Best Local Band Reunion
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Photo By: The Libertines Best Tribute Band: Winds of Thor, a tribute to Led Zeppelin. Remember
The Back Doors, a Doors tribute band that frequently played Cincinnati
and sported the motto, “You’ll believe Jim is him”? Well, local Led
Zep enthusiasts Winds of Thor are kind of like that — “You’ll believe
Page is on stage” — but it’s all about musical recreations, not costumes
and haircuts. The band has become a popular club draw, attracting
a more diverse crowd than most Rock cover bands. Best Spinners: Hip Hop fans have known this for years now, but Animal Crackers now have an official accolade to prove they’re the tops not only in this town but in the whole country. The group was the U.S. “team” champ at the esteemed DMC DJ championships and placed second in the international competition in Paris. (theanimalcrackers.com) Best Uncommon Love for a Local Singer/Songwriter: Indie music mag Magnet saw fit to write not one but two feature stories on Peter Adams, whose self-recorded 2004 debut CD, The Spiral Eyes, has created some major buzz. All of this attention for an unsigned artist? Rest assured, he won’t be unsigned much longer. (peteradamsmusic.com) Best Indie Music With Strings Attached: MusicNOW. This “contemporary
Chamber music” (a term too limiting but close enough) festival debuted
last year at the CAC, bringing together an internationally-beloved
collection of modern, progressive “Classical” music practitioners.
Bryce Dessner, a Cincy native and guitarist for the successful Brooklyn-based
Indie band The National, spearheaded the event. MusicNOW is back April
5-7 at Memorial Hall, this time featuring big-timer Sufjan Stevens
as well as acts like My Brightest Diamond and Icelandic quartet Amiina.
Best Indie Fan’s Wet Dream: Pulling off the huge Indie music fest Desdemona wasn’t easy. Naysayers said “Nay,” as did the city when asked for financial support. Amidst doubts, organizer Nick Spencer did it anyway and thousands of music fans headed to Sawyer Point along the riverfront to see some of the best up-and-coming underground or established names in music, including the likes of Enon, The Stills, Ghostface Killah, The Walkmen, Fiery Furnaces and Mates of State. We’d say it’s unlikely Des Fest will happen this year … but that’s something that was said a lot last year, too. Best Stacked Lineup: Tall Stacks. The riverfront music-and-steamboat
festival once again offered up an astounding array of headliner-worthy
performers, spread out over five days. Wilco, Al Green, Buddy Guy,
Dr. John, Medeski, Martin and Wood and many other acts worth at least
$35 to see on their own played Tall Stacks last year. Five-day Tall
Stacks passes were a maximum $25 a pop. The event got back to its
every-three-years schedule (it was every four for a little while),
but how about making it annual?
Best Underground Experience
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Photo By: Scott Beseler
Best Jazz on a Friday Night: Cincinnati still has the Blue Wisp for an amazingly intimate live Jazz experience. But the weekly Jazz at the Hyatt series, which takes place each Friday night at downtown’s Hyatt Regency hotel, offers a nice change of pace. Cincinnati neurologist Dr. Walter Broadnax has done a great job attracting not only Jazz fans to witness the events but some of the finest players on the local and national scene to play them. (jazzincincy.com) Best Margarita for a Good Price: The West Chester Coyote Grille is
a spin-off of the El Coyote restaurants in Anderson Township and Edgewood.
Their tasty margaritas are just $4 during happy hour, which lasts
until 7 p.m. Flavors include more than just lime and strawberry; try
a pomegranate or raspberry margarita for a savory twist on an old
recipe. Best Blue Drink: Zazou boasts the best blue-colored cocktail in the
Tristate area: “The Zazou” ($4.72), a delicious, syrupy mixture of
vodka, triple sec, DeKuyper Island blue pucker and Sprite. It tastes
just like a SweetTart and is the perfect beginning-of-summer drink.
