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Amnesty International Wants a Gun Violence Prevention Office in Cincinnati, but Leaders are Skeptical
The City Manager’s office, Councilmember Anna Albi and CPD’s union leader tell CityBeat the work is already being done.
BY MADELINE FENING
If the Instagram algorithm knows you’re a Cincinnati-area resident, you might have noticed an ad pop up on the app’s Reels feature that calls out gun violence in Cincinnati.
“Listen up, Cincinnati,” a woman says directly to the camera before news clippings flash across the screen. “Our city is facing a gun violence crisis, and it’s tearing our communities apart. In 2023, Cincy had over 300 shootings and nearly 400 victims…sign the petition today to create our own Office of Gun Violence Prevention.”
The ad is not from a local legislator or community organization, but from the United Kingdom-based Amnesty International, a global human rights organization with offices around the world. Amnesty International is known for its social campaigns and legal efforts to release wrongfully-detained prisoners, improve conditions for refugees and much more. But dedicated efforts to reduce U.S. gun violence are a more recent focus in the organization’s 60-year history, and Cincinnati is uniquely in focus.
“Cincinnati is the only city we have a particular petition,” said Ernest Coverson, director of gun violence prevention at Amnesty International USA. “We had some members of Amnesty in the city of Cincinnati that also wanted to address gun violence in the city, and so we looked at some of the other models that we have been working with here in Chicago. We saw it work in a few other cities across the country and decided that we would go that route in the city of Cincinnati.”
That route, as Amnesty International describes in its online petition launched in September of this year, includes creating a dedicated “Office of Gun Violence Prevention” (OGVP) in the city.
Coverson narrowed the vision of an OGVP office into three goals:
“One, it would create a project program that would help to address the gun violence situation in Cincinnati,” he said. “Two is looking at it to be the coordinating effort of all of the work that is currently going on as well. So instead of organizations projects being in silos, how do we now talk to all of these
council process,” Coverson said. “And then send it to the mayor for signature approval.”
This is how Chicago has started the process of creating its own OGVP, according to Coverson, though it’s not legislated like in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
“Those offices have been able to connect with folks in the community, address those core issues and help to reduce and bring down gun violence,” Coverson said.
Cincinnati has no such office, but a spokesperson from the Cincinnati City Manager’s office told CityBeat in an emailed statement that the work is still being done.
“Our ongoing work and targeted community investments embody this commitment by utilizing a public health approach to address gun violence as a systemic issue, focusing on prevention, intervention, and community healing. Developed in close collaboration with residents, local leaders, and community partners, our work builds on Cincinnati’s strong foundation of trust and accountability through the Collaborative Agreement,” the statement reads.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michelle Lemon Kearney put forth a motion to start something similar to an OGVP in 2023, this one called the “Office of Safety Management.”
“I think it’s needed but there was not enough support at that time,” Kearney told CityBeat in an email.
Councilmember Anna Albi, who is passionately outspoken about gun violence prevention, was elected after Kearney’s motion was passed over by council.
organizations at once? How do we coordinate the work that everyone is doing and so this office could see that process as well? And then third, there’s funding that is from federal government as well as possible state funding that’s there. How do we make sure the organizations have access to it? [...] This office then ought to be that conduit.”
Overall, violent crime has decreased across the city of Cincinnati. Recent city numbers show a 6% drop in shooting incidents and a 32% drop in shooting victims among youth. So far in 2024, there have been 267 shooting incidents compared to the 290 that took place over the same period in 2023. The numbers were even higher in 2022 and 2021.
Amnesty International’s petition proposes Cincinnati City Council place the issue on the ballot and allow the residents of Cincinnati to vote for or against creating the department, but it’s not the only option.
“Then there’s also a way of the city council themselves directly could, amongst themselves, create the office and legislate the office through the city
“I remember it coming through and being like, ‘Oh, that’s cool!’ I will also say, Assistant City Manager Virginia Tallent, now Judge-elect Virginia Tallent, her portfolio really covers a lot of what I think that office would include, which is not something I necessarily knew before being here,” Albi told CityBeat. “So I think there are definitely discussions around, you know, is there something we need to re-org within city hall? Obviously, having Gabriel Fletcher come on board is a big step as well.”
Fletcher is the city’s new violence reduction manager, a position created earlier this year when the city announced De’Angelo Harris-Rosa would fill the new role, but Harris-Rosa turned down the job soon after the announcement, according to the city spokesperson Mollie Lair. Now, Fletcher, who started the role in July, will “lead the city’s non-law enforcement initiatives to reduce gun violence,” according to a July press release.
These non-law enforcement gun violence prevention initiatives are extensive in Cincinnati, according to Albi, who got her start in community
Overall, violent crime has decreased across Cincinnati.
PHOTO: SOMCHAI KONGKAMSRI, PEXELS
organizing through a local chapter of Moms Demand Action, an organization founded after the Sandy Hook shooting.
Root causes of gun violence
“The way I have thought about gun violence is it’s in some regards the last domino to fall, right? The first domino being, is there poverty? Are people hungry?” Albi said. “I really want to highlight the food on the table piece, because this really came to me through listening. Anytime you go into a community conversation around gun violence, I will bet you, every single time food will come up. Every single time it goes back to, our kids are hungry, our kids don’t have food.”
Albi recalled a community presentation she attended a couple years ago, where a prominent gun violence prevention activist Erica Ford spoke about community efforts to reduce gun violence in New York.
“She spent a lot of time talking about, like, some of these guys come to us [...] and all they’ve had to eat that day is a bag full of chips. And when your brain’s functioning on only that, you know your brain’s not functioning to the best of its ability or power. And that makes sense. I hadn’t thought about it. And then maybe the next week, or two weeks later, I went to a community conversation here, and it was specifically around gun violence and the Black community. And again, the speakers there spent a lot of time talking about access to food.”
According to CincyInsights, the city’s gun-violence incidents tracker, the West End, Over-the-Rhine and Avondale have steadily remained the top three neighborhoods for gun violence incidents over the past four years. These neighborhoods are also considered food deserts by researchers. A new grocery store in Avondale is set to open soon, breaking a 16-year gap in food access since Aldi closed its doors at Avondale Town Center in 2008.
“Researchers out of Tulane University conducted a study through their hospital-based violence intervention program that looked at the correlation between food insecurity and gun violence, and found a really strong correlation,” Albi said. “So earlier this year, we actually had the researchers come and present to our public safety committee around that connection.”
While on the 2023 campaign trail, Albi visited students at Shroder High School. She told CityBeat that one student’s question about gun violence left her struggling to answer.
“He basically was like, ‘Well, what do I do if I have a beef with a kid over there and I know he has a gun? I have to go get a gun, like, I have to protect myself.’ I will be honest, that conversation, I did not have a good answer for him. Like,
if there’s these arguments or conflicts online that spill into real life, and we know these kids have easy access to guns, what do you do when this kid over there has a grudge against me and he’s armed. Like, what do you tell that kid?”
What’s being done in Cincinnati?
While Albi didn’t know what to tell that high school student, she told CityBeat that countless arms are stretching across the city to reduce gun violence, even without a dedicated OGVP.
“I don’t want anyone to have the perception of, if this office doesn’t exist, the work’s not being done, right? The work is being done. The question is, what’s the best kind of administrative structure?” Albi said. “ I think those are conversations we as a council and administration can and should be having, but I do want people to know the work’s being done. It’s really quite a robust strategy and a ton of work across a lot of different areas.”
Areas include Cincinnati Police Department’s PIVOT program, or PlaceBased Investigations of Violent Offender Territories. PIVOT was created in 2016 to complement the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence, or CIRV, which started in 2007. Then there’s CPD’s Victims Assistance Liaison Unit, led by Karen Rumsey, which is staffed with social workers assigned to survivors of gun crimes. CPD’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center is another piece of that work, where city, county and federal law enforcement agencies use forensic science to track down specific guns used in shooting crimes.
“They can take a shell casing and be able to tell which gun it came from,” Albi said. “The head of the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has said this is a gold standard model.”
A spokesperson for CPD declined to comment for this story, but Ken Kober, president of Cincinnati’s Fraternal Order of Police, CPD’s labor union, told CityBeat that the department and the city are on a good path towards reducing gun violence. He’s not convinced a new OGVP department is needed.
“I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Kober told CityBeat. “Primarily because we have a police department that’s doing a fantastic job with the enforcement side of this, and then the comprehensive plan that the mayor just came out with, with these youth initiatives, to get a hold of these kids before it gets to that point. I just think that the city is moving in the right direction. And I think money would be better spent in those directions than creating this office.”
Mayor Aftab Pureval touched on that initiative during the 2024 State of the City address, where he promised
continued investment in CPD, alternative response methods and partnerships with local organizations to address gun violence.
“I will continue to emphasize that progress and positive trends are not victory,” Pureval said. “The violence our communities experience, the universal accessibility of guns, it is and will remain unacceptable until we put a stop to it.”
Leveraging support from community partners is crucial, especially in Ohio, according to Albi.
“The gun ordinance we passed requiring secure firearm storage, we were sued by the state, and unfortunately lost that on appeals,” Albi said. “Having lawmakers up there who sit in districts where the lines have been gerrymandered say that, ‘Oh, gun violence is a city problem, you deal with it,’ and then when we try to deal with it, have the state sue us, is just the most frustrating thing. [...] Which is why [we have to be] creative about voluntary programs, and really focusing on education investments. I think this is really important, the money we are putting into those community programs.”
The city has a designated Human Services Fund that Albi said brings dedicated city dollars to place-based initiatives.
“I think it ends up being $8.1 million,” Albi said. “And we have three categories of priorities within those human services, and one of them is specifically gun violence prevention. We also have housing, homelessness and workforce development. All of that, to me, also adds to our violence reduction strategy. We also have our safe and clean grants that we give out three times a year. Those are really focused on community place-based initiatives to maybe put in a community garden or things like that. There is a thing out there called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, where the idea is that the environment plays an important role in community safety.”
