CityBeat | January 25, 2023 by Chava Communications

2 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 PUBLISHER TONY FRANK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASHLEY MOOR MANAGING EDITOR ALLISON BABKA DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR KATHERINE BARRIER STAFF WRITER MADELINE FENING CALENDAR EDITOR SEAN M. PETERS CREATIVE DIRECTOR HAIMANTI GERMAIN PRODUCTION MANAGER SEAN BIERI GRAPHIC DESIGNER ASPEN SMIT CONTRIBUTING EDITORS MUSIC: MIKE BREEN ARTS & CULTURE: MACKENZIE MANLEY THEATER: RICK PENDER DINING CRITIC: PAMA MITCHELL CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ANNE ARENSTEIN, BRIAN BAKER, STEPHEN NOVOTNI, BRIAN CROSS, HAYLEY DAY, JANE DURRELL, BILL FURBEE, JASON GARGANO, GREGORY GASTON, AUSTIN GAYLE, MCKENZIE GRAHAM, NICK GREVER, KATIE GRIFFITH, KATIE HOLOCHER, BEN L. KAUFMAN, DEIRDRE KAYE, JAC KERN, HARPER LEE, MADGE MARIL, ANNE MITCHELL, LAUREN MORETTO, TAMERA LENZ MUENTE,

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JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 3

Here’s Where Abortion Currently Stands in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

All three states have seen new developments in rules and

Here’s Where Abortion Currently Stands in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

lawsuits

in recent weeks.

All three states have seen new developments in rules and lawsuits in recent weeks.

BY MADELINE FENING BY MADELINE FENING

Federal policy changes, lawsuits from pro-choice advocates and freshly-elected judges make for a kaleidoscopic view of abortion care access in the Tri-State. Here’s what to know in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Ohio

A temporary injunction from a Hamilton County Court has kept abortion legal in Ohio up until 21 weeks and six days gestation, but the most recent change in access in Ohio only applies to about twelve square miles of land.

On Jan. 12, the city of Lebanon agreed in federal court to remove certain language from its local ordinance that bans all abortions in the city. e lawsuit was jointly led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, Democracy Forward, the National Association of Social Workers and Abortion Fund of Ohio.

To avoid further time in court, the

city of Lebanon agreed to a stipulation that removes the rule against “aiding and abetting” an abortion within city limits. Before the ACLU lawsuit, the vague ordinance deputized citizens to report those who help other people get an abortion, including counselors, Uber drivers and friends who simply make an abortion appointment – even if it’s outside city limits – for someone else. Now the scope of Lebanon’s ban only bars health care providers from performing abortions or prescribing abortion medication in the city, even though there has never been an abortion provider in Lebanon.

Court documents also clari ed a patient’s right to ingest abortion pills within Lebanon city limits if they are prescribed elsewhere.

“An abortion where mifepristone and misoprostol are prescribed and dispensed to a pregnant woman outside Lebanon, and then she ingests the misoprostol in Lebanon, does not

constitute an abortion in Lebanon,” court documents read.

Physicians who prescribe abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol generally agree the drugs are a safe and accessible option for those choosing to end a pregnancy. e majority of abortions are completed with medication within the rst 10-12 weeks of pregnancy, according to research group Guttmacher Institute.

In early January, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would not enforce a rule that pregnant people need to take mifepristone in person, allowing retail pharmacies to dispense the pills. National pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS have said they plan to seek the required certi cation from the FDA to dispense the pills where they are legally allowed, but Ohio Senate Bill 260, which was approved in 2021 before the overturn of Roe v. Wade last summer, bans a doctor from providing abortion drugs “unless the

physician is physically present where and when the initial dose of the drug is consumed.”

Despite Ohio’s in-person requirement for dispensing abortion drugs, protestors from Progressive AntiAbortion Uprising are planning to picket pharmacies in Akron starting in February, the organization con rmed to CityBeat

“We want people to be uncomfortable going into a CVS that has a demonstration going on and to consider going to a di erent pharmacy,” said Caroline Smith, a leader of the group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising in a Jan. 11 Politico article. “We also want to put enough pressure on the companies to retract this decision and not get certied to sell abortion pills.”

e group said that as of press time, it has no plans at this time to picket pharmacies in Cincinnati.

On the same day Lebanon settled with the ACLU in court, the ACLU

4 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

NEWS

Tri-State residents are navigating abortion updates. PHOTO: MARY LEBUS

NEWS

Tri-State residents are navigating abortion updates. PHOTO: MARY LEBUS

announced that Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom hired Mission Control Inc. to be the General Consultant to oversee campaign strategy for the initiative to place a measure on the ballot to amend the Ohio Constitution to protect abortion access for Ohioans. Mission Control Inc. is the same group that led campaigns for abortion protection ballot initiatives in Kansas and Kentucky during the 2022 election cycle.

Kentucky

Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center Employees Are

Unionizing for Higher Pay

BY MADELINE FENING

Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center Employees Are Unionizing for Higher Pay

BY MADELINE FENING

Kentucky

While Mission Control Inc. was successful in campaigning to strike down Amendment 2 in Kentucky – which sought to amend the state’s constitution to exclude abortion protections – access to abortion care in the state remains extremely narrow. As of press time, abortions are only allowed in Kentucky for life-saving measures or if the patient risks serious injury from the pregnancy.

e Kentucky Supreme Court, which installed two new justices in January, is now releasing new opinions. At any time, the court could decide whether to temporarily pause the trigger bans that halted abortion access after the overturn of Roe.

For now, Kentuckians need to go out of state for abortion care, even though there is a new FDA policy on lling abortion prescriptions. And Kentucky, like Ohio, is part of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, a network of states that allow doctors to become licensed to practice medicine in multiple states, including via telehealth appointments. Under the agreement, Kentucky patients would be allowed to get an out-of-state prescription for most drugs and ll it in Kentucky, but the American Pharmacists Association says the “FDA’s action does not change the current restriction on patients’ access to mifepristone in states that have banned or restricted access” to abortion care.

Indiana

The employees of Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) are unionizing, employees announced Jan. 17.

Brandon Wagner, a security specialist for CAC, made the announcement in a video posted to Instagram.

Indiana

In Indiana, lawmakers in the state have delayed the implementation of a passed law allowing doctors to participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, meaning that as of press time, Indiana doctors can mostly only practice within the state, where abortion law closely mirrors Ohio’s.

Since a county judge issued a temporary block on Senate Bill 1 in September, abortions are allowed in Indiana until 22 weeks and six days gestation. SB1 would ban all abortions in Indiana unless the patient’s life is at risk.

Abortion access in Indiana could change soon as attorneys for abortion care providers and the state entered court on Jan. 19. Indiana’s Supreme Court will hear from both sides on the constitutionality of the state’s blocked abortion ban.

Brandon Wagner, a security specialist for CAC, made the announcement in a video posted to Instagram.

“We just nished turning in a letter notifying the interim director that we are now unionizing!” Wagner said to the camera in front of six dancing employees.

e video was posted to the account for Ohio’s chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union representing employees working in public service. Wagner told CityBeat that the main reason CAC employees are seeking to unionize is for increased wages.

“ e biggest reason is mostly raises in pay. We are having some sta ng issues and that’s due to pay,” Wagner said. “We are due for some major changes to keep up with the times. e cost of living is rising.”

which is why Wagner said now is the best time for employees to organize. e museum is slated to announce a new director in March (CAC’s website lists Marcus Margerum as the current interim director and chief business o cer). Wagner could not disclose to CityBeat who has been named for the role.

Wagner and the 30 other CAC employees who have signed union cards want the change in leadership to come with newfound representation. He said he hopes that those currently in management are understanding of the timing.

“My biggest concern is that I do not want anyone in any management to take this personally,” Wagner said. “ e intention of unionizing is not at any major discrepancy of failure. e timing is just right.”

Wagner said.

CAC responded to CityBeat’s request for comment on the union e ort.

“We value our employees. We are currently discussing the situation internally and look forward to sharing more information when it is appropriate,” Margerum told CityBeat in an emailed statement.

In the meantime, Wagner is encouraging museum patrons to support the union by supporting the CAC.

“Keep coming, Keep visiting the CAC. We appreciate the foot tra c. Support is support,” he said.

Wagner said the employees are represented by Jess Reidel, who is listed as a gallery security specialist on CAC’s website.

Major changes are coming to CAC,

“Now that we are o cially open, I hope they are willing to talk with us,”

e nascent CAC union comes as other unions are forming around Greater Cincinnati, including those at Amazon’s Air Hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and at a downtown Cincinnati Starbucks location. Employees at the Cleveland location of the outdoor goods store REI announced this month that they also are unionizing. O cials at Cincinnati’s REI store did not respond to CityBeat’s questions about possible local union e orts by press time.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 5

"We are having some staffing issues and that's due to pay," Contemporary Arts Center security specialist Brandon Wagner tells CityBeat PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/CINCYCAC "We are having some staffing issues and that's due to pay," Contemporary Arts Center security specialist Brandon Wagner tells CityBeat PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/CINCYCAC

Cincinnati Metro Announces Two Selections for Region’s First Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Routes

BY MADELINE FENING

Cincinnati Metro has announced which two corridors will be the rst in the region to get Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes.

e Hamilton Avenue and Reading Road corridors were chosen this month after Metro conducted months of community engagement and analysis. Metro said that the other two corridors that were in the running, Glenway Avenue and Montgomery Road, will still receive “enhanced treatments” as a part of the project.

“We’ve worked diligently to understand where we should begin implementing BRT in the region and believe this decision will launch BRT successfully in Hamilton County, and give us a solid foundation to expand,” Khaled Shammout, chief strategic planning, development and innovation o cer for Metro, said in a news release. “ at said, we also know the Montgomery and Glenway corridors are very important segments of the Metro system. Based on the study, we’ll also boost services and amenities along these two corridors to better serve those communities.”

BRT is part of the Reinventing Metro plan, which was approved by Hamilton County voters in 2020 with the passage of Issue 7, which provides additional funding to support new transit innovations. Metro said construction on the two corridors is scheduled to begin

sometime in 2025, with the Federal Transit Administration helping Metro along the way to stay on schedule.

Hamilton Avenue

e Hamilton Avenue Corridor extends 12 miles from the Hamilton

Avenue (U.S. 127) and Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway (S.R. 126) interchange to downtown Cincinnati.

Metro’s website says the corridor’s primary roads include Hamilton Avenue, Ludlow Avenue, Clifton Avenue and Vine Street. e corridor’s neighborhoods include College

Hill, Northside, Clifton, CUF (Clifton Heights, University Heights, Fairview), Corryville, Mt. Auburn, Over-the-Rhine and Downtown.

Metro routes already along the corridor include Route 17 (Clifton Avenue, between Martin Luther King Drive and OTR), Route 15 (Mt. Healthy to

6 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Instead of traditional Metro buses as shown, certain Greater Cincinnati corridors soon will see Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicles. PHOTO: NICK SWARTSELL Metro has selected the Hamilton Avenue and Reading Road corridors for BRT lines. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY CINCINNATI METRO

Northside), Metro*Plus (MLK to Downtown), Route 46 (William Howard Taft Road/McMillan Street to Downtown) and Route 78 (MLK to Downtown).