Ask for it by name. Best Cocktail for Dessert: The Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip at
Kona Bistro. It’s dessert ... no, it’s a drink ... no, wait, it’s
dessert ... no, wait, we’ll have another. Best Antidote to a Tough Day at UC: Go to Cactus Pear and order a
sangria margarita. Drink, rest, repeat. Truly a delicious treat. Best Bar for Type A Personalities: Everyone has hard days sometimes,
but some days are worse than others. And if you’ve had a really awful
day, sometimes even going out to a bar to get a damn beer is hectic
and stressful. But at the Blind Lemon, both the magical, warmly lit
atmosphere and the friendly staff make sure you’re able to sit back,
relax and enjoy life for a little while. Order a Toostie Roll, a delicious
hot chocolate with Grand Marnier, or a hot raspberry tea topped with
whipped cream and let the day melt away. Walter Brown, the famously
kind bartender, will treat you so well you’ll never want to go back
out into that cruel, cruel world. Best Recycled Theater: It was great when the Cincinnati Playhouse brought director John Doyle to town for last spring’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 bachelor-in-search-of-love musical Company. Doyle’s revival of Sweeney Todd was wowing Broadway audiences at the time, and Doyle subsequently won a Tony Award for his work on that show. In the meantime, producers did battle over the rights to move the Playhouse production to Broadway, where it opened in late November. More rave reviews and a good prospect for a repeat Tony Award for Doyle. Who said Cincinnati is 20 years behind? Seems like we’re on the cutting edge this time.
Best Bar To Meet New Friends
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Photo By: Graham Lienhart
BEST REHABBED THEATER: The new and improved theater space at the
Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center is a marvel, especially
if you remember whow bad it had gotten before it closed. The newly
named Otto M. Budig Theatre has hosted musical theater from Jersey
Productions, one-off concerts, comedy troupes (including Second City
on April 14), local music events and more. It’s become a true community
center for Covington and the Tristate. Best Resuscitation: New Stage Collective has been one of those gypsy
theater companies, moving around from space to space for various productions,
from the suburbs to downtown, from the ultra-hip below-the-street
black box theater at the Contemporary Arts Center to the restricted
church basement at Gabriel’s Corner. The good news is they’ve found
a home on Main Street, where Jekyll & Hyde’s used to be a hangout.
With Ensemble Theatre and Know Theatre just a few blocks away, it’s
evident that Cincinnati’s theater scene is beginning to coalesce in
Over-the-Rhine. New Stage’s first production at 1140 Main St. will
be the Cincinnati premiere of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
(April 19-May 12), winner of the 2002 Tony Award for best play. Best Act on Main Street: New Stage Collective could be the first
of many theaters finding Over-the-Rhine’s Main Street a new neighborhood
for performing spaces. The 2006 Cincinnati Fringe Festival had a half-dozen
storefronts up and running (including the award-winning (UN)Natural
Disaster, which moved audiences with the action through four unfinished
rooms), and that seems to have whetted some appetites. Now the League
of Cincinnati Theatres, which was founded in 1999, is sharing an office
with the Over-the-Rhine Foundation (1317 Main St.) and encouraging
other theaters to consider these affordable spaces. Best New Home: After years of nomadic wandering around Cincinnati’s
varied venues — everything from Old St. George to Xavier University
— Cincinnati World Cinema (CWC) finally found a permanent home at
the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Fath Auditorium. Ever dedicated to bringing
unique, often politically incisive fare to town, CWC’s new digs should
only enhance its reputation as a vital entity in our arts community.
Best Indie Images: Underneath Cincinnati continues to be a nurturer of crafty, area-produced independent short films and videos that encompass a wide range of topics and techniques. The well-attended 2006 Best of Underneath Cincinnati at the CAC was the just another example of our fair city’s creative vitality. Here’s to five more years! (underneathcincinnati.com) Best Safe Place for Teen Clubbing: The Underground in Forest Park.
