Festival News & Updates
Music Spotlight: Seafair
Formed in the fall of 2012 after combining forces with members of Unsparing Sea, the up-and-coming Seafair is an orchestral six-piece led by the siren song of Chayla Hope that consists of guitars, keys, and unexpected classical touches of cello and violin. Combining the, at times, warbly sea-shany element of the Decemberists, Seafair dabbles in quirky indie-pop seen on “Textbook Holiday” and then seemlessly explorers the cinematic in the darker, noir tones of “72.8%” and in the seductiveness of “Take Me On”.
While they’re busy recording their first EP, Paintings, the band has focused on developing the dynamics of their multi-instrumental live show. ”There’s so many different people doing so many different things it’s hard to focus on one individual person,” says drummer Ryan Kelly. “Everyone else has their own style so they can incorporate that into their live show. People can …
Music Q&A: Army of Infants
With a nod to ’90s grunge, Cleveland two-piece Army of Infants is a distorted explosion of garage and blues with surfy tones and a heart of Motown soul. Drummer Jacob Pflanzer and guitarist Jared Welch are currently working on a split tape with the Black Shades to be released in mid-March and have a string of tour dates that includes a performance at this year’s SXSW.
Can you tell us a little about how you got together?
Jacob Pflanzer: We went to high school together and played together off and on through school. It wasn’t until after school when we really kind of started playing shows. The rest just happened.
Not a review goes by without a hat tip to the blues. What’d you grow up listening to and what kind of influences do you draw from when you’re writing?
JP: I …
Music Q&A: Maza Blaska
Hailing from Columbus, Maza Blaska’s 2011 debut, Storyteller, was a colorful, jangly excursion of earthy, world-flavored orchestrations. Storyteller was rich in narrative, shrouded in tales of far-off lands and ancient roots that were offset by the rosy pop of their six member multi-instrumental arrangements.
Brite Winter Fest talks to Sam Corlett about how the band got together, performing with their rotating cast of collaborators, and their first time in Cleveland.
Maza Blaska originally formed between you two, Yoni and Sam. How did the rest of the band fall together?
I love remembering how we all came together, there were a lot of great culminating circumstances that led to Maza Blaska forming as a full band. When Yoni studied abroad in Jerusalem in 2008, he set out
Yoni posted his work on Myspace, where he received a lot of feedback from …
Music Spotlight: Dead Sweaters
Creative force behind the Talking Heads and renegade new wave Renaissance man — artist, designer, author, speaker, and filmmaker among the seemingly infinite list — David Byrne said, “As music becomes less of a thing — a cylinder, a cassette, a disc — and more ephemeral, perhaps we will begin to assign an increasing value to live performances again.”
It’s a few weeks into the New Year and Dead Sweaters vocalist and guitarist Will Nolan’s casual mention of his resolution, “to see as much live music as I can, at least once a week,” he says, could easily read like a page of Byrne’s book, How Music Works, which Nolan has just passed between Sweaters drummer Joe Duffy and I as his current required reading.
”It’s kind of like the Bible. Doesn’t it remind you of the Bible?” he laughs — and …
Music Q&A: Ashley Brooke Toussant
A Kent native now transplanted to Cleveland, Ashley Brooke Toussant released her debut full-length, Sweetheart, in 2011. With the backdrop of classic pedal steel guitar and delicate piano, Sweetheart was an angelic, luring Midwestern mix of whimsical Americana storytelling with shades of blue-eyed soul. Toussant plans to record her sophomore album March of this year.
We talked to Ashley Brooke Toussant about her plans for her new album, her love for Patty Griffin and Dusty Springfield, and her classic vintage style.
1.) You recently moved to Cleveland from Kent. How has the transition been?
I was actually living in my hometown of Canton in between there. It’s been a nice transition. I’ve always enjoyed Cleveland when I’ve visited or played so it’s been great being closer to my favorite spots. We live in University Circle. It’s wonderful being walking distance …
Music Spotlight: Thaddeus Anna Greene
There is a certain adrenaline-fueled mysticism that belongs to the blues alone; it lives on in the songs passed down through legends and in the roots of what we call rock and roll. These stories were penned by freewheelers like Jimmy Reed, whose legacy came in unleashing the blues to the mainstream, and were told in songs like his “Bright Lights, Big City” as it changed hands through history from Reed to the Animals, to Eric Clapton, to the smoky, pulsing version resurrected by Gary Clark Jr.
On the night Thaddeus Anna Greene released Directory of Thieves, he stood in front of the American flag backdrop of Bad Racket Recording Studios and, with a brash grin and gleam in his eyes, chanted the modernized Clark Jr. line in Reed’s classic, “You gonna know my …
Music Spotlight: Matt Hectorne & the Family Tree
Hanging around the green room below the Beachland Ballroom, Matt Hectorne seems at his most content talking church music and his Mississippi upbringings when the conversation comes to a halt and a smile breaks behind a grizzly beard. “‘I’ll Fly Away,’” he points upstairs in approval to the Womack Family Band’s psychedelic rendition of the spiritual standard taking place on stage that’s echoing through the floor. In 20 minutes he’ll take the stage himself for the last time with Humble Home. In five months he’ll move to Nashville.