Reading Road

e Reading Road Corridor extends 12 miles from the intersection of Reading Road (U.S. 42) and S.R. 561/Seymour Avenue to downtown Cincinnati.

Metro’s website says the corridor’s primary roads include Reading Road, Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Vine Street. e corridor’s neighborhoods include Golf Manor, Roselawn, Bond Hill, Paddock Hills, North Avondale, Avondale, Corryville, CUF (Clifton Heights, University Heights, Fairview), Mt. Auburn, Over-the-Rhine and Downtown.

Other Metro routes already along the Reading Road corridor include Route 43 (Summit Road to MLK), Metro*Plus (Burnet Avenue to Downtown), Route 46 (Taft/McMillan to Downtown) and Route 78 (MLK to Downtown).

BRT bene ts

Brandy Jones, senior vice president of external a airs for Metro, explained to CityBeat in October why BRT is di erent from regular buses.

“ e closest comparison is if you’re familiar with taking rail,” Jones said at the time. “It moves faster through a corridor, there’s o -board payment, a lot more convenience to get a long distance, but it has the exibility of being on rubber tires.”

Jones said BRT is more like a train than a bus because of how infrequently it stops, both for passengers and for tra c lights. Any BRT corridor will need its own dedicated bus lane to make the speed and e ciency of the rapid route possible. Because more riders will board BRT at once, they’ll pay their fare in advance, speeding up the process. Even though there will be fewer stops, Jones said riders can expect a BRT bus to arrive every 10-15 minutes.

e other BRT di erence that speeds up the route is signal priority, Jones said.

“When a tra c signal realizes that a BRT bus is approaching – say there is a green light – it’s going to stay green longer to let the bus get through the corridor or just give the priority to the bus so you’re not getting stopped at as many lights as a car would,” Jones said. “In some ways, you may be able to get through the corridor faster than you can in your personal car.”

Cincinnati Sues Williamsburg Apartments Owners for Repeated Violations, ‘Substandard Living Conditions’

BY ALLISON BABKA

Has the Williamsburg apartment complex burst its nal pipe?

e city of Cincinnati announced Jan. 10 that it had led a lawsuit against Williamsburg of Cincinnati Apartments & Townhomes for “maintaining substandard living conditions at the premises.” e case will be heard in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas and is one of many lawsuits that the city plans to le this year against negligent property owners, o cials said in several press releases this month.

Williamsburg residents have reported numerous violations, and city inspectors have recorded multiple code violations there over the years. In recent months, residents have taken their concerns to Cincinnati City Council to plead for assistance in getting their landlord to address issues.

Tenants at the property at 200 W. Galbraith Rd. have alleged a variety of bad conditions, including being without heat or water in winter, broken water pipes ooding individual apartments, mold, rodent infestations, sewer issues, faulty wiring and more. Shortly after addressing the council in December, many residents went without heat and water over the Christmas holiday while Ohio experienced heavy snowfall and what the National Weather Service called a “bomb cyclone.” Residents also went without water around anksgiving.

On Jan. 9, a number of residents voted to have Legal Aid Society of

Cincinnati represent them in a potential lawsuit, saying that their landlord, noted as BRC Williamsburg Holdings in the city’s lawsuit, had not adequately addressed the apartment complex’s ongoing hazardous conditions. e city agreed.

“While Defendants admit that the premises is in disrepair and there is inadequate sta ng, Defendants have failed to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to addressing the immediate or long-term needs of the property,” the city said in its 52-page ling. “Cincinnati Defendants’ actions and inactions have resulted in destabilizing a signi cant portion of the housing of an entire community, requiring intervention by the Court to ensure the protection of public health and safety.”

In the lawsuit, the city claimed that the Williamsburg complex already was in disrepair when BRC Williamsburg Holdings bought it in 2018 and now has “conditions that present a serious threat to the health and safety of a community.”

Cincinnati also claimed that the owner has ignored routine maintenance. In addition to the issues that residents have been bringing up for years, the city said that the Williamsburg also has roof leaks, units without functioning toilets, broken or missing sidewalks and doors, rusting balconies, a moldy laundry facility and damaged swimming pools.

e city also said that the Williamsburg is violating re codes with inoperable hydrants, inadequate exit lighting,

accumulated garbage and inadequate re separation between units. e lawsuit also alleged that criminal activity at the apartments has increased, thanks to inoperable security gates, inadequate outdoor lighting and overgrown vegetation.

Moreover, Williamsburg residents have su ered health problems due to their living conditions, the city’s lawsuit claimed.

“ ere is a disproportionate number of cases of asthma among the residents of the complex as compared to the general population,” the city said.

According to the city, BRC Williamsburg Holdings repeatedly has failed to address the issues.

“I want to be clear that we aren’t talking about a one-time violation here. is is a pattern, and we’re ling today’s lawsuit to put an end to that pattern,” Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval said. “Williamsburg Apartments should have been accountable to tenants. ey should have been accountable to the City. And they simply haven’t been.”

“Despite our e orts as a city, we do not believe ownership has shown a strong commitment to quickly and comprehensively responding to this critical situation. It is their responsibility to provide a safe place for these residents to call home. And we are here to hold them accountable,” city manager Sheryl Long added.

In further claims, the city said that BRC Williamsburg Holdings obtained a $74 million loan in 2019 but did not invest a substantial amount of that money into the property.

e Cincinnati Board of Health was listed on the lawsuit as a joint plainti with the city of Cincinnati. e lawsuit was served to multiple entities, including a laundry facility company, an asphalt company and a project management o ce, which may claim business interests with the Williamsburg apartments. Many of the contractors previously led suits or liens against BRC Williamsburg Holdings due to nonpayment, the city said.

According to lawsuit documents, the city is requesting a preliminary and permanent judgment that the Williamsburg is a public nuisance, a preliminary and permanent injunction that BRC Williamsburg Holdings “abate the nuisance” along with assorted relief and remedial action.

e lawsuit was submitted by city solicitor Emily Smart Woerner.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 7

Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval addresses media in 2022. PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/CITYOFCINCY

FC Cincinnati’s Brandon Vazquez, Roman Celentano Selected for U.S. Men's National Team's January Camp

BY ALLISON BABKA

FC Cincinnati is heading to camp. A big, big camp.

Forward Brandon Vazquez and goalkeeper Roman Celentano have been called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s January training camp, something that had been rumored for Vazquez for quite some time. ey’re among 24 players who will head to Los Angeles to kick o the 2026 FIFA World Cup cycle (As a city, Cincinnati failed in 2022 to secure a World Cup match for 2026). Players from the camp – typically lled with rising talents – often are called upon to join a World Cup roster later.

is will be Vazquez’ rst call-up at the senior level, though he previously participated at the U-17, U-19 and U-20 levels. Celentano will head to his rst USMNT camp at any level. According to media materials, they are just the third and fourth players in FC Cincinnati club history to make the camp at the senior level.

Vazquez had a star-making season in 2022. He and attacking mid elder Luciano Acosta were included in Major League Soccer’s 2022 Best XI selections, marking the rst time that FC Cincy players were celebrated among

the top 11 players in the MLS. Vazquez notched 18 goals on the season, a personal career high. He led the league in open-play goals (16) tied for the most header goals (six) and set FC Cincinnati records for goals across all competitions, shots and shots on goal while becoming the rst Cincinnati player to score multiple goals in consecutive games. Together, Vazquez and Acosta became the rst pair of teammates with at least 25 goal contributions in a single season since 2018.

Both Vazquez and Acosta were selected for the MLS All-Star Game during the summer. It marked the rst time any member of Cincinnati’s club had been invited to the game in the league’s 26 installments (FC Cincinnati became the 24th team to enter the MLS as a professional soccer team in 2019; before that, the team played in the second-division United Soccer League from 2016 to 2018).

In August, Vazquez signed a contract extension that will keep him with FC Cincinnati through 2025.

“We are delighted to keep Brandon with FC Cincinnati for years to come,” general manager Chris Albright said at the time. “Re-signing Brandon was

a major priority for us this summer, as he has proven he can be one of the league’s best forwards. He has been a vital part of our success this season thanks to his character and dedication to the game, and we are excited to have him as a foundational piece going forward.”

Celentano was Cincinnati’s rstround selection in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft and made 27 appearances as the starting goalkeeper in his rookie year. According to media materials, Celentano’s 85 saves, two penalties saved, and 67% save percentage ranked best in MLS among goalkeepers aged 22 or younger.

Preparing for the 2023 season

FC Cincinnati’s pre-season schedule is about to start, with ve friendlies on the slate beginning Jan. 27. e team will return to Cincinnati to train Feb. 21-24 before the Feb. 25 season opener against Houston Dynamo FC at TQL Stadium.

FC Cincinnati had a banner 2022 season, including the team’s rstever MLS Cup postseason berth, a

postseason win against a higher seed and a club record for consecutive scoring games. Cincinnati went 12-9 with 13 draws in the regular season, clinching its spot in the playo s with a win over D.C. United during the nal game Oct. 9. e Orange and Blue followed that up with an MLS Cup playo victory against the New York Red Bulls, with the season coming to a close on Oct. 20 with a playo loss to Eastern Conference top seed Philadelphia Union. e 2022 season also marked the rst time Cincinnati did not nish in last place in the Eastern Conference.

According to FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan, 2022’s successes will spur new challenges in 2023.

“Now we’re not surprising anybody in 2023. It’s only going to get more difcult, which is a good thing,” Noonan said in October. “I’ve been around this league long enough to know that year in and year out is very di cult to maintain success. It’s only going to get more di cult. 2022 was about culture, identity, ways to progress the team to be competitive, and we got there. Now we need to improve on that and have some speci c things that we’re going to target from the very beginning.”

8 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez is heading to the USMNT's 2023 senior training camp after being named among the top 11 players in Major League Soccer in 2022. PHOTO: INSTAGRAM.COM/FCCINCINNATI

Former Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chad ‘Ocho’ Johnson Leaves Another $1K Tip at a Local Restaurant

BY ALLISON BABKA

He’s been out of the NFL for a decade, but former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson still knows how to get attention.

Johnson still is a xture in Cincinnati and frequently attends Bengals games at Paycor Stadium, including the Jan. 15 AFC Wild Card win over the Baltimore Ravens. But even before that game, he was making his presence known throughout the Queen City and on social media – and he may even be reigniting a wave of high-dollar restaurant tips.

On Jan. 14, Johnson posted a photo of his receipt from Holy Grail, a tavern at e Banks in downtown Cincinnati.

e initial amount charged was $78.09, but he added a $1,000 tip, bringing his total to $1,078 for the bar. He had a message for tavern sta , too.

“ ank you! Who Dey!!!” Johnson wrote next to the credit authorization. He also added, “Ravens don’t stand a chance tomorrow! Who Dey!!” near the bottom.

He posted the receipt to Twitter with the caption, “Proverbs 11: 25 (Bengals Edition).” According to the New International Version of the Christian Bible, the passage Johnson referred to says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

Johnson is a frequent diner around town and often leaves generous tips. In 2021, he added a $1,000 tip for employees at the Redlands Grill in Rookwood and referenced Married... with Children character Al Bundy’s football career on the receipt.

