MUSIC

MUSIC MUSIC

The festival is inspired by a Hawthorne Heights song of the same name.

PHOTO: COURTNEY KIARA BOYER

Ohio Is Still for LoversOhio Is Still for Lovers Launched by Dayton emo band Hawthorne Heights, Ohio Is For Lovers Festival brings well-known emo Launched by Dayton emo band Hawthorne Heights, Ohio Is For Lovers Festival brings well-known emo acts to Riverbend Music Center this month. acts to Riverbend Music Center this month. BY KATRINA ERESMAN

BY KATRINA ERESMAN

Famed Dayton emo export Hawthorne Heights has started a music festival.

Ohio Is For Lovers Festival — named after the band’s breakout single and regional emo anthem — brings together well-known emo and emo-adjacent acts. e festival takes place this Saturday, September 10 at Riverbend Music Center, and showcases local music acts as well as local vendors.

According to lead singer and rhythm guitarist JT Woodru , the idea for a festival like this had been percolating for a while. Woodru explains that while being based out of Ohio has its perks, it can also keep a band out of the loop when it comes to festivals in bigger cities.

“Sometimes we kind of feel like we’re on our own little island — albeit an oasis in the middle of the Midwest,” Woodru says. “We were like, ‘Hey, we’re tired of not getting o ers from our favorite festivals. Why don’t we just do one of our own?’”

At rst, actually running with the idea was an inside joke that Woodru likens to a Christopher Guest lm. But when the opportunity presented itself, the band started to take the proposition more seriously.

“ e more and more we thought about it, we realized that it could be bigger than we ever thought,” Woodru says. “We’re not like the biggest band in the world, but we’re a known band, so why not us?”

Once the band began developing a plan for Ohio, other cities wanted in on the action. e band’s “Is for Lovers” festival series kicked o with events in Wichita and Denver in August. ose cities might seem random, but in the Hawthorne Heights universe they make perfect sense. Wichita was the rst city to play “Ohio Is for Lovers” on the radio.

“Our heart has always been close to Wichita,” Woodru says.

Denver was an obvious choice thanks to the band’s solid fan base there.

“Denver never lets us down no matter what tour we’ve ever been on,”

Famed Dayton emo export Hawthorne Heights has started a music festival. Woodru says. e cities were also ideal because

Ohio Is For Lovers Festival — named of their distance from other upcoming after the band’s breakout single and punk and emo festivals, like Riot Fest regional emo anthem — brings together in Chicago and When We Were Young well-known emo and emo-adjacent in Las Vegas. But more than anything, acts. e festival takes place this Satur- Hawthorne Heights wanted to show day, September 10 at Riverbend Music their appreciation for the regions Center, and showcases local music acts that have been with them since the as well as local vendors. beginning.

According to lead singer and rhythm e band has maintained the handsguitarist JT Woodru , the idea for a on, DIY spirit that animated them 20 festival like this had been percolat- years ago, when Hawthorne Heights ing for a while. Woodru explains that began playing rental halls in Dayton – while being based out of Ohio has its speci cally a now-defunct Knights of perks, it can also keep a band out of the Columbus hall, where some DIY knowloop when it comes to festivals in bigger how was a must. While the band has a label, a booking

cities.

“Sometimes we kind of feel like we’re on our own little island — albeit an oasis in the middle of the Midwest,” Woodru says. “We were like, ‘Hey, we’re tired of not getting o ers from our favorite festivals. Why don’t we just do one of our own?’”

At rst, actually running with the idea was an inside joke that Woodru likens to a Christopher Guest lm. But when the opportunity presented itself, the band started to take the proposition more seriously.

“ e more and more we thought about it, we realized that it could be bigger than we ever thought,” Woodru says. “We’re not like the biggest band in the world, but we’re a known band, so why not us?”

Once the band began developing a plan for Ohio, other cities wanted in on the action. e band’s “Is for Lovers” festival series kicked o with events in Wichita and Denver in August. ose cities might seem random, but in the Hawthorne Heights universe they make perfect sense. Wichita was the rst city to play “Ohio Is for Lovers” on the radio.

“Our heart has always been close to Wichita,” Woodru says.

Denver was an obvious choice thanks to the band’s solid fan base there.

“Denver never lets us down no matter what tour we’ve ever been on,” Woodru says. e cities were also ideal because of their distance from other upcoming punk and emo festivals, like Riot Fest in Chicago and When We Were Young in Las Vegas. But more than anything, Hawthorne Heights wanted to show their appreciation for the regions that have been with them since the beginning. e band has maintained the handson, DIY spirit that animated them 20 years ago, when Hawthorne Heights began playing rental halls in Dayton – speci cally a now-defunct Knights of Columbus hall, where some DIY knowhow was a must.

