Dan Van Vechten's Profile

I’ll tell you, folks. I couldn’t be happier for Taylor Shannon. It’s not easy to have so many expectations heaped on to you at a young age, and it takes guts for someone to shake off their success as well as their failures in order to try new things.

Common Center recently released an EP called, To Swallow Something Half Your Size.  Now normally, this is where I’d give you a breakdown of each song and let you know what images were conjured in my head as I listened to the lyrics.  These songs aren’t those kinds of songs.

Okay, let’s start off with the important stuff. Joe’s Truck Stop is releasing their new album, American Dreams, this Friday at the Southgate House Revival. You need to be there. Sure, you can listen to the album and I hope you do, but the collection of musicians involved in the recording are worth hearing in person.

The Young Heirlooms are releasing a new album tonight called The Hammer. I agreed to do this review three weeks ago, so the day before it comes out should be the ideal time to get started on it, right? Uh… sorry, Young Heirlooms. I’ll get on this right away. In the interest of time, I will play the album for the first time on my lunch break and write out my reactions as I listen.

There is a lot of good music of all kinds in this area. There are so many good musicians and songwriters around, along with venues that regularly host such talents, that I will often discover a new favorite by accident. That’s how I first heard Jeremy Pinnell.

(Picture it, June 2016, at the Bunbury Music Festival) “Let’s see…  I want to check out a band I haven’t seen before…  hmmm….  who’s playing?  Oooh, cool!  Dead Man String Band!  I really like string bands, with the banjos...

It’s like church.  Every Sunday, people from all walks of life crowd into a West Covington bar to break bread, enjoy some spirits, and come together over a shared love of music.  Like church, it’s not the building that makes the congregation a community, but the common ground...

So I get this message a couple of months ago from Jake Ryan, who introduced himself on behalf of a band called Mighty Brother.  He was interested in booking a show in Cincinnati and was scouting for local acts to help find the right venue to get their music out to new ears.  I looked up...

The Foxfire Freedom Festival looks forward to kicking off its second annual event on September 11th and 12th at a new location.  Morgan’s Canoe & Campground in Morrow, OH will be the setting for a weekend of fun, fellowship, tradition, and opportunities to learn about living...

It’s not very difficult to become a fan of the Rubber Knife Gang.  There are a lot of string bands around town whose styles range from the most traditional to more modern versions of folk themes.  I love bands made up of musicians who have really delved into their roots and found...

Mark Utley & Bulletville will play at the MidPoint Music Festival this Thursday, September 25th at Mr. Pitiful’s.  This will be the seventh year for Utley, but he is returning with some newer bandmates and a recommitment to singing the songs he considers his roots.  Utley enjoyed a long run...

When good singers come across other singers who can easily find the right harmony, there become more than two voices coming together.  Something else happens when the rare, right fit falls into place, and Honey & Houston have it.  Lauren Houston and Heather Turner have been playing together...