“I once scored three touchdowns in one game. at is one less than Al Bundy at Polk High!!” he wrote at the time.

at $1,000 tip appeared to be unrelated to the viral “tip war” between local rival fans of the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, who left hefty tips for restaurant workers during the rst years of the di cult COVID-19 pandemic.

Love for McDonald’s and Je Ruby’s Steakhouse

Johnson’s big plans during the Wild Card weekend included hitting up the McDonald’s in Covington.

“I’m so happy i could hug & kiss every person on this ight to Cincinnati, rst order [of] business when i land. McDonald’s in Covington,

Strauss Cigars to get a few sticks & relax with @housh84,” Johnson said during his ight on Jan. 13.

He proceeded to say “I’m lovin’ it” at one of Cincinnati’s most popular restaurants. Johnson shared a photo of himself sitting at a table at Je Ruby’s Steakhouse – “the best steak house in the world,” Ocho claimed. Along with typical dinner delights, Johnson apparently enjoyed a McDonald’s Happy Meal, according to a photo he’d posted.

“McDonald’s Happy Meal < Japanese A5 Wagyu Steak strips was the highlight of my night at @ eRealJeffRuby,” Johnson said on Jan. 13.

Johnson and former Bengals and Oregon State University teammate T. J. Houshmandzadeh hit the town in the days before the game, enjoying Bengals fans’ newfound optimism along with both premium and fastfood meat.

“ e overall energy of this city is amazing. e way they’ve treated myself and Chad, it’s unbelievable,” Houshmandzadeh told Bengals writer Geo Hobson in an interview during Wild Card weekend. “It wasn’t like this when we were playing, unless when you’re playing you just don’t realize it.

It’s kind of numb. We’ve been at Je Ruby’s [restaurant] the last couple of nights and the love is true.”

On Jan. 14, Johnson posted a video in which he hungrily ate a McDonald’s sandwich while driving (immediately before that, he posted a photo of his burger and fries in a Mickey D’s bag). is one was all his, though.

“Not sharing my McDonald’s w/ @ housh84 ,” Johnson wrote.

e wide receiver has posted about the Golden Arches a number of times, including as a recommendation when current quarterback Joe Burrow claimed that there “wasn’t a lot to do” in Cincinnati at the end of 2021.

Paying Joe Mixon’s ne

Johnson also recently defended running back Joe Mixon, who received a $13,261 ne for celebrating a touchdown with a coin ip during the nal regular-season game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 8. Mixon’s action was a response to the NFL’s moves after suspending the Jan. 2 game between the Bengals and the Bu alo Bills due to Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. e Bengals needed to win week 18 against the Ravens to avoid a

coin toss to determine the site of the rst playo game, the NFL decided.

Mixon, head coach Zac Taylor and others voiced opposition to the NFL’s decision to no avail. But Johnson had the team’s back.

“Dear Bengals players, if you love me the way I love you guys when you score tomorrow someone has to ip a coin as their celebration & call tails,” he tweeted.

When Mixon produced a coin from his glove and threw it into the air to celebrate scoring against the Ravens, the NFL hit him with the ne.

“@NFL since y’all all about the coin ipping let’s do this. Let’s have a coin toss to pay this crazy ne for expressing myself. If it’s heads I’ll pay. If it’s tails Roger G pay the money to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cincinnati.

#AllAbout eKids #WhoDey,” Mixon posted on Jan. 13 after the ne was handed down.

Johnson backed Mixon up in his own way.

“On my ight headed to Cincinnati & that makes me happy, i have my checkbook so i can reimburse Joe Mixon on whatever ne amount was handed down from the league o ce,” Johnson said.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 9

Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson loves local steakhouses as much as he loves fast food franchises. PHOTO: TWITTER.COM/OCHOCINCO

10 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Cincinnati Bengals to Face Kansas City in AFC Championship Again

BY ALLISON BABKA

Cincinnati is heading back to the AFC conference championship again – and there’s a little déjà vu happening with it.

e Cincinnati Bengals beat the Bu alo Bills 27-10 in the AFC divisional round on Jan. 22, and the game – and, to an extent, this playo series – had some extra poignancy thanks to the Bengals’ o ensive line, Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s continued recovery from cardiac arrest, a looming AFC rematch with Kansas City and some magical snow.

Love for Damar Hamlin

But before any of the on- eld heroics happened, fans already were in a frenzy as Hamlin entered Highmark Stadium in Bu alo to attend his rst game in person since a serious injury earlier this month. Escorted by security, Hamlin rode a golf cart into the stadium, followed by his mother Nina and little brother Damir.

Later, Bills and Bengals supporters alike cheered for the safety as Hamlin appeared on the big screen toward the end of the rst half, forming a heart with his hands followed by the number three – his Bills jersey number – from the suite where he was watching the game.

e Bengals and Bills last met in Cincy on Jan. 2, with Cincinnati up 7-3 in the rst quarter when Hamlin collapsed from cardiac arrest after a play. Hamlin was given CPR for nine minutes before being taken away in an ambulance and intubated at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. e NFL rst suspended and then canceled that game after a meeting among o cials and both teams’ coaches. Hamlin continued recovering at UC Medical Center and recently returned to Bu alo, where he’s been chatting with teammates and visiting the Bills’ facilities. He has not yet been cleared to play.

Bengals hold the Bills

e Bengals are heading back to the AFC championship round due in part to continued leadership from the Joe Burrow/Ja’Marr Chase/Joe Mixon triumvirate. As sparkly snow fell, quarterback Burrow threw 23 of 36 attempts for 242 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Mixon had 105 yards on 20 carries, allowing him join Cedric Benson and Ickey Woods in the small franchise club for 100+ yards in a postseason game. In the process, Mixon also notched his personal

highest total yardage in any of the Bengals’ recent postseason games.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Chase had his own memorable turn with 61 receiving yards and a touchdown that suddenly wasn’t a touchdown. Toward the end of the second quarter, Chase caught Burrow’s 10-yard pass at the Bengals’ end zone, planting his feet at the snow-covered boundary before going down.

However, upon review, o cials said that Chase hadn’t maintained control of the ball while completing the catch and did not award the touchdown. In game footage, Bills linebacker Matt Milano knocked at the ball in Chase’s hands as Chase went down over the line, which o cials said constituted the Bengals wide receiver not controlling the ball.

After the call, Bengals’ kicker Evan McPherson knocked in a 28-yard eld goal. And regardless of the refs’ call, Chase is now tied for the most

touchdown catches in the club’s postseason history.

But the big names weren’t the only heroes on the snowy eld. Burrow gelled with an o ensive line full of understudies as the Bengals continued to produce wins without some injured starters. Left tackle Jackson Carman, right guard Max Scharping, right tackle Hakeem Adeniji and center Ted Karras pierced the Bills’ lauded defensive line as La’el Collins, Alex Cappa and Jonah Williams continued to rehab. Journeyman Karras even pushed through a knee injury in the rst half to help propel the Bengals to a win.

e Bengals ultimately held Bu alo to just 10 points – a season low for the Bills. Burrow and company now have a streak of 10 straight wins since Nov. 6, not including the previous postponed/canceled Bills game and a bye week. Several Cincinnati players celebrated by making snow angels in the end zone.

Preparing for the Kansas City Chiefs

e Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will duke it out in a backto-back AFC championship bout. Kicko is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. e game will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+.

Last season, the Bengals knocked o the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in overtime after overcoming an 18-point de cit in a tense AFC championship round. Cincinnati had trailed 21-10 at the half but later rallied to tie it up and then take the lead. e Chiefs then tied again at the end of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime.

And then came McPherson, who did what he’s now known for – a last-minute, game-winning, 31-yard eld goal that glided right through the posts. e win sent the Bengals to the Super Bowl for the rst time since 1989.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 11

Joe Burrow (9), Jackson Carman (79) and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Buffalo Bills on Jan. 22, 2023. PHOTO: BENGALS MEDIA ASSETS Cincinnati Bengals celebrate the AFC divisional win by making snow angels at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo on Jan. 22, 2023. PHOTO: BENGALS MEDIA ASSETS

Swingin’ Schwartz’s Point

Love him or hate him, Ed Moss left a major musical impact on Cincinnati that still reverberates today.

BY RUSSELL HAUSFELD

PHOTO BY AIDAN MAHONEY

Atriangular building with a huge clock atop it overlooks Vine Street in Cincinnati. Inside, the walls are lined in fabric, rugs and thick curtains to help dampen the sound. Flickering candles on triangular tables provide a wavering low light, painting the room with an intimate atmosphere.

For the last two decades, jazz pianist Ed Moss could be found sitting at the piano in the front of the room, face in the keys. is club, Schwartz’s Point, was his passion project.

Moss died in 2016 at the age of 75 and was inducted into the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame in September. His daughter Zarleen Watts and her mother Caryn Watts keep Schwartz’s Point running these days. Maintaining the building –which is more than a century old – is a labor of love for Watts and her mother, who spend 50-60 hours a week scheduling bands and doing other assorted tasks, all to keep the club alive in memory of Moss.

Before he died, Moss told CityBeat during a rare night o in October 2015 that he was interested in discussing the full extent of his club ownership history in Cincinnati – a legacy he didn’t think had been collected in any one piece of reporting. While Moss believed at the time that Schwartz’s Point would likely be his nal club, his reputation as an avant-garde jazz club operator and restaurateur was solidi ed over the decades prior, earned at locations like Mahogany Hall, the Golden Triangle, Emanon’s and more.

In life, Moss was a tall man with a ponytail, often sporting a black leather vest, thick-rimmed glasses, a beret and a full mustache. He’d been playing jazz and running clubs around Cincinnati since 1965, and he claimed to have started playing the piano as soon as he could reach the keys as a child.

roughout his lifetime, Moss cultivated a polarizing persona around Cincinnati. Many praised the pianist for playing a central role in the area’s avantgarde music scene, while others found his large ego and opinionated personality too much to handle. Music reporter Cli Radel captured Moss’ many angles. “Moss is Cincinnati’s answer to Charles Mingus. He knows only one way to play – his way,” Radel wrote in 1979 for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He can be extremely di cult to work with. He has

red players on stage. He has screamed others into an early retirement. If he dislikes his playing, he’s been known to walk out in the middle of a solo.”

“Call him what you will, none of these names hurts his playing. Moss is an excellent pianist who sets extremely high standards. What he gives is what you get – the best,” Radel continued.

Sipping no sherry in a dim corner of Schwartz’s Point in 2015, Moss told CityBeat that he was aware of this split in public opinion and laughed, saying that he thought he had calmed down some in his old age. He ddled with a couple of cigar butts that lingered in an ashtray to his left, having smoldered out long before, and swirled his sherry thoughtfully.

“Very dry. And just a little more alcohol than a white wine,” Moss said of the drink. “You know, at one time I had three di erent venues going – had interesting cash ow. I was drinking high-priced cognac, smoking expensive cigars.”

“When jazz was happening in Cincinnati, it was happening,” Moss continued, nodding along to the Society Jazz Orchestra record he had put on in the background. Moss proceeded to reminisce on his musical history and the many clubs he’d run when jazz was “happening” in Cincinnati.