While the band has a label, a booking

“Life is dark, life “Life is dark, life is challenging,” is challenging,” Woodruff continues. Woodruff continues. “I think that any “I think that any time you can time you can hear somebody hear somebody emotionally and emotionally and metaphorically metaphorically walking with you, walking with you, walking alongside walking alongside you on that journey, you on that journey, I just think that I just think that that relationship is that relationship is special.”

special.” agent and a manager these days, Woodagent and a manager these days, Woodru says they still print their own shirts and run their own online store. ey’ve been taking on plenty of the tasks involved in organizing the festivals, too, from reaching out to bands like New Found Glory and Silverstein to booking dunk tanks — or, in the festival’s parlance, “Dunk a Punk.”

“I asked all my friends in all these bands to donate a half hour of their time,” Woodru explains. “ eir fans come up and they pay some sort of price to throw a ball to try to dunk their favorite member of their favorite band.”

All proceeds from the Dunk a Punk station at the Ohio Is For Lovers Festival will be donated to charities.

“We’re really strong supporters of mental health awareness and LGBTQ,” Woodru says. “Anything revolving around that has always had a special place in our heart, because a lot of our fans are in that space. [...] Anytime we can gure out a way to help that cause, we’re always 100% down.”

At rst it might seem like emo music — named for its emotional (and often dark) lyrics — is not conducive to maintaining mental health. But artists like Woodru argue that the music portrays an honesty and relatability that engages fans who are looking for something a little deeper. It brings mental health into the conversation, raising awareness in the process.

“I think it’s music rooted in insecurity and rooted in unsurety [sic] and just trying to carve your place in the world,” Woodru says. “As a young adult, I think that that’s where everybody is [...]. For a lot of people, it’s really hard to listen to people sing about dancing in the club when you can’t really relate to that.

“Life is dark, life is challenging,” Woodru continues. “I think that any time you can hear somebody emotionally and metaphorically walking with you, walking alongside you on that journey, I just think that that relationship is special.” e music released by bands like Senses Fail, Story of the Year and

Bayside — all of which will play at Ohio Is for Lovers Festival — may be emotive, but it often contains elements of pop music, too. Emo and its adjacent genres frequently feature catchy melodies and hooks you can’t get out of your head. For Woodru , that’s the ideal balance. “I think that darkness is healthy, just as I think that pop sensibility is healthy too,” he says. “ ere are times when it seems like things are pretty dark and depressing for the Beatles, and then there are times when we’re [sic] just singing about ‘Good Day Sunshine.’ [...] I think balancing the bad times with the good times is kind of what our music is.” Balance was also a goal for the festivals’ lineup. Woodru says he looked for local up-and-comers who would ru says they still print their own shirts bring sonic and cultural diversity to the and run their own online store. ey’ve lineup. been taking on plenty of the tasks “ e best thing about it is we got involved in organizing the festivals, too, to hear a bunch of local talent that from reaching out to bands like New is excited about this style of music,” Found Glory and Silverstein to book- Woodru says. “We just want a lot of ing dunk tanks — or, in the festival’s di erent types of bands and a lot of parlance, “Dunk a Punk.” di erent types of people. We get tired of

“I asked all my friends in all these seeing the same type of bands [at] every bands to donate a half hour of their festival.” time,” Woodru explains. “ eir fans Ohio’s music scene will be repre-come up and they pay some sort of sented with Cincinnati locals Leggy, price to throw a ball to try to dunk their Tweens and Vacation; other regional favorite member of their favorite band.” acts include Dayton punk band the

All proceeds from the Dunk a Punk Raging Nathans and Better Anyway of station at the Ohio Is For Lovers Festival Spring eld, Ohio. Woodru says these will be donated to charities. bands will get the same treatment as

“We’re really strong supporters of bigger-name bands set to perform at mental health awareness and LGBTQ,” the festival, which features DescenWoodru says. “Anything revolving dents, New Found Glory, Motion around that has always had a special City Soundtrack and Red Jumpsuit place in our heart, because a lot of our Apparatus..fans are in that space. [...] Anytime we “We just really think that forming can gure out a way to help that cause, this ecosystem that everybody lives and we’re always 100% down.” survives and breathes is important,” he

At rst it might seem like emo music says. “It should not be every band for — named for its emotional (and often themselves or every person for them-dark) lyrics — is not conducive to main- selves, and it should not be a competi-taining mental health. But artists like tion. Everybody should be at the party.”Woodru argue that the music portrays If there is a lesson to be learned from an honesty and relatability that engages the creation of the Ohio Is For Lovers fans who are looking for something a Festival, it’s that no city is too small for little deeper. It brings mental health big ambitions and good times. As soon into the conversation, raising awareness as the Hawthorne Heights record e in the process. Silence In Black And White went plati-

