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“When there’s a lot of hateful rhetoric, it’s very difficult for practitioners, it’s very, very difficult for clients, people are afraid to come forward for anything,” she said. “We need to show what’s wrong with our system and how challenging it is, but we need to talk about it in a way that’s going to create actual positive change and smarter policies. I don’t think this kind of a message does that.” CityBeat reached out to Landsman for comment on his vote on Res. 957. In an emailed statement, Landsman distanced himself from the language used by the Republican authors of the bill. Landsman’s announcement of his

NEWS

“ Congressman Greg Landsman was one of 14 Democrats who voted to denounce President Joe Biden's border policy. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY LANDSMAN CAMPAIGN

CityBeat Asks Greg Landsman Why He Voted With Republicans on Border Policy Bill

Cincinnati’s Immigrant and Refugee Law Center said the language used in the bill makes migrants less safe. BY M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

ongressman Greg Landsman was one of fourteen Democrats in the House of Representatives who voted alongside Republicans to denounce President Joe Biden’s border policy. Resolution 957, which was passed 225-187 on Jan. 17, urges Biden to “end his administration’s open-borders policies,” according to the bill’s text. While the bill doesn’t change immigration law and only sends a message to the Biden administration, immigration advocates tell CityBeat the bill’s language reinforces harmful biases against migrants, including a line in the bill that reads, “Whereas, during the Biden administration, more than 1.7 million known illegal alien ‘gotaways’ have successfully evaded U.S. Border Patrol along the southwest border.” “We never call anybody illegal, we certainly don’t call anybody aliens, these are people,” said Julie Leftwich,

executive director of Cincinnati’s Immigrant and Refugee Law Center. “The terminology and the talking about ‘gotaways’, it’s just very, very negative and derogatory.” Cincinnati’s Immigrant and Refugee Law Center provides free legal services to low-income immigrant and refugee families in Greater Cincinnati, including assistance with citizenship applications, asylum claims, family-based petitions and more. Leftwich said many people don’t realize just how many migrant families are living and working in the Cincinnati area. “We have clients from well over 80 different countries, which most people are surprised to know that there is even that much diversity in Cincinnati,” she said. “Our office was closed for the holidays and within a day after we reopened there was something like 10 completely new calls from people who had recently arrived in the United States.”

While the number of immigrants crossing the southern border is up, so are deportation numbers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported more than 142,000 immigrants in fiscal year 2023, nearly double 2022’s numbers, according to the agency’s annual report published in December. Nearly 18,000 of those deported were parents and children traveling together. By contrast, the Trump administration deported 14,400 immigrants in fiscal year 2020. While the majority Republicanbacked resolution alleges the Biden administration’s “lax immigration enforcement policies have resulted in numerous violent criminal aliens being released into United States communities,” it doesn’t enact anything beyond sending a message to the President. Still, Leftwich said lawmakers signing their names under derogatory language about migrants makes them less safe.

“Folks have been pushing for comprehensive immigration reform for years, and we have to get it done. The Administration could do more, such as building on last year’s increase in border personnel and pushing on authorities in Mexico to provide even more enforcement. We saw just last week that the latter made a difference. That said, the resolution was poorly worded and arguably just a “gotcha” bill. I just don’t play those games, and certainly won’t allow them to suggest I’m for an open border. Everyone knows that’s absurd, but they use these votes to twist the truth. It’s not productive. The fact is that the heavy lifting is on Congress. Everyone knows Congress and the Speaker must act. Real policy and funding solutions. The resolution does not let them off the hook. The American people are watching, and they want action. There is a bipartisan agreement on the border emerging in the Senate. Like the bipartisan agreement on the budget, this will have the votes in the House. The fact is, there is a bipartisan majority in the House. We just need the Speaker to join us, join the White House, and get this and the budget done. I’m also submitting a resolution calling on Congress to fully fund border patrol, fully fund immigration judges and personnel, and fully fund the border technology needs. Everyone that supported yesterday’s resolution should support ours, and they all should support the bipartisan border agreement emerging from the Senate,” Landsman wrote to CityBeat. newest resolution came soon after providing CityBeat with a statement on Res. 957. CityBeat asked Leftwich what she would tell Landsman and other members of Congress to focus on as their top priority in immigration policy reform. “A humane system,” she said. “There are other countries that have much different processes for people that come to their borders. At least for the time period that people are in the country, whether they get to stay there or not, they are treated well. They’re allowed to work. They’re allowed to contribute.”

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What We Know About the Dismembered Jane Doe Found in North Fairmount BY M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

dismembered head found earlier in January is a confirmed match to the torso of a woman found in North Fairmount in November, Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco announced during a Jan. 11 press conference. The coroner and Cincinnati Police still don’t know the identity of the woman who was found dismembered in the woods off Baltimore Avenue near Beekman Street on Nov. 5, but forensic investigators are starting to know more about the Jane Doe since her head was found nearly two months later.

BY A I DA N M A H O N E Y

What we know While investigators now have a positive match between the head and the torso, the possible age range of the victim has widened. “We have been consulting with a forensic anthropologist and a forensic odontologist since the head was discovered,” Sammarco told reporters. “There’s a little bit of a debate over her possible age. We’re increasing the age group that we’re looking for from late 20s, early 30s to maybe early 50s, although I still feel like she’s probably on the younger end.” Other descriptions of the victim first provided in November are unchanged: She is believed to be a Black woman, about 5 feet tall and weighing around 120 pounds. Sammarco said the woman likely sustained at least one pregnancy in her lifetime, possibly in the past three years. Her time of death is still estimated to be sometime during the evening on Nov. 3 or the following morning. Other new details include confirmation that additional items “related to body parts” have been recovered from the area and that some body parts are still missing, but Sammarco declined to offer specifics. Sammarco said her office has a “pretty good idea” of the cause of death, but said she won’t share that information with the public until more testing is done. “I think it will be critical to discovering who this might be,” she said. With still no fingerprints, tattoos or scars to help identify the victim, Sammarco noted the victim’s health appeared to be good prior to her death. “She seemed like someone who had been taking care of herself,” she said. “As far as physical condition of the

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Cincinnati Protestors Hold Solidarity Rally with D.C.’s ProPalestine March

Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco addresses reporters during a Jan. 11 press conference about a dismembered woman found in North Fairmount. P H OTO : M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

body, we felt that she was in very good health.”

How DNA is being used in the investigation While the coroner’s office has had the victim’s DNA since her remains were discovered, Sammarco said finding a match isn’t as simple as one might think. “The DNA database basically has approximately 10 million people in it right now. We have over 400 million people in the United States alone,” she said. “The information is put in and then [as DNA is processed from other cases], if something hits in a similarity or a match, it’ll pop up.” The victim in this case does not have a DNA match with any data in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (COTIS), but Sammarco said additional genealogy resources are still being tapped to widen the search.

Why it took two months to find the head Cincinnati Police Captain Stephen Saunders said CPD is continuing the investigation in collaboration with Cincinnati’s FBI office, who were the ones to discover the missing head on Jan. 3. Saunders said the head was located “a couple blocks away” from where the

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torso was found by a passerby on Nov. 5, but declined to be more specific about the location. Sammarco addressed a question about why it took two months to find the nearby head. “The head was found one more street beyond where the initial search widening had stopped,” she said. “The plan was always to go back and continue to widen the search, along with CPD and FBI and the Buckeye Search and Rescue and the other law enforcement partners, the timing was such that, you know, with the holidays and the weather, just to try and get the whole team out there again was a little difficult, and that’s why there was some time in between when we were trying to figure out where to widen the search.” Despite having decomposed outside for two months, Sammarco said the head was in good enough condition to get “a lot of information.” She said CT images will be provided to a forensic artist to create a digital mock-up of her face. “Hopefully in the next few weeks we’ll have maybe a digital image of a woman that we could share with you that somebody would be looking for,” Sammarco said. Investigators are encouraging anyone with information related to this case to contact CrimeStoppers at 513-352-3040.

rotestors braved freezing temperatures on Jan. 13 to gather in Ziegler Park as part of the Solidarity Rally for Palestine demonstration, which was held as a sister protest for the pro-Palestine march happening in D.C. that same day. The rally was organized by the Cincinnati Socialists group, who have continually advocated for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. At the rally, the group shared demands they made to Cincinnati City Council on Nov. 29 and Dec. 13, which include replacing the definition of antisemitism that was adopted by city council in March of 2023 — specifically, a portion that defines antisemitism as “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” “Our organization demands that Cincinnati City Council repeal its adoption of the so-called [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, and replace it with the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism of 2020,” said Dr. Franklin Ridgeway, an adjunct professor at both the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, and a member of the Cincinnati Socialists. Ridgeway said that portions of the IHRA definition are historically inaccurate and rejected by many experts, including Jewish and Israeli experts in the history of the Jewish diaspora, the second World War, and European social and religious history. “Zionists have promoted the IHRA definition worldwide, from college campuses to municipal governments, providing a pretext for subsequently accusing supporters of Palestinian liberation of antisemitism,” Ridgeway added. The Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center at the Cincinnati Museum Center offered free admission to the museum throughout the month of January to combat rising antisemitism seen both locally and across the U.S. At a Jan. 3 press conference announcing the initiative, Congressman Greg Landsman said he’s seen antisemitic themes at protests in support of Palestine — specifically those protests that have labeled Israel’s attacks on Gaza as acts of genocide.

“That is the kind of rhetoric that you see on social media, that you hear during protests,” Landsman said at the Jan. 3 press conference. “The war is awful, though in order to call it genocide or ethnic cleansing, requires a belief in a conspiracy that Jews represent the worst of humanity, of society.” Paul Vine, an organizer with Cincinnati Socialists, told CityBeat that the criticism is focused squarely on the state of Israel, not Judaism. “We are not attacking Jewish people because of their faith or their identity, we are attacking the state project of Israel and Zionist project that is building these settlements in the lands against what was previously agreed,” he said. “You can look at the agreements going back to 1948 and 1967 of what is agreed upon, and you can see Israel has consistently stepped over the line and continued to build settlements where they said they would not, and then led the attacks against any sort of backlash or resistance from the Palestinian people.” The Gaza Ministry of Health has reported the death toll in Gaza is approaching 24,000, or about 1 in every 100 Gazans. The attacks on Gaza from Israel following the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas militants have driven around 85% of the territory’s

The Solidarity Rally for Palestine was held at Ziegler Park on Jan. 13, 2023. P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

2.3 million residents from their homes and pushed civilians, many women and children, into starvation. On Jan. 14, the White House said it is “the right time” for Israel to scale back its attacks in the Gaza Strip. With more than 6,000 miles separating Cincinnati from Gaza, Vine told

CityBeat it can be hard for people to understand how the war relates to them, but he sees a connection. “We want to come out and draw the connection between what is happening there with people having their homes seized from them and how that connects to what we’ve seen here in

the city of Cincinnati,” he said. “The West End being redeveloped, the expansion of the ongoing gentrification in Avondale — trying to make people understand that these things are connected. If we don’t stand up for the people in Palestine, how can we stand up when these issues impact us?”

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As Veto Override Heads to State Senate, Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center Says it Will Comply With State Law BY M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

passage of Issue 1. CityBeat reached out to Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center to ask how the veto override will impact its Transgender Health Clinic, but the hospital declined to comment, instead saying: “Cincinnati Children’s complies with Ohio law.”

Administrative rules

On Jan. 5, the DeWine administration released two administrative rules and an executive order restricting gender-affirming care for Ohioans. P H OTO : K A RO L I N A G R A B OW S K A , P E X E LS

ocal families and organizations are still processing the recent news out of Columbus that threatens young Ohioans’ right to access gender-affirming care in the state. On Jan. 10, the Ohio House voted 65-28 to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto on House Bill 68, a bill that would outlaw gender-affirming care for minors in the state. The vote sends HB 68 to the Ohio Senate where it will likely get the 20 votes needed to put the law into effect. The next Senate session is Jan. 24. DeWine told reporters on Jan. 11 that he believes Republicans voted to override his veto because of the portion of HB 68 that bars transgender athletes from playing women’s sports at schools and universities in the state. “The sports issue affects only a minute number of people,” DeWine said. “It was not the reason that I vetoed the bill. So I think, by combining those two, a lot of members, at least members I talked to this weekend, had latched on to the issue of sports they felt very strongly about.” Should HB 68 go into effect, which is almost guaranteed, transgender minors in the state won’t be able to start medical care related to their transition, but those who are already receiving treatment could continue, according to the bill’s language. TransOhio, a trans rights advocacy

organization, addressed trans Ohioans directly on social media following the veto override: “Trans people have always been and will always be here. You have never and will never need the government’s permission to be trans. You don’t need to tell the government you are trans. Connect with other trans people, you’re not alone and we’re going to deal with this together,” the organization said on Instagram.