What follows is Moss’ full history in the Queen City as told to CityBeat before

he died, with the help of some historical resources and interviews.

Mahogany Hall

e art of improvisation originally drew Moss to jazz music, and Cincinnati’s swingin’ jazz scene in the 1960s was what brought him to the city where he would reside for the majority of his life, he told CityBeat in 2015. Moss originally came to Cincinnati in 1965 from Indiana to help open a business in Mt. Adams called Mahogany Hall, which had a bookstore on the second oor. At the time, the owner wanted to open up a jazz club on the lower level.

“In Mt. Adams alone, there were four big jazz jobs,” Moss said. “ ey had jazz at least ve nights a week. Jazz was thriving. ere must have been 25 steady ve-night-a-week gigs around Cincinnati. I’m not even counting [that] at that time, every big hotel had a piano player running four or ve nights a week.”

e popularity of jazz in the late 1960s through the 1970s was not unique to Cincinnati, though. At that time, faces like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane were at the height of the scene. Everybody knew the tunes, and the music was in high demand.

“Late ’60s, early ’70s, you could probably work as much as you wanted to. You could work somewhere at cocktail hour, then go somewhere else and play,” Moss said.

Radio station WNOP 740 AM helped tie together Cincinnati’s jazz audience. e station originally was based on Monmouth Street in Newport but eventually moved to broadcasting from three 20,000-gallon, welded-together fuel drums on the Ohio River, commonly referred to as “the Jazz Ark.” Moss attributed much of the local jazz scene’s success to this tiny, oating AM station and its devout following.

“ e unique thing that was beautiful about WNOP was you could call them up and talk to somebody. So you could actually tell them what you were doing,” Moss said. “You have a quick change in venue, they could get it on the air that afternoon. at’s gone, now. It’s really a shame.”

e Jazz Ark stopped broadcasting jazz on Dec. 31, 2000, switching instead to Catholic programming.

Love’s Co ee House and the Golden Triangle

While the jazz scene was still in full swing, Moss helped run a number of clubs around Cincinnati. After Mahogany Hall, he and a few partners opened a joint on Calhoun Street called Love’s Co ee House, which played jazz for the height of what Moss described as the “hippy, bell bottom-wearing generation.”

en he opened a club on McMillan Street called the Golden Triangle in the recently-demolished building that later became Mad Frog. Moss stayed there playing jazz for almost 10 years.

During this time, Moss also began indulging in his ambitions to cook – ambitions which would only grow throughout his career. He worked for an organization called Reality Foods, which he described as “a kind of macrobiotic carryout” that supplied baked goods and health food to the Golden Triangle and other places around the city. Here, he and some friends would spend late nights baking before distributing their creations to clients and customers in the morning.

“ at was fun. I’d bake – stay up late on Saturday night – and bake this bread, 100 loaves. We’d open at 10 [a.m.], and they’d be gone by noon,” Moss said.

Emanon

After a decade at the Golden Triangle, Moss was ready to try his hand in a new location, opening Jan. 19, 1974.

“We had this place up on Nixon and Je erson that was an internationally

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 13

Ed Moss lights up in the 1970s. COURTESY OF ZARLEEN WATTS

known jazz club called Emanon,” Moss said. “‘No name’ spelled backwards.”

Bob McKay, a writer for Cincinnati Magazine, called this club the best place to hear live jazz in all of Cincinnati in 1978, describing it as being divided into three rooms: a backroom for patrons more interested in dining than in music, a screened-in porch that opened when the weather became warmer, and a front room with a bandstand in which guests were required to refrain from talking during performances.

By all accounts, Moss was very particular about that last point. In 1979, while Moss was still playing at Emanon, Cincinnati Enquirer’s Radel wrote a column titled “ e Cat’s Demanding — He’ll Be e First To Tell You So” about Moss’ requirements.

“I expect a fairly attentive audience. I don’t consider my music any less articulate than what the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra plays. In fact, I consider it far more articulate,” Moss told Radel. “People have no feeling for jazz musicians. ey might do six nights a week, four sets a night, with just as much involvement as a concert pianist. Yet, if those cats [concert pianists] play more than two concerts a week, they think they’re in trouble.”

Cincinnati jazz pianist Fred Hersch wrote in his 2017 book Good ings Happen Slowly that Moss and pianist Frank Vincent had two of the most prominent jazz followings in Cincinnati at that point in the late ‘70s. Hersch described Vincent’s crowd as “Oscar Peterson worshippers” and Moss’ crowd as avant-garde. Hersch did not hide his own opinion of Moss, describing him as “a self-absorbed alpha-male cult-leader type.” Regardless, he painted a vivid picture of the atmosphere that surrounded Moss and his scene at this time in his life.

According to Hersch, Moss was a large man with an even larger ego, who sported a beard, a ponytail and a huge collection of hats and drove around town in an early-1960s Cadillac hearse.

“Late at night, when the gigs were over, the sta and the musicians would hang around the Golden Triangle, sipping Turkish co ee or cognac and smoking high-quality hashish till dawn,” Hersch wrote. “ ere would be fantastic music playing on the stereo, and that’s where I rst tuned into Ahmad Jamal and Erroll Garner and got deeply into Monk.”

Hersch wrote that the exposure to the scene that Moss cultivated was very in uential for his personal artistic career and grasp of jazz music.

“‘ e scene’ was seriously kooky and kookily serious. I much preferred it to the Frank Vincent-Oscar Peterson contingent, despite my discomfort with Moss himself,” Hersch said.

Mozart’s and Ivory’s

Moss’ ambitions as a chef took o following his time at the Golden Triangle and

Emanon, and he decided to try his hand at a ne dining establishment. He called it Mozart’s and hoped it would introduce Cincinnati to what he considered upscale Italian cuisine.

“Not the spaghetti and meatballs thing by any stretch, but risottos and things like that,” Moss told CityBeat

For Cincinnati Magazine, Melanie Barnard wrote in 1980 that the restaurant was located in a small, aged corner building near the University of Cincinnati which was once a streetcar stop. Barnard said that Cincinnatians could nd one of the most extensive wine selections in the city there, as well as espresso served from “a gleaming and steaming copper machine.”

After Mozart’s, Moss took a two-and-ahalf year hiatus to earn a doctoral degree from the University of Northern Colorado before returning and getting involved in a few other jazz club ventures around Cincinnati. CityBeat celebrated one of them around the time the paper was founded in 1994.

“One of [the jazz club ventures] was way down here on McMicken called Ivory’s. We won best jazz club — or whatever that CityBeat crap is — the year I was there. I just managed the place, but everybody thought I had money in it,” Moss said.

Moss didn’t have money in Ivory’s, but people may have assumed he did. He was the club’s “talent scout, music director, house pianist and cook for Ivory’s free ursday night exotic dish,” Radel wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1994.

Schwartz’s Point

roughout his time at Ivory’s and even before leaving for the University of Northern Colorado in 1990, Moss had begun collecting furniture and decor for his passion project: Schwartz’s Point. He had already bought the striking triangular building on Vine Street back in 1977 out of sheer interest in its unique shape. e Over-the-Rhine structure was built in 1875, and it was formerly a dentist’s o ce owned by three German

14 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

From top left: Matches from Mozarts; Zarleen Watts and Ed Moss at Schwartz’s Point; Ed Moss at age 3, and in college in 1965; the Golden Triangle circa 1974. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZARLEEN WATTS

immigrants called the Schwartz brothers. “I think we had the bar here, which is from the original Blue Wisp, actually, on Madison Road. We cut about ve feet o ,” Moss said.

e Blue Wisp was a popular jazz club and bar where the Blue Wisp Big Band formed. e club no longer exists, but the band can still be heard around Cincinnati.

After returning from Colorado in the 1990s, Moss began hosting Tuesday night parties in the building that would eventually become Schwartz’s Point in 1998. Moss told CityBeat that the parties became so popular he was busted by the authorities and told to attain a liquor license. After doing so, he turned the building into a three-night-a-week jazz club, which o cially opened in 2008.

Dominic Marino, a founder of the Northside bar Urban Artifact, performed with Moss at Schwartz’s Point while attending graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. He told CityBeat in 2015 that the gig there was never about the money, but rather a musical experience with no rules.

“It’s one of the few places where I felt completely free to express myself,” Marino said. “It was like being transported into the seedy under-bellies of what the stereotypes of jazz clubs used to be, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Marino said that Moss was an interesting character. And while Moss hadn’t always been the most popular musician around town, Marino called Moss “a real musician” – exhibiting passion and genius on the piano – and remarked that Moss had always done things his own way.

“Ed said I was ‘a real motherfucker’ once,” Marino said. “It’s a moment I hold dear coming from someone like him.”

Jazz isn’t as accessible in Cincinnati as it used to be, but there are still a few places around town to hear it, including the still-open Schwartz’s Point. But the scene has tightened over time, and fewer and fewer gigs for jazz musicians are available each year.

Regardless, Moss kept playing in his dimly lit bar, often greeting guests on

nights that he played by welcoming them to what he called his “living room,” which was tting with him living in the apartment above the club. But jazz clubs today aren’t packed like they were in the days of the Golden Triangle or Emanon, especially not in a small club on a corner of Vine Street.

What ultimately kept Moss playing jazz and trying to sustain a club through all the change?

“Faith,” he told CityBeat. “No, I don’t know, man. I really don’t. Why does a painter paint? Why does a sculptor make things? It seems a part of my organic existence. I hate the legwork of it, but I’m willing to do it for those few hours a week where I get to play.”

Moss said that regardless of the crowd that it drew, Schwartz’s Point was by far his favorite club he’d ever owned. With its triangular design, 1.5-inch horse-hair plaster walls, intimate atmosphere and Moss’ hand-picked players, Schwartz’s Point had everything that t his idea of a top-notch jazz club.

“And these triangle tables, I actually had made for the Golden Triangle,” Moss said, referencing the many triangular tables throughout the bar. “I had them in storage for years and years. e whole idea was this triangle thing brewing in my mind, probably with this building in mind as a nal destination for the situation. On all levels, it works.”

Even in his later years, Moss put a great deal of work into playing jazz three nights a week for however many people showed up to his club that night.

“I want everyone to have a good experience. I don’t mean that in a facetious way. I just want people to come in and go, ‘ at was worth it,’” Moss said.

When he wasn’t playing jazz, Moss had a few students that he coached. He said that he tried to have a life of his own outside of his club, but that was di cult while running a business, even one that was only open three nights a week. Moss said that one week, he timed how many hours he put into stocking and preparing the club, coming up with almost 50 hours.

“It’s like a full time job. I hate to admit it, but it really is,” Moss said.

Until his death, Moss played and recorded albums with the band he formed at Emanon back in 1979, e Society Jazz Orchestra. ey released the album Further Extensions the year Moss died.

Moss said he always enjoyed having his own space near the heart of Cincinnati where he could experiment and hone his craft.

“It all has ups and downs,” Moss said. “But I think we kind of live for the good nights, where nothing goes wrong, everybody feels like playing and maybe the weather’s OK.”

