. for $10 at the box office.) They’re always in motion, including a In the Heights is a joyous tribute to sweet-tempered piragua guy (Henry Miranda’s roots, both the Manhattan Gainza), who sells shaved ices from a borough where he grew up (and still lives) pushcart. Dance powers this show, with and the original homes of its residents: the several ensemble members always onstage, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto punctuating the production with nonstop, Rico. It might be criticized for being fevered motion; the tunes are played by the overly sentimental and a tad cleansed seven-musician band on a platform above of the serious issues of urban blight, but the action, led by Dan Kazemi. who cares? It’s his fond recreation of The show’s magnificent, seven-minute, community, imbued with nonstop motion opening number, “In the Heights,” shows and caring that is expressed physically and Usnavi setting the stage and introducing verbally in a constant stream of Rap, Hipthe players. We see seeds of difficulty Hop and Salsa rhythms. as Nina returns home from California, Next door to Usnavi’s bodega is Rosario’s frightened to reveal that she’s dropped gypsy taxi stand, equipped with a dispatch out of Stanford (“Breathe”). We learn that system that doubles as the local broadcast Daniela is closing her shop and moving to network for residents. Kevin (Tony a more affordable space in the Bronx. It’s Chiroldes) and Camila (Karmine Alers) also evident that Claudia’s health is not built it from scratch, and they’ve scrimped good. and saved to fund their smart, activist The second act begins a downward daughter Nina (Sophia Macías) a Stanford spiral that encompasses love, joy and education. One of the drivers, Benny death. But everything resolves happily — (David Kaverman), aspires for his own hey, this is a musical, after all. The secondbusiness and for a relationship with Nina, act centerpiece, “Carnaval Del Barrio,” is much to Kevin’s consternation. a volcanic eruption of high spirits and The neighborhood also features a hair affection for the Heights. The beat goes on, salon run by pragmatic Daniela (Lillian as does life. Indeed, there is so much heart Castillo), which is being squeezed out by in the portrayal of this vibrant community increasing rent. She employs silly Carla that you ultimately aren’t likely to care (Alyssa V. Gomez) and sassy Vanessa if the outcome is a tad predictable. The (Stephanie Gomérez), who makes Usnavi opening night audience at the Playhouse melt whenever she’s nearby. Sonny rose virtually as one in a genuinely (Nicolas Garza), Usnavi’s 17-year-old appreciative ovation, one much deserved cousin who fancies himself quite the suave by this high-powered, hard-working cast. ladies’ man, futilely coaches the lovelorn shop owner to be more romantic. In The Heights, presented by the The neighborhood’s real anchor is Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, continues Abuela Claudia (Yassmin Alers). She’s through Feb. 17. More info/tickets: Usnavi’s spiritual grandma, who is cincyplay.com. respected by everyone and so hopeful for a

VISUAL ART

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE ‘DON’T MISS’ EVENTS

MARCH 27 BEST OF CINCINNATI 2019 WWW.BESTOFCINCINNATI.COM TICKETS ON SALE NOW

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JUNE 22

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT CITYBEAT.COM

Searching for Meaning on the Margins BY M O R G A N Z U M B I EL

Thoughts Made Visceral is an exhibition Daniel’s writing becomes the marginalia that literally speaks for itself. in the sidelines. A new addition to the Weston Art Gallery McClay’s work calls for a similar viewing set to open Friday (Feb. 1), the exhibition approach. One piece featured, titled examines marginalia through the textual, “Land Fall,” is made from pieces of black visual and audio work of Cincinnati-grown and silver emergency blankets that are artists Britni Bicknaver, Vittoria Daiello, sewn together to create messages in the Elese Daniel and Alex McClay. (McClay is contrasting colors. currently based in Athens, Georgia.) “To be able to read this you’ll have to “The title is a little bit of a joke,” says C.M. move in 360,” Turner says. “It’s written in Turner, the exhibition’s curator. “It’s this a way that you can either read the lines idea of taking your ideas, your cognitive across or you can come up and down. It work, and making it visceral in the world. gives a similar kind of message both ways. Making it felt.” It’s also a play on Richard Field’s book Thought Made Visible, a survey of the text-based paintings of American conceptual artist Mel Bochner. Thoughts Made Visceral seeks to uncover the messages that lie between, underneath, outside of and entirely beyond the lines. It’s a fully immersive experience that will occupy both figurative and literal spaces that are typically ignored. Even ambient soundscapes designed by Bicknaver will “Mutually Exclusive” by Alex McClay fill the Weston’s atrium. The element is designed PHOTO: PROVIDED to transport listeners to different headspaces through a rotation of noises that transition That’s really at the heart of the idea of this from crowds of people to rainstorms to the show: It’s that the more time you spend slow commotion of downtown traffic and engaging with something, you’re going to beyond. gain additional payoff.” Marginalia, part of the exhibit’s focus, Thoughts Made Visceral aims to push the refers to the notes we scribble in the viewer to subvert their preconceptions of margins of books. “Marginalia exists as how art should be experienced. something in the periphery,” Turner says. “What I’m looking for is somewhat of a “If the hard work of sense-making is done disruption of your everyday,” Turner says. in the margins, to occupy a marginalized “So even if the everyday expectation is to space is to be pushing up against what is walk into a gallery and see framed things accepted.” on the wall, then to upset that a little bit. To Perhaps the most exact interpretation of get the audience or viewer to get tripped marginalia is Daiello’s series of works on up to be thinking more about what they’re paper, which stem from her experience as actually working through.” a professor at the University of Cincinnati’s In essence, this is a show meant to snap College of Design, Architecture, Art our brains out of autopilot and teach us to and Planning. She “points to the be active participants in our consumption marginalization of educators and the of art, and to become more involved with work that they have to do beyond what we what we find. expect them to,” says Turner. “A lot of what “Visitors will be prompted to question she’s showing are written responses to more but judge less,” Turner says. students’ works and assigned readings.” Thoughts Made Visceral joins two other Further utilizing the written word, Danexhibitions, Dominic Guarnaschelli: iel’s poetry is fragmented and scattered Incognitum and Migiwa Orimo: Proximity of throughout the space in the form of vinyl Syllables, for an opening reception 6 p.m. lettering — displayed above doorways, in Feb. 1 and will be on display through March corners, on the floor and in other unused 24 at the Weston Art Gallery (650 Walnut physical areas. The gallery is arranged in St., Downtown). Friday’s opening reception such a way that, to read the poem comwill be followed by a gallery talk led by pletely, the audience must move around Turner and the artists 2 p.m. Saturday. the room in search of the next stanza. More info: cincinnatiarts.org. Treating the gallery like a printed page,