“And then we have our boots on the ground funding as well, which are community grants up to $25,000,” Albi said. “It’s like organizations working with people around violence reduction or addiction services, etc., job development, that type of thing. And then in this most recent budget, we also had leveraged support where violence reduction is also a category in leveraged support funding. It is important that when we think about all these community groups, that the city is putting a lot of money and resources into funding those groups.”
In February, Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long announced a new partnership between the city, University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC) and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center that will aim to stop the cycle of gun violence from the first point of
trauma.
“We’ll establish a working group of experts and practitioners to share resources and develop a traumainformed approach to care,” she said during a February press conference. The program is the nation’s first pediatric and adult violence intervention program, according to Long. Doctors from both hospitals said the program will expand the way victims of gun violence are treated when they are brought to UCMC or Cincinnati Children’s. Three to four new violence prevention professionals have been hired by UCMC and shared with Cincinnati Children’s to provide violent crime victims with a longer-term care plan that includes mental health support. The initiative is being funded by a $600,000 community grant for community-based violence intervention and prevention the city applied for last summer.
Then there’s Advance Peace, a controversial yet proven effective program that pays “active firearms offenders” to get involved in a fellowship program that offers cash payments for meeting goals for therapy, job training and mentoring.
Launched in 2010 in Richmond, California, the city saw a 54% reduction in fatal shootings after four years of Advance Peace, and nonfatal shootings were cut in half.
All but one Cincinnati City Councilmember voted in favor of approving $275,000 for Advance Peace, but it’s still not enough, Albi said.
“What we did in the carryover budget was allocate $275,000 to be seed money that could be used to fundraise for more, because we know Advanced Peace costs a ton, much more than that,” Albi said. “You can look up other cities that have implemented this program before. In fact, the city of Orlando got federal funding. They applied and got a federal grant for it. So the concept is like, hey, we the city have put some dollars up. We’re now looking for who can be the partner to help fundraise and implement the program.”
With gun violence numbers slowly improving and new programs on the horizon, Albi wonders if a new OGVP would streamline the process or slow it down with bureaucracy.
“One thing where I think we can truly get better at and improve at is, how do we coordinate those efforts? Right? And I think that’s where having [Gabe Fletcher] on board and getting his feet wet and learning the landscape, collaborating with the sheriff’s department, we can maybe consolidate some of the efforts that are happening so it doesn’t feel as siloed,” Albi said. “I personally would just have to sit down with the administration to understand, like, does [an OGVP] add efficiency, or does it add bureaucracy? I just don’t know.”
Could a Skatepark Replace Sawyer Point Playground?
BY ROWAN HETZER
In the wake of a fire that damaged the “Big Mac” Bridge and completely destroyed its below wooden playground, some locals have suggested a new, less flammable replacement for the space: a concrete skatepark.
Nestled within the unusual space left beneath the Interstate 471 road infrastructure for the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, the 1000 Hands Every Child’s Playground at Sawyer Point welcomed visitors and their children to explore its large, steamboat-like wooden structure. It offered numerous interactive features and activities, along with ADA-accessible options for inclusive play.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 1, a fire of undetermined origin fully engulfed the playground, reducing it to ashes. Marked as temporarily closed on Google Maps, the beloved playground now lies in ruins, with little promise as to the timeline for the reopening process.
But in those ruins, certain members of the community, like Cincinnati Skate Park Project Founder Evan Walker, see an opportunity to bring a new activity space to Cincinnati’s skating desert. Cincinnati, even though it has had vibrant and growing skateboard and roller blading scenes, does not have a full skate park within the metropolitan area.
“We need to have options for people to get outside and improve their physical and mental health,” Walker said. “There is no skate park within the City of Cincinnati.”
This led to the formation of the Cincinnati Skate Park Project in 2022 after a regrouping of the Cincinnati skate scene and a number of canceled or seemingly-waved off public projects for skaters.
Walker says, according to a national advocacy group The Skatepark Project, the metric should be one skate park for every 10,000 residents, meaning Cincinnati is missing quite a few.
“There are so many cities that are similar in size or smaller that have so many more skate parks…we don’t have one,” he added.
Walker acknowledged the Recreation Commission’s efforts to build one in Camp Washington, but long project development timelines still leave skaters waiting, and one park alone will not meet inclusivity and accessibility needs for the city.
Walker said the inherent beauty, central location and cultural importance of Sawyer Point, as well as its bustling recreation options and new connections to bike trails throughout the city, make it a perfect addition to the area.
“As skate park design has evolved,
they have become much more appealing to people,” Walker said, citing new design inclusions commonly seen such as tree planting, rain gardens, arts features and viewing areas.
According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, skate parks are the fourth most used feature in city parks, ahead of sports fields, dog parks and other amenities.
Walker said that he anticipates the skater community would be willing to work collaboratively with the city to not only design, but fundraise, construct and maintain a skate park, similar to what has been seen with the smaller do-it-yourself efforts across areas such as Clifton.
Clifton’s skate area, known as “The Courts,” is in an old run-down tennis court behind an apartment building near campus. Over the last couple years, skaters began using the space, since forming a relationship with the apartment landlord. Now, they are in the process of major renovative work, including pouring new concrete.
“It’s most important that skate communities are engaged in those spaces so that what’s built works for the skate community and that we have a stake in it. Skaters will maintain the spot, help clean up and keep the peace if they feel connected to the site,” Walker said.
Walker said that a small riverfront skate park in Ludlow, Ky. recently allowed its skate community to incorporate two aspects that have since led to a rise in visitors.
“We want the city to build full scale skate parks, but we also would like
space for our community to build our own features in the interim, because we can get them up fast,” Walker said.
According to Walker, Cincinnati Parks had previously approached the organization about making a skate park under that highway, and now that “the universe has given this message,” he feels the time is right to resume those conversations.
Cincinnati Skate Park Project has started a petition seeking 1,000 signatures to send to local legislation, such as Cincinnati Parks, that there is still interest in putting in a skatepark at that site. The petition has approximately 930 signatures at the time of publication.
“We hadn’t heard about this skate park petition, but do plan to engage with all interested members of the community who have ideas and feedback to share,” Cincinnati Parks spokesman Rocky Merz told CityBeat in an email.
The plan as it stands is to prioritize bridge repair and discuss rehabilitation, including the reconstruction of a playground in Sawyer Point, with the community and the agencies responsible for the bridge: the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. However, Merz said that it’s “hard to imagine anyone proposing rebuilding a playground in that location,” and it will likely be moved.
“We don’t want to speculate yet on specifics as it is far too early to know exactly what components the final design will include, what the community wants, how the playground will be laid out, what the cost will be, or when
this work will take place,” Merz said.
The location of the former playground was situated in the space underneath Cincinnati’s I-471 access ramp to the bridge, leaving many questioning why there was a playground in that space in the first place.
Some cities, however, are actually finding that these spaces under highways are perfect for skate parks. Highways provide skate parks some shelter from heat and rain, and the concrete skate parks are low maintenance, without risk of damage by fire or flood. Many cities, including Boston, Miami, Fla. and Birmingham, Ala. have opened successful skate parks under highways.
“Skate parks are low maintenance, not flammable like the playground was, and they are not prone to flood damage, as the concrete can just be washed out after the flood,” Walker said.
Just across the “Big Mac,” underneath the same bridge infrastructure on the Kentucky side and next to Newport High School, lies the completely skaterbuilt Newport Skate Park, a park that Walker says the skating scene took pride in creating and maintaining, especially since the city of Newport decided to accept it as a legitimate skate park.
As the 1000 Hands Every Child’s Playground continues to sit in char, and discussions of what to replace the park with continue, the future of the space remains unclear. Whether it’s ramps and grind rails or swings and slides, the Cincinnati Parks department and the community will have to work together to find a way to revitalize and rejuvenate the space.
The Lot 11 skate park in Miami, Fla. that the Cincinnati Skate Park Project envisions a potential park under the highway at Sawyer Point would look like.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY EVAN WALKER
Miami University Librarians Urge Dean to Support Fair Contract in Open Letter
BY MADELINE FENING
Twenty-five librarians at Miami University have signed an open letter to Jerome Conley, Dean of University Libraries, urging him to advocate on their behalf for a fair collective bargaining agreement for the university’s faculty union, according to a Nov. 20 press release from the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM).
The librarians, who have been in negotiations for their first contract for 450 days, are calling on Conley to use his proximity to Miami’s top leadership to address issues like excessive workloads, a lack of clear criteria for promotion, insufficient pay raises and more.
“We urge you to ask [University leadership] to listen to our problems and work with us on potential solutions, instead of continuing to force us down a path that is damaging to both our librarians and the community we serve,” the letter reads.
The librarians criticized the administration’s proposed 1.5% annual pay raises, which FAM says falls below inflation and the raises offered to other faculty members.
“The University has also proposed significantly reducing the dollar amounts of promotional raises for librarians, demonstrating a lack of respect for librarians’ considerable contributions to the University,” the
letter reads. “Administration furthermore refuses to offer salary floors for each rank of librarianship, which would ensure fair pay for all librarians.”
FAM says in the open letter that the average salary for a librarian at Miami University is below the minimum salaries at other Ohio universities.
“Miami can afford to do better, and its refusal to engage seriously with us on minimum salaries and pay raises is truly insulting,” the letter reads.
Academic freedom was also listed as a concern of Miami’s librarians, who are seeking to have academic freedom protections codified in upcoming contracts.
“We have been repeatedly told in bargaining that librarians have no need for academic freedom, and the University has refused to engage with proposals addressing it,” the letter reads. “Librarians were included in the [American Association of University Professors’] 1940 Statement on Academic Freedom and its 1970 Interpretive Comments, and we need those protections codified in our contract.”
Tenured and tenure-track faculty at Miami University voted to form a union in May of 2023, but have not yet secured a contract with the university. During the Oct. 19-20 weekend, FAM members conducted a “practice picket” during Miami’s “Family
Weekend.” Organizers also arranged for a plane to fly a banner over the Ohio University-Miami University football game that weekend, which read, “Miami stop stalling, fair contract now!”