For a boy who grew up in a small suburb of Memphis immersed in a church of country and gospel vintage lore, a Southern homecoming marks the past year as a return to the roots. With a contributing cast of musicians he released two EPs, The Family Tree and Your Light My Dark, …
Melissa Olson
Venue: Market Ave. Wine Bar
Performance Time: 5:00pm
icatchfoxes.com | Twitter
Hometown: Akron, OH
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icatchfoxes is the creative pseudonym of me, Melissa S. Olson: Designer, Illustrator, Photographer and Writer. This photo was taken along the Pacific Coast near San Luis Obispo, California. I selected this photo as your introduction to me for two reasons.
One: my wonderful brother took the photograph, and two: I love to travel. (The first reason is notable because my brother is awesome. The second reason is notable because should you request my help at any distance and wish to hire me, I am eager, willing and able to travel.)
Questions, limericks, greetings, fugues and requests for freelance can be delivered via electronic correspondence to melissa [at] icatchfoxes.com. For your convenience (should you prefer more traditional methods of communication) most carrier pigeons know where to find me.
I grew up …
Perfect Future
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 5:00pm
Tublr | Facebook
Hometown: Frostburg, MD
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Post punk/indie/emo from the East Coast. Political emo.
Istvan Medgysi
Venue: Market Ave. Wine Bar
Performance Time: 7:00pm
Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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Inspired by a wide range of music, you can hear the echoes of an array of American musical traditions intertwined with modal explorations and occasional forrays into noise and drone.
Dozens
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 6:30
dozens.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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Dozens are Chicago natives Kyle Mann, Vincent Theodore and John Norman. Incorporating synthpop, post-rock and EDM elements into an ambient aesthetic, Dozens marries infectious melody with a dreamy melancholy. As a trio of of multi-instrumentalists, producers and DJs, Dozens delivers a deliberate production on tracks that run the gamut from radio ready synth-tinged singalongs to spacious soundscapes.
Featuring a wide spectrum of dynamics and a tonal palette that draws from disparate musical worlds, Dozens’ varied catalogue receives a sculptor’s treatment on record. Rife with lush wall of sound atmospheres and extended instrumental passages showcasing intricate synth, string and brass arrangements, Dozens self-released collection has drawn critical comparison to a range of artists such as MGMT, Kings of Convenience and Hall & Oates.
Army of Infants
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 9:45pm
Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Jamestown, OH
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We are a band.Two piece. Jake bangs sticks on things and shouts, Jared breaks strings and mumbles. Download our music, tell your friends, and check our Last.FM and Myspace pages if you dig what you hear! We love to make feedback and other strange noises, but we also like to hear your feedback and strange noises! So if you have something to say about our tunes, shout it out!
Worship This!
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 8:00pm
Tumblr | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Akron, OH
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“Young women, hillbillies, and fellow Doritos enthusiasts rejoice: Worship This! are here to give you that
lovin’ feeling. It’s not all champagne and horse races…there’s something to be said (and to be heard)
of punk rock that’s endured the trappings of adulthood, the despair of Northeast Ohio winters, and
the abandonment of loved ones…For fans of Horace Pinker, Latterman, Hot Water Music, and partially
digested Mexican food, check out [Worship This!]” –Jason Utes
World’s Scariest Police Chases
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 9:00pm
Twitter | Facebook
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
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“I cant believe its taken us this long to inform the world, but prepare yourselves for [your] favorite new
band that will scare the shit out of you.” –DANROCK, Lock and Key Collective
Wolf Ram Heart
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 1
Performance Time: 9:00pm
wolframheart.com | Tumbler | Facebook
Hometown: Columbus, OH
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After the release of their critically acclaimed “Betrayal of Hearts” in 2011, the band debuted in the top 20 on the CMJ Radio 200 and was voted the second most anticipated release in the country for the second week of April by Magnet Magazine. Later that year, Wolf Ram Heart were chosen as an artist of the week on CMJ and the track “Viewgirls” was included on a compilation for Under The Radar. In 2012, they earned best new artist features in both Blurt and Filter magazines. The year also saw them performing at some of the biggest festivals in the industry such as the CMJ Music Marathon, Midpoint Music Festival and NXNE. Currently the duo are working on a follow up release set for the fall of 2013.
Wolf …
Jeremiah Webb
Venue: Market Ave. Wine Bar
Performance Time: 9:00pm
jeremiahwebb.com | Soundcloud | Facebook
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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“Jeremiah is a Colorado native, but graduated from Chapman University in Orange, CA last spring. He is currently working for a major Advertising Agency and performing in the Chicago area.”
Read more at: jeremiahwebb.com
Unraveler
Venue: The Cleveland Hostel
Performance Time: 6:00pm
Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
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“Borrowing from both Daniel Johnston and John Darnielle, Unraveler paints broad strokes of discontent
that should resonate among arbiters of quirky bedroom meditations. This music is not for hedonistic
pleasure-seekers looking for an easy way out.” –Pittsburgh magazine
Two Hand Fools
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 9:30pm
Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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“Two Hand Fools are a folk influenced pop punk band from the Cleveland area…They released [an]
album called ‘Who’s Driving’ but they hate it and hate playing songs off of it. Then they released an
EP called ‘Rivers’, and they hated it a lot less. Now they have an album…called ‘House Parts’ and they
actually don’t hate it.” –graveyardnow from last.fm
Tom Evanchuck
Venue: The Cleveland Hostel
Performance Time: 9:00pm
tomevanchuck.com | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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“Tom Evanchuck and the Old Money are living in multiple eras. Rising from the Midwest, this group
draws upon thei bluesy roots to carve out their own place in the burgeoning scene of folk and
Americana rock. But something sets this foursome apart from the rest—it’s and honesty found in every
one of their songs, a genuine love for the past that influences their present.”