FILM

The Oscars Still Lack Representation BY T T S T ER N EN ZI

THE

OCTOBER 25-28 MUSIC HALL PRODUCTION SPONSORS

THOMPSON HINE

WILLIAM S. ROWE FOUNDATION

SEASON SPONSORS MARGARET & MICHAEL VALENTINE OFFICIAL SPORTS MEDICINE PROVIDER

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The film industry, much like American Joaquin Phoenix brought his brooding society as a whole, can’t stop repeating the weight to the story of a twitchy veteran who following series of buzzwords: diversity, tracks down missing girls. In less inspired inclusion, representation. The words form hands, You Were Never Really There would a mantra, an expression of our collective have been nothing more than a Liam striving to do better, to be better. But words Neeson paycheck vehicle. Ramsey gives us fail, especially when they are not backed a blunt and unflinching look at the history up by actions. of violent acts and their repercussions. What happens when we don’t recognize all of the best film work? When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the Oscar nominations on Jan. 22, they had yet another opportunity to give extra life and meaning to that mantra. In many ways, the latest Academy Awards nominations do, indeed, spotlight great and necessary strides for women and people of color. In terms of performance, the fields for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress were so stacked that deserving candidates like Viola Davis (Widows) and Claire Foy (First Debra Granik on the set of Leave No Trace Man) failed to make the final cut in their respective categories. PHOTO: SCOT T GREEN/BLEAKER STREET Fortunately, the nominations of Ruth E. Carter (Costume Design) and Hannah Beachler (Production Design, The same question looms over the exclushared with Jay Hart) for Black Panther sion of Debra Granik, another woman in bestow honor and recognition on a pair the independent film world who popped of African-American women in fields up on the Academy’s radar back in 2011 typically assumed to be the domain of with a Best Adapted Screenplay nominawhite technicians. In fact, Beachler is the tion for Winter’s Bone (far better known as first African-American to be nominated the film that landed Jennifer Lawrence her for Production Design. And it won’t be first acting nod and a rising A-lister status). surprising if the duo seizes Oscars for their Since Granik is not some operator on the ability to stunningly translate the spirit of margins, why was there no love for Leave Afrofuturism that defines Ryan Coogler’s No Trace, her haunting tale about a father politically-charged comic book saga about (Ben Foster) attempting to raise his young the fictional African nation of Wakanda. daughter (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) But what does it mean when the off the grid. Maybe the hyper-intimacy and Academy turns a blind eye to the intensity of the material frightened voters? contributions of women behind the Such fears would seem to have been camera during a period when there absent in the work of Marielle Heller, has been a growing degree of selfwhose second feature Can You Ever Forgive congratulations for making token efforts Me? earned nominations for Melissa toward representation? McCarthy (Best Actress), Richard E. I certainly mean to take nothing away Grant (Best Supporting Actor) and Nicole from Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman), Pawel Holofcener and Jeff Whitty (Best Adapted Pawlikowski (Cold War), Yorgos Lanthimos Screenplay). Are we to assume that the (The Favourite), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) or script and the performers did all of the Adam McKay (Vice) — there is an obvious heavy lifting on this project? respect for individual diversity in that Heller’s first feature, The Diary of a cohort, plus an acknowledgement that Teenage Girl, which she adapted from these directors brought out the best in Phoebe Gloeckner’s novel, showcased a their female performers (including the refusal to wallow in sentimentality, and six women who were nominated for their that sensibility remains in effect in Can performances). You Ever Forgive Me?. The truth about It is worth considering whether Lynne writer Lee Israel’s forgery and elaborate Ramsay, the director of the grim and gritty deceptions isn’t glitzed up or played for action-drama You Were Never Really There, sympathy, which is a lesson the Academy somehow factored into the likely rounds and society could learn from as we of voting that took place. Having spent her stumble along this journey of a million career in the indie trenches (helming films steps toward recognizing how hard like Morvern Callar and We Need to Talk representation really is. About Kevin with Samantha Morton and Contact tt stern-enzi: Tilda Swinton in lead roles), she continletters@citybeat.com ued in this vein with her latest, in which

S AT U RD AY, JUNE 22, 2019 T H E P H O E NIX

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FOOD & DRINK OTR’S Wodka Bar Will Serve Up Vodka, Caviar and Pierogies Babushka Pierogies expands from a walkup window to an Eastern European-style brick and mortar BY M O R G A N Z U M B I EL

Sarah Dworak at the Babushka Pierogies walk-up window PHOTO: HAILEY BOLLINGER

aesthetic. There’s beautiful ornateness that brings me back to my childhood.” It’s clear that Dworak’s efforts aren’t just about the pierogies or the vodka alone but rather the weight of culture and tradition they carry that she’s devoted herself to sharing. Eastern European or not, it’s easy to see how something so simple can have such significance. “I had someone tell me once that I’m selling memories,” she says. Wodka Bar won’t open until March, but until then you can still order from the takeaway window on Friday and Saturday nights and get a peek of the progress inside. “It’s exciting. I’m bringing this experience of Eastern Europe and I feel a sense of responsibility to do right by it,” Dworak says. “To be able to work in this environment of sharing authentic-ness of myself and my family, you know, it feels so good to do that. It’s a very rewarding life.” Wodka Bar is located at 1200 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. Find more info at babushkapierogies.com or search Wodka Bar on Facebook.

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

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going to have some traditional foods on the menu that hopefully people won’t be too scared to try,” Dworak says. She’s not pulling her recipes from any one country, instead focusing on common cuisines found across Slavic cultures. Pierogies are one thing, but she says that the bar is the perfect complement to the food she’s been sharing with customers for years. “It’s nice now to be able to pair the food and the drink of Eastern Europe together. It tells a more complete story,” she says. The flavors of Wodka Bar won’t be its only transportive quality. Inside the intimate space, patrons will be enveloped by deep Prussian blues and rich golds, luxe velvet upholstery and distressed plaster walls, elegant wood paneling and all the intricacies of Eastern Orthodox architecture. Plans for the bar’s interior are intended to convey a sense of nostalgia for times and places past. Completing her maximalist vision for the space is a massive teal and orange stained glass ceiling light that was originally the rose window of a church. Dworak attributes much of her inspiration to her family — most of all memories of her grandmother. “My Baba used to sing in the choir at her church,” she says. “I’m pulling a lot from the church

inclination toward the spirit. “It’s definitely on all of the dinner tables. It’s a part of life.” Wodka Bar will carry an ambitious selection of vodkas, stocking upward of 60 types including many Russian, Polish and Ukrainian brands that are lesser known in the United States. When you sit down at her bar, Dworak wants to introduce you to the nuances of vodka that you won’t taste in a Tito’s and Red Bull — she’ll still serve you one if that’s really want you want, but come on, read the room. “In the United States it’s like this tasteless, odorless, colorless spirit,” she says. “And that’s what it’s distilled to be.” But Dworak says that vodka’s best qualities are its versatility and simplicity, which allow for the creation of more unique flavor profiles than other spirits. That’s why Wodka Bar will leave room on the liquor shelves for several dozen house-infused vodkas with flavors lent from ingredients like Russian Caravan black tea, caraway seeds, pine needles, rosemary, berries and citrus zest, among many others. Vodka will dominate, but the bar will offer a rotating cocktail list as well as a small selection of other spirits, European wines and a single draft beer: O.K. Beer, a Premium Lager from Brzesko, Poland’s Okocim Brewery. Bar snacks are mandatory of course, but forget about french fries and beer cheese. Instead, you can chase your shots with bites of caviar, pickled fish and vegetables, smoked meats, cheese and butter on dense, dark rye bread. “Traditionally when you drink vodka you always want to eat something with it. We’re