This high quality, alcohol-free, all-ages concert venue has been frequently
packed with high school kids for the past five years, providing a
safe place for them to spend a weekend night. The club’s bookings
are heavy on Christian acts, showcasing everything from Hip Hop to
Punk, but they’ve also opened their doors to secular (but still “clean,”
by mandate) local bands, even holding a major local “battle of the
bands” contest recently. Best Kids CD: Miss Joanie’s Potty Party. Local singer/songwriter Joan Whitaker’s playful, creative album full of songs to help toddlers transition from diapers to the toilet should replace those Everybody Poops books as the essential tool for potty-training parents. Fun and not mind-numbing for Mom and Dad, the disc is also musically sound, as Whitaker credibly reproduces a number of genres and moods across the album’s 11 bladder-tickling tracks. (missjoaniespottyparty.com)
Best Test
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Photo By: Solid PR
Best Kids’ Music Concert Series: In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the “Zoo Babies” program, the Cincinnati Zoo presented a concert series last year featuring some of the biggest names in children’s music. Trout Fishing In America, Red Grammer, Ralph’s World and Cincinnati’s own Zak Morgan performed on a stage usually reserved for animal demonstrations throughout May, providing a comfortable setting to witness musical performances usually restricted to libraries, schools and bookstores. Best MidPoint Performance: Though a little soggy due to rain, last year’s MidPoint Music Festival was another success despite the shortage of music venues on Main Street. With that in mind, the definitive performance of the fest was by local trio Buffalo Killers, featuring former Thee Shams members. The Killers played the small InkTank space, which became a makeshift “club” after rain caused the cancellation of some outdoor shows. The group passed a whiskey bottle to the crowd and then melted paint off the walls with an incendiary set of sublimely raw, impossibly melodic Psych Rock. Pick up their self-titled debut to see what we’re talking about — or better yet, check out a show. (buffalokillers.com) Best Local Music Urban Legend: Did you know that Provisions, Fiction and Gear, the 2002 major-label debut by local rockers Moth, syncs up exactly with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? You have to start the DVD in just the right spot. And some really killer weed probably helps, too. Best Local Music Rumor: When it was announced that the members of Cincy Rock legends The Afghan Whigs were all reconvening here to work on new material, some were abuzz about a full-on reunion. But don’t hold your breath, Whiggers — the songs were for inclusion on upcoming the “best of” collection, Unbreakable: A Retrospective (due in May on Rhino Records). Plus frontman Greg Dulli told one interviewer that he wouldn’t reunite the Whigs for $1 million unless he got all the money. Best Musical Twosome: The husband/wife musical team of Tasha and
Justin Golden make up Ellery, a band whose national profile got a
jumpstart when Seattle’s Virt Records released Make Your Troubles
Mine last year. The CD was a full-length reworking of their Ric Hordinski-produced,
locally-released debut EP — so save those EPs, collectors! The duo
has been on the road since the release, playing dates with artists
like Hem, Edwin McCain and Vienna Teng. Recently they taped a live
concert at The Carnegie in Covington to be aired on PBS stations later
this year. Best Local Music Sequel: Could Cincinnati-based DJ/producer/MC Hi-Tek
recapture the magic of his debut, Hi-Teknology? Last year, he answered
that question with the dazzling Hi-Teknology, Volume 2: The Chip.
A multi-dimensional album, the disc succeeded thanks to Tek’s eminent
studio skills (he’s definitely developed his own “sound”) and a guest
list that reads like one from the official Source Awards afterparty
(Common, Ghostface Killah, The Game, Talib Kweli, Snoop Dogg and scores
of others).
Best Comeback Performance
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Photo By: Graham Lienhart
Best Local Music Debut: Bad Veins. This intriguing duo has had everyone
talking over the past year. With superlative drumming from former
Cathedrals skinsman Sebastian Schultz, former Giant Judys frontman
Ben Davis wraps his fuzzy melodies (fuzzy thanks to the distorted
vocal treatments courtesy of a loudspeaker and old telephone) and
lushly orchestrated backing tracks around the beats. The group has
drawn attention from labels and has seemingly played as much in New
York City as they have in town. Best Pub to Sweet Talk the Bartender Out of Jukebox Money: Bellevue’s
B-List is quickly becoming the chill spot for laid back twenty- and
thirtysomethings in a village that once shivered in Newport’s shadow.