Read the full bio at: reverbnation.com/tomevanchuck
Lucy Stone
Venue: BRITE Stage
Performance Time: TBD
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lucystone.bandpage.com| Facebook | Twitter
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Though you may be hearing her name for the first time, Lucy Stone has a voice that’s hard to forget. A Philadelphia native, the 20 year-old songstress has already dedicated herself to more projects than a person has fingers. Lucy has opened for national acts such as The Dirty Projectors, Cymbals Eat Guitars, B.o.B and Major Lazer. Most recently the young college student has just finished working with multi-platinum recording artist Rusted Root on their new album entitled “The Movement”.
Transitioning from a multi-band repertoire to her newly formed solo project, Lucy released her first EP, “Would You?” in late April. Showcasing a unique lyrical style, the songs are intricately crafted, and were recorded in West Philadelphia with her band consisting of Brandon Bost, Sean Donaghy, Isaac Louis and Paul Impellizeri. …
Lost Jon & The Ghosts
Venue: BRITE Stage
Performance Time: 8:00pm
lostjon.bandcamp.com | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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Dreamy, folk inspired music from the cold shores of Lake Erie, Lost Jon and the Ghosts are an ever expanding and evolving collection of musicians centered around songwriter Jon Meador and core members Max Stern and David Rivera. Like many groups currently growing in Cleveland, Lost Jon & The Ghosts met through playing music in previous projects together. Jon Meador had been writing songs for a yet to be named solo project for months when he went to and old friend, Max Stern, to try out a couple new things. He played “The question” for him. Max really liked it. A couple of weeks later Dave Rivera and Jon were practicing some originals and covers for an acoustic gig and decided Max would be a great …
Tin Armor
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 10:15pm
tinarmor.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Columbus, OH
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Common ground is important for a band. Tin Armor has learned this lesson well. Since their humble beginnings in 2006 they have played hundreds of shows across the country, produced multiple releases including, a full length album, A Better Place Than I Have Been, available on One Percent Press, a self-titled 7″ vinyl single available on Whoa Oh Records, and a second full length, Life of Abundance, which they self released in the summer of 2011. In this time Tin Armor has learned to write, record and perform in spite of and in light of the differences that each member brings to the process. They have crafted a unique sound that blends melodic, pop-sensible songwriting with literary and often introverted lyrics. Their honest style of rock and roll is approachable without …
Istvan Medgyesi
Venue: Market Avenue Wine Bar
Performance Time: TBD
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istvanmedgyesi.bandcamp.com| Facebook
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Inspired by a wide range of music, you can hear the echoes of an array of American musical traditions intertwined with modal explorations and occasional forrays into noise and drone.
Regular Shoulders
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 5:00pm
soundcloud.com/timelessbrides | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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A relatively new band hailing from Cleveland herself, Timeless Brides maintain online mystique with
little to find except a washed-out picture, equally washed tracks and the self-defined genre “Loafeye
Loser Pop”.
Muscle & Bone
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory
Performance Time: 5:45pm
muscleandbone.bandcamp.com | Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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Muscle & Bone are 4 guys from Asheville playing indie/emo survival in the vein of late 90′s and early 2000′s bands. Muscle & Bone consists of Chris French, formerly of Joie De Vivre, Rob Travis and Ryan Hoots formerly of Fairground Avenue, and Adam Gross. Formed in mid 2011, they have already self released an EP and been featured on the Topshelf Records summer sampler
The Self-titled EP creates a tapestry that’s both refreshing and familiar borrowing from bands like Further Seems Forever, American Football and The Anniversary then blending it into their own style. Most newer twinkly emo bands spent most of their time focused on the riffs, where Muscle & Bone spend an equal amount of time on melody. Their songs “No …
Thaddeus A. Greene
Venue: BRITE Stage
Performance Time: 6:00pm
directoryofthieves.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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“At the age of 14, Thaddeus A. Greene spent hours upon hours locked in a room, teaching himself to
play the guitar, cutting his teeth on the likes of Jimi Hendrix [and] Stevie Ray Vaughan. He has cultivated
the zeal and ability to create a refreshing, daring and rebellious encyclopedia of music. His psychedelic
blues/rock tapestries and fervid voice capture a time when life was melancholy amongst chaos.”
En Garde
Venue: Joy Machines
Performance Time: 5:45pm
Hometown: Akron, OH
Old friends, new shoes. Ross is a part of the Pittsburgh, PA based A Voice Like Rhetoric, which is currently on hiatus, and Andy is on loan from the Kent, Oh based Annabel. En Garde was formed in November 2011.
Suns
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 1
Performance Time: 9:00pm
sunschicago.tumblr.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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“Suns are back for another round of dragging atmospheric rock into the alley to smack the stars out of
its eyes. Armed with their first full length, ‘When We Were Us,’ the band takes a leaner, meaner and
more melodic approach to its distinct brand of ribcage-shaking density. The darkness, the drunkenness,
the desperation—it’s all still there, but now it digs in with sharper hooks.”