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arah Dworak never thought she would make her living from pierogies. But as the granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants, she didn’t have a say in whether or not she inherited the gene for pierogi mastery. Tucked away in the Carpathian Mountains near the Polish border, her paternal grandparents were from the rural village of Ploske, a place where Dworak’s great aunt lived in the same house without running water all her life. Her grandparents crossed the Atlantic in 1949 after World War II. Her father was born five years later, and once Dworak herself came along, her Baba made sure her granddaughter learned how to make the little half-moon shaped dumplings, stuffed with fillings like cabbage, potatoes and cheese and served with a generous dollop of sour cream. In 2012, Dworak began selling pierogies to the public with a friend after they bonded over the savory snack at an Easter party. The side hustle took over two years later. Dworak quit her job in the real estate industry, set up shop in Findlay Market and dedicated herself to her Babushka Pierogies business full-time, pressing out the dumplings by the dozen to sell at the storefront as well as at grocery stores and restaurants throughout Cincinnati. The business recently expanded further into Over-the-Rhine, opening a weekend walk-up window at 1200 Main St. for conquering late night-cravings with kielbasa bowls and pierogies filled with everything from pizza toppings to Cincinnati-style lentil chili. The window has proved popular since opening in December, but its presence is only a sampling of what’s to come at the location. This March will see the opening of Dworak’s Wodka Bar (the “w” is pronounced like an English “v”), which will be housed in the rest of the space attached to the pierogi window’s kitchen. For Dworak, it’s a passion project dedicated to the patron spirit of Eastern Europe. “I always thought down the road I would do a vodka bar,” she says, citing the Slavic

WHAT’S THE HOPS

Beerfest, Galentine’s Day and Goat Yoga BY G A R I N PI R N I A

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If you participated in Dryuary (aka an alcohol-free January) and/or have already broken your New Year’s resolution to drink less, then February is lining up to be a good drinking month for you. First up, Cincy Winter Beerfest returns to the Duke Energy Convention Center Feb. 1 and 2; sample more than 400 beers from local, regional and national breweries. Tickets range from $50-$95, and include 25 beer samples (not 400 samples). February also means Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day and anti-V-Day bashes. On Valentine’s Day, March First will host a four-course beer and food pairing dinner. The menu includes Reuben-style pork belly sliders, whoopie pies and arancini. The cost is $30 per person. Braxton has two V-Day events coming up. On Feb. 10, they’ll host a Galentine’s Day brunch in their loft. If you’re not in the know, Galentine’s Day originated on the show Parks and Recreation and celebrates female friendship, hence the “gal” part of the word. The brunch will feature mimosas (duh), a Taste of Belgium-catered waffle and crepe bar and Braxton beers. The brunch costs $45. If brunching with the ladies isn’t your thing, then come to Braxton on Feb. 13 for a Beer Lovers Dinner, featuring food from neighboring Peppe Cucina Italian deli. The menu includes a pour of Braxton’s new Tropic Flare, a triple dry-hopped New England-style IPA, and a Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip beer float with pie crust topper for dessert. The dinner costs $50. On V-Day, Streetside and Street Chef Brigade will team up for a special dinner. For $28 per person, you get four sliders and two pints of beers. Look, it’s better than dining at White Castle (which is also hosting its annual Valentine’s Day dinner, with tableside service). Don’t have someone special? Then check out Swine City’s Valenswine’s Day singles night on Feb. 14. Singles get $1 off pints and the opportunity to either try to hook up with someone or cry into their beer.

New Beers • Rhinegeist released Squid Pro Quo, a hazy imperial IPA that “offers a punch of peach, orange and passion fruit with a smooth, pillowy mouthfeel.” Limit two four-packs per person; distribution kicked off Jan. 11. • Arnold’s Bar & Grill’s chef Kayla Robison collaborated with Listermann on a beer called Old Fashioned Brut IPA. It’s available in cans and on draft at Listermann and Arnold’s. The flavors of blood orange and orange peel give a similar taste to Arnold’s Diebold’s Old Fashioned cocktail. • Last week, Urban Artifact launched Woodbreaker, a black cherry lemonade Midwest Fruit Tart. They’re selling four variants in cans, such as lemon cherry cobbler and lemon cherry milkshake. • A couple of weeks ago, Grainworks Brewing Company released a punny schwarzbier named Luke I Am Your Lager. The brewery describes it as having “hints of chocolate, molasses and coffee, but finishes light, creamy and smooth on your palate.” Just like The Force, it has moments of darkness and light. Try it on draft at the taproom. • Braxton and Graeter’s announced they’re re-releasing their super popular Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout in the taproom starting Feb. 1 and in cans in Kroger stores starting Feb. 4. Graeter’s is also making a special black raspberry chocolate chip donut to complement the brew.

Events • Grainworks knows resolutions don’t last more than a month, so on Jan. 31 they’re throwing a resolution-ending party “to celebrate our complete lack of fortitude and total inability to follow through.” They’ll tap a special beer and will have cupcakes, Delicious Designs Cookies and Holtman’s Donuts — all of the stuff that’s not green juice. • Do you like bad romcoms? Then head to Taft’s Brewporium every Wednesday

Braxton and Graeter’s are relaunching their popular Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout PHOTO: PROVIDED

night in February to watch a different film. The brewery will provide treats, popcorn, and, of course, apizza. First up is Crazy Stupid Love followed by Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. • It’s official: the Rams will face off against the Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 3). 13 Below Brewery invites fans to watch the game in their taproom. West Side Brewing will also host a Super Bowl event. They’ll offer $4 pints and have games and contests. • OTR’s Northern Row Brewery and Distillery taproom is not quite open to the public, but on Feb. 6 stop by MOTR Pub for a tap takeover of their beers. • Besides V-Day, Presidents Day, and Black History Month, February is also the Chinese New Year. Considering it’s the Year of the Pig, it makes sense that Swine City Brewing would celebrate. On Feb. 8, they’ll release a new beer and have a happy hour and food truck on site.