The owners pride themselves on a refreshingly diverse musical selection
— um, sorry, Nickelwho? — and they’ll often slide a few greenbacks
to the first person bent on breaking the silence with the sweet sounds
of everything from Dr. Dre to The Arcade Fire. Best Place to Even the Intellectual Playing Field: The Pub at Rookwood
Mews hosts Quiz Night every Monday with prizes for winners, drink
specials for losers and a half price deal on fish & chips so good
they might jump up and shout “Brilliant!” Whether you drive a Mercedes,
your name is Mercedes or you wear a boosted Mercedes hood ornament
on a chain, your knowledge of ’80s movies and 14th century kings might
shock even you. Best Place to Scratch a Latin Soap Opera Itch: One doesn’t need to
be fluent in Spanish to understand what’s going on between the buxom
Lupé and her tió, Ramón, on the 72-inch screen at Newport’s El Rio
Grande. It’s heavy — both the makeup as well as the age-old daytime
drama formula. After a round of deliciosa enchiladas suizas and a
pitcher of signature margaritas, the story will invariably tell itself.
Best Reason to Learn (and Teach) New Tricks: From somewhere within
the Puppy Camp doggy daycare in Avondale, Mike Montgomery yells, “I’ll
be right out,” before leading anxious musicians through a large garage-ish
kennel that gives way to the area’s coolest (and surprisingly swankest)
new recording studio, Candyland Records, which is dressed to the nines
in chandeliers, checkered floors and a velvet portrait of Trucker
Jesus. Commanding such a cool style, the craftsmanship is undoubtedly
great. Montgomery’s team of professionals are the reason Candyland
is quickly earning its reputation as a technically accountable, progressive
spot to lay down original music tracks. Best Use of the Web for the Arts: Cincinnati Ballet’s “webisode”
promotional programs offer a look at the lighter side of the art form,
featuring creative video shorts with light-hearted narratives relating
to the company’s current productions. For The Sleeping Beauty, it
was a handful of Prince Charming candidates to awaken an overworked,
slumber-prone dancer. For Boléro & More, it was a “smackdown ballet
style” dance competition while four dancers — who were supposed to
be rehearsing — tried their hands, er, feet at mixing different dance
styles resulting in impressive, even comedic showing off. Most of
all, the webisodes show the dancers more in their “real-life” personas
than what we see onstage. Best Performing Arts Collaboration: In a cool move following up their
popular holiday run of Christmas Yet to Come, Know Theatre and Exhale
Dance Tribe team up once again for an even more dance-oriented program,
Aren’t We All But a Dance of Particles?. Produced by Know and created
by Exhale founders Missy Lay Zimmer and Andrew Hubbard, the new work
features original choreography — from the dynamic duo who spent years
on Broadway in the cast Cats — performed by talented young dancers.
Now why didn’t they think of doing this sooner? Know Theatre, Best Mixed Media Performance Installation: Moving Art Dance Company’s
Simulacra turned a basic dance concert expectation on its head: where
the audience sits — or, in this case, whether they do. The trio performed
mesmerizing modern moves displaying connection, balance and strength
on a low wooden platform in the round. Chairs surrounded the stage,
but audience members were encouraged to walk around the platform in
order to view the dancers’ sculptural movements from various angles.
Call it part live sculpture installation, but definitely call it full-on
captivating performance. Best Homecoming: Acclaimed conceptual artist Tom Marioni returned to his hometown in August for a retrospective exhibition at CAC. Based on the West Coast for the last 45 years, Marioni is one of Cincinnati’s least known art exports, a groundbreaking, creative thinker who’s also refreshingly self-effacing. Props to the CAC — especially curator Matt Distel — for highlighting the work of a true original. Best Voice: You know someone has an amazing voice when you have a
hard time finding the right words to express what the person sounds
like (well, OK, Yoko Ono fits that description too, but you know what
we mean). Kim Taylor has that kind of voice, a mesmerizing instrument
full of ethereal grace and organic beauty and soulfulness. Since we
can’t precisely describe this vocal marvel, you’ll just have to pick
up her second full-length, I Feel Like a Fading Light, and hear for
yourself. The 2006 release grabbed the attention of NPR’s World Café,
which helped spread the word via airplay and a live session. Taylor
helped too, touring frequently, including dates with buzz band Aqualung.