Gender-affirming care in practice Gender-affirming care is an umbrella of evidence-based mental health and medical services that helps a person transition from their gender assigned at birth to the gender by which they want to be known. For children and teens, gender-affirming care focuses on mental health therapy and sometimes hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This can come in the form of puberty blockers, a medicine that delays the start of puberty, or hormones, which are used to change an individual’s body to be more consistent with their gender identity. CityBeat interviewed Larkin Overton and his family in September about the possibility of lawmakers banning gender-affirming care. CityBeat checked in with Larkin’s dad, Andy Overton, after news of the veto override broke.

“He has enough T to last until he’s 18, then at that point I think he’s good. As for the younger kids, they’re fucked,” he told CityBeat. “T” refers to testosterone, the hormone Larkin was approved to begin self-administering after extensive mental health therapy, consultations between his parents and doctors and years of socially-supported transition changes. Andy is frustrated that the legislature is ignoring not only medical science, but the will of voters. “The people voted to protect trans youth,” he said. “Then, GOP tries to overturn it. Then, somewhat surprisingly, DeWine vetoed it. And now we’re back to the GOP messing with children’s lives again. Is this not a democracy? It should have been the end of it when the polls closed.” Andy is referring to Issue 1, the pro-choice amendment to the state’s constitution which Ohioans overwhelmingly passed in November. While the bill did not reference gender-affirming care, many opponents interpreted Issue 1 as potentially limiting the rights of parents to decide whether or not their child could receive gender-affirming care based on the amendment language, which focused on an “individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment.” So far, it doesn’t appear that anyone is challenging HB 68 based on the

There could be more restrictions on gender-affirming care for all Ohioans, not just children. After DeWine announced his veto on HB 68, he proposed a set of new postveto administrative rules that restrict healthcare options for transgender Ohioans as a concession to his fellow Republicans. According to the Buckeye Flame, these rules would be “the harshest and most restrictive in the United States for transgender adults seeking healthcare.” For adults, the rules would: Restrict the ability of hospitals and clinics to diagnose gender dysphoria in transgender adults. Require healthcare providers to report all transgender patients’ “de-identified” medical information to the state of Ohio, including any diagnosis of gender dysphoria and “any medical or surgical service (including physician services, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, or prescription drugs or hormones).” Require transgender adults to obtain a detailed care plan and medical consent from a psychiatrist, an endocrinologist and a bioethicist before the “prescription, initiation or provision of treatment for a gender-related conditions” can take place, including access to HRT. Require transgender adults under the age of 21 to “receive a comprehensive mental health evaluation” over the course of “not less than six months” in order to access gender-affirming healthcare. The Transgender Advocacy Council (TAC), a Greater Cincinnati-based nonprofit that serves as an umbrella organization for individuals and grassroots transgender support organizations, is asking people to reach out to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) with complaints over the administrative rules. “This would devastate our trans youth and adults, put an increased burden on providers and most importantly, unnecessarily cause harm to the lives of transgender people,” said Jay VanLandingham, TAC board president. “We ask that people reach out directly to ODH by Jan. 19 to issue grievances and complaints. Meanwhile, TAC will continue to provide support, referrals and resources to the community while also offering our emergency funds to local trans folx in need.” DeWine’s proposed rules would take effect once approved by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

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How Cincinnati’s everchanging music landscape — past and present — is shaped by independent record labels BY KATIE GRIFFITH

Cincinnati’s music landscape has always been diverse and lively.

Various local musicians, singers, venues, recording studios, record labels and record stores among other cogs of the music industry have cultivated a rich music scene that impacts culture on local, national and international levels. Have you ever listened to the Black Pumas, the Monophonics or seen a show at a local venue like DSGN CLLCTV or MOTR Pub? Thumbed through the vinyl collection at Torn Light Records or found a zine written by a local artist among the store’s variety of books? Have you ever seen a local band play live and discover an out-of-town act on the bill? Craved a re-issue of an album from another era that touches you with nostalgia? Music culture is defined by these experiences, but who’s responsible for their curation? Cincinnati is home to record labels illustrative of these multifaceted operations, four of which embody the scope of what it takes to successfully run a label while representing different outlooks on management styles and today’s music industry: Colemine Records, Torn Light Records, Feel It Records and Whited Sepulchre Records.

THE MAJOR PLAYERS

Colemine Records in Loveland keeps soul alive, its subsidiary label signed the Grammy-nominated Black Pumas in 2018 before the band signed with their current affiliation, ATO Records. Colemine’s releases can be found in record stores across the nation. Ryan Hall, owner of Whited Sepulchre Records, books handfuls of shows per month at local venues and specializes in discovering experimental music. Feel It Records owner Sam Richardson relocated his business to Cincinnati two years ago. As the label operator and guitarist for local rock band BEEF, Richardson has a hand in bringing out-of-town musicians from the label and beyond to local venues. Colemine Records’ affiliated store Plaid Room Records

is stocked with hand-picked merchandise, not unlike Torn Light Records, which also originated in Cincinnati. Torn Light’s label and storefront specialized in bringing live music and carefully curated, sometimes rare records to town for 10 years until its last day in Cincinnati on Jan. 13. The operation is relocating to Chicago. The Queen City has fostered legends that span generations, like James Brown, Bootsy Collins, The National, Doris Day, The Deele, The Isley Brothers, Over the Rhine, Foxy Shazam, Nick Lachey and Otis Williams and the Charms. Cincinnati’s brimming music scene is partly molded by what could be considered the unsung heroes of the music industry: independent record labels. “I think [Cincinnati] is a fucking awesome place to run stuff,” Terry Cole, co-owner of Colemine Records, tells CityBeat. “And there’s a super rich history. When people come from out of town and go to all the record stores in Cincinnati, they’re blown away. I’ve been to hundreds of record stores around the country and I don’t think there are any other markets that can hold a candle to Cincinnati. You have two stores in Cincinnati that have all the major label accounts, that’s us (Colemine) and Shake It Records. We’re in Loveland, Ohio, making solo music for the most part, and nobody [in the industry] gives a shit. It’s really nice. It allows us to operate truly, honestly and independently, independent of outside influence.” In its simplest form – independent or not – the job of a record label is to promote and sell an artist’s music, develop artists and coordinate the steps it takes to present a body of work in final form. Industry giants with label-group funding like Atlantic Records or Interscope Records dictate what’s on the radio. Major labels are big business; they control

Sam Richardson of Feel It Records with some of the label’s releases. P H O T O : K AT I E G R I F F I T H

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trending songs and artists and often function by promoting art that will make money, while indie labels are founded on a labor of love basis. Major labels might tell the masses what to listen to, but indie labels source movements by discovering fresh sounds, novel artists and igniting grassroots interest. To be successful, indie labels typically have to branch out beyond the simple format of representing and promoting an artist. Along with curating a cohesive collection of music and establishing a brand for themselves, independent labels often offer services like marketing, studio recording, album artwork, distribution, mastering and mixing tracks for various formats, public relations and artist touring details. These independent labels function based on their owners’ and employees’ specific tastes and business models; they work with artists intimately and carefully handle the music while deciding the best route for getting it in front of the right listener. Each label has its own flavor, producing music from experimental to hip-hop and obscure noise to mainstream soul and punk to rock and roll, accounting for countless genres in between. “I think there are some [artists] that genuinely just want to be part of a family-style operation where things are a little more natural, but you still get that like, infrastructure of working with a label that understands how to get your music out there, how to tastefully promote it,” Richardson of Feel It Records says. “I think a lot of people just want to focus on being a songwriter or touring, and just being creative. Because if you’re going to be a full time musician, you’d be hard pressed to have the time to also do the label side of it.” Just because the labels are based in Cincinnati doesn’t mean they only represent local talent, and it also doesn’t mean they originated here or will stay forever. Longtime Cincinnati record store and label Torn Light Records – known for a DIY ethos and storefront in Clifton – announced in November that the business is relocating to Chicago. Releases from each of the labels’ catalogs have reached audiences nationally, if not internationally. A lot of their successes come from mutual support and shared resources like warehouse space, distribution avenues and marketing. Label owners tell CityBeat that the only competition is friendly and agree that having an abundance of labels and stores only adds to Cincinnati’s already dynamic music culture. This month, Richardson announced that Feel It Records will be moving into Torn Light’s Ludlow Avenue storefront when owners Alex York and Dan Buckley make their move to Chicago. Since Torn Light opened a storefront 10 years ago, it has thrived in a few locations in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. York tells CityBeat that after all those years of experience, he and Buckley were very selective and deliberate about choosing Chicago. Their decision to leave is about expanding horizons, and was not based on anything that Cincinnati’s lacking, they say. “Alex and I lived in Cincinnati or around the area for basically our whole lives. And we look at [the move] as just, let’s go for it,” Buckley says. “The reason is because we want to. We want to expand our audience, we want to expand our own lives. It’s not that Cincinnati doesn’t have a ton to offer, but [Chicago] is a bigger city, it’s another step in the trajectory of our lives. There’s a lot of potential for us. And a change of scenery can always be good and we’re excited about the adventure of living somewhere else.” Richardson founded Feel It in Richmond, Va. in 2010. In 2022 he relocated his business and somewhere

Alex York and Dan Buckley of Torn Light Records in front of their Clifton storefront, which closed Jan. 13. P H O T O : K AT I E G R I F F I T H

around 12,000 records, he says, to Cincinnati. Since then, Richardson has been running the show from his house. Feel It Records will begin operations in Clifton when the storefront opens in the spring. Richardson tells CityBeat that he’s looking forward to the future, having in-store shows, curating a music selection that patrons can build a collection out of and making it a welcoming environment. “A lot of people are going to miss [Torn Light] but there will be lots of cool, new stuff for them. “For the new store, I’m going to make some changes to the interior and make the space my own,” Richardson says. “I’m looking at building a small stage in there because [Torn Light] had some awesome in-stores. I want to make a spot for people to play, bands on the label that are coming through town will be perfect for that. I just want to make it a comfortable place where you can kind of find yourself enjoying stuff and not just feeling like you’re there to consume.”

WHY CINCINNATI?

Indie record labels from Cincinnati’s past like King Records (1943-1971), Jewel Records (1961-1990s) and Fraternity Records (1954-1980s) sparked a musical movement decades ago that still lingers today. The most prominent of the few, King Records, was founded in 1943 in the present-day neighborhood of Evanston. The label meshed genres like funk, soul, R&B and rock and roll while producing artists like Bootsy Collins and James Brown. King Records was also the first label in the industry to streamline the record-making process, enabling everything from recording to record pressing under one roof. Music made in Cincinnati during King Records’ heyday influenced music around the world. Cole, who co-owns Colemine Records with his brother Bob, executes all aspects of the label and Plaid Room Records – the Loveland record store that operates below Colemine’s headquarters – with heart and soul, and a similar, complex model of having a hand in every aspect of the record-making process. “I do absolutely like to think that we are carrying the

torch for King Records,” Cole tells CityBeat. “I mean, at this point [Colemine Records is] a national brand. If you go into any record store they’re gonna have our records, they’re gonna know who we are, they’re gonna know our artists. I very much like to think that we are trying to carry the torch of the King R&B side of things.” The prevalent path forged by artists and labels born in Cincinnati allowed a natural progression of local music-related entertainment to transpire like Scribble Jam, one of the largest hip-hop music festivals in the world that started in the ’90s and ended in the early 2000s, or the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, which was established in 2023 and honors Black artists whose careers began here. Cincinnati has also hosted renowned festivals like Bunbury Music Festival, the Buckle Up Music Festival, MidPoint Music Festival, the National’s Homecoming Festival and Cincinnati Music Festival. In 2022, Hall of Whited Sepulchre Records (WSR) created an inaugural music festival in Northside. The two-day WSR Fest hosted local acts from the label at the Hexagon House and Urban Artifact. Hall says he’s planning for another WSR Fest installment this year. Cole also tells CityBeat that he’s interested in creating a Colemine-branded festival in the future. “I’m planning on doing [WSR Fest] in 2024,” Hall tells CityBeat. “I’m going to be doing it a lot differently than last year. Last year the music festival really just felt like an excuse to hang out with my friends. I’m hoping to expand that a lot more in 2024. I’m going after a couple of grants to hopefully make it possible. The majority of it will be artists that I put out on my label. And I want to have it be an experimental music festival, where we’re really bringing a lot of artists who would never play in Cincinnati for any other reason.” Hall is also a publicist for Clandestine Label Services, which has led him to promote Cincinnati musicians like Mol Sullivan and In The Pines. Hall says that Cincinnati is in a “really good place” music-wise. There are plenty of outlets for live shows and an impressive amount of young people taking

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Ryan Hall of Whited Sepulchre Records in his home office, where he runs the label.