• Save the date: On Feb. 16, MadTree will host their annual Winter Bonanza at the brewery. Besides rare beers and live music, food trucks like The Beerded Pig will be on hand. • On Feb. 16, swing by Municipal Brew Works to help Hamilton nonprofit Animal Adoption Foundation. Portions of beer sales will benefit furry friends, so drink up. • On Feb. 16, Fretboard hosts the Cincinnati Winter Blues Experience, featuring several Blues acts from the region. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. • Have you ever wanted to do yoga with dwarf goats? Well, on Feb. 24, Rivertown will host two morning sessions of Yogoat. For $30, you get goats (not to take home), yoga, two beers or a flight, an empty growler and a pen. Contact Garin Pirnia: letters@citybeat.com

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Western Hills Raising Cane’s Grand Opening — The grand opening of this location includes a day full of prizes, giveaways, entertainment and food. 8 a.m.-noon. Free admission. Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, 3820 Race Road, Bridgetown, facebook.com/ raisingcanesohio. Woodburn Beer Dinner with Alfio’s Buon Cibo — This dinner includes four courses of food, prepared by Alfio’s, paired with five different beers, presented by the brewer himself. 7-9:15 p.m. Alfio’s Buon Cibo, 2724 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, facebook. com/alfiosbuoncibo.

THURSDAY 31

Higher Gravity Happy Hour for My Furry Valentine — Higher Gravity hosts a happy hour to benefit My Furry Valentine, the city’s largest pet adoption event. Ten percent of all draft sales will go to the nonprofit. Admission is free and dogs and kids are welcome. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Higher Gravity, 4106 Hamilton Ave., Northside, facebook.com/ highergravity.

Cupcakes and Cocktails at The BonBonerie — Head to the bakery for a fun night of cupcake decorating and cocktails. Each ticket includes four cupcakes to decorate, a plate of savory light bites and a cocktail or a glass of wine. Additional drinks available for purchase. 7-9 p.m. $65. The BonBonerie, 2030 Madison Road, O’Bryonville, bonbonerie.com. Cincy Winter Beerfest — Cincy Winter Beerfest returns to the Duke Energy Convention Center with three sessions over two days offering more than 400 beers to sample from more than 125 local, regional and national breweries. There will also be food from local food trucks and restaurants, live music and more to benefit the Big Joe Duskin Music Foundation. 7:3011 p.m. Friday (6:30 p.m. early admission); 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday (noon early admission); 7:30-11 p.m. Saturday (6:30 p.m. early admission). $50-$95. Duke Energy Convention Center, 525 Elm St., Downtown, cincybeerfest.com.

SATURDAY 02

Lunar New Year Porkopolis 2019 at 3 Points — It’s the Year of the Pig and Daspo is hosting this party to promote cultural diversity in Cincinnati. There

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SUNDAY 03

Brunch Your Heart Out — Head to Taft’s Ale House for a special brunch to support the American Heart Association. For $15, get access to an all-you-caneat buffet and a beer of your choice. A percent of proceeds will benefit the AHA. No tickets needed in advance. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $15. Nellie’s Tap Room, 1429 Race St., Downtown, facebook.com/taftsbeerco. Big Game Brunch — Parkers hosts this sweet and savory all-you-can-eat buffet to prep for the Super Bowl. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $32 adults; $12 children. Parkers Blue Ash Tavern, 4200 Cooper Road, Blue Ash, parkersblueash.com. Super Bowl Watch Party — Head to Mecklenburg Gardens for a Super Bowl Watch Party featuring lots of TVs; a buffet with chicken wings, hanky panky dip, sauerkraut balls and more; beer towers and buckets; and pricing for kids. RSVP to save your space. 5-9 p.m. $20 adult buffet; $10 child buffet. Mecklenburg Gardens, 302 E. University Ave., Corryville, facebook. com/mecklenburg.gardens.

MONDAY 04

Food Fight 15 — Food Fight pits chefs and home cooks against each other. Bring a dish to share and enter your name to cook or judge, if you want. The current champion will go head to head with five other people in two rounds of three and three. The winner of each round will compete in a third round. The winner of that round will be crowned the Food Fight 15 champion. 6 p.m. $10. Karrikin Spirits Co., 3717 Jonlen Drive, Fairfax, facebook.com/foodfight513.

UPCOMING LIVE PERFORMANCES Jan. 31 Jan. 1

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Arnold’s Bar & Grill Sausage Queen Preliminary — Each year, the genderneutral Bockfest Sausage Queen has the honor of leading the Bockfest parade and carrying a symbolic tray of Brew City and Avril-Bleh Sausage Bockwurst. In the weeks leading up to the Bockfest festival, there is a series of Bockfest Queen preliminary competitions. The first preliminary competition will be held at Arnold’s. There will be three rounds: a Q&A, sausage tray modeling and a talent portion. 8 p.m. sign-up; 9 p.m. Free admission. Arnold’s Bar & Grill, 210 E. Eighth St., Downtown, bockfest.com.

will be four Asian-American DJs from across the U.S. playing all night, plus performances from Elevated Aerials, including a Lion Lyra Dance on a suspended hoop. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Free admission. 3 Points Urban Brewery, 331 E. 13th St., Pendleton, godaspo.com.

Sip & Spell at Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom — Sam Adams’ Sip & Spell invites those 21 and older to the taproom to compete as an individual or team. Players earn points for each correctly spelled word and prizes will be awarded for first place. 7-9 p.m. Free admission. Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom, 1727 Logan St., Over-theRhine, facebook.com/ samadamscincy.

FRIDAY 01

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The Italian Kitchen — In this demo class, listen to instruction, stories and more about Italian comfort food. Rob Seideman will teach guests how to make ribbolita Tuscan bread soup, prosciutto and melon salad, lasagna Bolognese with béchamel sauce and more. 6-8:30 p.m. $55. The Cooking School at Jungle Jim’s, 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield, junglejims.com.

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Platinum Outsiders Rock titans Metallica still often feel like they’re on the ouside looking in... and that’s just how they like it BY A L A N S C U L L E Y

Metallica PHOTO: HERRING & HERRING

from all of the different eras, and at this particular point in our lives, playing the heavier stuff just is appealing to us. It feels right to me and it feels right to the other guys in the band.” The group’s ongoing tour since Hardwired’s release has featured many of the newer songs from the album. Metallica’s 2017 North American dates found the band primarily performing in stadiums, but the current leg of the tour is winding mostly through indoor arenas in the U.S. “It’s a lot different indoors,” Hammett says. “It’s more intimate. You have your closed-off sort of atmosphere. The sound is better. You can see everyone a lot better. You can see people up in the stands. The reactions are a lot quicker. “It’s a different animal, but we enjoy — and I stress this — we enjoy playing in stadiums, we enjoy playing indoors. We enjoy playing small clubs. We enjoy it all, because for us it’s all about going out there and playing the songs the best we possibly can.” Metallica plays Wednesday, Jan. 30 at U.S. Bank Arena Tickets/more show info: usbankarena.com.