Best New Indie Artist Tour Stop Destination: Publico, a really contemporary arts center nestled in Over-the-Rhine, has featured a stellar, eclectic lineup of touring performers. Their unique setting (essentially an art space) has no doubt helped create a positive reputation amongst booking agents looking to put their acts in atypical venues. In the past year, the club has featured intriguing artists like Lisa Germano, Pit Er Pat, The Howling Hex and Vetiver. (publicoart.com) Best Reason to Wear a Hard Hat to a Concert: The grand reopening of Fountain Square featured all sorts of civic and cultural leaders and institutions, but the younger set came out for the high-quality concert, which featured local heroes like IsWhat?! and Hi-Tek plus well-established national acts like OK Go, Talib Kweli and Los Lobos. Most left with the same two thoughts: “What a great free concert for our city” and “How can you have a grand reopening when you’re not ready to open?” Despite the unfinished construction, music lovers left happy. Best Debunking of the “Sophomore Slump” Myth: Heartless Bastards’
All This Time. The Bastards demonstrated how to follow up gracefully
with their remarkable second CD, released last year on Fat Possum
Records. They didn’t attempt to reinvent so much as refine. And they
succeeded by adding a few surprises (keyboards!) but essentially sticking
to what they do best — make Rock & Roll that drips with the passion
of old Soul music and the intensity of AC/DC. It seemed unlikely that
they’d make an album as startlingly revelatory as their debut, Stairs
and Elevators, but they did — And then some. The band’s profile has
kept rising too – they recently played Radio City Music Hall with
tourmate Lucinda Williams. Best Aural Pleasures: Lyrical Insurrection, an engaging spoken word
night, rises every Wednesday at The Greenwich. You’ll find yourself
taken by the muse through the beat, meter and verse of some of the
city’s most talented bards. Best Battles: Scribble Jam every August. And we’re not talking about
the MC battles either. Organizers of the acclaimed Hip Hop festival
found themselves attacked by conservative blowhard Peter Bronson of
The Enquirer, who said that the event’s sponsors (including Toyota
and — surprise! — liberal rag CityBeat) should have to pay for the
clean-up of graffiti around town after concerns were expressed about
rogue spray-painters. The scare tactics didn’t work (Bronson clearly
was looking to scare some of the sponsors away) and luckily we didn’t
have to send CityBeat staffers out to scrub walls. Best Local Music Retrospective: It’s just a common human trait that we sometimes take for granted things that seem like they’ll always be there. The Tigerlilies, who have been playing the local scene across two decades, might get overlooked sometimes when new, shiny young bands come along and steal the spotlight. But as those who have seen them lately can attest, they remain one of the finest bands in Cincinnati music history. The career retrospective released last year, Superdeluxe, features songs from their entire recorded history and highlights what the band does best: melodically-searing Rock & Roll with Post Punk, Punk and Pop overtones. Best New Stage: If you think there’s nothing to do on the riverfront
when there’s not a sporting event going on, then you don’t know Dick’s.
With a name only comedian Dave Attell could love, Whiskey Dick’s (an
offshoot of a popular Columbus club) opened along Pete Rose Way, bringing
a great-sounding live concert experience to the riverfront area. The
club has a smaller room where local bands play regularly, but it’s
in the big room that music gear-heads and audiophiles (and normal
concertgoers who like good sound) will love. The huge stage and kick-ass
P.A. system combine to make up one of the best club listening experiences
in town. Best New Club Franchise: Rhino’s Bar and Grill in the Eastgate area
was doing such good business, it opened a companion bar, Rhino’s Live,
a more music-centric, two-story venue in Sharonville. While heavy
on local cover bands, the club has also hosted ’80s Rock bands like
Enuff Z Nuff and Bang Tango and the newer Garage act The Gore Gore
Girls. Best New Promoters: In order to book shows that are too big for their
cozy Covington club, bookers at The Mad Hatter teamed with Nederlander
Entertainment to promote shows as Mad Hatter Promotions. In the past
year, the organization has brought to Covington’s gorgeous Madison
Theater big acts like Public Enemy and Toots & the Maytalls to
Angels & Airwaves and Say Anything, coming up in April. Best Excuse to Kick It in Corryville: It used to be that folks wouldn’t
hang out at The Mad Frog unless they were either really into the Jam
scene or needed some Salsa dance instruction, but the club has diversified
much further in recent years. The joint is a haven for local musicians
of every genre, drawing a fun and eclectic college-age crowd. New
renovations make what’s always been a great sounding room a better
looking room, and a friendly, efficient staff at double bars guarantees
that you’ll barely miss a note when it’s time to wet your whistle.