Ohio’s organizing university faculty members no longer have the threat of anti-striking rules after the state legislature’s Senate Bill 83 eliminated a controversial anti-striking provision. But the bill, which sits in the Ohio House, added a new provision that would prevent unions from negotiating on tenure.
But SB 83 prohibits most mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training for university faculty and staff, and puts certain academic limitations on “controversial beliefs,” which the bill defines as “any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy, including issues such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.”
“How can we support the academic freedom of our faculty colleagues without academic freedom for ourselves?” the librarians’ open letter reads. “How can we teach and support our students? How can we continue to be leaders in equity and inclusion without an assurance by the University that we have the same protections as faculty?”
Members and supporters of the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM) participate in a "practice picket" during Miami's "Family Weekend" on Oct. 19, 2024.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE FACULTY ALLIANCE OF MIAMI
On Nov. 17, 1994, CityBeat’s very first issue hit newsstands. Even after leafing through the first issue, readers could tell that CityBeat presented something truly unique to Cincinnati — a locally-owned and independent news source. As cofounder and then-editor-in-chief John Fox said in his first editorial, his goal was for CityBeat to be a friend to the community — not an “elder.” “We are a small, enthusiastic group of journalists, designers, photographers and sales people hoping to provide what we think is sorely needed here: a locally based, independent media voice that provokes thought and encourages action,” Fox said. For three decades, CityBeat has been the voice of Cincinnati, covering stories that matter, amplifying local culture and holding those in power accountable.
The ‘90s were a strange time for the media, with many television stations and dailies fighting for eyeballs with sensational stories and more entertainment-focused reporting (clickbait without the actual clicks). Distrust of the media was beginning to grow
more than it ever had before, and Fox seemed to understand what the people of Cincinnati were missing: a voice for the people. For the everyman. For the dreamer. For the artist. An independent voice that wasn’t tied to a large news corporation with headquarters in another state.
Why independent media matters
At the time of its founding, CityBeat was among many brand-new and emerging alternative newsweeklies across the country. Since the founding of the first alt-weekly, the Village Voice, in 1955, numerous other cities and communities across the nation have welcomed their own alternative news source. Alt-weeklies were founded to be, as the name suggests, an alternative to the daily newspaper — a place to shine a light on underreported topics and communities, an outlet for writers to opine on whatever subjects they desired and an outlet readers could turn to for coverage on cool things to do in their cities. We became an essential part of the media
landscape in dozens of cities large and small throughout the country.
In the past decade or so, though, many alt-weeklies have either shuttered or been transformed into just a shell of what they once were — including the aforementioned Village Voice and revered SF Weekly. So, how has CityBeat managed to survive while so many other publications like it have folded? I’d like to think that our success can be equally attributed to our faithful readers and, of course, our amazing staff, past and present.
Over the years, our reporting has made a sizable difference in Cincinnati. As one of the city’s only voices for local music, former music reporter Mike Breen’s stories helped local musicians reach a larger, engaged audience. Through her groundbreaking column, Your Negro Tour Guide, the late Kathy Y. Wilson examined race, gender and class in Cincinnati and beyond. Countless other staffers and contributors have shaped CityBeat over the years, helping us remain a publication by the people and for the people of Cincinnati.
CityBeat has produced numerous
award-winning stories, our most recent accolades stemming from a 2023 cover feature by news reporter Madeline Fening about the quest to identify thousands of bodies buried in Potter’s Field. Fening’s story is the perfect example of what CityBeat and other alt-weeklies do so well: Dive headfirst into an underreported issue to showcase the humanity and beauty in our communities.
CityBeat launched its inaugural Best of Cincinnati issue in 1997, three years after the publication’s founding in 1994. This annual feature has since become a cornerstone of CityBeat’s offerings, celebrating the city’s top people, places, businesses and cultural highlights as chosen by readers and staff. Over the years, it has grown into a highly anticipated issue and event, reflecting Cincinnati’s dynamic and evolving landscape. This dedication to showcasing the best of Cincinnati doesn’t end with CityBeat’s editorial department. Our sales and marketing teams have also been hard at work, creating and executing exciting theme weeks, like Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week and Margarita Madness, that help drive business to
local restaurants and bars, as well as inspire Cincinnatians to explore more of the treasures in their own backyard. Before operations ceased for both, the Midpoint Music Festival and Cincinnati Entertainment Awards helped propel the local music scene into the national spotlight and recognized and honored the accomplishments of local musicians.
Challenges facing independent media
For the past 30 years, CityBeat has tried to remain true to the goals set forth by Fox in his very first editorial. We are still independently owned and do our very best to give readers a more intimate look at the people, places and things in the Queen City — in our own often snarky, off-beat way. Many of the same writers who contributed to CityBeat in its early days are still writing for CityBeat today. (And I imagine that at least some people reading this have been faithful readers of CityBeat since its origin). As you can imagine, though, quite a bit has changed since 1994, both in the local media landscape and in the world at large.
Since its earliest days, the press and news media have been referred to as the Fourth Estate, given its role of informing the people without constraint. The press serve as an important link between the people in charge and the average citizen. The term is a play on the original three estates of the realm in Europe: the clergy, the nobility and the commoners. Across the pond in the U.S., we call the press the fourth unofficial branch of government, after the executive, judicial and legislative branches.
The concept of the news media has been around since ancient times, when news could only be passed along orally. For centuries, we have been an essential part of daily life, holding politicians accountable and keeping the masses informed.
Despite the importance of the media, we have throughout history faced threats large and small that have forced us to be more adaptive and flexible. More recently, it has felt as though these threats — coming from some of the most influential people in the world — could severely weaken an already struggling industry.
Just earlier this month, Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election to become the 47th president of the United States. It’s no secret that Trump has been hostile towards the media, whether he’s encouraging violence against reporters, blacklisting publications from press briefings at the White House or referring to any stories that cast him in an unfavorable light as “fake news.” Though right wing political pundits complained that the
“We have a much smaller staff than we did 30 years ago. Just a few decades ago, our staff was so large that we occupied two floors of an office building. Now, our staff of seven work with fewer resources to manage a publication that has an even greater reach and impact than it did 30 years ago.”
national news media was too liberal for their liking far before Trump took office in 2017, his relationship to the media did provide the perfect atmosphere for distrust in the media to grow to an alltime high.
On Nov. 17, Trump appointed Brendan Carr, a Republican and former FCC General Counsel as the new Chairman of the FCC. As NBC reported, Carr actually wrote the chapter on the regulatory agency in Project 2025, the political playbook released by conservative American think tank The Heritage Foundation in 2023, that spells out how Trump’s second term as president will play out. In his chapter, Carr said that the FCC should rein in Big Tech and reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 in order to prevent social media platforms from having “carte blanche to censor protected speech while maintaining their Section 230 protections.”
While Carr’s goals don’t appear to pose much of a threat to publications like CityBeat just yet, the climate that Trump has created could be quite damaging. Before winning the election, Trump threatened to jail reporters and revoke broadcast licenses from news networks he deemed unfair in their reporting. This rhetoric has fostered a climate of distrust, where millions of people question the media’s value. This shift is likely to have a profound impact on the media landscape, contributing to declining readership, revenue and more. My concern is that Trump’s hostility toward the media could discourage charitable investments in journalism and, even worse, result in the media being excluded from critical spaces. This could mean restricted access to press conferences, interviews and other opportunities essential for providing readers with a complete and accurate picture. In a climate where Trump openly bullies esteemed reporters and where average citizens get their news from Facebook posts and TikToks, how do we compete? Well, the simple answer is that we adapt. Again. Politicians have been clashing with the media and threatening retribution for stories since the days of the very first publications. There are other threats to the media that loom larger — real issues that we face as we try to adapt to
the changes in our technology, audience and world at large. Since the early 2000s, the news media has had to pivot multiple times to adjust to the growing popularity of the internet, changes in news consumption and more.
Lately, despite our best efforts, we are struggling to meet our readers where they are. As circulation and online pageviews trend downwards for many media organizations, so too do the advertising dollars. The loss of advertising dollars especially impacts publications like CityBeat that don’t have the luxury of belonging to large media conglomerates with financial safety nets.
While we enjoy the luxuries of operating in a larger market, smaller towns throughout the U.S. have essentially become media deserts. In the past few decades, thousands of small town newspapers have disappeared, and with them the most essential tool to archive their history. Larger media conglomerates have worked to expand their coverage to include small and rural communities, but often they are in those communities to report on the very best and worst days experienced by those citizens — not to report on the local businesses, the unknown philanthropists and quiet, poignant triumphs. It’s heartbreaking. Thankfully, we are beginning to adapt in new ways to address those challenges in the creation of nonprofits and other organizations, like Report for America and the ProPublica Local Reporting Network, that bring reporters and resources to where they are needed the most.
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ARTS & CULTURE
Opinion: Move Over, Park City
Why Cincinnati is the perfect place to host the Sundance Film Festival
BY LOGAN TURNER
America’s largest and most renowned independent film festival is looking for a new home, and Cincinnati might be the place. The Sundance Film Festival is considered the biggest gathering of independent filmmakers in the United States, hosting over 400,000 viewers in 2023 alone. The festival has become a marquee event in the film industry, with many of its entrants like Little Miss Sunshine and The Unusual Suspects winning Oscars and being showcased in theaters across the globe. After 46 years of hosting the event in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as at Sundance Resort, the Sundance Film Festival is on the move.