Terry Cole of Colemine Records.

P H O T O : K AT I E G R I F F I T H

P H OTO : M IT C H L AG ROW

interest in the industry and contributing to it. Hall tells CityBeat that he’s excited for the resurgence of harsh noise and the viability of avant garde, experimental and ambient work in Cincinnati, which aligns with Whited Sepulchre’s brand. Hall emphasizes that he is “persistently optimistic” when it comes to the local music scene and that living in Cincinnati is important to his and the label’s identity. “I really identify with the DIY aspect of living in Cincinnati, recently I have been a lot more intentional about what shows I’m booking and branding them as Whited Sepulchre events,” Hall says. “The idea is, I want to bring really, really interesting music here. I think that’s one thing I bring to the Cincinnati music landscape, just the ability to book really cool shit. But then also use that as an opportunity to really champion local experimental music.” Whited Sepulchre and Torn Light collaborated to bring experimental artist Claire Rousay to Cincinnati last year. York and Buckley of Torn Light tell CityBeat that the outcome was pleasantly surprising and it attracted 60-plus people to DSGN CLLCTV to see an artist they might not have been introduced to otherwise. When an independent label puts on a well-attended, lucrative show for one of its artists, everyone wins. “It takes falling on a sword over and over and over again,” Buckley says. “Sam from Feel It and Ryan, we’ve become really good friends with them. Sam is giving Cincinnati’s music culture a shot to the arm. Feel It is a label that is widely loved and he’s releasing music not just from Cincinnati bands, bands that aren’t even from this country.” Those bands now come to Cincinnati, York adds, which interacts well with the music destination Cincinnati is becoming. Cincinnati is no longer a flyover city when it comes to big tours, and that seeps into indie culture as well. “The city is growing a lot,” Buckley says. “And I think something like Feel It is like really helping that and propelling it. It’s not just the same three bands playing three times a month. There’s more diversity and more people are listening to different things.”

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Feel It Records became a full time gig for Richardson just before he moved to Cincinnati in 2020. He tells CityBeat that he wasn’t expecting to relocate to Cincinnati, but self-employment mixed with Richmond’s high cost of living prompted a move. “The numbers weren’t working like they do in the Midwest,” Richardson says. In 2022, Richardson was on tour with one of Feel It Records’ bands, Sweeping Promises. Their final stop was MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine. After the show he met up with Cincinnati punk band Crime of Passing, who had just released their first album through Feel It. The band members showed him around town. It was Richardson’s first time in the Queen City when he decided to call it home. “We were following [Sweeping Promises] around on tour, checking out cities along the way,” Richardson says. “And this was our last stop before we went back home. Loved it. I felt a really cool, I don’t know if energy is the right word, but it seemed like the beginning of something cool was happening, whereas it felt like things were on the way out where I was. And then it just kind of all fell into place.” Richardson tells CityBeat that it’s gotten somewhat tiring “just being a label” so he’s looking forward to the storefront opening and breaking the ceaseless (but good for business) repetition of packing records into boxes and taking trips to the post office. He says being able to connect with customers in person when the store opens in the spring will be a good change of pace, along with the ability to physically participate in the sharing aspect of music. “It’s gotten tough to keep people interested, especially with 45s, like singles and EPs. And that was my gateway into doing this,” Richardson says. “That’s how probably 90 percent of punk labels or rock labels start, they put out a seven inch for their friend’s band. And you make 500 copies and hopefully sell them all. But now it’s like you put out an incredible single and maybe sell 200 copies. Maybe that’s just rock. Maybe you talk to Colemine and they are selling 1,000 copies of their 45s – they probably are. They are doing it on a completely

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different level, but still independent.” Cole, who started Colemine Records in 2007 in Oxford while studying Biology at Miami University, says that despite the inherent hardships of not living in a major music city, he wouldn’t choose to run the label anywhere else. And he’s running an exceptionally successful, “medium-sized” label. He credits Midwest charm, lower prices (comparatively) and less industry pressure as reasons to sustain the business in Cincinnati. Today, Cole employs six people at Colemine Records headquarters and a number of employees at Plaid Room Records. “The challenges I think are that you’re not in New York, Nashville, Chicago or L.A., you’re not where the industry is concentrated,” Cole tells CityBeat. “I think that does, maybe, delay growth or connections or networking that is possible if you were in those cities. Like when I go to New York or L.A., it’s wild how many people I meet and connections I’ll make very quickly in a very short amount of time because everyone’s there. But for me at least, I don’t want to live there. I like the Midwest. I like Ohio. I love Loveland. I love running the bike trail, my studio overlooks the woods. I feel like I’m not in a city.” He added that in music industry cities the cost of owning a building the size Colemine and Plaid Room inhabit would be out of the question financially. The label’s headquarters live in a large, second-floor space with multiple rooms designated for different tasks. Plaid Room Records is a decent-sized store below the headquarters with an open floor plan and wall-to-wall merchandise. The store offers a selection that would suit just about anyone. The label is a little more selective when it comes to what kind of music it features. Cole is interested in releasing music that aligns with his taste and the soul/ funk brand. Colemine also serves as a parent label to Karma Chief Records and Remined Records. Karma Chief’s inaugural artist was the Black Pumas in 2018. Colemine’s subsidiary labels Karma Chief and Remined allow Cole to discover and sign new bands

that don’t fit into Colemines’ strict funk/soul/jazz nature. All three labels operate out of the Cincinnati headquarters. Cole tells CityBeat that with big industry influence, the competition and constant pressure of “always needing to do more” wouldn’t allow him the luxury of being selective and careful when signing artists. Something about Cole’s taste seems to be universal considering the success of Colemine. “Why do I want to make organ trio records,” Cole asks. “Because I like them. And that’s the end of that.”

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS

Cole partners with Secretly Distribution, a powerful music company that supports indie labels and artists by distributing work digitally and physically. Secretly is one of the biggest indie distributor label groups in the country. They represent the likes of Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers and Khruangbin. Secretly is located in Bloomington, Ind., which makes transactions easier and more personal for Cole. He says the label group is made up of “very Midwestern people,” and their relationship “feels kin.” He said the partnership gave Colemine a North Star to follow to greater success. “Our distributors in Bloomington, that’s such an important partnership,” Cole tells CityBeat. “When we sign in new artists, we can go to Secretly with them and have the whole staff from Secretly meet this new artist that we just signed. We can have somebody make runs to Bloomington for big warehouse drop offs.” Indie labels have to figure out the distribution side of business for themselves, and if they don’t have the right connections or know the appropriate outlet, all the work done to produce an album is for naught. The right distribution partner strategically places music in the right stores, on the right websites and in a prime position on streaming platforms that creates a following for the artist. Hall runs Whited Sepulchre Records solo, but benefits from taking part in a label group with York and Buckley from Torn Light. Together, Whited Sepulchre, Torn Light Records and Happy Families (label affiliated with Torn Light), pool resources to empower their respective labels. “Essentially it was us talking through some of the challenges that we all have independently,” Hall says, “and pooling our resources and industry knowledge and connections into one place and leveraging that experience to get bigger distribution deals, to get better digital distribution deals or European distribution deals. It’s been a really great partnership.” Hall, Buckley and York employ Fantastique HQ, an online record distributor and fulfillment partner, for distribution and marketing needs. Hall says that even with Torn Light’s move, the label group will continue to share resources. Operating a record label in the age of streaming The age of streaming has changed the music industry indefinitely – whether or not the change is for the best is a tough topic to explore. Some industry affiliates are adapting and using streaming services to their benefit, while others are hoping there’s still a chance to push back. More than 574 million people from around the globe used the music streaming service Spotify in 2023, according to its website. A study by Polaris Market Research reported that the global music streaming market share was valued at $33.89 billion in 2022. The rate calculated by Polaris indicates an annual 13% growth for the industry. This sounds great until the point of contention arises

between artists and streaming services: profit. Top music streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music have recently been a hot button issue for the music industry, artists and consumers. The problem is that the privately-owned platforms aren’t sharing profits evenly with artists. While the exposure streaming services provide is invaluable, the question of how much an artist should be paid per stream lies unanswered. These streaming services aren’t really part of the conversation because they make the rules. According to the Indie Music Academy, Spotify pays about $0.006 to $0.0084 per stream to the rights holder, which can include the record label, producer, songwriter and the artist. Meaning sometimes that fraction of a penny is split again and again. Opinions among Cincinnati’s indie labels vary. Cole from Colemine agrees that streaming services contribute to success financially but Torn Light owners say the streaming industry needs to be rethought with more consideration for artists. Hall of Whited Sepulchre deems music streaming platforms a necessary evil and has seen “no tangible” benefit from it. “For the music industry, Spotify is a net negative,” Hall says. “For the average music listener, for some artists and for music discovery that could spin off to larger fan bases, record sales and other opportunities like booking bigger shows, streaming has kind of become the default metric that we use and has been really beneficial for some artists.” Hall says that fiscally speaking, as a business model, streaming doesn’t work for artists or labels and profits are marginal unless you release a big hit. Typically, indie record labels aren’t born with monetary interests leading the effort, but they still need to survive. Hall says record sales alone usually can’t fund entire operations, which is why indie labels so often function as multiple music management companies. The Indie Music Academy calls streaming a game changer for independent artists, and says it can only increase the chances of being discovered. “It’s relatively easy to upload new music and start earning, even if the payout isn’t the best – some payout is often better than no payout,” an article from the Indie Music Academy reads. “Many artists themselves use Spotify at leisure or to find inspiration, and it wouldn’t be fair to enjoy the service, then deny their own fans from listening to their songs.” The article points out strategies for boosting streaming platform numbers like social media activity, email blasts, sneak peeks and offering incentives to listeners. But Cole says certain numbers aren’t always an indicator of success. Streaming numbers can be skewed by one playlist, he says, whereas the number of followers an artist gains is more important. Colemine’s aim is to support its artists in a way that is unbiased. Cole likes to remind label members that it takes time to make streaming work – apart from the rare, instant blow-up. “If you get one big playlist, your monthly number goes crazy high,” Cole explains. “But if your followers aren’t there, the next time you release something, it’s not going to do as well. So just like being scientific about it, I think, being data driven, which is not necessarily you know, not all artists are scientific thinkers, right, artists are emotional. And so we try to act as a conduit to best practices to artists, and we try to be like that steady, unbiased voice.” Cole tells CityBeat that in order to optimize success, labels have to ensure their digital release strategy makes sense, be active on social media, ensure everything is updated and linked on social accounts, upload canvases to Spotify and Apple Music and make sure their profile and images look good, create content

that drives people to those services, tag everything, get content to distributors early, emphasize touring and align physical and digital release strategies, along with countless other tedious details that must be considered. “There’s no magic bullet, and people hate that,” Cole says. Streaming translates to profit for Colemine Records. The label saw a record year on those platforms in 2023, Cole says. In December, the label grossed 18 million streams, its highest monthly activity since the inception of streaming services. In total, 2023 gained Colemine nearly 160 million streams, he says. “It’s a massive discovery tool for our artists. I wish the pay was more for sure,” Cole says. “But 2023 was the first year where our digital revenue was higher than our physical revenue. And that’s saying something because we sell a shitload of records. We sold 154,000 records last year, LPs, CDs and 45s. And we still generated more revenue digitally.” The advantage of streaming success is that it’s scalable. If the label had grown in tangible sales the way it did digitally, Colemine would have to physically package and ship nearly 300,000 records, Cole says, which is expensive and would require way more physical work and human resources than Colemine currently has to offer. But mastering a streaming strategy requires data-driven and more “scientific” solutions. Richardson offers a pay-what-you-can option on digital platforms like Bandcamp to combat the lack of pay streaming services offer. He says that “streaming is fine” but the pay structure is not. It could be that listeners don’t have $20-plus dollars to drop on an album, so why not provide an affordable option, he says. Feel It Records utilizes digital platforms mostly to release singles and tease album releases. The nature of Feel It’s brand doesn’t necessarily depend on digital success, with its fanbase eager to consume archival re-issues that Richardson finds interesting like the selftitled power-pop record from the late ’70s by solo artist The Toms. Buckley and York agree that solidarity among artists could lead to receiving fair wages when it comes to streaming. “Look at the example of the actors’ strike,” Buckley says. “Look what they got out of it. It’s a proof of concept. And there’s nothing to say that musicians shouldn’t be considered in the pool of workers, solidarity has strength.” York says streaming models should be reconsidered from the “ground up.” Torn Light has seen organic growth in certain instances from streaming services; at times random artist’s work will spike in sales for no apparent reason. The discoverability factor is beneficial, they say, and there’s no more “nickel and dimed” digital barriers. “Pay for art,” Buckley urges. “It’s important. Before you lose it.” Regardless of a label’s stance, there was a collective sigh when it came to talking streaming strategy. The fairly new phenomenon still affects the industry in new ways and to keep up, indie labels and artists can either learn to play the game or try to make industry-changing waves by configuring an effective way to push back. None have resorted to taking their music off of all streaming platforms, a defense that Cole likened to “throwing a pebble at the sun.” Even though streaming platforms seemingly do wield the power of the sun, luckily independent Cincinnati record labels have created a product and local industry that’s resilient to the heat.