Signals Midwest
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 6:30pm
signalsmidwest.tumblr.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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“In a genre as tried, overdone and limiting as pop punk, it’s especially difficult for a pop punk band to
take a new approach. But, when done right, it can also be especially refreshing and rewarding…Enter
[Cleveland’s] Signals Midwest, whose fantastic new full length Latitudes and Longitudes transcends
conventions and pushes the genre to new boundaries.” –Matt Cohen, punknews.org
ShiSho
Venue: The Cleveland Hostel
Performance Time: 5:00pm
sonicbids.com/shisho | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Kent, OH
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“ShiSho is the outsider-art band…from Ohio. They’ve been making quirky indie, pop-punk, folk music for
8 years. If They Might Be Giants and Kimya Dawson had baby daughters whom they powdered regularly
with Joe Jack Talcum—they’d grow up to be ShiSho. Though ShiSho are kids, they are not necessarily a
band FOR kids. ‘College radio & Indie moms love us for some reason,’ says Midge.”
Dowsing
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory
Performance Time: 8:00pm
dowsing.bandcamp.com/releases | Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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We’re an Indie/Emo band from Chicago, Illinois. We’ve been fortunate enough to have released a 7″ EP, ‘All I Could Find Was You’, a split 7″ with emo newcomers Parker (current Joie De Vivre/Warren Franklin), and now our first LP, ‘It’s Still Pretty Terrible,’ all on the delightful Count Your Lucky Stars Records. Stay tuned friends we’ve only just begun.
Reverse the Curse
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory
Performance Time: 7:15 pm
reversethecursemusic.com | Facebook
Hometown: Hiram, OH
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“These days, it’s all too easy for young bands to fall through the cracks and fail to muster any sort
of staying power. Each genre is becoming more and more over-saturated and we can all agree
that ‘whiskey soaked’ and ‘gravely’ voices aren’t anything new. However, every now and then a band is
able to come out of the woodwork and put a fresh perspective on post-hardcore music—never focusing
on an image or a certain bandwagon. Such is the case for Reverse the Curse.”
Saintseneca
Venue: Market Ave. Wine Bar
Performance Time: 11:00pm
saintseneca.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Columbus, OH
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“We’re [a] folk band (at least as an idiom) hailing from Columbus, Ohio.
Last, the debut full-length from Saintseneca, is a culmination of their cultivated and
tangled garland of friendship and musical ardor. Prepped by lifelong friendships rooted
in the same small Appalachian town, two successful EPs and four years of anywhere-
and-everywhere-we-can-stomp touring, this record is a long time coming for the
Columbus band.
The band’s first studio release features subtle and purposeful experimentation, building
a fullness of sound previously elusive. It is at times raucous, tender and anthemic.
Intricacies aside, Last makes sure to highlight Saintseneca’s singular folk sound of
laconic singalongs, speed-strummed mountain dulcimers and tambourine-filled trash
cans.”
Sam Brenner
Venue: Market Ave. Wine Bar
Performance Time: 8:00pm
sambrenner.com | Facebook
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
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“Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, his parents exposed him to classics such as The Beatles and James
Taylor, while his brothers introduced him to Dave Matthews Band and Radiohead. When he was twelve-
years-old, his parents bought him his first guitar and from that day forward he never put it down.”
Seafair
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 7:00pm
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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“Voice + Cello + Violin + Keys + Guitar + Bass + Drums = Seafair”
Cherry Cola Champions
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory Stage
Performance Time: 5:00pm
cherrycolachampions.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Tumblr
Hometown: Kent, OH
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We are two friends who play music together.
Bonesetters
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 8:30pm
bonesetters.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
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Muncie-bred and Indianapolis-raised, we make music in old duplexes and share them with all kinds of alternative environs. We breathe in quiet sounds, and exhale louder sounds. A good mixture of western swing, surf rock, blues and images meant for dreams. We like you!
Restorations
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 11:00pm
restorationstheband.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
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Restorations is a band. They want you to know that. Their 7” A/B is good for listening and, well, this:
“Nothing says ‘leave me alone on my criminally short break annoying coworker’ like turning up the
volume on Restoration’s 7” A/B.” –Hellhound Music
My Mouth Is The Speaker
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 7:15pm
mymouthisthespeaker.bandcamp.com | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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“Life. The Universe and all that jazz…”
Meridian
Venue: The Cleveland Hostel
Performance Time: 10:00pm
Bandcamp | Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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Meridian is the brain-child of brothers Max and Jake Stern. Max says of the album Aging Truths:
“’Aging Truths’ is a collection of songs…initially recorded on an internal laptop microphone perched on a beer-stained table in a cold Cleveland Heights apartment…”
Maza Blaska
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 1
Performance Time: 12:00 am
mazablaska.com | Facebook
Hometown: Columbus, OH
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Columbus’ Maza Blaska has had such nice things said of them. For instance:
“A cross-continental friendship, a kaleidoscopic fascination with the musical styles of myriad cultures and a flexible arrangement…have turned Maza Blaska into a thriving band.” –Kevin Joy, The Columbus Dispatch
…and this:
“Despite the heavy subject matter, [Maza Blaska present] bright, accessible indie-pop of the post-‘Garden State’ variety…” –Chris DeVille, Columbus Alive
Bears of Blue River
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 7:30pm
thebearsofblueriver.bandcamp.com | Facebook
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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“Take a step back from the dark-lands, perk up to the love horn of the choo-choo and hop a wagon through the cornfields to a close encounter in Muncie, Indiana with The Bears of Blue River.