Best Live Musical Adaptation of a News Column: We were sad when local Folk singer Jake Speed stopped his “Speedy Delivery” column for CityBeat at the end of 2006. Jake wrote a current-events-related song a week throughout the year and citybeat.com posted the tracks as a “songatorial” each week. To cheer us up, we spent some time recently in the archives (still online, if you wanna take a look). But our best memory of the project was Jake’s live presentation of several of the songs at the Rohs Street Café. His selections were presented chronologically, making the performance like a funny, irresistible “Year in Review” stage show. (citybeat.com/columns/speed.shtml) Best Local Music Evolution: Pearlene were an amazing band right out
of the gate, with their dirty, slashing Blues/Rock drawing large dancing
crowds. They toured regularly, put out a couple of albums of ragged
glory on national indie labels and even sold a tune to a national
car commercial. But we don’t know if anyone expected the sheer Rock & Roll
mastery of the band’s latest, For Western Violence and Brief Sensuality,
which was self-released locally at the end of last year and goes national
in May. Pearlene were already going to be remembered as one of the
best local bands of the decade, but their new one is the stuff of
legends. Best Bassist: You think you’re busy? Sometimes it appears that veteran
local bassist Chris Walker plays in every band in the city. This is
untrue. What is true is that Walker sits in with more bands than your
average fiddle player at a weeklong hootenanny. And the stylistic
range of the bands he works with proves him to be the most versatile
bassist on the local scene. He man-handles the bottom end for the
Kelly Evans Trio, Big Whiskey, The Walker Project, The Naked Redheads,
The Whitney Barricklow Band, The Holly Spears Band, IsWhat?! and Derrick
Sanderson’s Soul Expression. Our slap hand is tired just from typing
all of Walker’s outlets! Best Female in a Male-Dominated Musical World: Zdenka Prado of local
Death Metal act Estuary looks and sounds like “one of the boys.” But
the local and national attention the band has been receiving proves
that Metal fans aren’t just digging Estuary for the novelty factor.
The national release of their forthcoming The Craft of Contradiction
should grow that fanbase even more. Best Lift: Over the years, it seems that local Hip Hop/Jazz chemists
IsWhat?! have become the default “go to” Hip Hop group for community
events and other concerts. But it’s not just the group’s uplifting
message that allows them to play to a broad audience. As they proved
beyond a shadow of a doubt with last year’s The Life We Chose (released
nationally on Hyena Records), IsWhat?! is more than deserved of their
local reputation, not to mention their growing international one.
The album was the best, most imaginative Hip Hop album released anywhere
in 2006. And the group finally received the recognition it derserves
locally, winning Artists of the Year at the Cincinnati Entertainment
Awards in November. Best Transformation of Museum Space: The Cincinnati Art Museum has
given us plenty to take in with Arenas, Cincinnati native Tony Luensman’s
museumwide exhibition. Outside and inside, the CAM has been given
new life with Luensman’s interactive, noisy, playful, endearing and
sometimes very serious works. A highlight: “Grasslands” in the Vance
Gallery is a subtle homage to Felix Gonzales-Torres, the artist who
died of AIDS in the 1990s after creating a banner mural for the CAM
lobby. Make sure to check out both works … and everything else. Best Guest Speaker: If you still think contemporary art lectures are boring, you probably missed Nancy Burson’s talk at the Cincinnati Art Museum last October. Let me clue you in: a dancing glow-in-the-dark Virgin Mary, floating orbs, crop circles and a little photography. Best Hidden Public Artwork: Left over from the Beautiful Losers exhibition
at the Contemporary Arts Center in 2004, Barry McGee’s hand-painted
face can really only be seen from a few vantage points — most of them
within the center. Basically, McGee tagged a building across Sixth
Street with an awkward visage. It’s interesting to look at it from
behind the big windows at the center. It’s far away, yet it’s close.