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ARTS & CULTURE A Powerful Debut

Will Liverman makes his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut with Brahms’ A German Requiem BY A N N E A R E N ST E I N

ill Liverman is a mainstay of contemporary opera, but after two years of groundbreaking lead roles, he’s taking a deep dive into more intimate classical works. Earlier this month, Liverman sang a solo recital that included his own compositions for Cincinnati Song Initiative. Liverman makes his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut, joining soprano Joélle Harvey, the CSO and the May Festival Chorus for A German Requiem by Brahms from Feb. 9-11. Liverman garnered rave reviews for his portrayal of writer Charles M. Blow in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones that debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022. In the fall of 2023, Liverman had another star turn at the Met as Malcolm X in Anthony Davis’s 1986 opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Although Brahms’ Requiem is not an opera, Liverman welcomes the opportunity to sing in one of the most beloved pieces in choral literature. Written for orchestra, chorus, and soprano and baritone soloists, the seven-movement work is the closest Brahms got to opera. “Brahms is one of my favorite composers,” says Liverman, speaking from Miami, Fla. “He writes for the voice with melodic lines that are so stunning and easy to get into! It doesn’t take much for me to get into any Brahms song. “I wish he’d written an opera because of how he uses the music to bring out something that’s intense,” he adds. Brahms began composing the Requiem in 1856 and the finished version premiered in 1869 in Leipzig, Germany. The text is entirely in German, verses expressing comfort and reassurance from Old and New Testament sources. The baritone solos (and the soprano’s) are personal expressions of grief and comfort, with choral responses. “The Requiem is one of my favorite pieces because there’s such grandness to it,” Liverman says. “The word placement is so intentional and poignant.” Liverman’s CSO debut marks his first time working with Louis Langrée, who shares Liverman’s enthusiasm for Brahms, and with Joélle Harvey. “She’s great and I’m so fortunate to work with

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her and Maestro Langrée.” This appearance marks his third time in Cincinnati. Audiences lucky enough to be in the audience for Cincinnati Opera’s 2022 rousing tribute to opera and gospel coordinated by CO’s artistic consultant bass Morris Robinson heard Liverman deliver a riveting performance of the Count’s aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and in the second half, an equally moving rendition of the gospel hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” “It was so cool to be part of that genre blending,” Liverman recalls. “I grew up with gospel [music] and it’s a part of me.” The Virginia native’s vocal career took off after receiving degrees in music from Wheaton College and Juilliard. He began his arc of singing historical figures in 2015 as jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in the world premiere of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird by Daniel Schnyder for Opera Philadelphia. His early career was equal parts contemporary and classical. Liverman appeared in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, Nico Muhly’s Marnie at the Metropolitan Opera and in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate. He frequently sang Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and in 2019, he was the first Black man to sing the bird catcher Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera. Liverman released his first recording, “Whither Must I Wander,” in 2019, followed by “Dreams of a New Day,” a collection of songs by Black composers that received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. COVID-19 shutdowns derailed plans for more leading roles, but Liverman diversified. Already a skilled pianist and arranger, Liverman turned to composition after seeing a film about the hit musical Rent’s source material, the opera La Bohème. Years of singing Figaro got him thinking about putting the wily barber in a contemporary Black barbershop on Chicago’s South Side. He shared his ideas with his childhood friend, producer and instrumentalist DJ King Rico. Lyric Opera of Chicago came through

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Will Liverman P H O T O : J A C LY N S I M P S O N

with a commission and The Factotum debuted last February with Liverman singing the lead at Chicago’s Harris Theater. Every performance sold out. One review dubbed The Factotum “hip-hopera” and another praised “its seamlessly interwoven musical styles.” Liverman continues to revise his score but he says the experience itself was equally important. “I don’t think we’re encouraged enough to go down other paths as artists,” he said in an interview for the website Explore Classical Music. “I started to fight this notion and took on more commissions and creative projects, once I realized that we don’t need permission to tell stories that are important to us.” Last October, Liverman released “The Dunbar/Moore Project, Vol. 1,” an EP of his settings of poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Moore. As the title suggests, more recordings of art songs are scheduled. During the pandemic, Liverman appeared on tenor Lawrence Brownlee’s video series “The Sitdown with LB” (you can catch it on YouTube). The in-depth interview included a laugh-out-loud video of Liverman calling out artists who show up unprepared. Sporting a hoodie and

sunglasses and channeling the rapper Future, Liverman chants, “It’s the first day of rehearsal, the music, you ain’t learned it!” Three years later, Liverman says the video is catching up with him now that his schedule is packed with recitals, opera roles, recordings, arrangements and composition. “I do have more sympathy now for folks who are constantly on the go,” he laughs. “It’s really hard to find time to learn new music when you’re singing in a production.” Immersing himself in Brahms will be a pleasure for Liverman, who says his composing chops enhance his admiration for both Brahms and A German Requiem. “I’m always curious about musical structure, how it builds, how themes return,” he says. “There’s always something new to hear and to discover! That’s the genius of it and honestly, that’s how you learn. That’s the reason why people revisit the Brahms Requiem and other masterpieces. And during times like these, music is needed most.” Brahms’ A German Requiem is performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9 and 10 and 2 p.m. Feb. 11 at Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine. Info: cincinnatisymphony.org.

ONSTAGE

James Baldwin’s ‘The Amen Corner’ Sings the Blues at Cincy Shakes P R E V I E W BY R I C K P E N D E R

ames Baldwin, the powerful Black writer and civil rights activist, is best known for his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953). But from an early age he was fascinated by the theater and yearned for success as a playwright. A year after publishing that novel, living in Paris, Baldwin completed a play, The Amen Corner. It includes a young man who leaves his home and his mother’s church to become a musician. It’s a bit of an extension of Go Tell It on the Mountain — and contains elements from Baldwin’s own life, including a mother who encouraged his creative endeavors and a stern stepfather who condemned any activity outside of the church. From the ages of 14 to 17, Baldwin was a preacher. But his stepfather queried him, “You’d rather write than preach, wouldn’t you?” That was the path Baldwin followed, but he often stated that he “never left the pulpit.” He used his skills as a writer and a public speaker to convey messages that remain powerful. The Amen Corner, on stage soon at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, is rooted in many of the same issues in Baldwin’s novel. In the play, set in a 1950s storefront church in Harlem, Pastor Margaret strives to control her congregation and her teenaged son, David. Her struggles are framed by a gospel choir, while her son and his long absent father Luke bond over their love of jazz. For this tale, rich with music, humanity and Baldwin’s evocative vernacular prose, Cincy Shakes has chosen actor and director Candice Handy to stage the show; musician Yemi Oyediran will give authenticity to its musical tapestry. Both have backgrounds in the Black church: Handy’s father was pastor at Montgomery, Alabama’s Dexter Baptist King Memorial Church, a church once led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Oyediran grew up in the Pentecostal church and, like Baldwin, trained to become a pastor from his mid-teens to his early 20s. “I watched my father wrestle with the responsibility of being a pastor,” Handy says in a recent phone conversation with CityBeat. “There’s conflict around the responsibility of being a pastor… the flock often want the pastor to be an administrative leader. It can feel like the Black church is being run like a social club…whereas biblically the pastor’s job is a more spiritual leader. There can be a conflict of interest with a lot of the bureaucracy of an organization and a calling from higher power.” She adds that Margaret’s position as a female pastor is even more complicated.

“Love is at the center of the play, a struggle with romantic love, with sensual love, and how can a woman be soft and also lead with respect that a man just has from being a man? There’s so much in the play that I connect to from my childhood background and who I am as a Black woman.” Handy has a clear sense of Baldwin’s message in The Amen Corner. “The play is about the oppression of Black women and the complicated relationship between Black men and women that is a result of white oppression.” She asserts that the hierarchical structure of society formed by white supremacy is synonymous with religion, especially Western Christianity. “Therefore, Sister Margaret’s role as pastor who is called by God allows her to be revered by the other characters. But her gender does not allow her to be respected, due to stereotypical racist notions about Black women codified by white society and infiltrating the consciousness of Black men.” Oyediran, also part of the CityBeat phone interview, has spent time digging into the music in Baldwin’s play, relating back to his own experience in the Pentecostal church from an African tradition. He especially cites gospel blues, a tradition that Baldwin learned from singer Bessie Smith. “A lot of these tunes Baldwin uses represent discourse in the church at the time that’s also being reflected in the music — beginning to use elements of the secular in the church and liturgical music.” Luke, Margaret’s estranged husband, represents jazz “and everything that’s secular that’s coming into the play,” Oyediran suggests. Their son David wants to pursue jazz. “Baldwin uses gospel blues to show this interplay of the liturgical and secular existing in one musician who not only has to work this out, musically and within the play, but as this conflict between Pastor Margaret and Luke.” Handy has an accomplished cast of actors. Local veteran Torie Wiggins plays Pastor Margaret, and “ranney,” the singularly named guest actor from Texas, is Luke. Both are veterans of Cincy Shakes’ productions of August Wilson plays: Wiggins was the title character in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 2022 and performed with “ranney” in Fences in 2019. The large cast includes Adrian DeVaughn Summers as Margaret’s son David. Wilson’s Century Cycle of plays about African American life across the decades of the 20th century uses colloquial language that’s also a feature

Actor and director Candice Handy will stage the show P H O T O : B E N M A R C U M P H O T O G R A P H Y F O R C I N C I N N AT I

“ranney” (left) and Torie Wiggins star as Luke and Pastor Margaret, respectively. P H OTO : M I K K I S C H A F F N E R . J P G

of Baldwin’s script. “There’s a density to Baldwin’s writing,” Handy says. “It feels like a novelist is writing a play — in his stage directions and the amount of monologuing. It’s rich, muscular language.” Handy is eager for audiences to experience The Amen Corner. Baldwin, she says, “knows that the more cultural detail you bring, the more universal it becomes. “This being such a specifically Black experience, the play will really focus on

its humanness. There’s some villainous behavior, but really no actual villain in the show. That really goes to Baldwin’s brilliant writing,” she says. She plans to “make it an immersive experience. The audience will be very much a part of it — not just watching a day in the life but experiencing the Black church service.” The Amen Corner, presented by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, opens on Jan. 26 and continues through Feb. 11. Info: cincyshakes.com.

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CULTURE

Things to Do in Cincinnati When It’s Cold AF Outside BY C I T Y B E AT STA F F

rrr, it’s cold in Cincinnati. But just because the temperature has dropped and the sun goes down before you even get off work doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of Cincinnati winters. From getting active outdoors to cozying up with books and cats and handcrafted candles or laughing away some of the seasonal depression, Greater Cincinnati offers plenty in the way of wintertime fun. Keep scrolling to see all the ways you can embrace the hygge — snow and all — of the season.

Go Ice Skating or Do Curling at Fifty West 7605 Wooster Pike, Columbia Township Fifty West Brewing Company transformed its burger bar campus into a winter wonderland for the season, complete with ice skating, curling, bonfires and more. The popular, familyfriendly 40’x80’ ice skating rink this year features upgraded ice and skates. Admission is $10 per person — children under the age of 4 can skate for free — and admission includes skate rental and an hour of ice time. The rink has a timed reservation system that allows up to 70 people to skate at a time. Patrons can also rent lanes for curling (a sport where players slide stones on ice toward a target) for up to eight people for $60 an hour. Curling lane rentals are available every weekend from 8-10 p.m. Fountain Square also has its ice rink out through Feb. 19.