Find genuine folk sounds subtly diluted by urban residue. Across the plain, unrequited love songs sung from closets to the vivid attraction of opposites and more, accompanied by all the “not too precious” o…oh-ooh-oh’s and bah-bah-ba’s to keep listeners in the realm of the tender grazing primal prairie animal.
The Bears tango on the border of urban and bucolic so hum along with the beer, beards, long locks; smooth raspy harmonies…Jangle your heart and sing along with these Chicago transplants.”
- Jesse Jesster
They are simple folks but with one request….
SHARE THE …
Beach Stav
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory Stage
Performance Time: 4:15pm
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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Beach Stav was born breech and with two heads. Beach Stav has since doubled in heads yet remain breech. To contact Beach Stav, contact the mother.
Annabel
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory Stage
Performance Time: 8:45pm
annabel.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Akron, OH
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Annabel:
Ben Hendricks: Vocals, Guitar
Corey Willis: Guitar, Keys
Andy Hendricks: Drums
Scott Moses: Bass
We started this band some years ago and have had a blast making music together and making friends everywhere.
band e-mail: annabelohio@gmail.com
press contacts: will@beartrappr.com, mike@earshotmedia.com
label contacts: countyourluckystars@gmail.com, will@tinyengines.net
Alert New London
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 1
Performance Time: 6:00pm
alertnewlondon.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Columbus, OH
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Constant evolution. Never being content with the status quo and constantly pushing for higher musical heights – this is what Alert New London does. What started as a basic retro-pop outfit has morphed and changed into a creative juggernaut melding diverse influences into one cohesive onslaught of atmosphere and sound.
Using effected guitars, vocal harmonies, heavy drum beats, and an energetic live show, ANL has set the path towards providing a new voice in Columbus, OH.
This voice is of everybody who doesn’t believe in the hipster gestapo and who wants to move in jubilation at shows instead of stand silently in the back to maintain their cool. We believe that we are creating a community all our own. Join us on our journey.
Hugo
Venue: Market Avenue Wine Bar
Performance Time: 6:00pm
hugorock.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
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Hugo loves pianos really really bad. He was born in piano. Piano in the previous sentence means Chicago. He started to learn the instrument at the age of piano. Ok, in that last sentence piano represents the number five, and not the word piano, and definitely not Chicago.
Piano describes Hugo’s songwriting as having the “lyrical tone of a twenty-something Woody Allen.” Woody Allen is a wry and sarcastic writer and director. I totally forgot to tell you that piano in the sentence before last means the Miami Herald.
Hugo’s piano-driven sound is influenced by Billy Joel, Elton John, Leon Russell, Ben Folds, Elvis Costello, and Michael Jackson. When I say “piano-driven” I mean piano as in the instrument and not as in the Miami Herald newspaper. Hugo has …
Ashley Brooke Toussant
Venue: Market Avenue Wine Bar
Performance Time: 10:00pm
ashleybrooketoussantmusic.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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ABT lived in Chicago from 2007 to 2009. While in the city she recorded with two time Grammy award winning producer, Jim Tullio. They recorded five original songs making up my debut EP All Songs in English which was released in August 2008. The EP brought airplay on several stations around the Midwest.
In the Spring of 2009 ABT moved back to my native Northeastern Ohio. She began to play with a band made up of friends, friends of friends and some through playing shows. They built solid friendships and enjoy playing music together.
In September 2011, ABT released my first full length album, Sweetheart. The album was made in Kent, Ohio with the help of a producer, Charlie Loudin and wonderful area musicians; Eric Baltrinic on …
Misty Gonzales
Venue: BRITE Stage
Performance Time: 7:00pm
www.mistyfreechild.com | Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
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Misty Gonzales is a powered American rock & blues singer and songwriter from Colorado and is traveling the country singing her heart out with new album “Rock & Roll Freedom Show.” Upon moving to her present home in Los Angeles, Misty received a great word of wisdom from an industry executive friend: “There’s only one type of person who doesn’t succeed in the music business – it’s the one who gives up too soon.” Misty has used that advice as a guidepost throughout her career.
“I’ve learned that if you’re passionate about your vision, even with a ton of roadblocks in your way, passion and vision is the vehicle that will drive you.” She says, “There’s been days doubt was barking at my heals, …
Honeybucket
Venue: The Cleveland Hostel
Performance Time: 8:00pm
honeybucketmusic.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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Honeybucket is a Cleveland-based newgrass trio that showcases upbeat and original pop/rock songs with a bluegrass sound. Featuring Adam Reifsnyder on acoustic guitar, Brendan O’Malley on mandolin and Abie Klein-Stefanchik on upright bass, the trio blends tight three-part vocal harmonies, original melodies and foot-stomping rhythm. The band’s influences can be heard in many of their songs, from the soaring harmonies of CSNY, to the fast-paced mandolin finger-picking of the Punch Brothers. Honeybucket fans, known lovingly as Bucketheads, are some of the most enthusiastic supporters around and you can feel the love at all of the band’s performances. To learn more about the band and to download their Ohio EP for free, visit the Honeybucket Facebook page at www.facebook.com/honeybucketmusic.