Schwartz’s Point, 1901 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine. Info: thepointclub.weebly.com.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 15

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZARLEEN WATTS EXCEPT WNOP-AM (COURTESY OF THE KENTON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, COVINGTON, KENTUCKY) AND ZARLEEN WATTS PORTRAIT (BY SAM SENCE) From top left: A stained-glass window at Emanon; the exterior of Schwartz’s Point; Ed Moss cooking at Mozarts; WNOP-AM; Zarleen Watts at Schwartz’s Point.

ARTS & CULTURE

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE CARNEGIE

Co in ton’s he Carne ie Announces e eadershi and Season

theater director.

Industry veteran Tyler Gabbard has replaced Maggie Perrino as the Carnegie’s theater director.

PREVIEW BY RICK PENDER PREVIEW BY RICK PENDER

There’s been a changing of the guard at Covington’s Carnegie with Tyler Gabbard stepping up to ll the role of theater director that had been helmed by Maggie Perrino for eight years. She departed to become the theater director for Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts. Gabbard is new to a leadership role, but he’s been a liated with the Carnegie for years as a scenic designer, and his experience is fully suited to his new responsibilities.

“ e Carnegie’s theater department

could not be in better hands,” Kim Best, the Carnegie’s executive director, says in a press release. “Since joining the team in October, Tyler has brought an excitement and enthusiasm to the Carnegie that I’m sure patrons will see re ected in upcoming productions.”

Gabbard, a Northern Kentucky native from Campbell County and current resident of Covington, says in the release, “I’m excited to continue o ering meaningful artistic experiences that are both entertaining and enriching to the community.”

Formerly the vice president of the League of Cincinnati eatres, Gabbard graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he focused on theater management and scenic design. He subsequently received a certi cate in nonpro t management from Northern Kentucky University, where he served as events and publicity manager for the School of the Arts. He was chosen to take part in the Emerging Leadership Institute at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals’ annual conference in

New York City.

Most recently, Gabbard worked at the Children’s eatre of Cincinnati as its patron experience manager, overseeing marketing, sales and customer satisfaction. Subscriptions there have returned to pre-pandemic levels, Gabbard says.

Gabbard saw his rst Carnegie show in 2007 and worked on his rst production there, Kander and Ebb’s musical Chicago, in 2013. He also was involved in a memorable 2014 production of Stephen Sondheim’s

16 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Tyler Gabbard Industry veteran Tyler Gabbard has replaced Maggie Perrino as the Carnegie’s

past

Over the past decade, Gabbard’s design work has been onstage in New York City and Los Angeles. Locally, he’s designed shows for Memorial Hall, New Edgecliff Theatre, Kincaid Regional Theatre, Northern Kentucky University, Falcon Theatre, the Commonwealth Theatre Center, Cincinnati Chamber Opera and the Stephen Foster Drama Association.

onstage in New York City and Los Angeles. Locally, he’s designed shows for Memorial Hall, New Edgecliff Theatre, Kincaid Regional Theatre, Northern Kentucky University, Falcon Theatre, the Commonwealth Theatre Center, Cincinnati Chamber Opera and the Stephen Foster Drama Association.

Sweeney Todd: e Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Over the past decade, Gabbard’s design work has been onstage in New York City and Los Angeles. Locally, he’s designed shows for Memorial Hall, New Edgecli eatre, Kincaid Regional eatre, Northern Kentucky University, Falcon eatre, the Commonwealth eatre Center, Cincinnati Chamber Opera and the Stephen Foster Drama Association.

Gabbard’s rst big task is to produce the stage musical Singin’ in the Rain, based on the much-loved 1952 movie musical starring Gene Kelly. Perrino will return to stage and choreograph the production, and Gabbard is designing its scenic aspect.

“It’s going to be fun to make this a technicolor extravaganza, and for the rst time, we’ll have some intentional rain on the stage,” Gabbard says, alluding to the years prior to the Carnegie’s renovation, when the theater space had a leaky roof that occasionally sprinkled precipitation on patrons and performers.

In conjunction with Gabbard’s appointment, the Carnegie has announced his rst season of summer musicals. Kinky Boots, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill and Guys and Dolls will be staged in repertory during July and August 2023.

Gabbard, who designed the sets for the 2022 summer season (Rent, Into the Woods and George Remus), will create scenery for the upcoming season that can be quickly adapted from one production to the next. He’s also announced that Hello, Dolly! will be staged in January 2024. ese productions demonstrate how Gabbard is building on the tradition of musicals that Perrino established.

Kinky Boots won six Tony Awards in 2013, including best musical. With music and lyrics by pop legend Cyndi Lauper, it’s the story of a factory owner struggling to save his family’s shoe business when he meets the colorful Lola, a drag star who advances an unorthodox suggestion about a new product line, boots that can stand up to high-stepping drag queens. Gabbard plans to kick o the summer season on June 30 with a “Boots Bash,” a ashy sendo

to Pride Month that will celebrate the season’s artists and creative team.

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, opening in July, is a one-woman portrait of blues singer Billie Holiday. Set in a gritty Philadelphia bar in 1959 where she gave one of her nal public performances, it’s an evening chronicling her life story and featuring songs that made her famous, including “God Bless the Child” and the chilling antilynching number, “Strange Fruit.”

In August, the Carnegie will add Guys and Dolls to rotate with Kinky Boots and Lady Day. Musical theater enthusiasts call Guys and Dolls the perfect musical comedy. Its characters are a crew of rambunctious gamblers and showgirls as well as a straightlaced Salvation Army gal. e memorable score is full of classic showtunes including “Luck Be a Lady,” “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”

“We’re focusing on what we can do best — familiar musicals,” Gabbard says. He plans to continue that commitment with a production of the blockbuster Broadway hit Hello, Dolly! from 1964, featuring some of the most recognizable show tunes in musical theater history: “Put on Your Sunday Clothes,” “Before the Parade Passes By,” and the show’s iconic title song with singing waiters heralding Dolly Levi’s grand arrival at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant. e show follows the exploits of the meddling matchmaker over the course of one unforgettable day.

e Carnegie is on the brink of establishing a new ticketing system, and in conjunction, Gabbard says he intends to o er friendly pricing for people under 35. He says he also hopes to reach out to the theater’s nearest neighbors in Kentucky and to broaden the Carnegie’s reach by expanding awareness farther south while retaining the mix of attendees from across the Tri-State. His considerable experience and energetic approach should keep the Carnegie on the radar of musical theater lovers.

The Carnegie, 1028 Scott Blvd., Covington. Info: thecarnegie.com.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 17

Over the

decade, Gabbard’s design work has been

CULTURE

Weekly Jam Sessions at Northside’s Liberty Exhibition Hall Lounge Bring Jazz to a New Generation

BY ANNE ARENSTEIN BY ANNE ARENSTEIN

Ajam session can be serious business for musicians in any genre. It’s typically about honing one’s chops with peers, often battling for solo supremacy with an audience limited to other musicians.

But that’s not the vibe at Northside’s Liberty Exhibition Hall Lounge, where increasing numbers of jazz fans show up on Monday nights to hear the house band and a jam session featuring many of the area’s top artists and astounding young talent. During Liberty Jazz Lab, audiences hear exciting performances in a venue whose retro seating vignettes and lighting recall 1950s and early 1960s jazz lounges that create energy shared by both sides of the stage.

at vibe is exactly what Carol Brammer says she’s after. Brammer is the artistic director of Clifton Players and began producing theater with actors less than three feet away from an audience in a tiny Ludlow Avenue bank annex.

Brammer moved her organization into Liberty Exhibition Hall in 2017 and the following year, she and her former husband Craig Brammer inaugurated Liberty Jazz Lab, an independent series of concerts highlighting out-of-town groups and aspiring local musicians, all young and many on the brink of major

careers.

Jazz Lab earned a nod from CityBeat as “Best Hope for New Generations of Jazz” in its 2019 Best Of Cincinnati edition, with the newspaper citing the season’s performances of “boundaryignoring jazz.”

careers.

Jazz Lab’s performances were on the Liberty’s upper level that included a stage, a bar and restrooms. e building opened in 1909 as Cincinnati’s rst vaudeville theater and later housed a movie palace. It served as home for the Cincinnati Deaf Club before going vacant for 73 years. Clifton Players eventually acquired the property.

Brammer’s children’s theater programs and other performances were held in Liberty’s space but jazz remained a priority.

“We have an amazing jazz presence here and we asked ourselves what’s not being done for these artists,” Brammer tells CityBeat. “ ere was no place with a fusion of age groups in one room. e response to Jazz Lab showed us the audiences were out there.”

Brammer says she was eager to move forward with plans for weekly jam sessions. ose plans evaporated with COVID shutdowns, but her team used the time to transform the Lounge’s lower level into a nostalgic throwback

to hip venues of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

“It looked like an Elks Lodge,” Brammer recalls. “We did some painting and sourced furniture and lighting xtures from all over the country.”

e Lounge crew created comfortable vignettes with varied seating options, tables and subdued lighting that evokes a past era of basement venues. All that’s missing is the blue fog of cigarette smoke — you’ll nd that outside in the adjoining alley.

I love the acoustic,” says house band member Josh Strange. “It feels like you’re in someone’s living room.”

e completed Lounge convinced Justin Dawson to sign on as coordinator for the weekly jam sessions in October 2021 (“I say I’m hosting the sessions,” he says). e 25-year-old bassist maintains a busy gig schedule and a solid network of musicians, including his friend and CCM classmate, vibraphone wizard Josh Strange.

“I was really blown away by it and

“I was really blown away by it and

Dawson chose Monday nights, when

18 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

The Lounge at Liberty Exhibition Hall has comfortable vignettes that recall a past era of basement venues. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE LOUNGE Jazz fans of all ages are discovering the Lounge in Northside. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE LOUNGE

CULTURE

most jazz musicians are o . He then formed a house band made up of some of the area’s most respected jazz artists to open the evening. Dawson is on bass, Strange on vibraphone, Tony Franklin on drums and Mike Wade on trumpet. Keyboard and sax vary; Phil DeGreg is frequently at the piano.

Dawson curates the house band’s weekly set list, which lasts about an hour. He says it’s more than a showcase for a speci c composer or the band.

“I want younger musicians to experience how a professional band works together, how time is managed and how the room’s vibe a ects the music,” Dawson says.

e set list is tailored to the band members’ strengths and experience in speci c jazz forms. Dawson also views a set as a potential teaching tool.

“I want to showcase the range of what jazz can be,” he notes.

e jam session follows, and participants have to play by the rules.

“First, you have to know the song completely,” Dawson explains. “Second, rhythm players (piano, bass, drums) can’t read chord changes on the bandstand,” meaning they can’t bring cheat sheets with them. Finally, vocalists need to know in what key they’re singing.”

Who shows up? Professional musicians, music teachers and students as young as age 12. e students often astound their elders, band members say.

“ ere’s a 13-year-old drummer who just made my jaw drop,” Strange says. “He’s already got the chops of a seasoned pro and he was so respectful of the other musicians.” He adds that there also has been a 12-year-old cellist from the School for Creative and Performing Arts who blew everyone away with her solos on Charlie Parker’s

“Anthropology.”

e attendance is just as impressive, spurred in part by no cover charge and no drink minimum. When asked about the latter, bar manager Emma Roberts laughs.