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full-length (commonly known as “The Black Album”) turned the musicians into superstars. Led by the blockbuster single “Enter Sandman,” the album found Metallica tightening up its lengthy song arrangements and bringing in a bigger dose of melody without softening its sound. Widely acclaimed as one of Metal’s greatest albums, it has sold more than 16 million copies in the United States alone. Hardwired… to Self Destruct was hailed by many as Metallica’s best work since “The Black Album.” Stylistically, some see the hard-hitting double album as a callback to the band’s …And Justice For All period, as songs like “Hardwired,” “Spit Out the Bone” and “Confusion” blast away behind jackhammer beats and rapid-fire riffing. Even songs that slightly downshift the tempo (“Now That We’re Dead,” “Dream No More” and “Atlas, Rise!”) are plenty hard and heavy. Hammett says the band naturally gravitated to a “return-to-roots” place on Hardwired. “Certainly, with Death Magnetic we learned that it was OK to embrace our past with sort of a revisionist approach,” he says. “That’s what Death Magnetic kind of started (as). To an extent, it’s continued with (Hardwired), too. We like to play music

how many bands are incapable of that. I think that’s part of it.” The idea that Metallica stands apart on the music scene is echoed throughout our conversation. And it’s a theme of Metallica’s entire career. Hammett notes that from the moment in 1983 when he joined guitarist/singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich and late bassist Cliff Burton (who died in a 1986 bus accident while on tour) in the group, there has always been an outsider mentality to Metallica. “I think, at the beginning, it was an attractive thing for the three of us, and for Cliff, too,” Hammett says. “That’s something we saw in each other, and when we made music, we always kind of saw ourselves as a band that was on the outside looking in at all the other bands.” Despite the group’s mammoth commercial success and enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hammett says the musicians still feel that way. “I don’t think that’s ever going to go away, even though we’re probably one of the most successful bands in the world — definitely one of the most successful Heavy Metal bands,” he says. “Maybe that’s part of what drives us. That outsiderness shapes our musical thinking. I think it plays a big part in our overall attitudes and perspective.” Certainly Metallica had legitimate reason to feel untethered to any scene or genre when the group emerged with their 1983 debut album Kill ’Em All. The band’s thrashy, fast-paced sound was unlike anything in Heavy Metal. After releasing two more all-time definitive Thrash Metal albums — 1986’s Master of Puppets and 1988’s …And Justice for All — Metallica’s 1991 self-titled

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t’s been said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. That seems to have been the case for Metallica. Despite going eight years between studio albums and not doing a full-fledged tour in more than six years, Metallica’s major return in 2016 with Hardwired… to Self Destruct and its extensive WorldWired Tour found the music legends perhaps more popular than at any time in the past two and a half decades. Released in late 2016, Hardwired debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, while also topping album charts in more than two dozen other countries around the world. It was a fairly astonishing showing at a time when Rock artists were struggling to sell albums. Hardwired was 2017’s biggest-selling album by any Rock band, and the WorldWired Tour landed in the Top 5 highest-grossing concert tours that year as well. Not that Metallica totally dropped out of sight during the half dozen years between the end of its tour supporting 2008’s Death Magnetic and the release of Hardwired. There was a 2011 collaborative album with the late Lou Reed (Lulu) and an innovative 2013 concert film-meets-dramatic movie (Metallica: Through The Never), plus oneoff dates, appearances and mini-tours in 2014 and 2015. Most acts would have lost some momentum by staying off the music world grid to that extent for the better part of six years. Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett thinks the band’s emphatic return was greeted so enthusiastically because it quenched a particular thirst for music fans. “I think for right now, there’s a little bit of a vacuum (for) us and bands that sound like us,” Hammett says. “There are a lot of great new bands out there, but I think people yearn for something that they know is made in a real sense. I think there’s a bit of authenticity that comes with us that might not be attached to some of the more contemporary bands. We can be counted on to deliver in some form or another something that’s real and authentic and something that has integrity. “I think that really means a lot to some people these days, when a lot of music is just kind of made by pressing a button… People can count on us showing up with our instruments and actually making music right there in the moment. And we deliver. Whatever you hear on our album, we can play live. I will not even try to count

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In The Pines’ Latest Trip BY M I K E B R EEN

New Albums Coming Soon Two popular Cincinnati music entities recently announced new album projects that are due later this year. Indie Rock trio Leggy released a new song, “Eden,” with the announcement that its new album, Let Me Know Your Moon, would be issued on March 8. It’s the selfdescribed “Lush Punk” group’s first release to feature new music since 2016’s Dang EP. Leggy is the first signing to Sheer Luck Records, a label that, according to its mission statement, seeks to “to elevate

BY M I K E B R EE N

Two Sides of Neverland

In the most awkwardly-timed announcement ever related to a “jukebox musical,” the Michael Jackson estate revealed dates for the biographical Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’s opening run in Chicago this year, before its Broadway premiere in 2020. The announcement came ahead of the Sundance premiere of Leaving Neverland, a documentary about two men who allege Jackson molested them when they were children. Jackson’s family is “furious” about the media’s coverage of the movie and said the film is “yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.” Early reviews indicate that Leaving Neverland is powerful and convincing, suggesting it may have an impact in the court of public opinion similar to the recent Surviving R. Kelly miniseries. Jackson’s nephew (Tito’s son) is reportedly working on his own documentary to counter what he calls “false allegations.”

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Variety reports that at this year’s Academy Awards, most of the Best Original Song nominees will not be performed. Though Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar will reportedly play their nominated songs (from A Star is Born and Black Panther, respectively), tunes from Mary Poppins Returns (performed by Emily Blunt), RBG (Jennifer Hudson) and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Gillian Welch) will only be acknowledged when the category is announced. The Academy said it hasn’t yet made any final decisions.