Oldboy
Venue: The Cleveland Hostel
Performance Time: 8:00pm
oldboycleveland.bandcamp.com| Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Listen to Oldboy
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A 3-5 piece band from Cleveland, this mid-western band understands the blue collar mentality of musicians. Working hard to put together good music, good shows and work hard doing it.
They strive to make every show an event, something you won’t soon forget. The self-released ep “by the light of the moon” combines well-crafted, unique songwriting with wistful, sometimes epic, to downright heavy rock and roll. These songs give you a feeling that is as old as it is new with songs ranging from hopeful to haunting.
Tracy Morgan Freeman
Venue: Joy Machines Bike Shop
Performance Time: 4:15pm
tracymorganfreeman.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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Tracy Morgan Freeman is a serious Indie Pop Rock Quartet formed after the breakup of a popular Cleveland based band. Tim Czajka, Will Hooper, Steven Crobar and Kevin Timm went on to form Tracy Morgan Freeman in the late fall of 2011. Will Hooper, Tim Czajka, and Steve Crobar have been performing together for a solid four years creating a unique and interesting chemistry that is hard to come by with most bands. Kevin Timm was added to the band shortly after the three reunited in the fall of 2011.
All four musicians are professional and serious independent musicians who love music more than anything in their lives. Will, Steve, Tim, and Kevin all realized their calling at an early age and have never stopped short …
Total Babes
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory Stage
Performance Time: 9:30pm
totalbabes.bandcamp.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Listen to Total Babes
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Total Babes are often noted more for their Cloud Nothings connection than their own pop-garage
endeavors, but the scene gurus over at Pitchfork say of their debut Swimming Through Sunlight:
“Despite the shimmering title…Swimming’s a darker album than you might think. Most of the 30
minutes consist of fast, jovial-sounding power chords, yes, but beneath the fuzz is a series of songs that
builds a narrative about deteriorating love.”
Dead Sweaters
Venue: Campbell’s Sweets Factory Stage
Performance Time: 6:30pm
deadsweaters.bandcamp.com| Facebook
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
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The Dead Sweaters are the venerable yet, wildly overlooked, Cleveland super-group made up of Jeanna (loves fury hats), Will (the world’s last known living yeti), Antoine (who you know/ought to know from The Secret Soul Club) and Joe (human enthusiast). This garage-rock band has been putting out their dance-able pop ballads to crowds all over Cleveland since spring 2012. No venue seems to limit this band’s musical range; Now That’s Class to the Beachland Ballroom, The Grog Shop to the Ohio City Masionic Temple. They have played on your best friend’s sofa and in classy restaurants. Now, they perform for you, outside, in the freezing cold. It’s a good thing, enjoy it! Dance a little bit, or a lot – get crazy – and forget that you have …
The Floorwalkers
Venue: BRITE Stage
Performance Time: 9:00pm
thefloorwalkers.com| Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Columbus, OH
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Growing up together in the same Cleveland, OH suburb, The Floorwalkers played little league baseball together as children. Then in high school, they began playing music together from 2000-04. Part of the band moved to Columbus, OH and released a self titled acoustic EP in ’05. As a three piece, the band traveled the Midwest in support of their EP. By 2007, the whole band had relocated to Columbus.
While working on a debut full length album, they managed to garner a strong Midwest following. In November 2010 they released their first full length “The Natural Road.” Since then, they have toured nationally, and remain completely independent. In a time when the music industry is reeling, The Floorwalkers have embraced the changes and built a truly grassroots following.
Teen
Venue: Loren Naji Gallery 1
Performance Time: 10:30pm
teen1.bandcamp.com | Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Chicago, IL
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Since 2002, TEEN’s lead singer/songwriter, Teeny Lieberson, has been playing in bands around New York City, eventually becoming the keyboard player for the indie-psych band Here We Go Magic in 2008. During a hiatus from the band in the winter of 2009, Teeny wrote a five-song EP Little Doods, the foundation of TEEN’s full-length, In Limbo. Working with many of the songs written that winter with the desire to expand the sound from four-track/lo-fi to a fully flushed out sound, Teeny recruited her sisters, Lizzie and Katherine, along with long- time friend, Jane Herships and best friend since childhood, Maia Ibar, to become members of TEEN.
TEEN spent the summer of 2011 recording In Limbo in Maia’s family barn in rural Connecticut, engineered by Jen Turner of Here …
Music + Art Spotlight: Melissa Olson
Sitting in a busy coffee shop nestled below Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights, Melissa Olson is tall and bright-eyed with blonde hair that falls past her shoulders. Even three months after returning to Ohio, she is in essence everything the Beach Boys meant when they said they wish they all could be California girls. Because that’s how we perceive the sun-streaked coastlines personified. And we’ve become so accustomed to the American tales of our own coordinates on the map that sometimes we have to leave first to learn how to truly tell them.