What later would become Sundance Film Festival was founded in 1978 as The Utah/U.S. Film Festival. The founders of the festival, Sterling Van Wagenen and John Earle, came up with the idea in an effort to bring more attention to Utah as a place for filmmakers and their projects. Aside from that, the founders had also hoped to create something that could showcase American-made films that didn’t come out of the traditional Hollywood setting. After going through some rebranding over the years, the Sundance Institute took over managing the festival in 1984. The iconic Sundance Film Festival name would come shortly after. Since its inception, Sundance has featured hundreds of films. Notably, 86% of the films featured in the festival are making their original debuts, including hits like Get Out, American Psycho and Reservoir Dogs. This makes Sundance
a premiere jumping-off point for many film projects. Sundance has also been a place where various directors, actors and producers have been able to flex their creative muscles without the need to have big studios backing them. The idea of supporting independent film has created many successful careers for independent filmmakers outside of the traditional Hollywood model.
If Sundance is such a hit, then why is it leaving Park City? And why would Cincinnati want to be its new host? There’s plenty of rationale and reason for both questions. To get to the heart of it all, remembering why Sundance was established in Utah is vital.
Sundance’s current home of Park City, Utah, is a ski town. A lot of the city is dominated by wealthy vacationers looking to hit the slopes for a few days and then return to their normal lives. Although having an affluent audience isn’t entirely bad, the festival recognizes they are meant to cater more toward those working in the film industry than anyone else since the event encapsulates the whole of filmmaking for ten days. Forbes writes that the event is seen as an “acquisition festival” — a way to mine for new films to showcase — and that’s what the core of the festival has been for a long time.
According to Variety, money is also a factor in Sundance’s decision to explore potential new locations for the festival. Sundance is currently profitable, but Park City is banking on marketing itself as a ski town. Why would they continue to invest in a festival when they can simply make
filmmaking opportunities in Cincinnati. Hosting the festival could also open the door for Cincinnati filmmakers, as it could inspire financial backers to invest in the local filmmaking community more often. Chase Crawford, a Cincinnati-based actor and filmmaker who was in a Sundance feature in 2016, Goat, shared his thoughts about what the festival could mean to Cincinnati.
“I attended the festival in 2016 and was able to meet producers, agents, managers and even some of the stars themselves. Top-notch networking. Sundance has made a huge local impact in the Utah market via the Utah Film Center and programs like Catalyst and Local Lens. I expect they could make the same local impact here.”
money off luxury vacations? With the current contract between the festival and the city ending in 2026, it just makes sense for each party to reevaluate the relationship between the two.
Sundance Institute held a call for cities interested in hosting the festival that closed on June 21. The call for host cities included criteria that essentially spelled out what a potential host city would need to host the festival. The Queen City is now one of three finalists; organizers of the festival have narrowed it down to Cincinnati, Salt Lake City (with Park City playing as a satellite location) and Boulder, Colorado. Other cities, like Santa Fe, Louisville and Atlanta had thrown their names out there to play host — and for good reason.
According to ABC4 Utah, in 2023 alone, out-of-state visitors linked to the festival contributed an estimated $96 million to the local economy. It also brought in $63 million in wages to the local economy. This economic stimulation can be felt in places like local venues, restaurants and hotels. The surge in money coming into Cincinnati would be felt immediately if they were to play host to Sundance. This could be something that helps both local business owners and the city as a whole, not to mention the possible temporary and long-term job opportunities this could bring to Cincinnati.
Hosting Sundance would also further establish Cincinnati as a filmmaking destination. Much like what happened in Salt Lake City and Park City, holding the country’s premier indie film festival can show filmmakers and producers all of the
Another big perk to hosting Sundance in Cincinnati is accessibility to the festival. Being more local allows Cincy filmmakers a chance to rub elbows with other talented creators from across the country. It also opens the door to possibly being featured in the festival itself. Many filmmakers have to be strategic with what festivals they submit their work to, as each one is an investment in the hopes that more people will see your film. By making Sundance a local event, the investment wouldn’t be as vast and could present possible opportunities to be featured on an iconic stage. Claudia Carlson, a University of Cincinnati film student, gave us an idea of what these opportunities could mean to those starting in the industry.
“I believe this big of a film festival could help students here actually make it in the film world — may that be either via scholarship opportunities or actual job opportunities. I also think it would help us as film students find connections early.” Granted, it won’t be easy for local filmmakers. Less than 1% of films submitted to Sundance make the final cut. This might seem dire, but there’s also a major upside if you get accepted as well. According to nofilmschool, it’s estimated that 80% of films that are showcased at Sundance end up with distribution deals. This just shows the power Sundance has, as it’s this pull with studios that have created careers for famous filmmakers like Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and James Wan.
The combination of creative and economic opportunities has made Sundance Film Festival a desirable event to play host to. Currently, local organizations like Film Cincinnati are doing everything they can to showcase the city and why Cincinnati would be a great fit for Sundance. While they can’t say much during the current selection process, Film Cincinnati posted on Sept. 30 that they would be postponing their Backlot 2024 event to focus more on the opportunity to bring Sundance to the city. The ramifications of this could change Cincinnati for generations to come. Sundance is expected to announce the new host city in February 2025, shortly after the next scheduled event.
Local film crew helps guests realize their Hollywood stunt driving dreams at Film Cincinnati’s annual Backlot fundraiser.
PHOTO: BRYAN HOUSTON
ONSTAGE
Know Theatre Transforms Die Hard into a Holiday Tradition
BY RICK PENDER
When the 1988 action movie Die Hard was released, the initial reaction was a tad hohum, just another film with an invincible hero and a lot of noisy explosions. But Bruce Willis’s performance as a lone good guy who just barely succeeds at besting a horde of bad guys won a lot of fans. The bombastic film is set in an under-construction Los Angeles office tower where investors come together for a flashy holiday celebration that goes a long way off the rails when a team of Eurotrash criminals invade and try to pull off a big-time heist of bonds secured in a heavily protected vault. The chaos begins at a swanky party and continues with a lot of holiday folderol that has resulted in many people feeling that “40 Stories of Sheer Adventure” is truly a Christmas movie with a happy ending despite the astonishing amount of carnage.
The film – selected by the Library of Congress in 2017 for preservation in the National Film Registry – spawned a host of imitators about a hero battling impossible odds in a challenging environment. But it seems unlikely that anyone has seriously considered transforming it into a holiday stage show. Until now. Creative
Cincinnati playwrights Alexx Rouse and A.J. Baldwin have partnered to create a clever script, and director Tatiana Godfrey is staging the show as Know Theatre of Cincinnati’s seasonal offering.
Here’s the concept, as portrayed by Know’s publicity: It’s “set inside the suburban home of a family on the brink of collapse. It’s Christmas Eve, and Holly has invited her estranged husband Mack back home to provide a ‘normal Christmas’ to their kids. But when he picks Die Hard for the family’s movie night, the classic ‘Is this a Christmas movie?’ debate takes on a life of its own.”
Godfrey, in a recent phone conversation with CityBeat, explained how this unfolds. The premise is that the events of Die Hard happened in real life, and three years have passed. The “real” Mack has written a book about these events, and it’s getting turned into a movie. Mack and Holly are on the outs, but the kids are scheming a plan. “They have decided that in the same way that Parent Trap tricked feuding parents, they’re going to Die Hard their parents to get them back together. The action portions of the movie — lots of deaths and explosions — are reflected in the home of the family,” rather than in an office tower.
Godfrey assures theatergoers that “you don’t need to know anything about the movie to have a great time. The way that it’s structured, the way we have them following the movie’s plot, it will tell you everything you need to know. If you just show up for a good time, it’s a different choice for families to come together.” In fact, she speculates, “This is going to be beloved in this city. We hope to be doing it as a family holiday tradition for years.”
Godfrey is shaping the production with four actors who play about ten characters in all. “A lot of whom die,” she mentions, “and come back as someone else.” Playwright Rouse plays Lane, the daughter, as well as “multiple goons.”
Andrew Ian Adams is her brother, Mack Jr. … but also the villain Hans Gruber (the malevolent role played by Alan Rickman in his first movie). Phineas Clark plays the dad, the “real” Mack. Another busy local actor, Beasley, will be the mom (as well as Al, the down-toearth police officer who helps Mac).
Godfrey says there are plenty of a-ha moments in the show’s storytelling for anyone who recalls the 1988 movie. “People who love the film will say, ‘Oh, yeah, I recognize that.’ There are a bunch
of Easter eggs, and also things that are not like hidden Easter eggs, they are just moments from the movie that people know and love.”
Asked what else people should expect, Godfrey says, “Everybody can enjoy this show whether you’re a die-hard Die Hard fan or somebody who’s not that familiar with the story of the movie. The thing to take away is that there is something here for everyone, including a lot of shenanigans and buffoonery, which we all love. But it’s definitely grounded in the idea of family and what families come together to do at the holiday season.”
In 2018, 20th Century Fox celebrated the film’s 30th anniversary with a re-edited Die Hard trailer portraying it as a traditional Christmas film. Now that Know will push the storytelling to another level the question as to whether Die Hard is a holiday movie, should be resoundingly — dare I say explosively — answered. Godfrey urges Cincinnatians to get in on the ground floor.
Die Hard is a Christmas Movie, presented by Know Theatre of Cincinnati, opens on Dec. 6 and continues through Dec. 22. More info: knowtheatre.com.
Phineas Clark as Mack in Die Hard is a Christmas Movie PHOTO: KATIE HARTMAN/KNOW THEATRE
CULTURE
MNew Children’s Book Tells Story of Cincinnati Musician’s Landmark Supreme Court Case
BY EMMA SEGREST
ia Wenjen did not have the intention to write her latest children’s book, We Sing From the Heart: How The Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court Wenjen and Simon Tam’s first meeting was years before Wenjen even had the idea to pen her story. Tam, who’s a current Cincinnati resident and lead singer of The Slants, was gathering letters of support for a lawsuit to obtain a copyright for his band’s name. He discovered Wenjen through her blog, Pragmatic Mom, where she discussed and documented children’s books through an Asian American lens. The band, The Slants, had been denied access to copyright given that the term used in the band’s name had often been used as a discriminatory phrase towards Asian Americans, but Tam, who is Asian American, was not using it in this way.
