Tom Jenkins's Profile

Coronavirus was not stopping the dedicated fans of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (PPPP), or the music enthusiasts wanting to see the young phenoms in Goose, Wednesday night at Madison Theater.

If you haven’t seen Greensky Bluegrass live, then you’re missing one of the most talented road acts working right now. From the musicianship to the inventive covers Greensky is a party. 

From bringing out the “Clones” at Madison Square Garden during Phish’s four night run this past New Year’s Eve, to the small stage at the 20^th Century Theater. Mike Gordon in the past month has gone from the world’s largest stage to playing some of the countries smallest venues. 

Phish co-founder and bassist Mike Gordon will stop through Cincinnati’s 20^th Century Theatre in Oakley on his 13 stop solo tour tonight! The accomplished bassist is bringing his funk, jam driven solo act, on the heels of Phish’s most recent New Year’s Eve run at Madison Square Garden. 

In a decade that changed music so much it’s hard to discuss what was the most important music of the past 10 years. From the psychedelic juggernaut Tame Impala taking over the charts, to the affirmation of Kendrick Lamar’s genius, to the return of Outlaw Country, to women like Courtney Barnett, Phoebe Bridgers, and the supergroup boygenius taking over rock music. 

In the three years since we last heard from Chicago indie rock legends Wilco, front man Jeff Tweedy has been on what seems to be a revitalization of his song writing. Releasing his first studio solo album of originals in 2018, the delightful “Warm” that was paired with a memoir Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), followed by a solo acoustic tour, where Tweedy stopped at Cincinnati Music Hall. For those lucky enough on this past Record Store Day Tweedy released the b-sides from “Warm,” titling it simply “Warmer.”  

To understand the story of Carriers and how the Heartland inspired synth rock group came to be, there were a few factors that played a key role in its conception. First is lead singer and founder Curt Kiser’s faith, that inspired the direction of the album conceptually and it is also deeply rooted in his lyrics. Second is the love of his home Cincinnati and the role it had in creating their debut album “Now Is The Time For Loving Me, Yourself & Everyone Else.” And finally, a few chance meetings at Whole Foods and the Cincinnati Zoo. 

As U.S. Bank began to fill up to the rafters, it was clear that this was one of the more heavily attended shows that the arena has had all year. With the anticipation growing, the curtains dropped abruptly and arose Joseph and drummer Josh Dunn atop a flaming junk yard car, resembling the set of their music video for “Jumpsuit,” off their latest album ‘Trench.

With a Jameson bottle in one hand and a mic in the other Frasco was true to form. Smoking cigarettes and joints from the crowd, Frasco was a man of the people and fed off the crowd. When Frasco came out on stage you could see his genuine surprise, as he was greeted by a packed house of Cincinnati’s dedicated jam base. “I didn’t realize there would be this many people,” said Frasco as he sat down at his keyboard. 

As millions of people walked the streets of Cincinnati to experience the lights and sounds of BLINK, some of the lucky on-lookers may have walked across the performance of Cincinnati based indie rock band Carriers.

Thursday night at The Southgate House Revival, North Carolina group Sarah Shook & The Disarmers would return to what Shook called one of their favorite venues in the country. Along with Kentucky folk/ country singer songwriter Senora May opening. 

Six years ago, the biggest name in Rock Music without a doubt would’ve been Akron, Ohio’s The Black Keys. Racking up Grammys left and right, with albums like ‘Brothers’ and ‘El Camino’ offer entire albums worth of hits. The garage rock duo were at the height of their success, at a time where Kanye West and Drake were releasing arguably their best work and hip-hop artists were becoming the new rock stars.