It’s a part of the institution, yet it’s completely separate. Not
everyone knows it’s there, so look for it the next time you visit.
Best Bluesman (R.I.P.): Cincinnati Blues’ old-timers club got a lot lonelier with the passing of local legend H-Bomb Ferguson last year. Ferguson — who kept performing in Cincinnati area clubs until his death — was a true original, whose talents earned him attention well beyond city limits, dating all the way back to the early 1950s. A tip of the wig to the late great. Best Bluesman (Among the Living): Sonny Moorman can be found almost
any night of the week playing somewhere in Cincinnati, be it with
his eponymous Blues/Rock group or as a solo artist. His versatility
as a guitarist and performer helped earn him a slot to battle global
Blues challengers at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis
earlier this year, where Moorman took second place in the “Solo/Duo”
category. Best Instrumental Band: Singers are prima donnas, always asking for
hot lemon-tea and demanding their own dressing room, right? Maybe
not. But local trio Ampline isn’t taking chances. The powerful Indie
Rock/Post Punk group says more without words on one album than some
bands say in a lifetime. The group’s impressive album, Rosary, was
released nationally late last year on Shake It Records. Best Tribute to a Fallen Local Music Hero: Bands always call the
show they play when their CDs are ready for sale a “party.” That didn’t
seem appropriate for the release show for Bad Apples, the debut from
Country/Roots/Rock purveyors The Thirteens. The band’s singer/guiding light, Sam
Nation, was killed in a car accident, meaning that this was as much
a farewell tribute as it was a concert. Still, Sam wouldn’t have wanted
mopey faces and tears — he’d want to rock. And that’s what the band
and their friends did in August at the Southgate House. Party? Well,
it sure wasn’t a funeral. Best Excuse to Get Drunk on a Sunday: The Cincinnati Entertainment
Awards’ music program! Yeah, we say it every year, but the 2006 CEA
ceremony at the Taft Theater Nov. 19 truly was the best yet. For the
10th year, CityBeat helped put on another lively show, with performances
from Freekbass, Da Muttss, Viva La Foxx, Mike Wade, Kenny Smith and
Staggering Statistics. The audience was big, the sound perfect (a
huge step up from last year), the performers engaging and the attire
swanky. Whadya say we do it again this year? Best Musical Multi-Tasker: Guitarist William Weber is the guitar
player for The Tigerlilies, but if that’s all you know about him you
don’t know 1/20th of the story. Since the 1980s, Weber has been in
numerous local bands, including Human Zoo and Manwich. He moved to
New York in the ’90s and toured the world with bands like GG Allin & the
Murder Junkies and The Chrome Cranks. Though that résumé alone would
qualify Weber to take it easy for a while, he’s actually gone into
his most prolific period yet. In the near future, he has plans to
release several solo albums, including one as his experimental synth-guitar
persona, Glitch, and one as dumBASS, a project that uses only 12-,
8-, 6- and 4-string bass guitars. Best Place for Company: They started out in 1994 as the Fahrenheit
Theatre Company but changed the name to Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival
in just a few seasons to reflect their core performances. For season
13, they made it even clearer: Now they’re known as “Cincinnati Shakespeare
Company,” a name that even more clearly reflects the group’s identity
as a year-round theater with a “company” of accomplished actors. If
you haven’t experienced their presentations of classic works, it’s
time. Best (Temporary) Transformation of the Riverfront: Who could have missed those enormous crayon-hued, bright blue and yellow striped tents pitched on The Banks of the mighty Ohio? During their first-ever stop here, Montreal-based
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