For Tam, this name was a reclaiming of a term that had been hurled at him since he was a young boy. In 2011, his band was denied a name copyright, leaving them vulnerable to others making a profit from their name and work. Wenjen found herself taken in by Tam’s eloquence, drive and the strides he made for Asian American representation. After a phone call explaining the details of the lawsuit, Wenjen agreed to write a letter for him. Her letter ended up being one of over 3,000 documents in support of Tam and The Slants. It wouldn’t be until 2017 that Wenjen would learn what became of Tam and his case.
“One day I was wondering what happened to Simon Tam, so I looked him up on social media and couldn’t believe my eyes,” Wenjen said. “Two weeks prior he had won in a Supreme Court decision the right to trademark his name, and I was so proud of him.”
In those years Wenjen had not heard from Tam, he had been busy navigating the daunting federal court system, all the way up to the Supreme Court in the landmark case Matal v. Tam. He was denied a copyright under the Disparagement Clause of the Lanham Act of 1946, which prohibits trademarks that “[consist] of or [comprise] immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.” Tam argued that this denial was viewpoint discrimination as it would not be immoral to use the term as an Asian American. He won his case with a unanimous vote that found denying the copyright would violate free speech.
He never imagined what started as a lawsuit for artistic rights could end with
him being part of a unanimous Supreme Court decision honoring his freedom of speech and creating a new precedent for artists.
“Honestly, I didn’t really know how to feel for a good 10 hours, it just felt unreal to me. From the moment I woke up, my phone was going off. I had 700 missed notifications, and I was in back-to-back calls and interviews all day with hundreds of outlets,” Tam said. “I didn’t even have time to process the decision until much later in the evening when I had a chance to talk to my mom about it.”
Tam’s case was not only a win for artists but a win for the Asian American community as well — and a win that recaptured the interest of Wenjen when she was reading Tam’s memoir Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court. While reading his memoir, Wenjen had vivid images of Tam’s story, but in the format of a children’s book. She recognized Tam as someone she would have liked her children to know and look up to as they were growing up, so why not make this a possibility for other children?
Tam was surprised when Wenjen came to him with the idea, but he was also excited and honored that Wenjen was willing to take on the task of telling his story in a way that translated to a younger audience. Wenjen was confident in her vision, having noted Tam’s eloquent philanthropic work focused on anti-bullying in schools.
“I think it’s always a little bit surreal, because for me, growing up, I didn’t really have anyone that looked like me in the music industry, entertainment or anything like that,” Tam said. “I just remember throughout my career thinking like I want to be able to do things that I wish I had growing up.”
Thus began a collaborative effort between the two, with Wenjen writing the story and Tam offering insight along the way. While the book was written for children, this project is far more than just a simple story; at its core, this book is about the power of embracing your identity and what can transpire from speaking up about what you believe in.
“There are definitely times in history, like the Japanese American internment camps, where people can go back and say, our Supreme Court failed us,” Wenjen said. “For example, the Associated Press did a survey and seven out of 10 Americans feel like the Supreme Court is partisan. I think the overall message is we all have to fight for democracy and fight bias and racism, and we can’t just turn a blind eye.”
According to the American Library Assoscition, there was a 92% increase in books being challenged, compared to 2022, and pressure groups began to focus on public libraries as well as school libraries. In an age where books are being banned from schools and libraries at a growing rate, Wenjen and Tam’s story
feels particularly profound, and Wenjen acknowledges this. Another prevalent theme in the book is that words have power, and that when you take ownership of words you are able to take the power with you. For The Slants, this was using the derogatory term as their name, and for Wenjen, it was the act of writing this story. To Tam, the value of stories can’t be stated enough. “I’ve always firmly believed that stories really matter, because when we’re able to tell our stories in a way that other people see themselves in it builds connection, builds empathy, certainly for people who come from communities that are traditionally marginalized.” Wenjen’s story follows Tam from being a young boy encountering racism, to finding power in music, and eventually his fight for free speech with the Supreme Court. It’s about finding your voice and the power one person can have. Released in Oct. 2024, with a forward by Simon Tam and featuring poppy art by Victor Bizar Gómez, We Sing From the Heart: How The Slants Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court is a punkesque history that celebrates the Asian American community and the power of democracy.
For more information about We Sing From the Heart: How The Slants Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court and to buy a copy of the book, visit redcometpress.com/ nonfiction/wesing.
We Sing From the Heart is a punk-esque history that celebrates the Asian American community and the power of democracy.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY RED COMET PRESS
FOOD & DRINK
Spice Up Your Life
Hurry Curry brings bold flavors
BY CAROLINE BECKMAN
As far as food cities are concerned, Cincinnati is quickly making a name for itself with interesting and diverse ideas, from fine dining to casual and everything in between. One of the most tantalizing new arrivals is Hurry Curry, a fastcasual fusion pop-up in Madisonville that serves curry flavors inspired by Asia and the Middle East in forms such as customizable burritos and bowls. I pitched it to friends and family as “Chipotle, but with Indian food,” but that description may be too simplistic. When I say Hurry Curry is a hidden gem, I am, in part, referring to location. I wasn’t familiar with Madisonville, and I got a bit turned around looking for the unassuming pop-up, which is located at 6756 Bramble Ave. next to a residential area and across the street from a UDF store. Two doors down is
to Madisonville.
Bramble Bubbly, a bubble tea shop. The area is developing, and the building itself is tiny, with a to-go window and no indoor seating. Customers who wish to “dine in” can sit at a few small tables next to the street. Thankfully, I went on a pleasantly warm October day, perfect for sitting outside. It would be easy to write Hurry Curry off or to miss it entirely, but that would be a mistake. The setup may be humble, but the offerings are anything but. The menu is small, allowing the restaurant to focus on doing a few things exceptionally well. Customers pick their style (burrito, bowl, naan pizza or a rotating special, with a bento box option coming soon); their base (red curry, yellow curry, spicy green curry and rotating specials such as sweet and spicy chili and sweet potato-based white curry); their toppings (crispy fried onions, sliced
jalapenos, a special spice blend, black seed, crushed red pepper and cayenne); and extras such as a grilled naan, rice or a naan grilled cheese. Most of the options are vegetarian or vegan, making the restaurant accessible to a variety of diets, but the robust flavors could win over even the most hardcore meat fan. (If you just can’t go without meat, some of the rotating specials, like the ground beef-based sweet and spicy chili and the self-explanatory beans and sausage, do include it.) The curry flavors evoke faraway places in South Asia and the Middle East — flavors that may not be familiar to every Cincinnatian, but with sides that are comforting and familiar, making Hurry Curry the perfect restaurant for both the most adventurous eater and someone taking baby steps out of their comfort zone.
The naan grilled cheese ($6) was a
no-brainer. I love naan. I love grilled cheese. Of course I wanted to try the two put together. When I first went, however, my main dish was a more difficult decision. Owner, chef and server Ryan Saadawi kindly offered me samples of the bases: The red, yellow and green curries, as well as that week’s special, the Middle Eastern chickpea stew. The race was close, but I ultimately went with a spicy green curry burrito ($10).
The naan grilled cheese was everything you want in a grilled cheese: Delicious, oozy and very hot. (Be careful taking the first bite. Let it cool down for a few seconds before jumping right in). It’s the ultimate comfort food, but with a unique twist. I’m a bit of a snob about grilled cheese, but I was impressed both by the taste and the unique twist on a classic. The standout of this meal,
The yellow curry pizza from Hurry Curry PHOTO: CAROLINE BECKMAN
however, was the spicy green curry burrito. As I took my first bite of the burrito, I immediately thought, “This was a genius idea.” The ingredients are a perfectly-grilled tortilla, rice and a colorful curry that includes Chinese eggplant, carrot, onion, zucchini, snap pea and butternut squash. It is spicy but not overwhelmingly so, and the flavors reminded me of a Thai curry.
On my second visit, I loaded up, getting options both to eat there and to take to go. For lunch I had a naan pizza with yellow curry and crushed red pepper ($11). The curry was mild, with only a hint of spice, making it a perfect choice for someone with a lower spice tolerance. It was comprised of lentil, butternut squash, carrot, onion and cauliflower. I don’t even like cauliflower all that much, but I enjoyed this. The provolone, mozzarella and white cheddar topping was perfectly gooey, with a mile-long cheese pull that I underestimated. If you get a naan pizza, get a fork and lots of napkins.
For my to-go order, I got another naan pizza ($11), this one with my beloved green curry, and a bowl with half red curry and half Middle Eastern chickpea curry ($13). At Hurry Curry you can mix and match two curry bases over rice if you want to get experimental or you just can’t choose. The red curry included potato, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot and onion; it was delicious, reminiscent of Thai flavors, and the spiciest of all the curries. The potato chunks were tender. The Middle Eastern chickpea curry, on the other hand, was also spicy but with a delicate quality and featured flavorful, sweet tomatoes, garlic and shredded carrots along with the chickpeas. The mix-and-matched bowl was a sweet, spicy, savory and soft sensory delight.
Saadawi opened Hurry Curry because he “missed good, flavorful food,” and the path leading up to that venture is an interesting one. Hailing from Saudi Arabia, he used to be the general manager at the Cheesecakery (owned by his partner Liz Field, who also owns Bramble Bubbly), and he also holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati. To him, cooking is much like chemistry. It involves combining ingredients under specific conditions and attempting to reproduce certain results. A friend of his had a food truck to spare, so Saadawi asked if he could borrow it. One thing led to another, and Saadawi decided he wanted to create a food concept of his own for under $500. Hurry Curry started as a food truck in early 2020, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Saadawi had to recalibrate, though he didn’t forget about the idea entirely (and neither did the food truck’s most devoted fans, who would continuously ask Saadawi if he had plans to bring Hurry Curry back). He spent his newfound free time working with Field at the Cheesecakery and testing recipes for Hurry Curry. In the summer of 2024, he opened the pop-up and brought Hurry Curry back and better than ever.
Hurry Curry has something for everyone. Whether you want a sit-down lunch with friends or need something to take with you and eat on the go, whether you’re an adventurous eater or curious but cautious, Hurry Curry has something for you.