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marginalized voices, shine a light on diverse artists and celebrate a talented and passionate community.” Sheer Luck is releasing Let Me Know Your Moon on cassette and vinyl; you can pre-order a copy now at sheerluckrecords.com. You can also pre-order Let Me Know Your Moon via leggy.bandcamp.com and receive an instant download of “Eden.” Cincinnati Funk veteran Freekbass also dropped a new single, as well as a fun accompanying music video. “Fre3KroNomoKon” is the singer/ songwriter/bassist’s first new music since announcing a new partnership with Color Red, a Colorado studio/collective/label launched last year by Welsh musician Eddie Roberts, guitarist for Funk/Soul bands The New Mastersounds and Matador! Soul Sounds. Color Red will be releasing a new full-length from Freekbass in May. The album will be the musician’s first since 2015’s Cincinnati, which was issued via Ropeadope Records. For more on Freekbass, visit fre3kbass.com.

The BBC recently revealed an apparent scam involving unknown musical acts who’ve racked up thousands of streams — and, apparently, resultant royalty payments. Several Spotify users reported being “hacked” after having artists they’ve never streamed before listed in their “most listened to” rankings at the end of the year. The investigation found that the “artists” had no other information available publicly outside of their Spotify presence. Spotify refused to comment on the apparent security breach, but the BBC reported that after it had inquired about what they dubbed “mysterycore” artists, most of them disappeared from the service. Given the notoriously low payouts to artists for Spotify streams, the scam seems about as lucrative as smashing gumball machines for pennies.

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Late last year, Cincinnati Indie/Psych Rock band In The Pines released the digital version of its stellar second album, San Lorenzo. After recently unveiling the music video for album track “I’m Good,” the fivepiece is hosting a release show for the new cassette version of the album this Saturday (Feb. 2), performing with guests Boa (from Louisville, Kentucky) and The Medium (Nashville) at MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com). Showtime is 10 p.m. and there is no admission charge. Guitarist Charlie Horn and singer/ guitarist Michael Shular formed In The Pines in 2016 and released debut album Mirror of Evolution a year later. After the release, the pair built the band up with the addition of bassist Patrick Zopff and saxophonist/percussionist Graham Holthaus, later adding current drummer Alex Dungan. In The Pines’ entrancing sound shares some core traits with the ’60s Garage/Psych Pop showcased on the earliest Nuggets compilation albums, but the musicians add new twists on top of the trippy melodics and snaking song structuring, giving San Lorenzo a decidedly contemporary vitality. “I’m Good” is representative of all that is great about In The Pines, with watery textures and steering sax lines pulsing beneath a creeping melody before exploding with harmony-laden, radiant hooks and rockist bombast that exude a magnetism similar to The Dandy Warhols at their most electric. Throughout the album, In The Pines recalls a wide spectrum of other braintickling rockers — from the Art Rock swagger of Fun House-era Stooges to the Shoegaze thrust of Stone Roses and early Verve — but the band puts everything together so creatively and seamlessly, listening never devolves into merely a game of “spot the influences.” The album opens with the reverberating guitar twinkle of “Paper Dagger,” which has a bit of an Oasis strut, while the instrumental “Lotus Sofa” is a mesmerizing meld of Indie Rock and Jazz Fusion that’s untethered from the verse/chorus/verse rules of Pop songwriting. In The Pines touches on a variety of colors and tones associated with psychedelic music throughout the ages, but the band’s chemistry and ability to compose memorable songs transcend comparisons. It’s music in which to get lost; don’t overthink it. To quote a landmark of Psych Pop, San Lorenzo is the perfect album to turn off your mind, relax and float downstream. San Lorenzo is available to stream on platforms like Spotify. Go to inthepinesmusic.bandcamp.com to download a copy. And visit facebook.com/ inthepinesmusic for more on the band.

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Going into 2019, West Coast Hip Hop sits on the cusp of a cultural moment. Disrupting Atlanta’s once-ubiquitous formula of dreamy Trap production and Autotuned experimentation, the classic Californian sound has carved out a radio niche thanks to off-kilter hits like YG’s “Big Bank” and Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther-inspired “King’s Dead.” Vince Staples and fourman crew SOB X RBE both released LPs of coastal bounce to critical acclaim last year, solidifying the scene’s place in the blogosphere. Perhaps most notably, divisive upstart Blueface took social media by storm with meme-worthy punchlines and a voice-cracking cadence that draws comparisons to Courage the Cowardly Dog. With all of this hype brewing in the Golden State, the time is right for L.A.based foursome Shoreline Mafia to break into the mainstream. The group’s recent holiday-themed OTXmas mixtape is a lean, eight-song affair — bass-heavy and spacey enough to turn a late-night drive into a vehicular moshpit. De facto figurehead OhGeesy best embodies the group’s sound on OTXmas, spitting as if he’s just stumbled out of bed atop a menacing layer of piano jabs and sickly synths. Trading verses with Fenix Flexin, the pair set the tone for a basement party with Punk Rock nonchalance. Though the crew’s been together since 2012, it wasn’t until late 2016 that Shoreline began to make waves with the release of “Musty,” a hypnotic banger written to a beat swiped from producer Ron Ron’s YouTube account. Its lo-fi music video (recorded before the foursome signed to Atlantic Records) is as good an introduction to the group as you’ll get — shot in front of a smoke shop, it’s laden with faux-VHS effects, slightly awkward and strangely addictive. It isn’t hard to see how they’ve

Jon Stickley Trio PHOTO: PROVIDED

attracted a cult following of restless teens along the Pacific coast. “You see the graffiti culture,” OhGeesy told The Fader in May. “You see black, white, you see Asian, you see Latino. This is L.A.” (Jude Noel)

Jon Stickley Trio

Saturday • Southgate House Revival

Jon Stickley is a virtuoso-level acoustic guitarist. But, as he shows time and again with his instrumental Jon Stickley Trio, his musical gifts extend beyond ace technical chops, which are based on the flatpicking technique, a style commonly associated with Bluegrass. Stickley’s versatile guitar work also exudes a distinct and impassioned “feel,” which probably comes in handy during the trio’s improvisational detours onstage. Similarly, Stickley is able to viscerally evoke imagery, moods and emotion with his compositional talents. And sealing Stickley’s artistic cred is an overall dedication to creative adventurousness. When asked during a recent interview with Virginia public radio outlet WMRA if the “progressive nature” of his music is intentional or organic, Stickley said, “Probably a little bit of both. One thing I do try to do is