“We have a great wine and cocktail menu,” Roberts explains. “Once people are here, they want to stay and enjoy a drink or two.”

Roberts has been with the Lounge for ve months and already knows many of the Monday night regulars. She says that on Monday nights, the Lounge has the feeling of a neighborhood bar.

As the sessions’ rst anniversary approaches, the Liberty team has ambitious goals for the coming year. Increased attendance is a priority, along with boosting social media. And if the Lounge’s attendance exceeds 100, “we can move upstairs!” Brammer says.

Dawson says he wants to bring in more musicians, especially touring guest artists who may be able to extend their stay to include a Monday night gig.

“Everyone I play with hears about the sessions. ey’re excited about it, and more locals are showing up,” Dawson says

“You have to come and experience the room! It’s great!” Strange adds. “ e ratio of people listening to music is high compared to other places, and for us musicians, that’s great.”

Building on CityBeat’s 2019 citation, Dawson adds, “Is jazz dead? ‘Swinging’ is a verb, and you can’t be dead if you’re swinging.”

Jam sessions take place 8-11 p.m. every Monday at Liberty Exhibition Hall, 3938 Spring Grove Ave., Northside. Info: facebook.com/ libertyexhibitionhall.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 19

Professional musicians, educators, students and music fans all jam at the Lounge. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE LOUNGE Professional musicians, educators, students and music fans all jam at the Lounge. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE LOUNGE

FOOD & DRINK

City’ i in

Court

City’ i in

Court Street’s Mid City Restaurant is a casual dining spot that’s up for a good time.

REVIEW BY PAMA MITCHELL REVIEW BY PAMA MITCHELL

It took a couple of tries for me to fully appreciate the allure of Mid City, a relatively new bar and restaurant on Court Street. Last summer, I stopped in for a quick snack and to meet a new editor. All I recall is that the “small plates” struck me as really tiny and included a couple of items that seemed exceptionally unusual. Chicken hearts, anyone? We tried them, I found them not to my liking, and left thinking this place might not be my cup of tea.

But friends kept telling me to give Mid City another shot. ey loved the food, drinks and ambiance and said that the menu had enough variety that I could avoid anything that didn’t suit my taste. e location certainly is prime – at the northern edge of downtown and easily accessible to Over-the-Rhine – as well.

Turns out, the chicken hearts were a hit, according to owner Mike Stankovich, whom I talked with recently.

ey’re o the menu for now but could well make a return, he said.

Stankovich also owns the laid-back OTR bar Longfellow and spent many years in the restaurant business in other cities, such as Boston and Washington, D.C. All of that experience seems to have given him a clear notion of what he wanted to do with Mid City.

“I like casual, simple but e ective food and places where the focus is on having a good time,” he said. at’s exactly what I found on a recent visit with friends. Every seat in the bar and dining room was lled, and the whole place resounded with conversation and laughter. e décor is rather minimalist – Stankovich said he was inspired by “old

dining cars and old pizza restaurants” – which helps keep the focus on one’s companions and, of course, the food and drink. I also got a kick out of the wellappointed restroom, which to me is a test of a proprietor’s attention to customers’ comfort. It’s not fancy or especially creative, but all the little thoughtful touches made me feel cared for.

20 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Mid City Restaurant PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

“I like casual, simple but effective food places where the focus is on having a good time,” says Mid City owner Mike Stankovich.

PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

Street’s Mid City Restaurant is a casual dining spot that’s up for a good time.

Mid City Restaurant PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

“I like casual, simple but effective food places where the focus is on having a good time,” says

Mid City owner Mike Stankovich. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

e kitchen team at Mid City includes veterans of many of Cincinnati’s nest dining establishments, including Mita’s and Fausto. Ever since the dining room opened over a year ago, chef Francisco Alfaro and sous-chef Joe Cheek have cooked most of the hot dishes on a plancha – a metal griddle – or by using a deep fryer. With a few cold items such as salads and a couple of desserts, the team manages an e cient use of space in what is overall a fairly small footprint.

Although they opened the bar in October 2021 and the dining room a little later, Stankovich said Mid City got a “big lift” when Bon Appétit magazine selected it as one of the best new restaurants in the U.S. at happened last summer, and pretty soon it became hard to snag a table or bar stool even on weeknights.

We made a reservation a couple weeks ahead and had to settle for ursday instead of Friday or Saturday. Our table in the small dining room was one of the rst to ll, but within a half-hour the room was packed with high-spirited downtowners.

Our food came out in two rounds, approximating rst and second courses as chosen by the kitchen sta . We’d already been set up with cocktails: a couple of martinis, a Manhattan and a

rum-based drink dubbed El Presidente. Soon thereafter, a profusion of plates showed up and we dug in.

Everyone smiled and nodded as we passed the dishes around. Almost everything about this course pleased our palates. Chilled radicchio salad satis ed my desire for a light, crunchy bite and contrasted well with several fried preparations of other veggies.

ose included tempura Brussels sprouts, tender artichokes and expertly prepared sweet potato fries, though I later wished they’d held the fries to go with my burger delivered in round two.

A dish simply called Mushrooms in Foil stood out as well, with the tiny, exotic mushrooms cooked in butter and soy sauce and given a welcome bitterness with a hint of turnip greens. All of this went great with the griddled baguette – I love grilled bread in all its iterations – accompanied by pickle butter.

By now, there was no room at the bar, either, but service remained ecient. With the table cleared of spent dishes and another round of drinks o ered, our second course arrived. Maybe I already was getting full, but none of these plates quite measured up to what we’d already enjoyed.

Friends had advised me to order the

Skipper Burger, which was o ered as a special. Basically, it’s a small hamburger with saucing that includes a schmear of peanut butter. Stankovich pointed out that many cultures pair meat with peanuts, such as satay. But alas, my burger was so overcooked that it didn’t matter what sauces had been added; to me, it was close to inedible. e chicken skewer my friend ordered was similarly dry from too long on the re and its sauce was too bland to make up for that. Someone else selected fried smelts and I had a bite, but the avor was too strong for my taste.

ere was one de nite hit on this round – the Mid City Plate, a bestseller from opening day, according to Stankovich. It’s a medium-sized plate of three kinds of fairly mild sausages, a mound of well-seasoned sauerkraut, boiled potatoes with a side of zippy

mustard that was only slightly more than one person could nish. It also comes in small or large sizes.

e wine list is limited but well chosen, and don’t miss the port and sherries o ered with dessert. Sweet bites are Baked Alaska or a slice of Slab Pie. I loved that a tiny bit of the meringue on the Alaska had been scorched black. I dig a hint of “burned” on some foods, such as popcorn, grilled bread or French fries, but not everyone does, as I learned from my table mates.

e tab for such a feast did not break the bank, which is always nice. We rolled out of Mid City when the crowd was starting to thin, happy to have gured out the allure of this addition to the Court Street renaissance.

Mid City Restaurant, 40 E. Court St., Downtown. Info: midcitycinti.com.

Mid City Restaurant, 40 E. Court St., Downtown.

Info: midcitycinti.com.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 21

Mid City’s minimalist decor is inspired by old dining cars and pizza restaurants. PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/MIDCITYCINTI According to CityBeat’s dining critic, Mid City’s mushrooms in foil is a hit. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY Mid City features tempura vegetables. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY Mid City’s minimalist decor is inspired by old dining cars and pizza restaurants. PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/MIDCITYCINTI According to CityBeat’s dining critic, Mid City’s mushrooms in foil is a hit. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY Mid City features tempura vegetables. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

22 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

EATS

Chimaek’s Fried Korean Food and Drink Selection Provide an Easy Night Out in Covington

BY SEAN M. PETERS BY SEAN M. PETERS

evening and, Kim explains, lighter beers like lagers are most popular.

decided to run Korean Riverside when the opportunity presented itself.

CCovington’s developing dining scene can tally up another win with the addition of Chimaek.

ovington’s developing dining scene can tally up another win with the addition of Chimaek. e new pub serves succulent fried chicken wings and tenders, crispy vegetable tempura, an array of tangy and savory Korean side dishes and, to round out the experience, plenty of beer and cocktails.

e new pub serves succulent fried chicken wings and tenders, crispy vegetable tempura, an array of tangy and savory Korean side dishes and, to round out the experience, plenty of beer and cocktails.

Owned by the same family that runs Riverside Korean Restaurant just around the block, Chimaek opened in November. e restaurant’s name is a combination of shortened words: “chi” for chicken, while “maek” is short for maekju, the Korean word for beer.

“It’s a catchphrase you would use,” Bruce Kim, Chimaek’s co-owner and chef, explains about his restaurant’s name. “Like how, here, you might ask if someone wants ‘B-dubs’ [short for BW3, Bu alo Wild Wings], which usually means you want to go out to eat wings and drink beer. You just look at someone

and ask, ‘chimaek?’”

e menu at Chimaek is simple-yete ective. While there are dishes certain to please any palate, the main emphasis is on crunchy fried food to complement beer consumption. For those who are more into cocktails, Kim recommends trying something prepared with soju, a typically low-ABV distilled spirit favored at Korean tables. e bar has several ways to enjoy soju that highlights its clean taste.

For the closest approximation to a classic Korean nightlife experience, Kim recommends starting with a few orders of wings for the table with a rst round of drinks. Whether this is a late-night dinner or a fourth meal to soak up an evening’s worth of frivolity, be sure to include an extra order of pickled radish. Sweet and acidic, Kim prepares it as the perfect accompaniment to salty fried chicken. It’s best to keep a good balance of food and drink to make the most of an

e vegetable tempura at Chimaek includes broccoli, cauli ower and thinly sliced sweet potato. It’s lling enough to serve as a worthwhile entree for vegetarian diners, but an order of onion rings or wa e fries drizzled with spicy mayo and teriyaki would be a welcome and shareable addition.

Dipping sauces are served on the side unless otherwise ordered for the wings and tenders.

“I always do sauce on the side,” Kim says. “If you need some sauce it’s there, but eating it on its own is ne, too. Besides, if the sauce is on it too long, it makes the batter all soggy.”

Kim, who owns and operates the Korean eateries with his wife Yujin, moved to Cincinnati via Chicago in 2006. A truck driver for FedEx before he came here, Kim rst took a restaurant job in Riverside Korean when it was still operated by the original owners. Slowly learning the di erent aspects of the dining industry from the ground up, Kim started as a dishwasher before getting introduced to kitchen work. In 2014, he

“It took me a little bit just to learn it, but thanks to my mom, I learned how to do certain recipes, certain techniques,” Kim says. “ e only advantage for me is my mom’s cooking; I know what it is supposed to taste like.”

Kim and his sta launched Chimaek with evening hours to get a feel for things, with current listed hours as 4-10 p.m. Sunday through ursday and staying open an extra hour Friday and Saturday (the restaurant is closed on Mondays). If demand is high enough, there’s potential for lunch service down the line.

Looking at the bar and dining room’s decor, it’s boldly colorful, modern while still capturing some old school charm in a very inviting way — much like the food itself.