Discover a rare orchid house, steamy tropical room and more at Krohn Conservatory. P H OTO : D E V I N L U G I N B I L L

variety of maple sap-themed activities and events. You can go on a guided sap-collecting hike, get a behind-thescenes look at the tools used to turn sap into syrup, learn how to collect sap and make syrup in your own backyard and even enjoy a date night featuring food, stories and, as Buddy the Elf would say, SYRUP. And the last two weekends in February, you can celebrate all things sweet and sticky with Maple Fest, where you can sample maple beer, collect sap in the sugarbush and enjoy games and activities.

Hit the Slopes at Perfect North 19074 Perfect Lane, Lawrenceburg Embrace the cold and get out in the fresh air for a variety of winter sports and fun at Perfect North Slopes. Perfect North offers plenty of freshly powdered hills for both skiing and snowboarding, as well as lessons for those wanting to learn how to pizza and french fry their way downhill. Visitors can also glide downhill in snow tubes, and when it’s time to warm up, visit the Lodge for a snack and hot beverage.

Watch the Penguin Parade at the Cincinnati Zoo 3400 Vine St., Avondale Penguin Days at the Cincinnati Zoo offers discounted admission from now until March 8. The highlight of Penguin Days is the Penguin Parades, featuring the zoo’s king penguins. The zoo says this is the final year for Penguin

Grab a beer and hit the ice at Fifty West Brewing Company. P H O T O : P R O V I D E D BY F I F T Y W E S T B R E W I N G

Parades before their aging parade stars retire, so this winter is the perfect time to go. Penguin Parades are held every Saturday, Sunday and holiday Monday at 11 a.m. as long as it’s colder than 50 degrees out. The first parade was Saturday, Jan. 13 and the final will be Sunday, Feb. 25. During Penguin Days, visitors can also enjoy weekend animal encounters, including otters, elephants, painted dogs and more.

Enjoy the Fusion of Opposites at Moerlein Lager House’s Fire & Ice Event 115 Joe Nuxhall Way, The Banks Warm up a bit this winter with a fusion of opposites at Moerlein Lager House’s

Fire & Ice weekends. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until Feb. 18, Fire & Ice guests can enjoy fire performers, drink luges at the Ice Bar, ice displays, fire pits and live ice carving demonstrations. Moerlein will also still have heated dining igloos available to rent, as well as the four-lane Ice Slide that was introduced during Christkindlmarkt this past holiday season.

Get Sticky at Cincinnati Nature Center’s Sweet Maple Syrup Days 4949 Tealtown Road, Milford Winter is maple season at Cincinnati Nature Center. Sweet Maple Syrup Days runs through February with a

Take a Walk on the Wild Side at Krohn Conservatory 1501 Eden Park Drive, Walnut Hills Located in historic Eden Park, the Krohn Conservatory is an aluminumand-glass Art Deco destination (in the shape of an upside-down heart) filled with more than 3,500 plant species from around the world. Permanent displays include a rare orchid house, a steamy tropical room, a succulent-filled desert space and a fun walk-through rainforest rock waterfall.

Make a New Feline Friend at Purrfect Day and Kitty Brew Cafes Purrfect Day Cafe: 25 W. Eighth St., Covington; Kitty Brew Cafe: 6011 Tylersville Road, Mason One of the best things about winter is getting to take the time to snuggle

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Make eye contact with a shark at Newport Aquarium.

Topple a tower of beer cans at a Cincinnati Cyclones game.

P H OTO : CAS E Y RO B E RT S

P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

up with a furry friend. Greater Cincinnati is home to two cat cafes where you can reserve a time to get in some kitty cuddles. Purrfect Day Cafe usually has about 15-20 cats you can pet and play with, and at Kitty Brew, you can usually find up to 25 cats. And, if you fall in love with one of the feline residents, you can fill out an adoption application to bring home your new furry family member. Also, both Purrfect Day and Kitty Brew Cafe have their cafe portions separated from the cat lounge, so you can just stop by for a coffee and pastry while admiring the cats from afar.

Catch a comedy show at Commonwealth Sanctuary

Try a Different Kind of Workout Fly Bungee Fitness: 394 Wards Corner Road, Loveland; Swift Movement: 4460 W. Mitchell Ave., Spring Grove Village; Climb Cincy: 1708 Blue Rock St., Northside If being more active is a New Year’s resolution for you but the traditional gym experience isn’t really your thing, Greater Cincinnati offers plenty of fun, alternative ways to move your body. Some different activities include bouncing and dancing in a bungee harness at Fly Bungee Fitness, learning some sweet parkour moves at Swift Movement or pushing yourself to the summit at a climbing gym like Climb Time in Oakley.

Make Your Own Candle at The Candle Lab 1325 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine; 7454 Beechmont Ave., Anderson Township Candles are one of the top things people

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think of when it comes to “hygge,” a Danish and Norwegian word that becomes popular in the winter because of its evocations of being cozy and making the most of cold weather. To hygge up your space a bit, you can visit The Candle Lab, which offers pour-your-own candle-making where you can create a custom candle and scent from over 100 fragrance oil options. You can choose from a variety of sizes, many of which are under $25, or create custom-scented aromatic mists, reed diffusers or wax tarts instead.

522 Fifth Ave., Dayton, Ky. Fight off the seasonal depression with a night of laughs at Northern Kentucky’s only dedicated comedy club and listening room. Located in a historic former Methodist church, Commonwealth Sanctuary offers weekends packed with entertainment, including many local comedians. The venue also hosts Comedy Lab, a comedy open mic night every Sunday to help both budding and veteran comedians work on their jokes.

Peruse All the Floors in the Ohio Book Store 726 Main St., Downtown Ohio Bookstore is a book lover’s paradise: This shop features FIVE floors full of books and magazines – over 300,000 items in stock at any given time. And as a rare and used book store, you never know what literary gems you’ll discover. And if you need a book that needs

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repairing or a custom binding, Ohio Bookstore can do that as you explore.

glass-working techniques and styles. The exhibit runs from now until April 7.

Catch a Cyclones Game at Heritage Bank Center

Fill Your Cart With Food From All Over the World at Jungle Jim’s

100 Broadway St., The Banks Even if you don’t know much about hockey, Cincinnati Cyclones’ hockey games are always a good time. The crowds are full of energy and the action on the ice is mesmerizing. The Cyclones also know how to throw a party with their creative theme nights, like Star Wars and Marvel Superhero nights, and plenty of giveaways and $2 beer nights. The Cyclones’ season ends with Fan Appreciation Night on April 5.

Explore Centuries of Art at the Cincinnati Art Museum 953 Eden Park Drive, Mt. Adams The Cincinnati Art Museum features a diverse, encyclopedic art collection with more than 67,000 works that span from the ancient world to modern times. Walk through time to examine artifacts and artwork from thousands of years ago, browse locally crafted paintings and furniture or think about the symbolism and colors in an Impressionist piece. The museum also hosts traveling exhibits, like Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, a striking display of more than 100 glass works from 33 artists that exemplify Indigenous traditions and knowledge through the medium of glass. Interpretations of Indigenous basket, textile and pottery practices are expertly crafted through various

5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; 4450 Eastgate S. Drive, Eastgate Jungle Jim’s is an amusement park for foodies, and not just because of its kitschy statues and animatronics. The huge store (more than 6 acres) contains equal parts weekly shoppers scanning the aisles for super fresh seafood, exotic produce and international eats from more than 70 countries and visitors wandering, mouths agape at the wacky decor, likely with a beer in hand. The singing soup can is a beloved sight to snap a photo of; same goes for the elaborate restroom hidden behind a port-a-potty facade. This Disney World of grocery stores also offers nearly 1,500 different kinds of hot sauce, and the aisle is pretty hard to miss: It’s the one with the giant fire truck on top of it.

See What’s Under the Sea at Newport Aquarium 1 Levee Way, Newport Newport Aquarium aims to take visitors beyond the glass of their tanks and discover the wonder of the underwater world. Named one of the top 10 aquariums in the country by USA Today’s 10Best, Newport Aquarium is home to some of the sea’s coolest animals. Walk over the Shark Bridge, a tightrope bridge over the shark tank, or

Catch a show at MOTR Pub. P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

explore a long-ago sunken ship and see the creatures that call this accidental reef home in the exhibit Shipwreck: Realm of the Eels. One of the newer exhibits is Hatchling Harbor, a 25-footlong tank home to a new ecosystem for hundreds of colorful animals, many of them babies. You can also meet the aquarium’s four shark rays, including the famous Sweet Pea, laugh at the penguins’ antics and see a rare white alligator.

Play It Forward at the Play Library 1306 Main St., Over-the-Rhine As nonprofit Play Library — which loans out and houses toys, board games and more fun — states on its website, Play is, “Just like a regular library. But it’s totally different. It’s pretty much the best place in the world.” The space houses the Cincinnati Toy History Museum, plus games for adults, teens and younger kids alike. The space itself is true to its namesake: toys and board games line shelf after shelf and whimsical doodle-like murals stretched out along the walls, and it has a collection of over 1,000 board games. Memberships to the library are just $15 a month and allow you to rent and take home games and toys, plus your membership fee “plays it forward” and helps out families who can’t afford one.

Catch a Free Show at MOTR Pub 1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine Get out of the cold and warm up with a drink and some great free music. MOTR has free shows — featuring both local and national artists — DJs or other events almost every night of the week. There is no cover charge for any of these performances. Just simply show up and get ready to rock.

See the Latest at the Contemporary Arts Center 44 E. Sixth St., Downtown With changing exhibits, performances, an eclectic gift shop and a hip cafe, the Contemporary Arts Center offers plenty of indoor fun when the weather is frightful. Admission is always free and CAC’s offerings are unlike anything else you’ll find around town.

Go Thrifting or Antiquing Ohio Valley Antique Mall: 7285 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; Riverside Centre Antique Mall: 3742 Kellogg Ave., East End; Valley Thrift Store: 9840 Reading Road, Evendale; 4301 Dixie Highway, Fairfield Escape the cold and head to a Greater Cincinnati thrift store for the ultimate indoor treasure hunt. Sift through all the great finds at Valley Thrift on a solo mission, or go with friends or a partner and compete to see who can find the coolest item under $15. If you’re more into antiquing, you can check out Riverside Centre Antique Mall in the East End or Ohio Antique Mall in Fairfield. Over-the-Rhine and Northside are home to a slew of vintage shops, as well.

Pick Up a New Hobby With UC’s Communiversity Online and various locations Winter is a great time to try something new. The University of Cincinnati’s Communiversity courses offer classes on a variety of different skills. Some you may want to take into your career, but others, like drawing, learning an instrument and jewelry-making are perfect if you want to pick up a new hobby. Many of the courses are just one, two-hour classes, meaning you can dip your toe in the water to see if it’s right for you.

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FOOD FOOD & DRINK & DRINK

Colette is located inside of Zula’s old space. P H O T O : I N S TA G R A M . C O M / C O L E T T E C I N C Y

Colette is located inside of Zula’s old space.