Melissa Olson was in the middle of what would be a three year stint in Fresno, California when a friend passed her a copy of Alternative Press Magazine and, pointing at a picture of the beloved Kent four-piece Annabel, asked if she’d ever heard of this band. Her …
Lucy Stone
Venue: BRITE Stage
Performance Time: 5:00pm
https://lucystone.bandpage.com/ | Facebook
Listen to Lucy Stone
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Though you may be hearing her name for the first time, Lucy Stone has a voice that’s hard to forget. A Philadelphia native, the 20 year-old songstress has already dedicated herself to more projects than a person has fingers. Lucy has opened for national acts such as The Dirty Projectors, Cymbals Eat Guitars, B.o.B and Major Lazer. Most recently the young college student has just finished working with multi-platinum recording artist Rusted Root on their new album entitled “The Movement”.
Transitioning from a multi-band repertoire to her newly formed solo project, Lucy released her first EP, “Would You?” in late April. Showcasing a unique lyrical style, the songs are intricately crafted, and were recorded in West Philadelphia with her band consisting of Brandon Bost, Sean Donaghy, Isaac …
Bethesda
Venue: The Loren Naji Gallery 2
Performance Time: 11:15pm
www.bethesdaband.com | Facebook | Twitter
Hometown: Kent, OH
Listen to Bethesda
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Bethesda’s 2012 has been a busy year with performances at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 201 2, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum’s Summer in the City Series with Sharon Van Etten, RedGorilla Music Festival at SXSW 2012, MidPoint Music Festival 2012, and more. Meanwhile, Bethesda has been working on their next fan-funded full-length album set to be released in 2013.After releasing their 2011 EP, “Dreamtiger & Other Tails,” Bethesda has been slated for thirty plus shows on the Discovery Network as well as fourteen shows on Showtime, MTV, Oxygen, Bravo!, VH1, and E! Their music can be heard on over 200 independent and college radio stations nationwide, where they have reached “Top 5 Add” status …
Music Spotlight: Meridian
Max Stern is sitting in a buddy’s apartment somewhere around Brooklyn, New York and in less than 24 hours he’ll board a plane to Israel. It only seems appropriate for someone who penned an entire album themed around deconstructing the trials and constraints of distance that before he returns to Cleveland to record the follow-up to Signals Midwest’s acclaimed 2011 album, Latitudes and Longitudes, he’ll spend the next three weeks wandering around territory transatlantic.
There was a certain candidness about Signals’ sophomore effort, a frank storytelling that elevated the band to more than just reinventing the pop-punk wheel. And Stern approaches the year following its release with the same sense of devastating clarity, “2012 was a year of some incredible highs and some crushing lows.”
While the four-piece embarked on a nationwide tour and wrote their next album — one that …
48 Bands on 6 Stages
BRITE WINTER ANNOUNCES 48 BANDS ON 6 STAGES FOR 2013 FESTIVAL IN OHIO CITY
CLEVELAND, Ohio (January 10th, 2013) BRITE WINTER has announced that the annual free winter art and music festival will feature 48 bands on 6 stages on February 16th, 2013 in Ohio City’ Market District. The event is a showcase of up and coming Midwestern artists including The Floorwalkers, Teen, Total Babes, Wolf Ram Heart, Bethesda, Ashley Brooke Toussant and many more.
In 2012 the festival grew to feature 40 groups and drew 10,000 attendees for the single day art and music festival, sponsored by GE Lighting, The Cleveland Institute of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Some of the groups featured achieved further critical acclaim later in the year such as Bad Veins, and Lighthouse and The Whaler.
In 2013 more than 1100 groups submitted bids to …
Brite Winter goes SoLo
CLEVELAND, Ohio (January 10th, 2012) BRITE WINTER will return to Ohio City’s Market District on February 16th 2013 with a continued focus on art and music to warm the winter spirit. The festival, now in its 4th year, is a growing showcase of some of Ohio’s best artistic talent along with up and coming artists from across the midwest. In 2012 the festival grew to an unprecedented 10,000 attendees showcasing 15 art installations and 40 acts across 8 stages. The BRITE WINTERl steering committee plans to continue the vision in 2013 by expansion of the programming South of Lorain Avenue or ‘SoLo’ and supporting the growth of the free festival via more sponsors and partners.
The guiding idea of BRITE WINTER is to explore and play outside in the wintertime therefore the festival has always featured an outdoor stage for bands …
Winter Fun: Go play in the snow
Go play in the snow. Even if it’s not the mother-nature kind.
An unseasonably warm winter with scattered snow storms at best followed by rain at worst has left many wondering if winter-time sports are passing us by in Northeast Ohio. Not so, say local opportunists.
“I’d of course rather just have a cold, snowy season,” said avid Ohio skier Morgan Mecaskey of Cleveland Heights.
But cold and snowy or not, she’s been hitting the slopes anyway.
“Last Friday it was amazing,” she said of her recent venture to Boston Mills Ski Resort in Peninsula.“It was cold and it snowed. They had a bunch of jumps built up and were in the process of making moguls on the hills.”