Hurry Curry is currently open from 5-10 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays and noon-10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Hurry Curry, 6756 Bramble Ave, Madisonville. More info: hurrycurrycincinnati.square.site.
The red curry and Middle Eastern chickpea curry bowl from Hurry Curry
PHOTO:CAROLINE BECKMAN
9 Must-Try Restaurants in Greater Cincinnati, According to a CityBeat Food Writer
BY KATHERINE BARRIER EATS
If you don’t know me, I’m Katherine Barrier: lifelong Cincinnatian, foodie and CityBeat’s digital content editor, which means I do a little bit of everything here. You may have seen my name on our housing news stories, coverage of events like BLINK, upcoming museum exhibits and concerts, etc. — I do it all. But my main beat, and my favorite, is for our food and drinks news. I cover restaurant and bar openings and closings; fun menu additions, like Skyline’s new Mac and Cheese Ways; and all things culinary in the Queen City.
I’ve always liked food, but the last two years I’ve spent working for CityBeat and on the food and dining beat has helped me think about it differently. I’ve learned a lot and developed a perspective toward food and restaurants I don’t think I would have otherwise, which is why I thought it was time to share a little of what I’ve learned, in true CityBeat fashion, in the form of a list of restaurants I love. Some of these are old favorites I’ve come to see in a new light, and some of these are new loves I maybe wouldn’t have tried if it weren’t for this job. Keep scrolling to see nine (and that’s barely scratching the surface; I had to rein myself in...) Greater Cincinnati restaurants I would recommend as a still-learning food writer.
Somm Wine Bar
3105 Price Ave., East Price Hill
This wine bar and eatery tucked away in East Price Hill is my ultimate go-to when I want a meal that’s a little more upscale but still approachable, and I’ve been to Somm countless times and have never had anything other than an incredible experience here. The servers are friendly; the food is cooked and seasoned perfectly (my mother goes so far as to say that she enjoys Somm more than Sotto, if that tells you anything); and the menu selection feels fancy without being inaccessible — you can just as easily get escargot and filet mignon here as you can get a burger and mac and cheese.
My go-to is the Faroe Island salmon, with whipped potatoes and broccolini in a lemon-wine sauce — it’s crispy on the outside and well-seasoned, but still flaky and moist (sorry, I hate that word too but there’s no better way to say it) and the sauce just brightens everything up. I’m not a huge wine drinker — I’m more likely to go for Somm’s cocktail menu, either The Conservatory, made with Northern Row gin, or the Blueberry Lavender Lemonade — but they also have an extensive collection of wine for those who are.
Also, don’t skip the dessert: I’ll tell you to go for their crème brûlée, but my mom would argue for their chocolateraspberry pots de crème. But honestly, you can’t go wrong with either
Gabriela: Filipina Kantina
2750 Park Ave., Norwood (In Factory 52’s food hall The Gatherall)
Gabriela: Filipina Kantina is one of my newest loves. This stall at Factory 52’s food hall, The Gatherall, opened in August last year and serves up dishes that explore Spanish colonization’s impact on Filipino cuisine, explaining, “Gabriela’s menu nods to the complexities of our culture’s rich (and truthfully complicated) history, aptly named after the female leader [Gabriela Silang] of the Ilocano independence movement from Spain.” I’m a history nerd, so I love when history intersects with food and culture as a way to provide more context for the past that our American-centered history classes just don’t give us. I also love a badass lady and highly recommend reading more about Gabriela Silang. I first tried Gabriela this past spring and it quickly became a favorite stop for when I’m craving Filipino food. I typically order the lechon baboy (pork belly) with a side of garlic rice and a kale
salad with chickpeas, croutons and garlic dressing and then just kind of mix it all together to create a rice bowl. Gabriela also offers their own rice bowls where you get to pick your protein and two sides alongside a serving of rice. The lechon has both super crispy pieces, kind of like a pork rind almost but with more flavor, as well as tender pieces of pork belly, and you can really taste the ginger, lemongrass and garlic it’s marinated in. If you’re in more of a sandwich mood, get a bocadillo — a Filipino-Spanishstyle of sandwich with your choice of protein (I recommend trying the Filipino sausage longganisa) on house-made baguettes. You can also try the Filipino pastry ensaymada, a sweet and savory treat made with brioche and coated in butter, sugar and cheese. Or try ube, a purple yam native to the Philippines, in the form of a cookie, made with Gabriela’s house-made Halaya and ube extract. It’s chewy, crispy and worth making room for after your meal.
Young Buck Deli
1332 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine
When I want a sandwich — like a SANDWICH sandwich — Young Buck Deli is my new go-to. This deli opened in Over-the-Rhine earlier this year and
offers a selection of enormous, handcrafted sandwiches that just feed my soul. The team makes the lunch meat, bread (which is amazingly fluffy and sturdy at the same time) and accouterments in-house using fresh and seasonal ingredients, and you can tell the difference in taste.
I’ve tried two of Young Buck’s offerings so far, including the New Deal, an Italianstyle ‘wich made with smoked pork loin ham, capicola ham (also known as gabagool), shredded lettuce, pickled red onion, ricotta, red wine vinaigrette and oregano aioli. But my favorite (just by a hair-wide margin) is the Jive A$$ Turkey, which comes with Young Buck’s house-made turkey, fig jam, a goat cheese spread, and fennel prepared à la Grecque. I have my eye on other sandwiches, especially the bacon, egg and cheese breakfast one, but that turkey has been pulling me almost every time. Now, have some napkins on hand when you try these sandwiches because Young Buck doesn’t fool around when it comes to portion sizes and things can be a little messy.
Bridges Nepali Cuisine
4165 Hamilton Ave., Northside; 11 W. Seventh St, Covington; 6304 Vine St., Elmwood Place; 2459 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills
I was first introduced to Bridges’ popular momos by a coworker several years ago and they’ve had a stranglehold (in a good way) on me ever since. If you don’t know what a momo is, it’s a Nepali steamed dumpling filled with meat and/ or vegetables. Bridges’ steamed momos have a soft and chewy exterior or you can get it pan-seared if you want a little crispiness, and the filling is perfectly spiced. I get the chicken every time because I can’t resist, but Bridges’ also offers a pork filling and veggie filling, or you can also get a half-and-half order. Add a side of aloo wala (chilled and marinated potatoes) or one of Bridges’ samosas if you have room. It’s a lot of food, but it keeps well as leftovers. Bridges also offers build-your-own rice and salad bowls with numerous ways to combine its gravies, proteins, spice levels, salsas and toppings for a filling and delicious meal.
Price Hill Chili
4920 Glenway Ave., West Price Hill
I wouldn’t be a very good Cincinnatian if I didn’t include a chili parlor on this list, and I think I’d lose my West Sider membership if I didn’t sing the praises of the one and only Price Hill Chili.
Part of the restaurant was renovated around a decade ago and is more modern, but the rest of the place is untouched by time, with vintage diner booths, an old-school dining counter and old framed prints of Cincinnati on
the wall. But the nostalgia is the point. This is where your grandparents took you to lunch on a day off school, where you and your friends ate before a high school football game and where you went for after-church brunch with your family on a Sunday. In this crazy world where so much seems unreliable, you can still rely on Price Hill Chili for a good meal with good company.
As for their menu, definitely try their chili at least once, but if you’re going for breakfast, I love a plate of their home fries with a goetta and cheese omelet. The goetta and cheese meld together to become this delightfully savory, crispy and gooey mix. Also, don’t sleep on the burgers, and make sure you get a side of fries. The burgers are unfussy, juicy and flavorful, and crinkle-cut fries have that perfect golden crisp on the outside and fluffiness on the inside.
Oriental Wok
317 Buttermilk Pike, Lakeside Park; 2444 Madison Road, Hyde Park
For incredible Chinese food and friendly service, Oriental Wok is where you want to go. The restaurant is more upscale, but not in a fussy or inaccessible way. They have two locations, but my favorite is the one in Northern Kentucky. There’s a sense of grandeur when you walk in: the tall ceilings with their red Chinese lanterns, black tablecloths, a koi pond and plenty of greenery, plus there’s usually someone playing piano.
And the food — I’ve never had a bad meal or experience at Oriental Wok. I typically go here on special occasions with my parents and we’ll split the popo appetizer — a platter featuring bali maki steak sticks (my personal fave), crab rangoon, fried shrimp and egg rolls. This is usually followed by us splitting two entrées: the Hong Kong Chicken and the Hong Kong Steak, the latter of which can only be found at the Northern Kentucky location.
The chicken comes deep-fried with a thin, crispy outer layer of breading, drenched in a savory gravy and swimming with Chinese vegetables. Despite the similar name, the Hong Kong steak is not deep-fried, making it a good complement to the chicken. Instead, this 14-oz. NY sirloin comes with a sweet and peppery peppercorn sauce and more vegetables. Also, the waitstaff is always attentive and helpful, and the owner and his family will often come around to your table to check in, making it feel like a classic family restaurant.
BLOC Coffee
801 Mt Hope Ave., East Price Hill Community is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about BLOC Coffee (after the actual coffee and delicious cafe menu, of course). This coffee shop is located in East Price Hill’s Incline District and started as a way for BLOC Ministries founders Dwight and Stephanie Young to create a space where people could gather for conversation, creative endeavors and coffee. Plus, the coffee shop also helps support BLOC Ministries’ Redeemed Home initiative, which helps women who are trafficking survivors or struggling with addiction.
The drink menu is a traditional coffeehouse one — lattes, americanos, tea, etc. — with the addition of seasonal specialty drinks. The coffee is made by local roaster Deeper Roots, and the pastries and Friday night dinners are courtesy of the incredible Chef Gigi. I always need to grab a pastry with my coffee when I go in, especially if there’s any sort of chocolate croissant offering. As for the food, BLOC has a lunch menu, but they also serve breakfast all day. The Chipotle Egg Deluxe — egg, goetta, Havarti, lettuce, onion and chipotle mayo on an English muffin — is my favorite, but if you want something sweeter, go for Mamcita’s Stuffed French Toast. It’s two slices of
challah with a cream cheese and mixed berry compote filling. And in the warmer months, be sure to try BLOC’s neighboring Bold Face Dairy Bar for some ice cream.