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make the music unique.” Stickley and his bandmates — violinist Lyndsay Pruett and drummer Hunter Deacon — make music that doesn’t fit snugly into any precise category. Though Bluegrass might be a major part of his musical foundation, Stickley wasn’t drawn in by pioneers and traditions; instead, he became captivated by the work of the music’s later deconstructionists/reconstructionists. Though he grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina enamored with Indie Rock big-shots like Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, Stickley was inspired to pick up (and eventually master) the tools of Bluegrass after falling under the spell of musical renegades like David Grisman and Béla Fleck, whose Jazz and Fusionoriented innovations (among other stylistic amalgamations) paved the way for generations of boundary-exploding Bluegrass acts. Nurtured and embraced wholeheartedly by dedicated fans on the “Jam band” circuit (where it has become a dominant force), so-called Newgrass is in the midst of a golden era, with an endless stream of artists continuing to find new ways to reimagine those traditional sounds. Listen to a Jon Stickley Trio album, including the most recent — 2017’s Maybe Believe — and you can certainly hear how important Grisman and Fleck were to Stickley, particularly when the streaks of Django Reinhardt-style Gypsy Jazz (a Grisman staple) pop up. But the shadow of influence is even more apparent in the exploratory mindset Stickley shares with both artists. You can feel it more in the layered, cinematic soundscapes, the evocative, kaleidoscopic arrangements and any number of other things the Jon Stickley Trio doesn’t share with those icons or any of today’s other Newgrass alchemists. (Mike Breen)

Last year, James Taylor celebrated two milestones — his 70th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his self-titled debut album, which featured his original (and, in my opinion, superior) uptempo version of “Carolina in My Mind.” Taylor held the distinction of being the first non-British act signed to the Beatles’ fledgling Apple label, and he impacted the band tremendously. Taylor’s song “Something in the Way She Moves” inspired George Harrison to write his classic “Something.” Harrison and Paul McCartney were uncredited guests on “Carolina in My Mind”; the bridge lyric, “a holy host of others standing around me,” was a reference to them. Although that first album is now considered a classic, it tanked after its initial release, hindered by Taylor’s inability to promote it; the recovering heroin addict relapsed while recording in England and was subsequently hospitalized in Massachusetts. Taylor was further sidelined after a motorcycle accident that broke his hands and feet, but around that time The Beatles broke up and Apple was dissolved. The incapacitated Taylor began writing furiously, inspired by his young, turbulent life, including his teenage battle with depression, his band experiences with friend and guitarist Danny Kortchmar, his solo launch in Greenwich Village, his two rehab stints and the suicide of his friend Suzanne Schnerr. At the same time, Taylor and his new manager, Peter Asher, negotiated a contract with Warner Bros. Records, which resulted in 1970’s Sweet Baby James, a convincing display of Taylor’s exquisite guitar work and compelling songwriting, particularly on the powerful and plaintive “Fire and Rain.” Heralded as a Folk Rock masterpiece, Sweet Baby James sold 1.5 million copies in its first year and earned Taylor several Grammy nominations. Taylor’s path was inalterably set after the success of Sweet Baby James. He became a critical and commercial juggernaut, and ultimately one of the most successful recording artists in history, with global sales of over 100 million. His early work helped define the Folk Rock sound of the ’70s, while his middle period found him veering in more of a Pop direction. Taylor’s last four albums have been among his most acclaimed. The 1997 album Hourglass earned a Grammy for Best Pop Album, 2002’s October Road went platinum within three months of its release and 2015’s Before This World was Taylor’s first No. 1 album. James Taylor is an unparalleled songwriter, a gifted translator of other artists’ material, a committed activist for peace and the environment and an enduring influence on his fellow artists. (Brian Baker)

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LISTINGS

CityBeat’s music listings are free. Send info to Mike Breen at mbreen@citybeat.com. Listings are subject to change. H is CityBeat staff’s stamp of approval.

WEDNESDAY 30

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Piano/Various. Free. BLIND LEMON - Warren Ulgh. 7 p.m. Acoustic. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Blue Wisp Big Band. 8 p.m. Big Band Jazz. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Jim Anderson Trio. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Dallas Moore. 10 p.m. Country. Free. THE MAD FROG - Hip Hop Open Mic. 9 p.m. Hip Hop. MOTR PUB - Resonator with Never Setting Suns. 10 p.m. Alt/Rock/Blues/Various. Free. SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) - Ray Vietti with Adam Lee and Jacob Tippey. 9 p.m. Singer/ Songwriter. Free.

H H

STANLEY’S PUB - Otis. 9 p.m. Southern Rock. Cover.

TAFT THEATRE Brothers Osborne with The Wild Feathers. 8 p.m. Country. $29.50-$46.50. TOP CATS - The Josephines with Brent James & The Vintage Youth and Kevin McCoy Band. 8 p.m. Country/Rock. $10.

Bluesy Kentucky rockers Otis return to Stanley’s Pub this Wednesday. PHOTO: THEOTISBAND.COM

PALM COURT - Wayne Yeager Trio with Pam Mallory. 6 p.m. Jazz. Free.

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

THURSDAY 31

MOLLY MALONE’S IRISH PUB (COVINGTON) - Missy Werner Band. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

U.S. BANK ARENA Metallica. 7:30 p.m. Rock/Metal. $65-$135.

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Philip Paul Trio. 7 p.m. Jazz. Free.

COMMON ROOTS Common Roots Open Mic. 8 p.m. Open Mic. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND

MOTR PUB - Sayers with Jess Lamb. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free. PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Open Mic. 7 p.m. Various. Free.

STANLEY’S PUB - Maritime Law & Friends. 9 p.m. Acoustic/Jam. URBAN ARTIFACT Nomtombout Radio’s Musical Market. 9 p.m. Hip Hop.

BOGART’S - Shoreline Mafia. 8 p.m. $22.

BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Dan Drees with The Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. CAFFÈ VIVACE - Brent Gallaher Quartet. 8:30 p.m. Jazz. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Faux Frenchmen. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - The Sly Band. 9 p.m. Pop/Dance/Various. $5.

KNOTTY PINE Brownstones. 10 p.m. Rock. Cover.

- Human Heat. 10 p.m. Indie Rock. Free.

NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB - JV Golf, Huttch and AM Nice. 9 p.m. Indie Rock

THE MAD FROG - Every Villain is Lemons. 9 p.m. Jazz/Funk/Fusion. Cover.

MADISON LIVE - Stones Throw with Arcadian Bliss and Chalk Eye. 8 p.m. Rock/ Various. Cover.

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

MANSION HILL TAVERN - The Heaters. 9 p.m. Blues. Cover.

THE REDMOOR - Soul Pocket. 9 p.m. Pop/R&B/ Dance

MOTR PUB - Go Go Buffalo with Betsy Ross and The Last Troubadour. 10 p.m. Indie/Rock/Various. Free. NORTHSIDE TAVERN

PLAIN FOLK CAFE The Goldsberrys. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

- Adam Remnant, Moriah Haven. 9:30 p.m. Folk/Rock. Free.

STANLEY’S PUB Restless Leg String Band with Tommy Lee & Friends. 10 p.m. Bluegrass/ Acoustic. Cover. TOP CATS - Dead Humor, Northbound and Saint Sterling. 9 p.m. Rock/ Various. $5.