But regardless of the weather, “You can still have an enjoyable and worthwhile experience,” on the slopes she said, so long as there is a good …
2012 Release
DOWNLOAD Files > Press Release Posters Pictures
BRITE WINTER: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 5-10pm Ohio City (W26th and Bridge Ave)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BRITE WINTER: Cleveland’s Third Annual Winter, Art, and Music Celebration:
The community-organized BRITE WINTER festival takes place at West 26th and Bridge Avenue, in Ohio City, on Saturday February 18th from 5-10pm. Entrance is free and open to the public.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (January 25th, 2012) For three years running, BRITE WINTER has gathered members of the Cleveland Arts community to create a glowing outdoor celebration of music, art, fire and light. The festival is free to the public, supported by in kind and cash donations from corporate sponsors, university student groups, and individuals who agree with the simple mission of celebrating winter. In 2012, the volunteer steering committee has chosen a new site in the Ohio City neighborhood, just west …
Winter Fun: Indians Snow Days
It’s the final week to get your snow-on Tribe-style at Progressive Field. The popular Snow Days event will slide to an end January 16.
Get there before it ends to experience unlimited tubing in Downtown Cleveland (need I say that again? Tubing in Downtown Cleveland!) and other wintry activities.
“I had a blast,” said Danielle Haubert of East Lake, who attended Snow Days for the first time last week on a work outing.
“It was just fun. There was ice-skating and tubing and a hockey game going on while we were there. There were a good amount of people and they even had a bar area.”
“I had never been ice-skating before this,” she said. “And I only fell down once!”
The main attraction is a 8-lane tubing hill named “The Batterhorn” that starts from a platform behind the left-field wall and ends …
2012 Music Venues
For those of you who are new to Brite Winter, in the past, all of the bands have played outside during the festival. We’re going to have a stage outside again, we’ll get heaters, build fires, we’ll be fine. We’ll be more than fine. This year we’re doing something new though, including indoor venues through out the neighborhood… sometimes in irregular places.
There will be an outdoor stage behind old angle tavern, near the corner of West 26th and Bridge Ave. You can also expect to see bands at:
Joy Machines Bike Shop
Garage Bar
Bon Bon Bake Shop
Touch Supper Club
The Great Lakes Brewing Company
If additional venues are added over the next few weeks, you can see them listed under Brite Winter Venues. Expect to see the music lineups for these 6 venues very soon.
Winter Fun: SantaCon 2011
Santa Claus is coming to town a bit early this year and bringing 99+ of his friends in red with him. Saturday, December 17 the event SantaCon will unleash more than 100 merry Ho, Ho, Ho-sters dressed in red on Ohio City for a holiday tour de beer and spirits! This herd of Santas is governed by four straightforward rules:
Be jolly (an obvious one for the over-indulgent, merry-making big guy).
Get more Santas—The more the merrier!
Dress in red—A costume is a must although it doesn’t matter if your red suit is the real deal, or pajamas plastered in cotton balls and marshmallows.
Bad Santas need not apply—Those up for a lump of coal in their stocking can go ahead and stay home.
According to Aaron Erb, whose official SantaCon title is “Santa #1,” there are more than 250 cities around the world that …
3 Big Changes in 2012
Some things change, some things stay the same. We’ve been hard at work the last couple months to connect great ideas to make this year very special. If you’ve been watching the pages of this site go up, you already know the details about what we’re changing… there is a lot, but in general there are 3 big changes to Brite Winter Festival, one of them is listed at the top of the page. You can’t miss it.
1.) Moving to Ohio City.
Brite Winter Festival, began as a pop-up city event, which had the goal of gathering people in under used spaces, (like Hart Crane Memorial Park) encouraging them to explore and see new opportunity. As the festival grows and we welcome a larger and broader audience to join us, our focus is still to continue encouraging exploration but we also …
Why is Winter So Tough?
I was down at Winterfest this past weekend, doing a little Christmas shopping, and seeing the abundance of people and lights in public square. The whole scene was gorgeous. A couple pints of Christmas Ale on East 4th, a huge stage and people singing and dancing in holiday spirit, food trucks lining either side of Ontario, Jonathan sawyer serving cider out front of noodle cat… best of all, It was Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was clear skies in the mid 50’s. It made me think, “Why is winter so tough?”
Last year we had put on the second Brite WInter Festival at Hart Crane memorial park in the flats, for months ahead of the festival I was expecting snow and dreaming of epic amounts of icy playful chaos. It didn’t snow, it was cold but it just as easily could …
2012 Site Maintenance
If you’ve visited BRITEWINTERCLEVELAND.COM over the past few days you should have noticed extreme changes to the content as we’re making updates for the 2012 festival in real time. It hasn’t been pretty, and even worse, we haven’t disclosed any additional information about what new things Brite Winter will be bringing to battle the coming cold front.
As always, we have no idea what this 2011-2012 winter will have in store for us, but we do know it will be exciting. We will be finishing up all of the current updates to the site and making our first public announcements about this year’s festival this week. Expect to find out Where the festival will be located and Who has already pledged support as a sponsor or community partner. Additional info will also be available for sponsors, volunteers, musicians and artists, just …
Brite Winter 2010
Brite Winter 2010, at Hart Crane Memorial Park in the Flats.
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
Well, it’s 2011, and we’re entering the final stages of Brite Winter planning. Here are the updates.
Music and Sponsors and Partners – oh, my!
Hello, Cleveland!
Update on all things Brite…
Music: OThe Very Knees, Living Stereo, Ultimate Donny
Sponsorships: Alchemy Club, Case’s Graduate Student Senate, and Graduate Professional Council
Partners: Thank you to Ohio City Near West Development, our fiscal agent; and Ohio Canal Corridor and the Cleveland Rowing Foundation, our hosts.