“Chicken and beer – those things go together pretty well,” Kim says. “As long as we’ve got a good establishment with a good vibe, good atmosphere and good food, I think we’ll do ne.”

Chimaek, 405 Scott St., Covington. Info: getchimaek.com.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 23

Bruce and Yujin Kim opened Chimaek in November. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY The Kims own Chimaek, shown here, as well as Riverside Korean in Covington. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY “Chicken and beer – those things go together pretty well,” Chimaek owner Bruce Kim says. PHOTO: SEAN M. PETERS

EATS

Bruce and Yujin Kim opened Chimaek in November. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY The Kims own Chimaek, shown here, as well as Riverside Korean in Covington. PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY “Chicken and beer – those things go together pretty well,” Chimaek owner Bruce Kim says. PHOTO: SEAN M. PETERS

MUSIC

Among the new releases are e orts from Cincinnati-based bands like e Drin, Corker and Beef, in which Richardson plays guitar. e quality of the current crop of local out ts — including e Serfs, which specialize in a jagged, art-damaged version of electro-dance music, as well as scene mainstays Vacation and others — was enough to convince Richardson to move his operation to the Queen City from Richmond. Ready for a new creative environment, he bought a house last spring that doubles as Feel It’s current headquarters on the West Side of Cincinnati.

“I love it here,” Richardson says. “I really like the community. I’m from a smaller town to begin with, so I was thinking, ‘Where would I go with the label?’ It just feels right here. I met a lot of cool new friends. e music scene is really happening right now.”

Dakota Carlyle is a central gure in the scene. As a member of e Serfs, e Drin and Crime of Passing, he’s seen things build over the last several years. Carlyle was a fan of the stu Feel It was putting out and in 2021 decided to email Richardson out of the blue to see if he would be interested in releasing the Crime of Passing record.

Sam Richardson of Feel It Records May Be Curating Cincinnati’s Next Big Thing

“We started making it in December of 2019,” Carlyle says. “And then with the pandemic, everything just got really delayed for a long time because of the virus itself and the mental state that put me in. I cold-emailed Sam. I never met him or knew who he was at all. It was a bit of a crapshoot. He emailed me back and loved it. And then we talked on the phone a bit and planned everything out with the record.”

With punk-rock artists and a DIY ethos, the local record label is thriving.

BY JASON GARGANO BY JASON GARGANO

The idea of a music label as a community-building endeavor with a signature aesthetic is alive and well in Feel It Records.

Founder and lone proprietor Sam Richardson started the label as a university student in Richmond, Va. in 2010.

Nearly 13 years and a recent relocation to Cincinnati last summer, Feel It has become a respected go-to source for those interested in the punk genre and its multifarious o shoots — post punk, indie, dark wave, trash pop, garage rock and more.

Feel It Records’ well-curated catalog features dozens of in-print LPs, 7-inch singles and even the occasional vintage reissue. Check out Cincinnati’s own purveyors of icy industrialized atmospherics Crime of Passing, whose haunting 2022 self-titled record lodges itself into one’s subconscious whether one wants it there or not. en there’s

Kansas-based Sweeping Promises, whose stellar 2020 full-length debut Hunger for a Way Out recalls e GoGo’s by way of e Slits, as unconventional hooks surface amid rudimentary beats and zig-zagging guitar and synth lines, all anchored by the zzy vocals of frontwoman Lira Mondal. e trio’s equally ear-wormy latest single “Pain Without a Touch” dropped in November as a collaboration between Feel It, which is handling the domestic release, and Sub Pop Records, which is overseeing the rest of the world. A new Sweeping Promises full-length is set for release in the near future, and there’s sure to be more from elsewhere within Feel It’s ever-expanding roster universe.

“I didn’t have this kind of expectation for it,” Richardson tells CityBeat about the label’s relative success. “It was de nitely more of a hobby label [at the beginning]. I had some friends I was

lucky to have right down the street from my dorm room who had a record store called Vinyl Con ict. e original owners had a label called No Way Records that did a lot of hardcore and punk stu that I was into. ey were a good source of information on how to get something o the ground and bounce questions o of.”

ere’s a rich history of DIY ingenuity in the punk scene, and that tradition is a big part of Feel It’s approach to music. It’s also one Richardson has seen as a member in his own various bands over the years.

“ rough touring I met a lot of new people in bands,” he says. “I think the idea of making it a larger thing than just a regional hobby label kind of came to mind through that. Feel It started putting out ve records a year, then 10 records a year. en last year it was 15. And I have a crazy year lined up now [for 2023].”

“When e Serfs were touring a few months later, we went to Richmond where he was at. at was the rst time that I actually met him,” Carlyle continues. “He moved here a couple months after he stayed at my place. It happened really fast.”

Richardson says it was a no-brainer to release the Crime of Passing record.

“I just really love what they did with it,” he says. “ ere’s so much texture.

ey’re able to cross between so many little sub-facets of the genre. I would say that it’s the most popular thing I put out in 2022.”

ere’s a desolate, almost spooky vibe to Crime of Passing’s music that is at once hypnotic and alienating. at approach is also apparent in what Carlyle does with e Serfs, which recently announced their rst European tour.

“Desperation is very clear in a lot of the music that we make,” Carlyle says of the in uence his surroundings have on his art. “Until recently, it’s always sort of fallen on deaf ears. Flyover country is a bit of a joke to coastal cities. I think that was always motivating in its own way. I think just the industrial living in Cincinnati has had a large impact

24 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Sam Richardson, owner of Feel It Records PHOTO: JULIE FERGUSON Sam Richardson, owner of Feel It Records PHOTO: JULIE FERGUSON

Crime of Passing

on the music we make. I mean, I work in a warehouse. I live in a warehouse.

on the music we make. I mean, I work in a warehouse. I live in a warehouse. ere’s a lot of freight elevators. ose sounds have de nitely found their way into the music.”

ere’s a lot of freight elevators. ose sounds have de nitely found their way into the music.”

Richardson agrees that the area has its own unique take on underground music. at, coupled with the lower cost of living and real estate, was a big reason he decided to move to Cincinnati.

“ ere’s a re ection of how gray it can be out here in a lot of the music,” he says. “ e Midwestern ethic is a little more down to earth. I don’t think there’s as much of people necessarily trying to t into a genre. You’ll look at some bands from New York that are just doing nothing to rewrite or be original with their music.”

I feel like there’s a lot of great musicianship here,” Richardson adds. “People have time to go about their art, whereas in other places you have to work three or four jobs just to pay your rent. at’s kind of re ected in a lot of these projects where people have more time to think about their art and rehearse and get it out there.”

stand-alone space with a warehouse and maybe even a few paid employees is in Feel It’s future, as is his continued commitment to release music he believes should get more attention in the wider world.

“ e rst basically 10 years of the label, I was a pizza delivery driver on the side and just did the label when I could,” Richardson says. “I toured in a bunch of bands, too.”

All that came to a grinding halt during COVID. But there was a silver lining to the shutdown — it gave him the ability to work on the label full time, which led to multiple fruitful collaborations.

“ at Sweeping Promises LP really helped the pro le of what I’m doing,” Richardson says. “It sold really well, and it also led to some cool submissions to come my way. I get exceptional submissions. I don’t know if you can say that about every label out there. I really feel like there are people making music that are seeing what I do and are impressed and want to send it my way. at keeps me inspired to keep doing it, for sure.”

Richardson says a move to a

Feel It Records, feelitrecordshop.com.

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 25

PHOTO: ALEXZANDRA ROY Beef PHOTO: ALEXZANDRA ROY PHOTO: ALEXZANDRA ROY Beef PHOTO: ALEXZANDRA ROY

SOUND ADVICE

DAN BERN

Feb. 4 • Southgate House Revival

Feb. 4 • Southgate

House Revival

Dan Bern is a busy guy. e Iowa native and current New Mexico resident has created an astronomical number of songs over his three-decade run as a singer-songwriter. e 63-year-old troubadour has dropped more than 25 studio albums over that period, largely in the straight-ahead folk style of his idols Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, spewing forth a ood of pointed lyrics that tackle everything from George Floyd’s death to the ribald habits of Babe Ruth.

Bern’s best-known songwriting gig was as a supplier of tunes for Walk Hard: e Dewey Cox Story, the 2007 satirical comedy/biopic about a Johnny Cash-like gure aptly portrayed by John C. Reilly. Bern wrote dozens of songs for the lm, a handful of which ended up in the nal cut. Bern’s latest e ort, the freshly minted Songs for Mr. Tony, might be his most curious project yet — a two-volume, 50-song ode to Tony Kornheiser, the crusty sports-columnist-turned-radio-and-television-talkshow-host.

Bern started by submitting baseballthemed songs before branching out to any sports-related tune he could muster. Kornheiser’s producer eventually agreed to use one of the songs on the program.

“Getting to be part of a show I love so much in this way continues to be a thrill every single time,” Bern wrote in the Bandcamp notes that accompanied

Songs for Tony. “And getting a laugh out of Mr. Tony — that’s all any song could hope for.”

Bern’s dedication to the live setting is just as important, touring relentlessly over the years, with each appearance a chance to relay an art form he can’t help but share. He also was also one of the rst artists to livestream shows when the pandemic had shut down inperson events.

Dan Bern plays Southgate House Revival at 7 p.m. Feb. 4. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Info: southgatehouse.com. (Jason Gargano)

MACY GRAY

Feb. 4 • Ludlow Garage

Feb. 4 • Ludlow

Garage

Like many successful artists, Macy Gray’s musical narrative starts casually.

e Ohio native went o to college in California, and started playing around with songwriting in her dorm. Before Gray became acquainted with jazz singers like Billie Holiday, she perceived her award-winning voice as a shortcoming. But expanding her knowledge of vocal performance styles changed everything.

“I started kind of working on it, and I really got into it,” the singer told Forbes in 2022. “Even though I thought it was not a real singer voice, I started trying to make it work, style wise and stu like that.”

By 2001, Gray had honed her vocal stylings so e ectively that her single “I Try” won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

her multi-platinum 1999 debut album

On How Life Is. Gray has released nine additional studio albums since her debut and has collaborated with pop icons like Ariana Grande and Black Eyed Peas. Her success in the early aughts led to the launch of her acting career, which has included roles in Spider-Man, Training Day and Scary Movie 3

her multi-platinum 1999 debut album

comments on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored. e singer has since attempted public apologies on Today in July, and on e Tamron Hall Show in November.

Gray told Fox News that the album title e Reset started as a reference to the pandemic and the racially-motivated hate crimes that partially de ned 2020.

e song was one of four singles on

By 2001, Gray had honed her vocal stylings so e ectively that her single “I Try” won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

e song was one of four singles on

Plans for her latest release, e Reset, were put on hold in July, when Gray made headlines for her transphobic

Macy Gray plays Ludlow Garage at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4. Doors open at 7 p.m. Info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com. (Katrina Eresman)

26 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

DAN BERN Dan Bern PHOTO: SRSLYGUYS, FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS Macy Gray PHOTO: BRUCE BAKER, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Taylor Swift PHOTO: GILLES DUFRESNE, FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

SOUND ADVICE

Dan Bern PHOTO: SRSLYGUYS, FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS Macy Gray PHOTO: BRUCE BAKER, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Taylor Swift PHOTO: GILLES DUFRESNE, FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS Sandler PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/SANDLER

THE TAYLOR PARTY

Well, at him.