Colette serves “French-ish” food in Over-the-Rhine. P H O T O : I N S TA G R A M . C O M / C O L E T T E C I N C Y

New Fine-Dining Fixes New dining Fine-Dining Fixes CityBeat’s critic explores Cincinnati’s newest fine-dining options, Colette and Atwood CityBeat’s dining critic explores Cincinnati’s Oyster newestHouse. fine-dining options, Colette and Atwood R E V I E W BY PA M A M IT C H E L L Oyster House. R E V I E W BY PA M A M IT C H E L L

M M

y love affair with France took off like a meteor when, y love affair with France at the impressionable age took off like a meteor when, of 17, I spent two weeks in Paris at a at the impressionable age five-star hotel a couple of blocks off the of 17, I spent two weeks in Paris at a Champs-Élysées. I’ve returned to Paris five-star hotel a couple of blocks off the many times since then. One thing I love Champs-Élysées. I’ve returned to Paris about it is the reverence that Parisians many times since then. One thing I love — and the French in general — have for about it is the reverence that Parisians food and drink. — and the French in general — have for When a French restaurant opens in food and drink. our town, therefore, no arm-twisting When a French restaurant opens in is required for me to try it. Even if, our town, therefore, no arm-twisting as in the case of Colette, it bills itself is required for me to try it. Even if, as “French-ish.” And even if the new as in the case of Colette, it bills itself venture takes over the space that was as “French-ish.” And even if the new Zula, a restaurant near Washington venture takes over the space that was Zula, a restaurant near Washington

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Park that I revered for many years for its consistently excellent mussels, Park that I revered for many years flatbreads, salads and wine. For for its consistently excellent mussels, theatergoers and music lovers, the flatbreads, salads and wine. For location can’t be beat. But I wondered theatergoers and music lovers, the how Colette would stack up as a location can’t be beat. But I wondered replacement for a reliable favorite. how Colette would stack up as a One thing is for certain: Cincinnati replacement for a reliable favorite. diners responded enthusiastically, One thing is for certain: Cincinnati filling Colette’s tables as soon as it diners responded enthusiastically, opened late last year. I’ve dined there filling Colette’s tables as soon as it twice, both times seated at the bar opened late last year. I’ve dined there when we couldn’t secure a table. Once, twice, both times seated at the bar I went through the restaurant’s online when we couldn’t secure a table. Once, system to reserve a table very early on I went through the restaurant’s online a Tuesday after the holidays, which was system to reserve a table very early on the only thing available all week. With a Tuesday after the holidays, which was the only thing available all week. With

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P H O T O : I N S TA G R A M . C O M / C O L E T T E C I N C Y nearby performance venues dark that night, that was impressive. nearby performance venues dark that But we found out upon arrival that night, that was impressive. our reservation was for “counter seatBut we found out upon arrival that ing” on two backless stools facing a our reservation was for “counter seatwall. Fortunately, we were able to grab ing” on two backless stools facing a better seats at the bar. Next time, the wall. Fortunately, we were able to grab staff suggested, look for the fine print in better seats at the bar. Next time, the your reservation confirmation so you staff suggested, look for the fine print in won’t be surprised. The counter seats your reservation confirmation so you would be fine for drinks and an appewon’t be surprised. The counter seats tizer, or a quick bite if you’re running would be fine for drinks and an appelate for a performance, but I would be tizer, or a quick bite if you’re running unlikely to enjoy a full meal there. late for a performance, but I would be We chatted with the bartenders, askunlikely to enjoy a full meal there. ing about any physical changes chef/ We chatted with the bartenders, askowner Danny Combs made before ing about any physical changes chef/ opening as Colette. Although it looked owner Danny Combs made before substantially the same to me, the staffopening as Colette. Although it looked ers said a team of designers and archisubstantially the same to me, the stafftects made more than cosmetic changes ers said a team of designers and archito both the dining room and bar. I tects made more than cosmetic changes did notice a subtler lighting scheme to both the dining room and bar. I that gave the place a cozier feel than I did notice a subtler lighting scheme remembered from Zula. that gave the place a cozier feel than I The French-ness of Colette’s menu remembered from Zula. has sufficient authenticity to satisfy The French-ness of Colette’s menu this Francophile. And for those who has sufficient authenticity to satisfy don’t care about such things, there are this Francophile. And for those who plenty of tasty options on the relatively don’t care about such things, there are short menu, which is subject to change. plenty of tasty options on the relatively It consists of three appetizers (called short menu, which is subject to change. “Tableau”), several salads (“Salades”), It consists of three appetizers (called seven entrees and two pricey entrees “Tableau”), several salads (“Salades”), seven entrees and two pricey entrees

labeled “Grands Plats,” or large dishes. I wondered whether the $96 sole meunilabeled “Grands Plats,” or large dishes. I ere and the $120 rib-eye were portioned wondered whether the $96 sole meunito share but didn’t inquire. There are ere and the $120 rib-eye were portioned plenty of other enticing choices, and we to share but didn’t inquire. There are weren’t up for a grand meal that night. plenty of other enticing choices, and we The endive and radicchio salad, weren’t up for a grand meal that night. with diced ham, Roquefort cheese and The endive and radicchio salad, walnut vinaigrette is a refreshing starter, with diced ham, Roquefort cheese and as was the Parisian carrot salad. The walnut vinaigrette is a refreshing starter, latter came as a large portion of thin as was the Parisian carrot salad. The curls of raw carrot curls dressed in cider latter came as a large portion of thin vinaigrette accented with bits of toasted curls of raw carrot curls dressed in cider hazelnut. A plate full of crunch, it was vinaigrette accented with bits of toasted more than I could eat, so my date took hazelnut. A plate full of crunch, it was some of it to add to his salad of simple more than I could eat, so my date took greens. some of it to add to his salad of simple We tried one of the Tableau items, greens. which is the most Frenchified part of We tried one of the Tableau items, the menu. I mean, could it get more which is the most Frenchified part of French than brandade de morue, volthe menu. I mean, could it get more au-vent and pâté de maison? My date French than brandade de morue, volselected the pâté, a slice of pork and au-vent and pâté de maison? My date liver meat dotted with pistachios that selected the pâté, a slice of pork and has a pleasantly toothsome, chunky liver meat dotted with pistachios that texture. has a pleasantly toothsome, chunky My favorite entrée was Icelandic texture. cod, prepared with a crust of brioche My favorite entrée was Icelandic crumbs and bathed in caviar beurre cod, prepared with a crust of brioche blanc. It was almost too much butter crumbs and bathed in caviar beurre but the fish itself was perfectly cooked blanc. It was almost too much butter and the crusty topping contrasted but the fish itself was perfectly cooked beautifully with the tender cod. Wilted and the crusty topping contrasted greens completed the plate. beautifully with the tender cod. Wilted greens completed the plate.

Atwood Oyster House is replacing now-shuttered PealStar, offering local foodies a chance to chow down on oysters and fresh seafood. P H OTO : J O N M E D I N A

The duck confit preparation is a creditable version of cassoulet, savory and rich with creamy beans and chopped leek. Another standout is herbed cavatelli, sauced with braised lamb neck ragout and topped with grated pecorino. The topper, however, is a truly special dessert: profiteroles. I don’t know anywhere else in town to find it: small puff pastries filled with vanilla ice cream, topped with semi-sweet chocolate sauce. At Colette, the treat is listed as choux au craquelin. I can easily imagine slipping in after the theater to grab a seat and the bar and scarf down a portion before heading home. At almost the same time that Colette entered the OTR restaurant scene, Atwood Oyster House opened, on Vine Street, replacing PearlStar Oyster Bar. At least the third restaurant to occupy the space, Atwood’s renovations make it easy to forget its forerunners. The intimate, low lighting, sparking mirrored surfaces and eye-catching artwork feel very welcoming. The kitchen is helmed by chef Seth Ridgill, who came onboard after a stint at Kiki in College Hill, one of my go-to dinner spots. We arrived one evening late into the dinner hour, and noticed that at almost every table, folks were eating oysters. So that’s what we did and washed them down with a little champagne. However, Atwood’s menu offers quite a bit more than bivalves. Chef Ridgill is turning out such intriguing dishes as crab rice (Carolina Gold rice with blue crab, herbs and collards), a pork chop served with sweet potato and an apple confit, swordfish schnitzel and whole branzino.

Owners Garth Lieb and Tom Stephen brought in Kayla Hunley as pastry chef. Her short but astonishing dessert offerings include chocolate ice cream cake; trifle made with passion fruit, pomelo and strawberry; and maple-flavored crème brulee. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with as the seasons change. Lieb and Stephen operate under the business name 3 Pigs Hospitality, and Atwood marks their fourth — and most ambitious — restaurant or bar establishment in OTR. Liberty Bar and Bottle, a bar and retail shop on Main Street, has been around the longest. Nearby on the corner of Main and 14th, The Pony serves hearty, refined bar food and serious cocktails, and they also operate a seasonal poolside taco bar, Yoli, in Ziegler Park. While these spots draw from a growing population of OTR and downtown residents, Atwood strikes me as the company’s first potential “destination” enterprise. Clearly, Atwood is the crown jewel of this OTR business group, and I look forward to many future visits. As for Colette, it will be fun to check back in with a restaurant that started with a bang in one of the prime restaurant locations of our city, within sight of Music Hall, Memorial Hall and Washington Park. Colette, 1400 Race St., Over-the Rhine. Info: coletteotr.com. Atwood Oyster House, 1220 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine. Info: atwoodoysterhouse.com.

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EATS

We Miss These Greater Cincinnati Restaurants That Closed in 2023 BY K AT H E R I N E BA R R I E R

Chimaek, a Korean-inspired pub, closed abruptly over the summer. P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

t was undoubtedly a rough year for many of Greater Cincinnati’s restaurants in 2023. From rising food costs to labor shortages and reverberating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, there were many obstacles restaurants had to face this year to keep the doors open and kitchens serving. And while Greater Cincinnati also welcomed a large number of restaurants and bars this year, we’re going to miss these spots that closed in 2023.

Nomad Bellevue bar and grill Nomad, which was best known for its milkshakes (both boozy and virgin) and tater tot baskets, closed at the end of November after about three years in business. The owners say a combination of factors, including too many bad-weather days and rising food costs, forced them to permanently close.

Salazar Salazar may be moving out of its Republic Street location, but the restaurant’s owner, chef Jose Salazar, says it will return in a bigger location. Salazar is also keeping the Republic Street spot to turn into something new

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and says he will announce plans for the space soon. Salazar’s last service in the original location will be on New Year’s Eve.

Taft’s Ale House This November, Taft’s Brewing Company decided to close its flagship location, Taft’s Ale House, in Over-theRhine after eight years in operation. The brewery says the pandemic, a decline in tourism and the increase in the cost of goods contributed greatly to its decision to close, but owners say, ultimately, Taft’s could not compensate for a significant loss in sales since COVID began. Taft’s Brewpourium in Cincinnati and Columbus will continue to operate as normal, however.

Hathaway’s Diner

Pampas Argentine Gastropub

Hathaway’s Diner had been serving guests from its spot in the Carew Tower downtown for nearly 70 years before it closed for good in November. The luncheonette’s owners say between the city allowing food trucks to park near the restaurant at Fountain Square and not as many people working downtown, they were no longer able to stay open.

Ignite Entertainment shut down its Argentine restaurant, Pampas, in October in order to expand its O’Bryonville location of Ché into the space. The former Ché O’Bryonville was then transformed into Nuestra Cocina, which is now used for Ché’s catering and as a test kitchen, commissary and tasting room where it can host wine and spirit dinners and experiences. Not all of Pampas is gone, however. Ché O’Bryonville features some of its most popular dishes on the menu now.

Fifty West Brewpub After the pandemic shut down Fifty West Brewpub for nearly three years, the brewery tried reopening it at the beginning of 2023. However, in October, Fifty West announced it would be turning the brewpub into a rentable event space.

Mecklenburg Gardens

13th Street Alley

Cincinnati’s oldest restaurant, Mecklenburg Gardens, nationally ranked as one of the best biergartens in the country and having been opened since 1865, closed permanently at the end of September. The German restaurant’s space, however, will supposedly reopen under a new owner as a new concept sometime in 2024, but details surrounding this new endeavor have been scarce.

In August, Over-the-Rhine walk-up window 13th Street Alley posted a sign to the window saying it was permanently closed. 13th Street Alley was best known for its no-frills Philly cheesesteak, of which they offered seven varieties, along with bowls, salads and fresh-cut fries. It was the second restaurant in OTR, following Copper & Flame, to announce it was closing that month.

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B&A Street Kitchen Popular Over-the-Rhine brunch spot B&A Street Kitchen had been serving Tex Mex and southern favorites from its dining room and walk-up window from 2017 to its closure in October. Owners Jim and Norma Kerns made the announcement on social media and thanked guests and staff for their support over the years, but didn’t offer a reason why they were closing.

Copper & Flame Copper & Flame, known for its unique “pour-your-own-drink” concept and street food-style fare, announced on social media at the end of August that it

B&A Street Kitchen was a popular brunch destination in Over-the-Rhine.

Royce will soon be replaced by an American-style brasserie.

P H O T O : B R I T TA N Y T H O R N T O N

P H O T O : C AT I E V I OX

variety of entrees such as kimchi fried rice, sweet potato noodles (jap chae), vegetarian-friendly tofu dishes and bibimbap. It closed quietly sometime in August, with only a sign posted on the door as a notice.

Chimaek Korean-inspired pub Chimaek, which had just opened in November 2022, surprised some when it abruptly closed this past summer. The restaurant’s owners posted notice of the closure to its Facebook page in August without offering a reason, only saying they were working on rebranding a new idea.