Krishna Indian Restaurant and Carryout
313 Calhoun St., CUF
Krishna’s got a little bit of nostalgia attached to it for me. When I worked second shift at Local 12 years ago, Thursday night for the nightside team was Krishna Night, and Krishna Night was sacred. It was a team bonding activity, going around and collecting everyone’s orders and then the enormous task of bringing all that food back. We’d sit together in the newsroom eating our curries and saag and paneer and work on scripts and social media copy and talk and laugh, and those dinners really cemented my love of Indian food. I can’t get it now without thinking about my old team. Thanks for listening to me reminisce. Now, onto the food. Krishna is special to me because of those dinners, but they also really do have some of the best Indian food in the city, in my opinion — and I’ve tried quite a few. My main order — chicken tikka saag (a four on the spice scale), plus the occasional garlic naan — was always perfect. The chicken was flavorful and tender, the rice fluffy, the saag creamy and well-seasoned and the spice level just the right amount of burn for me. The portions were huge, but I would have to fight myself to stop eating it all in one sitting because it was just that dang good. Krishna also offers a spice range for its food that goes up to a seven, and I once made it my mission to make it to that. I never did, but I might have to try again.
Sebastian Bakehouse
10269 Summit Parkway, Blue Ash (opening soon)
Yes, this a bakery and not a restaurant, but Sebastian Bakehouse has some of the best pastries I’ve ever tried. This bakery, formerly located in Mariemont and currently hosting pop-ups in its new space in Blue Ash, specializes as a viennoiserie — a French word for “things from Vienna” — which refers to breakfast pastries that bridge pâtisserie and French bread and offers treats like eclairs, croissants, brioche cardamom buns and cruffins. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more perfect, flaky, crackly croissant than their classic pain au chocolat or the hazelnut chocolate and orange croissant. The filling in these is just right, enough to give you the extra flavor you want without spilling out. I love the eclairs also, especially the tiramisu one, which comes with a cold brew espresso filling mascarpone topping, completed with an espresso bean and crispy caramel candies.
Head to Young Buck Deli for an out-of-this-world sandwich.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY YOUNG BUCK DELI
MUSIC
An Electrifying History
Cincinnati author Justin Patrick Moore details how electronic music came to be in The Radio Phonics Laboratory.
BY ALANNA MARSHALL
Justin Patrick Moore published his first full-length novel, The Radio Phonics Laboratory, in June of this year. In it, Moore takes readers on a deep dive into the timeline of electronic music and speech synthesis, examining the historical figures and inventions that have paved the way for technology to be where it is today through the scope of music and telecommunications.
“It explores my lifelong fascination with radio, the telephone system and how these two things interacted to create the first forms of electronic music, starting all the way back in the 1800s,” Moore shared. Divided into three sections — Telemusik, The Synthesis of Speech and We Also Have Sound-Houses — the book provides insight into the beginnings of speech compression, the influence of the arts on engineering, early electronic music studios and more.
Aside from his work as an author and radio host, Moore’s day job includes cataloging for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. His access to the library’s music selection, specifically the avant-garde composers in the classical section, aided in his research for the book. “I feel very lucky in that respect, because there’s a lot of stuff there that’s not necessarily very popular, but might have a niche audience. I was able to find those things and get excited about them, and otherwise, I don’t know if I would have found
them at a regular record store,” Moore acknowledged.
Moore’s hours of research, reading, writing and listening are reflected in the well-rounded knowledge demonstrated throughout the book. The many technical aspects that went into creating The Radio Phonics Laboratory were not entirely easy to grasp, either. As Moore stated, “Some of those sections were the hardest to work on. I just had to wrap my own head around that first before I could communicate it clearly to a reader.”
Working at the library, participating in shortwave listening and having a “ham,” or amateur radio license, exposed Moore to the technical side of his book. “Getting into shortwave listening and amateur radio activities exposed me to the more technical side of it, so that prepared me to look into and understand the science behind how the instruments and things themselves work,” he added. Covering topics like the beginnings of the telegraph and the telephone, the invention of the vocoder and the vast history behind Bell Laboratories as a research and development company, Moore had his work cut out for him throughout the writing process.
“I’ve done radio shows on WAIF Cincinnati 88.3 FM, and I got my foot in the door there in 2001 on the ‘Art Damage’ show. Some people invited me to be a part of that program, which has a long history with experimental music,” Moore
electronics. In this way, Moore was able to utilize the show that had captured his attention all those years ago as context for his book. This kind of full-circle moment was one of the many ways that The Radio Phonics Laboratory proved to be a deeply meaningful project to Moore.
Moore talks about certain “synchronicities” that came about during his creative flow of ideas for the book. One instance, in particular, stood out as a seemingly predestined moment. “The name of the first speech recognition program was nicknamed Audrey, and that’s the name of my wife,” Moore beamed. “Then, I found out one of these synthesizers was nicknamed Victor. That’s the name of my father. These different things that would pop up that would have a personal meaning to me followed me throughout the process of writing this book.” Moore dedicated the book to both his wife and his father. “The most important people in my life,” he shared.
explained. Since then, his growing experience in radio from 19 years old to now played a vital role in the long process of writing and publishing The Radio Phonics Laboratory.
“I started writing [the book] in 2016, but I had written a bunch of articles by 2020, and I thought I could write a book about this topic. At that point, I started getting serious about it and put more of my energy into it,” he said. Nearly 10 years later, Moore’s first book was published by Velocity Press, the London-based independent publisher of electronic music and club culture books. After all this time, it has become a dream come true for the first-time author. The dream, which started when Moore was just a kid, found some of its roots in unexpected places. Moore talks about Doctor Who, the famous BBC sci-fi series that the author got hooked on when he was just 10 years old, both in and outside of the novel.
“I was at my great-grandparent’s house one night, and all the adults were just talking and playing Scrabble in the other room,” Moore recalled. “I was left to myself, so I was flipping through the TV in the den and I came across Doctor Who. I just got glued to it.” In his book, Moore incorporates Doctor Who by telling the stories of people like Delia Derbyshire and Ron Grainer, who created the theme music for Doctor Who, which was one of the first TV themes first to be created entirely with
“Some people, it seems when they get older, they stop listening to new music. They aren’t seeing what is new out there. But I’ve tried to always just keep finding new stuff,” Moore said. This natural curiosity to discover new forms of music is weaved throughout The Radio Phonics Laboratory, especially when it comes to the origins of things like artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in creating new and innovative sounds in music. Moore discusses the history of scientists and inventors working toward AI for longer than some may have thought.
“People have been thinking about ways to do this since the ‘50s, where they could just go in and push some buttons and generate this piece of music,” Moore reported. In the book, the author discusses the importance of exercising a sense of discernment when using powerful technology for speech and music synthesis. In addition to this, he responded, “Using electricity to make music opens up new sounds and worlds, but at the same time, if you’re not intentional about your use of the technology, you can end up making music that sounds similar to a lot of other electronic music because everything’s built-in and pre-programmed.”
With The Radio Phonics Laboratory comes a deeper understanding of the innovation and evolution behind speech synthesis and electronic music and, moreover, the interconnectedness of the two and the names of the scientists and composers behind them. Moore’s recounting of this extensive history is something to be appreciated by those both new and accustomed to the world of electronic music today.
The launch party for The Radio Phonics Laboratory takes place at 6 p.m. on Dec. 7 at The Kaleidoscope Center at The New School Montessori. More info: velocitypress.uk.
Justin Patrick Moore holding a copy of his book
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY JUSTIN PATRICK MOORE
Cincinnati Audio Agency Launches Series Capturing the Iconic Sounds of the Queen City
BY KATHERINE BARRIER
Close your eyes and think of your favorite place in Cincinnati. We know you know what it looks like, but what does it sound like? Maybe you’re at Great American Ball Park and you can hear the roar of the crowd and the announcer as Elly De La Cruz hits a home run. Maybe you’re at Findlay Market and can hear the chatter of hundreds of people, the rustling of shopping bags and vendors filling orders and ringing up customers. Maybe you’re in a quieter spot: your favorite park, sitting and listening to the birds and wind moving through trees.
Every place is an amalgamation of its interwoven sensory experiences — the sights, smells, textures, flavors and, of course, sounds making every space different. And where there’s sound, there’s the potential for music. That’s where Play Audio Agency comes in.
A team at this local audio agency — which recently worked on the music for the projection mapping on Music Hall at this year’s BLINK festival — is on a mission to capture the unique sounds of the Queen City through its new multimedia series, PLAY IT. And this team, made up of sound designer and composer Drew Marcum, project director Ann Driscoll and creative director Adam Pleiman, is starting with one of the city’s most iconic landmarks: The Roebling Bridge. (We know the sound of that very specific hum just popped into your head.)
“I mean, sound is how we experience these places,” Driscoll told CityBeat “They get woven into the fabric of our memories and are connections to these landmarks and kind of create a sonic postcard.”
Play has done projects like this in the past for clients and brands, but never for the public. Marcum explained that much of their work can’t be shared or can’t be shared for a long time, and the PLAY IT series is a way to show the public what they do as an agency, but also serves as a fun and creative outlet for them.
“The reason I think we’ve liked this idea as a group the most is because we went, ‘Oh, cool! We can actually, for the first time in a long time, talk about sound and music in a way where people might understand what we do … but not in a like, ‘I’m going to go sell this!’ It’s like, no, let’s make something that will just be nice to make,” said Pleiman.
“Yeah, it’s a piece of public infrastructure and we’re sharing it with the public,” added Driscoll. “And the other cool thing about the Roebling Bridge is that it’s this masterpiece of technology and artistry, and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with our work is being innovative, but also being artistic.”