RICK’S TAVERN - Roadtrip. 10 p.m. Rock/Country/Pop/ Various. Cover.

URBAN ARTIFACT - Girls Rock Cinci Premiere Benefit with Spencer Peppet of The Ophelias, Fever9, Strobobean and Freedom Nicole Moore. 8 p.m. Rock/ Indie/Alt/Various. $5.

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SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE)

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Down Home Collective. 7:30 p.m. Jazz.

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

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

BLIND LEMON - Kyle English. 7:30 p.m. Acoustic. Free.

FRIDAY 01

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - The Newbees. 8 p.m. Pop/Rock/Various. Free.

J A N . 3 0 - F E B . 5 , 2 0 19

URBAN ARTIFACT Tooth Lures a Fang with Sungaze and Sarn Helen. 9 p.m. Indie Rock.

ROOM) - Jon Stickley Trio. 8 p.m. Progressive/Acoustic/Bluegrass/Jazz/Various. $10, $12 day of show. STANLEY’S PUB - An Evening with Lee Rolfes & Bob Nyswonger of Bucket. 10 p.m. Americana/ Acoustic. Cover. TOP CATS - Damn It: A Tribute To Blink 182. 8 p.m. Pop/Rock. $10. URBAN ARTIFACT - Cut Copy vs Metronomy DJ Night. 10 p.m. Alt/Electronic/ Dance/DJ. Free. WASHINGTON PLATFORM SALOON & RESTAURANT Max Gise Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum). WESTSIDE VENUE Mainstreet All Stars. 9 p.m. Various. Free.

SUNDAY 03

THE COMET - The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars. 7:30 p.m. Bluegrass. Free. HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Jazz Brunch with Mike Darrah. 10:30 a.m. Jazz. Free. KNOTTY PINE Randy Peak. 10 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free.

Indie Pop band Remember Sports plays MOTR Pub Monday with The Opehlias. P H O T O : R E M E M B E R S P O R T S . B A N D C A M P. C O M

- Eric Lechliter & George Simon Quartet. 9 p.m. Jazz. $10 (food/drink minimum).

ARNOLD’S BAR AND GRILL - Cincinnati Dancing Pigs. 8 p.m. Americana/Jug Band. Free. BOGART’S - The Emo Band. 8 p.m. Pop/Punk/Emo tribute. $12. BROMWELL’S HÄRTH LOUNGE - Hank Mautner with The Steve Schmidt Trio. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free.

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

J A N . 3 0 - F E B . 5 , 2 0 19

SATURDAY 02

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Pamela Mallory with Brian Cashwell Trio. 8:30 p.m. Jazz.

HILTON NETHERLAND PALM COURT - Mambo

Combo. 9 p.m. Jazz. Free. HOLLYWOOD CASINO Trailer Park Floosies. 8:30 p.m. Pop/Rock/Country/ Dance/Hip Hop/Various. Free. JAG’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD - 3 Piece Revival. 9 p.m. Rock. $5. JIM AND JACK’S ON THE RIVER - Jamison Road. 9 p.m. Country. Free. KNOTTY PINE - Under the Sun. 10 p.m. AltRock. Cover.

LUDLOW GARAGE Bob Marley Earth Day Celebration with The Ark Band. 8:30 p.m. Reggae. $15-$20.

THE MAD FROG Boomtown Vol. 1 with DJ ODI, What the Bleep?, Firecat 451, HellNegative and Nina Lowe. 9 p.m. Drum and Bass/Jungle/Various. $5.

MANSION HILL TAVERN Jay Jesse Johnson. 9 p.m. Blues. Cover.

MOTR PUB - In the Pines (release show) with The Medium and Boa. 8 p.m. Indie/Rock/Various. Free.

NORTHSIDE TAVERN Sexy Time Live Band Karaoke. 9 p.m. Rock/ Various. Free.

OCTAVE - Kitchen Dwellers and Magic Beans. 9 p.m. Newgrass/

Rock/Funk/Jam/Various. $12, $15 day of show.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Open Jam with Deb Ohlinger. 6 p.m. Blues

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

MOTR PUB - Beasts of Joy. 8 p.m. Acoustic/Various. Free.

PLAIN FOLK CAFE - Root Cellar Xtract. 7:30 p.m. Country Rock. Free.

STANLEY’S PUB - Open Jam. 9 p.m. Improv/Various. Free.

REDWINE & CO. - Jess Lamb. 8 p.m. Pop/Alt/Soul/ Various. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (LOUNGE) - Sissy Brown with St. Stevns Choir. 9:30 p.m. Country/Honky Tonk. Free.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (REVIVAL

URBAN ARTIFACT Spooky Dreamland, The Ape Tones and High Plains Drifter. 8 p.m. Rock/ Various. Free.

WASHINGTON PLATFORM SALOON & RESTAURANT - Traditional New Orleans Jazz Brunch with 2nd Line Jazz Trio. 11:30 a.m. Jazz.

$10 (food/drink minimum). WESTSIDE VENUE - Blues Jam with Jimmy D. Rodgers and Lil Al Thomas. 7 p.m. Blues. Free.

MONDAY 04

KNOTTY PINE - Open Mic. 9 p.m. Various. Free.

MANSION HILL TAVERN - Open Acoustic Jam with John Redell & Friends. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free. MOLLY MALONE’S IRISH PUB (COVINGTON) - Open Bluegrass Jam. 8 p.m. Bluegrass. Free.

MOTR PUB Remember Sports and The Ophelias. 9 p.m. Indie/ Pop/Rock/Various. Free. STANLEY’S PUB - Jazz Jam. 9 p.m. Jazz/Improv. Free.

TAFT THEATRE Ghost of Paul Revere with Ona. 8 p.m. Folk/ Americana. $15.

TUESDAY 05

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

CAFFÈ VIVACE - Lynne Scott & Lee Stolar Trio. 7:30 p.m. Jazz. CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL - Music Live@ Lunch with Ricky Nye. 12:10 p.m. Blues/Boogie Woogie. Free. CROW’S NEST - Open Mic Night. 8 p.m. Various. Free. LATITUDES BAR & BISTRO - Latitudes House Band and Open Mic. 8 p.m. Various (open mic at 11 p.m.). Free. THE MAD FROG - House Music. 9 p.m. EDM. Free. STANLEY’S PUB Trashgrass Troubadours with The Bad Hats. 8 p.m. Newgrass/Folk Rock. Cover.

H H

TOP CATS - The Dirty Nil. 8 p.m. Rock. $5.

U.S. BANK ARENA James Taylor and His All-Star Band with Bonnie Raitt. 7:30 p.m. Folk/Rock/ Blues. $70-$104.

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

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