Keystone Bar & Grill Cincinnati’s oldest restaurant, Mecklenburg Gardens, is hoping to attract new owners. P H OTO : H A I L E Y B O L L I N G E R

was shutting down. In the post, the bar’s owner alluded to money and legal problems being behind the closure. Copper & Flame opened in June 2021, offering 68 different taps of draft beer, plus craft cocktails and wine — all priced by the ounce and poured by the individual, along with a menu of elevated street food, with a fusion of Central/South

American and Southeast Asian flavors by then-chef Sydney Fisher.

Haru Haru opened in downtown in 2017 and was best known for serving up Korean dishes like ban chan (small bowls of appetizers like kimchi and fried sweet potatoes) and a wide

Covington lost its hub of mac and cheese and beer in early September when Keystone Bar & Grill closed. Dan Cronican, managing partner of 4EG, the group that owns the Keystone eateries, made the announcement on the restaurant’s social media. While he didn’t explain why the popular bar and grill was closing, he did say the closure would open doors as 4EG expands across Cincinnati, Columbus, Chicago and more. Keystone’s Mac Shack on Short Vine in Corryville, as

well as their locations in Athens and the one opening in Columbus in 2024, however, are still open.

MashRoots (College Hill) Puerto Rican eatery MashRoots announced in August that it was closing its flagship College Hill location, writing, “This decision was not an easy one, but we believe it’s the right one for our business at this time.” Its stall in Madisonville food hall Element Eatery remains open, however.

Urban Grill on Main Urban Grill on Main, a family-owned restaurant in Newtown, closed for business in November after seven years. The owners posted the announcement on Facebook, writing, “Many families celebrated major life events here and we are happy to have been part of that with you. We’ve enjoyed many friendships which we would not otherwise have made, were it not for UG. Thank you.” They didn’t give a reason for closing but in their post encouraged people to support small businesses.

K&J Seafood In September, the owners of K&J Seafood in Bond Hill announced on social

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Just like its sister restaurant, Royce, PearlStar abruptly closed this past year. P H O T O : C AT I E V I OX

media that despite overcoming many obstacles in the restaurant industry for the past five years, they were ready to close to pivot to other things like catering, events and product lines in order to spend more time with family. They thanked their staff and guests in the post and asked them to continue to follow the brand as they switched lanes, adding, “It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.”

PearlStar Nashville restaurateur Terry Raley permanently closed this popular oyster spot in Over-the-Rhine without warning in February and deleted its social media. PearlStar opened in the fall of 2021 in the former A Tavola storefront on Vine Street. The restaurant, highly anticipated at the time, offered both East and West Coast oysters and other raw delicacies such as crudo, ceviche and tartare. The kitchen also featured a wood-burning grill to create (non-raw) burgers and steak sandwiches, and the menu included items for vegans and vegetarians. “We didn’t want to do just seafood; we really wanted it to be a place where you can have something for everyone,” culinary and operations director Leroy Ansley said before opening. But Cincinnati oyster lovers can celebrate because a new oyster spot is opening up in PearlStar’s place; veteran restaurateurs and owners of The Pony and Liberty’s Bar & Bottle Garth Lieb and Tom Stephen signed a lease with 3CDC for the spot in May.

Symposium This East Walnut Hills cafe and wine bar shut its doors for good on June 12, with the owners writing on social media, “the day we wished never to come has arrived. Aaron & I would be immensely grateful if you would share your Symposium photos and memories with us via DM or in the comments with the hashtag #SymposiumForever. we love you all so much.” No reason for the closure was given. Symposium opened in May 2022 sporting a relaxed, Hemingway cafe-style atmosphere, with three bars, a main dining room with a lounge known as The Nest, a private dining and event space and a small outdoor patio for early birds and night owls alike. Each bar served something different: one for drinks (they were best known for their avian-inspired cocktails, or “Birdtails”), another for coffee and the final had food. Owners J. Matt Nickels and chef Aaron Owen told CityBeat at the time that they wanted Symposium to also embody the stories of old Italy told to them by family. Owen also shut down his Over-the-Rhine sandwich shop, Ole Republic Larder.

13th Street Alley, a popular walk-up window, closed in 2023. P H OTO : H A I L E Y B O L L I N G E R

and that Liberty Center signed another tenant to the space. Queens Bakery said they had been working with Liberty Center since January to renew a longterm release. “Nobody even ever told us once or asked us once if we want to stay then just signed to somebody else,” the bakery wrote.

Qlicious Bubble Tea & Pastries (Liberty Township)

Mighty Good: Meat ‘n Three

Mason’s Queens Bakery also owns Qlicious in Over-the-Rhine and owned another location at Liberty Center until the beginning of June. The bubble tea and pastry spot posted to Facebook on May 31 about the closure, saying they received an email the day before that their lease was being terminated

Mighty Good, known for its Southernstyle fare where customers got to choose one meat and three sides, closed permanently in February. The restaurant opened its doors in October 2021 with offerings like catfish, hushpuppies and other Southern favorites. While Mighty Good’s owners didn’t

give a reason for the closure, they wrote on Instagram, “The thing we want to say first and foremost is — thank you, thank you to all of our loyal customers, our in-town and out-of-town visitors, and our cheerleaders behind the scenes,” the restaurant wrote in an Instagram post. “We enjoyed every single conversation, took pride in every dish we made, and loved getting to know you and your families. We will miss seeing market shoppers stopping in for Saturday morning brunch and weekday lunch with friends.” In June, Findlay Market’s Eckerlin Meats moved into the former Mighty Good space temporarily while their space underwent renovations.

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Pontiac This Over-the-Rhine BBQ joint and bar closed with little fanfare sometime this spring. While Pontiac closed temporarily in 2020 to rebrand during the pandemic, a Google search now comes up as it being “permanently closed,” and the restaurant changed its Instagram bio to read “Eternal Rest 2015-2023.” The building will stay a barbecue joint, however, as Madisonville’s popular Bee’s Barbecue plans to open a second location there.

House of Orange Sports Bar & Grill In April, this popular spot to watch an FC Cincinnati match shut its doors and posted a note outside reading, “Thank you to all our patrons who have shared memories with us over the past few years. The House of Orange is closed indefinitely.” House of Orange is listed as permanently closed on Google, its website has been deactivated and its social media hasn’t been updated since March.

Porta Nera

Salazar will be relocating to a new, bigger space.

Sharonville’s Porta Nera closed at the beginning of June – but thankfully not for good. The Italian American restaurant known for bringing Little Italy’s heritage to the Greater Cincinnati area closed temporarily to move to a new location. Porta Nera also says it entered a partnership with a local restaurant group to bolster its position in the community and aid them in providing diners an unforgettable dining experience. “The decision to move wasn’t made lightly, but we are confident that this temporary closure will pave the way for bigger and better opportunities,” owner and chef Aaron Boehm said in a press release. “Our partnership with one of the region’s most respected restaurant groups promises to enhance Porta Nera’s rich potential while infusing it with a renewed sense of vibrancy and innovation. We can’t wait to share what we’ve been cooking up.”

Spoon: Kitchen & Market Spoon: Kitchen & Market was a neighborhood bistro, cafe and grocery shop in Covington that placed a heavy focus on sustainability, fresh ingredients that were in season and locally sourced and community. It closed in March, with the restaurant saying the world had changed too much since it first opened its doors in 2019 to continue its mission to provide local foods rooted in sustainability. “We would like to thank everyone that has made this journey possible. Along the way we’ve made an abundance of new friends and been a part of countless special moments in the Mainstrasse community,” the restaurant wrote on its website. “Thank you again to everyone that believed and supported us along the way.”

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P H O T O : P R O V I D E D BY S A L A Z A R

Royce Like its sister restaurant PearlStar, Royce was shuttered suddenly in February by Raley. He had launched Royce in August 2022, just a mile south of PearlStar, inside 3CDC’s $51-million development The Foundry in Fountain Square. With Raley dubbing it a “modern French brasserie,” Royce offered a French-leaning menu and featured a raw bar. Thunderdome Restaurant Group recently signed a lease for the space and says it’s planning an American-style brasserie, with a polished atmosphere and a seasonally changing menu drawing inspiration from rustic dishes from Italy, France and the U.S.

Wahlburgers Wahlburgers, a burger restaurant and bar chain owned by chef Paul Wahlberg and his brothers, actor Mark and singer Donnie, opened a franchise in downtown Cincinnati in early 2018. But by the end of March this year, a sign posted to the door of the restaurant told patrons it had closed. A reason hasn’t been given. The nearest Wahlburgers now is at Hollywood Gaming in Dayton.

Khora Once lauded by Food & Wine and Vogue as one of the “most anticipated” restaurants opening in 2020, the Kinley Hotel restaurant Khora closed for good in April after the hotel’s general manager told CityBeat just weeks before that it wanted to move in a different direction. Before it opened, Khora received national attention due to its staffing dream team that included

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chefs Kevin Ashworth and Edward Lee, pastry chef Megan Ketover and general manager Blair Bowman. It was even on track to be named by Esquire as one of the nation’s best new restaurants that year, but that fell apart after the hotel’s corporate owners fired Ashworth and Lee, followed shortly by the departure of Ketover and Bowman late in 2021. Khora closed temporarily in 2021 then quietly reopened the next year. And while the original iteration of Khora focused on pastas made from unusual grains, the new menu had shifted focus away from that.

The Glenway Frisch’s A Frisch’s that had sat on its Glenway corner for decades quietly closed for good, shocking many of its regular West Side patrons. A note posted to the door in June read, “We are sorry, this location is being closed permanently. Please visit us at one of our other locations … It was our pleasure serving you and we hope to see you soon.” Frisch’s told local news outlets that the decision to close the 75-year-old location was difficult, but they want to continue to grow and change with the times, and they also have to make decisions to fight the impact of inflation.

Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint, part of a larger chain that began in Harrisonburg, Virginia, closed its Over-theRhine location, the only one in Ohio, suddenly in late April. The chain didn’t

give a reason for the closure, only writing “Permanently closed April 23, 2023. Thanks for the memories!!!!” on the webpage for the Cincinnati location. The closest location you can grab one of their signature burgers or deep-fried Oreos now is in Lexington.

Latitudes Bar & Bistro Hailed as one of the best restaurants in town by America’s Best Restaurants, Anderson Township’s Latitudes Bar & Bistro served up everything from steaks and pastas to burgers and flatbreads. It was also a hub for entertainment, with something going on almost every night, according to its website. The bar and bistro posted to Facebook in June announcing the closure, writing, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closing of Latitudes. Everything ends. Make sure you enjoy the moments that make life special. Recognize those moments. Take time to cherish the small things because in a flash they are gone. Thank you to everyone that made Latitudes Bar & Bistro a very special place.”

Bonomini Bakery This longtime Northside bakery closed suddenly after its owner suffered a stroke in February. “Due to this,” a sign posted on the door read, “the family has decided to focus on health and family and suspend business until further notice. Thank you for your patronage, prayers, & understanding.” The business is still listed as “temporarily closed” on Google.