The Roebling was an obvious choice for the test run of this project. As the team was talking about launching this project, Pleiman, who drives over the bridge every day, was the first to suggest it. The hum it makes as cars drive over is distinct — its low, constant metallic whir that echoes from one side of the Ohio River to the other is something that many in Greater Cincinnati could pick out of a sonic lineup if needed. And, as Driscoll said, anything can be an instrument.
There’s no written rulebook for how the team creates the music from these iconic places, but there is one main rule: the sounds have to be recorded at the location, and the team can’t add anything else to them. The “instruments” you hear in the finished product all belong to the bridge: the hum of cars on the metal grates, the cables, the vertical uprights of the pedestrian walkway combine to create the music.
“Literally everything we made this out of was the bridge,” Marcum said.
The team went to the bridge on a warm day a few months ago and spent two hours shooting video and creating the sounds that would eventually be mixed into the track. Handheld microphones picked up the sounds of cars going by and contact microphones captured the resonance of the inner workings of the bridge as the crew hit certain parts with drumsticks, providing more low-frequency elements.
Capturing the hum of the bridge was
the team’s main mission, but from there, they wanted to experiment with the sounds.
“It was like, let’s just gather as much as we can, film it all, record it all and then we’ll go back and slice it up and see what happens there,” said Pleiman. “Really, the ideas kind of start to come together when you’re there. Like, you hit this one thing, you hit this cable, and that’s a kick! It’s nice and deep and it’s got a thud to it.”
After the raw sounds of the bridge were recorded, it was time to turn them into music. The challenge would be to create something people would want to listen to while still maintaining the authentic sounds of the Roebling.
“You want it to sound like the thing you’re recording. Like, you want to hear the car driving over the bridge and the sound. That’s what we kept having to remind ourselves of. Because the tech exists for us to just make this sound nothing like what we recorded, so we wanted to keep some semblance of the bridge in there,” Marcum said.
“Drew mangled [the sounds]. We both went and built out synths; we’ve all played with the sounds and you figure out what you can and can’t use,” Pleiman said. “We did resonant things to build the chords out of. So, you have to kind of like play around … if it’s just going to be a percussive piece, sure you can find that all day by hitting things, but what’s tough is to find all the others — something that you can make a chord, something
that you can make resonate, something that has a tail. How do you take certain sounds and use them and extend them? Because we don’t want to have to mangle them too much.”
The finished track does capture the sounds of the Roebling. You can hear the distinct hum, the sound of drumsticks on cables; but it’s more than that. It has taken this everyday noise we know so well and turned it into music, turned it into something magical you can carry with you and see the bridge in a whole new light.
And the Play team is just getting started. The Roebling was a test run for the project, but they’re thinking ahead to other places in or near Cincinnati with unique sounds: airports, parks, breweries, structures.
“We have a bunch of ideas. We haven’t said no to many. And it’s just figuring out what the right next one is,” Pleiman explained. “I think moving forward, when we think of these spaces, it’s going to be that of: What are those iconic sounds? What are the sounds that make it unique? And how does it make you feel? And then making that piece that really illustrates that.”
You can listen to PLAY IT’s first episode on Play Audio Agency’s social media (@ playaudioagency). The episodes will also be available on their music library and available to license.
Learn more about Play Audio Agency: playaudioagency.com.
Play It: Roebling Suspension Bridge
PHOTO: SCREENSHOT PROVIDED BY PLAY AUDIO AGENCY
SOUND ADVICE
LEGGY
Nov. 30 • MOTR Pub
On Nov. 30, one of Cincinnati’s favorite indie bands, Leggy, will appear at Overthe-Rhine’s premiere venue for local music, MOTR Pub. Leggy brings a well-honed melody machine to every stage they grace, and their devoted fans are always treated to peak and polished performances. Every energetic and catchy song that engulfs any space they perform in saturates the ears of all who are lucky enough to hear them, and sends everyone home with sonic “ear worms” that will bounce around inside their heads for days.
Leggy began in 2013 when guitarist and lead vocalist Veronique Allaer moved to Cincinnati after finishing her undergraduate degree. Though planning to attend graduate school, a freak accident, in which she fell from a fire escape (miraculously, only suffering a broken hip), made Allaer reassess her plans. In speaking about that experience, Allaer tells CityBeat, “The major long term consequence of the accident was that I decided life is too short to pursue anything other than my dream, no matter how outlandish it seemed.” And it was at this point that Allaer put Leggy in motion.
Leggy has released three albums since 2016: their debut self-titled album in 2016 (remastered and re-released in 2017), Let Me Know Your Moon in 2019, and their most recent and highly acclaimed collection of songs Dramatica in 2023. The recording of this third record began in March of 2020, at producer Paul Cherry’s home studio in Chicago. But like so many artistic endeavors, the project was brought to a screeching halt by the pandemic, with the album nearly complete, and only the vocals remaining. But like all great artists, after the reality of the situation set in, Allaer used the time to dig deeper into her work, and spent the coming months experimenting with her vocals. Then, eventually, when the world reopened, the vocals were added, and Dramatica was born.
Though every song on Dramatica is special to Leggy, two songs in particular rise to the surface for the band. “Take It Back,” a song about the complex feelings of hanging on to relationships that have fundamentally changed, is presented brilliantly in a music video. Filmed by d5 Pictures on the campus of Wittenberg University and Ace of Cups in Columbus, the video features Allaer as she portrays a nun being broken out of a convent by her bandmates to perform at a gig. “Lipstick On The Mic” was inspired by a live performance where Leggy opened for The All American Rejects at Bogart’s.
Leggy, a four piece band consisting of
Allaer on guitar and lead vocals, Chris Campbell on drums, Sarah Hanselman on bass and backing vocals and Alessandro Corona on keys, is hard at work on their fourth album, and have plans to release it in the spring of 2025.
Leggy, along with Mall Witch and Loveseat (Ft. Wayne), play MOTR Pub on Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. More info: motrpub.com. (Eric Bates)
BENJAMIN TOD & THE LOST DOG STREET BAND
Dec. 6 • Bogart’s
From its sepia-stained cover photo of Benjamin Tod and his wife, Ashley Mae, to its terse title, Survived, The Lost Dog Street Band’s new record offers more of Tod’s hard luck tales of woe and redemption
with his group’s rootsy bluegrass blend to deliver a raw portrait of life lived in the margins. Now living on a Muhlenberg County, Ky. homestead, the couple have been playing together since busking days in various string band arrangements for almost 15 years under the Lost Dog brand. The prolific Tod has also been releasing solo records for the last eight years, which are somehow even more hardscrabble, spare and autobiographical than his Lost Dog music. Typical song subjects deal with Tod’s addiction and recovery, blue collar anger and his rambles through America.
But Survived finds the Lost Dogs embracing a fuller band sound, which includes accompaniment by Ben Duvall on drums, Jeff Loops on upright bass and John James Tourville on pedal steel. The new material is also much more rooted in
the country/bluegrass genre than before. This allows Tod to open up a bit more emotionally here; “Brighter Shade,” the opening song, exemplifies that range in a deeply expressive long song to his wife, whose fiddle etches out the haunting melody line. In a recent interview with American Songwriter, Tod explains a few of the new changes: “We ran live tracking for the first three days. Then we did overdubs for two days, and at the end of the week we mixed. Every other album I worked on, I spent between four and eight months building. So, this was a whole new process, and I liked it much better. It suits my soul much better. And, the product is better, in my opinion.”
The Lost Dog Street Band plays Bogart’s on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. More info: bogarts.com.
(Greg Gaston)
The Lost Dog Street Band
PHOTO: STARLA GROVES
Leggy
PHOTO: TRAVIS BRADNER
CROSSWORD UGK
BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM
Across
1. Muttonhead
4. Lululemon rival
11. Drink from a 52-Down
14. Wine container
15. Wu-Tang Clan’s martial arts-inspired nickname for Staten Island
16. “Fahrenheit 451” author Bradbury
17. Cowardly secret flirt?
19. Have to pay back
20. Spencer of “Good Morning America”
21. Gives a thumbs up to
22. Transition word
24. “Trinity” novelist
25. Pesticide regulating org.
27. “Gil ___” (Alain René Le Sage novel)
30. Establishment that holds very little of your money?
35. Card in a phone
36. “I don’t like your ___, mister!”
37. Hurricane dir.
38. “I’ve heard better”
41. Time spent undercover
43. Shutout for Sheffield Wednesday
44. London’s ___ Gardens
45. Bird on the Coat of arms of Australia
46. From the top
48. French friend
50. Follow the stoolie’s way of collapsing?
56. Religious chests
57. Right-angle shape
58. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist
59. Enter the pool
62. Locked in
64. Boss of the valkyries
65. One of us
67. Where a skater might practice at home?
70. Inflation cause
71. “So soon?”
72. Disinformation
73. Thickness
74. Cold drink from 7-Eleven
75. “One more thing”
Down
1. Tech-savvy high school grp.
2. Third-largest desert
3. Add to the soup, say
4. “Hit me”
5. “The Gentlemen” star ___ James
6. Yearn (for)
7. Nadir
8. Yale student
9. Color
10. Cross of Ancient Egypt
11. Unwavering dimwit
12. Pussyfoot?
13. Nautical approval
18. Wine containers
23. Go with the flow?
26. Shortly
28. Proactiv treats it
29. Slightly alter
31. “The ___ Countdown” (1986 Europe hit)
32. Middle Eastern
33. Computer that had over 18,000 vacuum tubes
34. Start of a famous 1965 march
38. Flat land
39. Kuwaiti leader
40. Group judging studmuffins?
42. Chinese pooch
47. Horse race cheater
49. About to endure
51. Sch. near Topeka
52. Thing pulled in a gastropub
53. Golf shaft company
54. Bring under control
55. Gave a hard tug
60. Degs. for those in C-suites
61. Gloom
63. Swagger, slangily
65. Toy sound
66. Crude material
68. Hilton Hotel brand
69. “Until next time”
LAST PUZZLE’S ANSWERS:
