Traditional folk music is a cornerstone of the American story.  Perhaps no one is going more to make sure that it is not forgotten than St. Louis’s Ryan Spearman.  Between winning awards for exploring the connections between sustainability and music, touring around the world, working with Muddy...

There have been plenty of blogs and articles lately about Arlo McKinley & The Lonesome Sound, and I will be the first one to say how well-deserved the attention is [Check out this video we made of them at Buckle Up].  I’ll admit it – I’m a fan.  I have listened to the band’s eponymous...

Reality Check with KT: The Perfect Children; This Time it’s Personal I love interviewing other musicians for CincyMusic.com.  I love talking with them about their songwriting, influences, how the heck they came up with their band name and listening to their music and trying to somehow create an...

The fine folks of Frontier Folk Nebraska hearken their return to this year’s Whispering Beard Festival with an offering of new music, Frontier F**k Nebrask, an album steeped in the lazy swagger and inverted braggadocio these Cincinnati natives have accepted, nay, presented, as their calling card....

It’s an old baseball gloveIt’s my granddaddy’s knifeIt’s a good pair of bootsIt’s a farmer’s wife So begins the song, “Life is Beautiful”, which Willy Tea Taylor introduces to explain to people where he is from rather than naming the northern California town where he was born.  The...

The Fairfield Four are an a cappella group that has been around for nearly 90 years. This group started off with just two members that was created in the 1920’s by the pastor of Fairfield Baptist Church down in Nashville to occupy his sons, Harry and Rufus Carrethers, they became a gospel trio...

James Funk has been attending the Whispering Beard Folk Festival since the second annual event, but this is the first time he and Red Beard’s Revenge get to take the stage.  A well-known Beardo in the community of west side musicians, there are few people who could quite represent what...

Sitting at MOTR, gnoshing a tasty burger and sipping a fine barleywine after work one night this summer, I found myself chatting local music scene with Dave Cupp. Some of you may know Dave as the chill bar friend with the great pour; the more fortunate know him as the drummer for Old City. But, if...

Reality Check with KT: Dead Man String Band; No Hype, Real Grit I headed out to open mic at Wunderbar (Covington) last Sunday.  They have a great thing going on there, very supportive of local music.  I was going to meet up with Rob McAllister of Dead Man String Band, to hear his set and then do...

If you ever need to take a break from the everyday chaos, tuning everything present out of you mind, the city lights, the honking cars, and the non-stop bustle, then The Tillers are your passport to another portal, back in time.  The trio, Mike Oberst, Sean Geil, and Aaron Geil tell their...

If you have not yet been hustled by The Hustle, you are missing out. Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle will knock your socks off. It is that simple. Out of Cincinnati, this Americana fold band consists of leading man, Buffalo Wabs, or better known to his friends and family as Matt Wabnitz on...

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper are a traditional, to say the least, bluegrass band from Indiana and Louisville. These group of guys call certain parts of Indiana home and Kentucky. They bring the bluegrass tradition to new levels with Michael Cleveland’s award winning fiddle. Along with his...

Reality Check with KT: Red Cedars give a beautiful voice to the winter blues with their first release; Bottom Side of Blue. Red Cedars; Dinah Devoto and Patrick Kennedy have been making some beautiful noise in the Cincinnati Scene for about six years.  They recently, very quietly, released their...

If you have not yet experienced The Harmed Brothers, this up and coming, head-turning, hard-working, and dedicated band must be your next adventure. I had my first encounter last year at The Whispering Beard Festival and was instantly addicted. Traveling all the way across the nation from Oregon,...

It is that time of year again!  It is Beard-thirty time!  Dust off those beards, air out those tents, and clean out your coolers.  It is time to get ready for another grand old time at the annual Whispering Beard Folk Festival in Friendship, Indiana.  Bring your beards or borrow a friend’s...

Lonesome Jared & the Heart Attacks are Jared Schaedle on guitar and lead vocals, David Rhodes Brown on triple neck lap steel, and Marc Hoffman on the double bass. The Heart Attacks formed a couple years ago, but each of these musicians have been playing for far longer than that. At the back of...

Konrad Wert as his family knows by is “Possessed by Paul James” who when you listen to him or see him live plays as if he is possessed. Konrad, as we’ll call him from here on out, plays guitar, banjo, and fiddle all three equally take songs that he has written or not and molds around a voice...