Feb. 4 • Bogart’s

Feb. 4 • Bogart’s Taylor Swift lovers know all too well the bitter taste of disappointment after thousands of fans were left locked out of buying tickets to the star’s upcoming sold-out visit to Paycor Stadium. Before anyone takes to doing any vigilante shit, however, Bogarts is offering a chance for fans to shake it off

Taylor Swift lovers know all too well the bitter taste of disappointment after thousands of fans were left locked out of buying tickets to the star’s upcoming sold-out visit to Paycor Stadium. Before anyone takes to doing any vigilante shit, however, Bogarts is offering a chance for fans to shake it off .

The Taylor Party traveling show has stopped in Cincinnati before and promises to once again be a night straight out of a fan’s wildest dreams . This dance party is “Taylor-made” for T-Swizzle fans and advertises a safe, fun place to let loose as a DJ plays songs spanning every era of Tay Tay’s decade-and-a-half-long career.

The Taylor Party traveling show has stopped in Cincinnati before and promises to once again be a night straight out of a fan’s wildest dreams This dance party is “Taylor-made” for T-Swizzle fans and advertises a safe, fun place to let loose as a DJ plays songs spanning every era of Tay Tay’s decade-and-a-half-long career.

Thinking of bringing along some delicate youngsters? Don’t blame me , but this event is for ages 18 and up, and a valid ID is required at the entrance. It’s time to write your dear john letter to any kiddos who were hoping to come, hand ‘em some pizza money and tell ‘em, “ You’re on your own, kid .”

The Taylor Party starts at Bogart’s at 9 p.m. Feb. 4. Doors open at 8 p.m. Info: livenation.com. (Deirdre Kaye)

ADAM SANDLER

V eteran comedian and actor Adam Sandler has been touring frequently over the past few years (except for the COVID-19 pause), with the latest tour launching in October. During the shows, Sandler typically performs both stand-up and music, including a tuneful tribute to his close friend and former Saturday Night Live co-star, the late Chris Farley. During a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Sandler said that the song –which he’d debuted while hosting SNL in 2019 – remains emotional because of his continued connections with Farley’s family.

Sandler was part of a popular SNL cohort in the early 1990s that included Farley, David Spade, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock and Rob Schneider. His characters like “Canteen Boy,” “Opera Man” and “Gap Girl” made the show essential viewing for people of a certain age, and his skit songs “Lunchlady Land,” “ anksgiving Song” and “Hanukkah Song” were staples on morning radio shows and in high schools. e show launched Sandler and his friends into the lm world, where he became a bankable star in Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore and e Wedding Singer

sights largely to streaming. rough a major deal with Net ix, Sandler’s company Happy Madison Productions has produced a number of top-rated family hits and adult comedies.

Even legitimate arts in uencers are recognizing the Sand Man’s many talents. e John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recently announced that Sandler would receive its Mark Twain Prize for American Humor during a ceremony this May.

Adam Sandler performs at Heritage Bank Center at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6. Doors open at 6 p.m. Info: heritagebankcenter.com. (Allison Babka)

RICKY SKAGGS

invited him to join his band the Clinch Mountain Boys.

By the late 1970s, Skaggs had performed in progressive bluegrass acts and been a member of singersongwriter Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band, eventually becoming a major label country star in the 80s starting with the 1981 hit album Waitin’ For The Sun To Shine . He had an impressive run that produced 12 numberone singles, including “Country Boy,” “Crying My Heart Out Over You” and a cover of the Bill Monroe song “Uncle Pen.” He helped to redefine and breathe new life into the genre, with Nashville legend Chet Atkins even saying Skaggs saved country music.

RICKY SKAGGS

Feb. 10 • Memorial Hall

Ricky Skaggs is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and 15-time Grammy winner. The icon also is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame, Bluegrass Hall of Fame and too many more to list. He’s helped keep bluegrass and roots music alive over the last five decades.

Feb. 10 • Memorial Hall

Skaggs returned fully to bluegrass and roots music in the ‘90s with his band Kentucky Thunder, more than ever becoming an ambassador of the genres and maintaining the virtuosity and charm of the bluegrass greats for new generations. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2020.

ADAM SANDLER

Feb. 6 • Heritage Bank Center

“They’re all gonna laugh at you!”

Feb. 6 • Heritage Bank Center “They’re all gonna laugh at you!”

But the guy who compelled us to laugh at fart jokes is even more of a force now. eatrical lm and TV o ers have continued over the decades, but Sandler has turned his

Skaggs has direct connections to the most significant musicians in bluegrass history. He was invited on stage at the age of six and later befriended and worked with Bill Monroe, known as the “Father of Bluegrass.” Skaggs performed with Flatt and Scruggs at seven on a televised performance, and when he was a teenager in 1970, Ralph Stanley

There’s even a Cincinnati connection in Skaggs’ story. On 1530 WCKYAM, the “WCKY Jamboree” program broadcasted country music that reached a young Skaggs in Kentucky, influencing and building his understanding and love of the genre.

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder play Memorial Hall at 8 p.m. Feb. 10. Info: memorialhallotr.com. (Brent Stroud)

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 27

Adam Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White PHOTO: STEVE PROCTOR, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Adam Sandler PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/SANDLER Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White PHOTO: STEVE PROCTOR, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

28 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 29

30 CITYBEAT.COM | JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023

BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM

JANUARY 25-FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | CITYBEAT.COM 31 CROSSWORD HERE’S THE KICKER

Across 1. Queen in a speech by Mercutio 4. Ease off 9. Ballinger-Pinchot affair president 13. Incensed state 14. Oscar winner Marisa 15. Chutzpah 16. “Closer” industrial band’s initials 17. “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” band Big ___ 18. Make a few changes 19. Start of Christmas shopping advice by 51-Across 22. Lightsaber builders 23. One of Jupiter’s Galilean moons 26. More of the advice 31. Two-toned maritime predator 33. Approves 34. Place to stay overnight 35. Servings of butter 36. Insurance company with a spokesgecko 39. Very dry 40. Prefix for corn, form, or verse 41. Sports org. with the Maurice Podoloff Trophy 42. “Mysterious Ways” singer 43. End of the advice 49. Common soccer draw 50. Capt.’s boss 51. Stand-up comic who was the source of the quip 57. Batch of bagels 60. Video game company that created Space Invaders and Arkanoid 61. Skateboarder’s jump 62. Subbing in at the plate, for short 63. Bills QB Josh 64. Cybersecurity govt. group 65. Group named after Renaissance painters, initially 66. Hen’s perch 67. Pilot’s area Down 1. “Chun-Li” rapper Nicki 2. Join in the revolution 3. Blessing from the Pope 4. Swear (to) 5. Quantum theory physicist Niels 6. French girlfriend 7. Put on a peg, on the course 8. Eponymous tower of Paris 9. Geolocation data company with a reduplicative name 10. Projectile in some bars 11. Shark ___ soup 12. Slalom racer Ligety 15. Native New Zealander 20. Papers for work 21. See 28-Down 24. They may be stonewashed 25. When some work days begin 27. Keep to one’s self 28. With 21-Down, barely get, as a victory 29. On drugs 30. Forest moon

Death Star shield generator 31. Magnum ___ 32. Cost, all told 37. “Ghosts” channel 38. Porridge morsel 39. Raunchy

informally 44. Sidewalk material 45. Sending

canvas 46. Safety

47. Bee’s collection 48. “...

were you” 52. Source

53. Hawaiian

54. French

55.

56.

57.

58.

59.

LAST PUZZLE’S ANSWERS: Bertha G. Helmick ATTORNEY AT LAW DISSOLVE YOUR MARRIAGE

DISSOLVE YOUR MARRIAGE

with a

‘90s Britcom,

to the

pickup: Abbr.

yeah. I wouldn’t, if I

of a saintly glow

home to ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center

vacances temps

Criteria for some insurers

Dismal-colored

Chemical compound banned after the success of “Silent Spring”

Resistance measurement

Alternative to chard or cab

Dissolution: An amicable end to marriage. Easier on your heart. Easier on your wallet. Starting at $500 plus court costs. 12 Hour Turnaround. 810 Sycamore St. 4th Fl, Cincinnati, OH 45202 513.651.9666

CityBeat | January 25, 2023

Here’s Where Abortion Currently Stands in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

Here’s Where Abortion Currently Stands in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

lawsuits

Ohio

Ohio

Kentucky

Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center Employees Are

Unionizing for Higher Pay

Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center Employees Are Unionizing for Higher Pay

Kentucky

Indiana

Indiana

Cincinnati Metro Announces Two Selections for Region’s First Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Routes

Hamilton Avenue

Reading Road

BRT bene ts

Cincinnati Sues Williamsburg Apartments Owners for Repeated Violations, ‘Substandard Living Conditions’

FC Cincinnati’s Brandon Vazquez, Roman Celentano Selected for U.S. Men's National Team's January Camp

Preparing for the 2023 season

Former Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chad ‘Ocho’ Johnson Leaves Another $1K Tip at a Local Restaurant

Love for McDonald’s and Je Ruby’s Steakhouse

Paying Joe Mixon’s ne

Cincinnati Bengals to Face Kansas City in AFC Championship Again

Love for Damar Hamlin

Bengals hold the Bills

Preparing for the Kansas City Chiefs

Swingin’ Schwartz’s Point

Mahogany Hall

Love’s Co ee House and the Golden Triangle

Emanon

Mozart’s and Ivory’s

Schwartz’s Point

ARTS & CULTURE

ARTS & CULTURE

Co in ton’s he Carne ie Announces e eadershi and Season

Co in ton’s he Carne ie Announces e eadershi and Season

theater director.

Sweeney Todd: e Demon Barber of Fleet Street

CULTURE

Weekly Jam Sessions at Northside’s Liberty Exhibition Hall Lounge Bring Jazz to a New Generation

Weekly Jam Sessions at Northside’s Liberty Exhibition Hall Lounge Bring Jazz to a New Generation

“Anthropology.”

FOOD & DRINK

FOOD & DRINK

City’ i in

City’ i in

EATS

Chimaek’s Fried Korean Food and Drink Selection Provide an Easy Night Out in Covington

Chimaek’s Fried Korean Food and Drink Selection Provide an Easy Night Out in Covington

MUSIC

MUSIC

Sam Richardson of Feel It Records May Be Curating Cincinnati’s Next Big Thing

Sam Richardson of Feel It Records May Be Curating Cincinnati’s Next Big Thing

With punk-rock artists and a DIY ethos, the local record label is thriving.

Crime of Passing

Crime of Passing

SOUND ADVICE

DAN BERN

House Revival

MACY GRAY

MACY GRAY

Garage

her multi-platinum 1999 debut album

THE TAYLOR PARTY

THE TAYLOR PARTY

ADAM SANDLER

RICKY SKAGGS

RICKY SKAGGS

ADAM SANDLER

Articles inside

EATS

MUSIC

NEWS

COVER

CROSSWORD

ARTS & CULTURE