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MUSIC A Rare Bird Goose is Cincinnati musician Mol Sullivan’s first full-length effort BY JAS O N GA R GA N O

ol Sullivan has been making and performing music for 20 years. Put in perspective, that’s the same amount of time Barack Obama has been a household name and longer than Netflix has existed as a streaming service. Yet the Cincinnati born-and-bred singer-songwriter has never released a full-length collection of songs. That surprising fact ends this month with the unveiling of Goose, a self-released effort that culminates with a celebratory show at the Woodward Theater on Jan. 26. Sullivan wrote the album’s 11 songs over the last decade, the majority of which she crafted following her sobriety from alcohol, a topic she’s not shy to discuss both in song and out. It’s a cohesive, slow-burning set of folk-leaning chamber pop, each song buoyed by Sullivan’s versatile vocals and textured compositions that range from sparse to jaunty. Sullivan has released a couple of EPs (most recently last year’s A Little Hello), various singles and some creative, wellcrafted videos over the years. She’s also been a persistent live presence, playing shows both solo and with a full band, garnering multiple Cincinnati Entertainment Awards in process. But Goose represents her first proper album. “This is really the first full-blown, honest-effort studio production for a full-length record that I’ve ever done, which is almost unbelievable to me,” Sullivan says by phone in a recent conversation with CityBeat. “I thought I would be reveling in it a bit more but there is just so much work that goes into the release. I’m kind of a one-man show over here with my merch design, graphic design for posters, the album art, the videos, booking rehearsals, booking the tour and planning the release show.” Album opener “Still Tryin’” sets the tone immediately as softly strummed electric guitar interweaves with pensive vocal coos before Sullivan plaintively delivers the following lyrical vision: “You grew your roots under the

Mol Sullivan P H OTO : B RO O K E S H A N E SY

floorboards/You raised your hands to the sky/I ran away, always laughin’/And then I couldn’t make you stay.” Sullivan says “Still Tryin’” was written in the aftermath of a bad breakup. In fact, it was the first song she wrote after getting sober in 2018. The lyrics nod to her specific situation without being so overt that multiple interpretations aren’t possible. The song closes with an evocative visual metaphor, a lyrical approach that remains a strength throughout Goose: “One last cigarette, and I am out of here/A flicker of red decay/Tell me one more joke/I’ll smile if I can and be your personal ashtray.” It’s no coincidence that “Still Tryin’ ” kicks off the album. “I feel like that song speaks the most,” Sullivan says. “It’s like a song to me, even though I’m talking about my former lover and dealing with the heartbreak. Ultimately, the ending of that relationship was a catalyst for me starting to quit drinking. Watching somebody move on and (me) being a hollowed-out shell of a human being, feeling bitter and depressed but still

what I call ‘white-knuckling’ life. There is hope in it. I love the song. I feel like it’s a lullaby to myself. It’s pacifying in a way. I also love how direct it is, coming in with the clean electric guitar. I feel like it sets the stage for a nice, crisp, direct opening for the record.” The very next song, “Cannonball,” reveals the record’s range — it’s a buoyant pop song that brings to mind a melding of Aimee Mann and Cat Power. The lilting, impressively layered instrumentation includes piano, pedal-steel guitar and what sounds like someone hitting a block of wood. Sullivan even employs a bit of twang in her voice. “When I was first getting started, I think there was more of a focus on having a consistent sound,” Sullivan says of her evolving vocal approach over the years. “I had a couple different affectations that I used. Like the female indie vocal (she attempts to mimic it through the phone before trailing off, embarrassed). It makes me cringe to think about now. I went through a phase with that. I was a little scared of playing with

my voice as much as I do now because of my tendency to want to police things. “Sometimes I go to a show and I’m like, ‘Okay, this person has an incredible voice but there is almost no dynamic range to it,’ ” she continues. “For me, the way that I’m singing, the texture and the tone, it’s just as important to my storytelling as the lyrics are. It’s the delivery — it’s like a guitar with an effects pedal. That’s kind of how I view it.” Sullivan credits Chicago-based producer/musician Sima Cunningham as a unifying influence when it came time to record Goose in 2021. “Sima is a brilliant musician, but she’s also highly organized,” Sullivan says. “As a producer, she helped craft the sonic palette of the record. She also project-managed things. I went up there several months after our initial talking and stayed in her home for a week. Her studio was in the basement. We spent a week just recording every day. She provided a really nice structure for the programming of it, so we had a plan of attack every day. They cooked pretty much all of our meals, and they were so delicious. It was such a nurturing, professional but comfortable setting.” Goose is the culmination of a challenging period in Sullivan’s life both creatively and personally. And while she’s eager to begin the next phase, she admits how important it was to finally get these songs out in the world. “It’s already been two years since we recorded it,” she says. “So, I guess it feels like I’m a parent who’s been teaching their kid to like ride a bike for a really long time and I’m getting ready to take the training wheels off. It’s exciting but I’m also so excited to have my life back and just keep moving forward. I’m excited to get some of this new material that I’m writing out.” Sullivan is already talking about dropping another EP of material this year. She’s also been making networking trips to New York and Los Angeles. But Cincinnati and its nurturing music scene remains the biggest influence on her. “I feel like because it’s a smaller city, everybody feels very visible, so it can feel very vulnerable and intimidating to be seen trying to succeed,” Sullivan says. “But fuck it, I’m trying and I’m doing. I’m choosing to do things myself rather than waiting on maybe a label having interest. I just need to keep moving. Stagnation is the death of me. I don’t have control over if I’m successful or not, but I have control if I’m doing it or not.” Mol Sullivan celebrates the release of Goose with a performance at Woodward Theater on Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. Info: woodwardtheater.com.

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SOUND ADVICE

The Montvales P H O T O : K AT R I N A F LY N N

THE MONTVALES Feb. 2 • Woodward Theater Originally from Knoxville, Tenn. until a recent move, Cincinnati is lucky enough to claim rising country folk duo The Montvales — at least for now. The duo is set to release their cinematic and resonant new record, Born Strangers, with a celebration at the Woodward Theater on Feb. 2. The record is seemingly full of potential singles and standouts that seem poised for radio play, accompanying scenes on movie screens or ringing out through large venues and beyond. The Montvales are Sally Buice on banjo and Molly Rochelson on guitar, both handle vocals, often in harmony combining the timelessness of Southern American musical traditions with an immediate, contemporary twist. The pair were introduced by their parents as kids around the age of 13 and were “immediate friends,” quickly making music together, Buice tells CityBeat. After moves for college and some temporary relocating during their early 20s, the two joined back up in 2019. Their first full-length album, Heartbreak Summer Camp, was released in 2020, just

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before the start of the pandemic. Buice says the duo moved to Cincinnati in a kind of “blind leap of faith” after housing prices started going up around their native Knoxville and because they loved Cincinnati’s architecture, parks and “everything about Northside,” along with the better chance of financial survival for working musicians. Rochelson adds, “We feel really lucky to have landed in such a vibrant community.” Born Strangers is their second fulllength album. This time, the album has production help from Mike Eli LoPinto, guitarist for Chris Stapleton, and engineering from Sean Sullivan. LoPinto also helped put together what Rochelson calls, “a killer crew of musicians” to fill-out the sound. The duo’s soaring harmonies, raw emotional delivery and peaks of lifelived heartbreak and enthusiasm are more apparent than ever, accented by the instrumentation and larger scale atmosphere of the recordings. At the core are the themes, arrangements and delivery that have made The Montvales a standout all along. Of the writing for the record, Buice

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tells CityBeat, “We wrote most of this album while we were living together in a tiny house and reckoning with the world spinning off its rocker throughout the pandemic.” The songs cover what sounds like a range of themes and topics, from breakups to biblical floods. “This record is a lot of us looking at other people’s stories: a young person dealing with Tennessee’s restrictive abortion laws, a neighbor displaced by gentrification, etc., but there’s a lot on here that’s really personal,” Rochelson tells CityBeat. Rochelson adds, “The album is deeply place-based, drawing inspiration from Knoxville, Sally’s stint on a ranch in southern Colorado and our eventual move to Cincinnati.” The songs are filled with landscapes, deserts, countrysides, mountain ranges and old familiar sites around town that bring back memories, like liquor stores and YMCAs. In one of the first singles from the album, “Lou,” Buice recalls a mountain range and hopes that it will be preserved for the future to experience. There seems to be an overarching theme of redemption or defiance, or

even celebration in the face of fear and heartbreak. On the opening track, “Woman of God” the two sing: “Some days I don’t trust a single person/if there’s a point, it’s one that I can’t see/ but I’m gonna make something good from this, even if it is the death of me.” On “Bad Faith,” a standout track among many Rochelson and Buice sing: “It’s a bad faith deal that they made you, honey/gonna set you up, just to knock you down/there’s no way/ just gotta keep on running/ain’t the end of the world this time around.” “Say the Word” revels in the excitement and uncertainty of relationships while touching on near anthemic level, while “New Year’s Eve” is nearly celebratory in the face of fear. Rochelson tells CityBeat, “You can kind of hear us parsing out our world view in real time informed in equal part by the evolution of the relationships in our lives and, also, the Marxist-feminist literature we were avidly consuming at the time. It was a tumultuous season, but the album turned out surprisingly upbeat. I think it documents our determination to show up for the folks around us and force a better world into

Umphrey’s McGee P H OTO : S E A N M O L I N , F L I C K R

existence.” On “Through the Night” they sing: “In the age of information, I’m just going off a hand drawn map and a feeling that won’t budge,” and it seems to be working, so far. “We’re excited to invite a whole cast of friends onstage with us,” Buice tells CityBeat. Buice and Rochelson will be accompanied by Aaron Cordell on drums, Rae Fisher on bass, Hanna Rae Mathey on fiddle and Holden Bitner on cello. Local Americana singer-songwriters Jordan Smart and Maria Carrelli will open the show. The Montvales perform at the Woodward Theater Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. Info: woodwardtheater.com. (Brent Stroud)

UMPHREY’S MCGEE Feb. 9 • MegaCorp Pavilion In 1997, at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., music students Brendan Bayliss, Johnzo West, Jeff Topp, Ryan Stasik, Joel Cummins and Mike Mirro infused a couple of different bands into jam/fusion group Umphrey’s McGee. They named the band after a real person named Humphrey Magee. In the beginning, they covered the likes of Guns N’ Roses before releasing their first album, 1998’s ironically titled Greatest Hits Vol. III. After gaining a Midwest following, they introduced themselves to a larger

audience at Bonnaroo in 2002, and their career took off. A series of studio and live albums followed, and they played as many as 150 shows a year. Lineup changes ensued — unfortunately, exdrummer Mike Mirro died in 2014 — and today they’re a six-piece. UM’s music is difficult to pinpoint, as it combines jazz, hard rock and electronica, as heard on the percussion-heavy song, “Staircase.” Live, they’re known for what they refer to as “Jimmy Stewart” improvs. Currently, they live in Chicago, and every New Year’s Eve they perform a long set in the city. Sometimes, if the audience is lucky, they’ll perform a Hall and Oates cover. They appreciate their fans so much that between 2011 and 2021, they released Hall of Fame albums, which are songs fans voted as the best songs from live shows of the previous year. In 2022, UM released their 14th studio record, Asking For a Friend. They also have a documentary out called Frame x Frame, which chronicles their more than 25 years as a band. As far as contemporary jam bands go, they haven’t been around as long as A-Moe or Phish, but they’ve been here long enough to show other like-minded bands how to evolve their sound while also keeping close to their roots. Umphrey’s McGee plays MegaCorp Pavilion on Feb. 9 at 8:30 p.m. Info: promowestlive.com. (Garin Pirnia)

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GOING TOO FAR CROSSWORD

BY B R EN DA N E M M E T T Q U I G L E Y W W W. B R E N DA N E M M E T TQ U I G L E Y.C O M

Thirty-three of the answers in this crossword are too long and won’t fit in the spaces provided. Each of these answers will either begin or end in the gray square immediately before or after it. When the puzzle is done, all the gray squares will have been used exactly once, and the letters in them (reading left to right, line by line) will spell out a quote by Banksy.

20. Soccer star with 1279 lifetime goals

Across

36. “Ghostbusters” star

1. Sundown time

38. Baby in a pouch

5. Sporty Toyota

21. Capital of Hubei province 24. Builds, as levees 27. Red-headed stew-eater of Genesis

57. Poseidon’s realm

22. Excitement

58. Gymnastics legend Comaneci

23. Owns

59. Easily angered

25. “Holy __!” 26. Game played under contract

Down

29. French 101 verb

1. Art ___

31. Church music

2. Lucy’s “Kill Bill” co-star

33. La ___ Tar Pits

3. Word that might arouse a pussy?

34. Lovebird’s cries

4. Big coffee exporter

35. Down the middle, vibewise

39. Edibles

5. Ask to be taken off the email list, for short

37. “Otello” composer Giuseppe

9. Diplomat’s goal

42. “Suppose so,” in a phrase

6. Common allergen

12. One handling the introductions

44. Mindlessly copying

7. Stat for a DH

13. What some on a topless beach, uh, wear

45. “Change unnecessary,” in a proof

8. Its motto is “This We’ll Defend”

47. Hydrafacial establishment

9. Climbing gym effort

14. That lady

48. Shakespeare edition

10. Favored side, in betting

15. James of “The Godfather”

50. Discussion group

11. Mother with a Nobel Peace Prize

16. Svelte

54. Pocket flatbread

19. Thor Heyerdahl’s raft

17. Some plug one in at night

55. Sound heard twice in “nightlight”

20. Leg cramp, e.g.

18. “___ Never Walk Alone”

56. Astronaut’s grp.

21. Tread reducer

28. Male choir voices 30. To a great extent, vulgarly 32. Goes low in a game

39. Shocked outbursts 40. Loaded 20-something, likely 41. Sporty Mazda 43. Lighter fuel 46. Italian dressing that’s out of date? 48. Brazilian greeting 49. Meathead 51. Rapper with the Jay-Z dis track “Ether” 52. Home for frequent fliers

53. Hens do it

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