“I think it’s music rooted in insecurity num, Woodru realized “anything’s on and rooted in unsurety [sic] and just the table now.” trying to carve your place in the world,” Hawthorne Heights tries to commu-Woodru says. “As a young adult, I think nicate that sense of possibility at every that that’s where everybody is [...]. For a opportunity, he says.lot of people, it’s really hard to listen to “We always wanted everybody to people sing about dancing in the club feel that,” Woodru says. “We wanted when you can’t really relate to that. the 14-year-old kids sitting in their

“Life is dark, life is challenging,” bedroom playing guitar for the rst Woodru continues. “I think that any time to feel like you have a place out time you can hear somebody emotion- here. Doesn’t matter where you’re from. ally and metaphorically walking with Do it yourself, and get the right people you, walking alongside you on that involved, and it’ll be a lot of fun.” journey, I just think that that relationship is special.” e music released by bands like Senses Fail, Story of the Year and Bayside — all of which will play at Ohio Is for Lovers Festival — may be emotive, but it often contains elements of pop music, too. Emo and its adjacent genres frequently feature catchy melodies and hooks you can’t get out of your head. For Woodru , that’s the ideal balance. “I think that darkness is healthy, just as I think that pop sensibility is healthy too,” he says. “ ere are times when it seems like things are pretty dark and depressing for the Beatles, and then there are times when we’re [sic] just singing about ‘Good Day Sunshine.’ [...] I think balancing the bad times with the good times is kind of what our music is.” Balance was also a goal for the festivals’ lineup. Woodru says he looked for local up-and-comers who would bring sonic and cultural diversity to the lineup. “ e best thing about it is we got to hear a bunch of local talent that is excited about this style of music,” Woodru says. “We just want a lot of di erent types of bands and a lot of di erent types of people. We get tired of seeing the same type of bands [at] every festival.” Ohio’s music scene will be represented with Cincinnati locals Leggy, Tweens and Vacation; other regional acts include Dayton punk band the Raging Nathans and Better Anyway of Spring eld, Ohio. Woodru says these bands will get the same treatment as bigger-name bands set to perform at the festival, which features Descendents, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.. “We just really think that forming this ecosystem that everybody lives and survives and breathes is important,” he says. “It should not be every band for themselves or every person for themselves, and it should not be a competition. Everybody should be at the party.” If there is a lesson to be learned from the creation of the Ohio Is For Lovers Festival, it’s that no city is too small for big ambitions and good times. As soon as the Hawthorne Heights record e Silence In Black And White went platinum, Woodru realized “anything’s on the table now.” Hawthorne Heights tries to communicate that sense of possibility at every opportunity, he says. “We always wanted everybody to feel that,” Woodru says. “We wanted the 14-year-old kids sitting in their bedroom playing guitar for the rst time to feel like you have a place out here. Doesn’t matter where you’re from. Do it yourself, and get the right people involved, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Ohio Is For Lovers Festival begins Ohio Is For Lovers Festival begins at noon on Sept. 10 at Riverbend Music at noon on Sept. 10 at Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., California. Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., California. Info: isforloversfestival.com/ohio. Info: isforloversfestival.com/ohio.

SOUND ADVICE SOUND ADVICE

John Craigie’s latest album, Mermaid Salt, involves street mermaids and howling at the moon.

PHOTO: TAHNEI ROY John Craigie’s latest album, Mermaid Salt, involves street mermaids and howling at the moon.

JOHN CRAIGIE WITH MAYA DE VITRY September 18 • Madison eater

Everyone handled two years of a touring pause in di erent ways. Some fretted, some denied, and some, like John Craigie, wrote and recorded an album about street mermaids and howling at the moon, among other practical concerns. e Portland-based singer/songwriter recently released Mermaid Salt, a stirring, intimate collection of moody songs and spare instrumentation.

As a longtime folkie in uenced by John Prine, Craigie’s wry perspective peppers his songs with twisted humor and surreal leaps of imagination. He used to open for Jack Johnson, distilling his storytelling skills and comic timing into inspired vignettes epitomized by “Laurie Rolled Me a J” and “I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man.” After his most recent prior album, 2020’s Asterisk the Universe, gave him a higher pro le, Craigie began headlining larger theaters with his laidback, slightly cracked folk tales.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nomadic Craigie said, “I got time to silence all the noise and chaos of touring and look inward.” Mermaid Salt reveals a more somber, contemplative tone in his songs. Instrumentally, he relies much less on his acoustic guitar and more on piano, with a purring electro-beat set back in the mix, accompanied by a rotating cast of musicians. Onstage, ttingly, it’s usually

PHOTO: TAHNEI ROY JOHN CRAIGIE WITH MAYA DE VITRY September 18 • Madison eater Everyone handled two years of a touring pause in di erent ways. Some fretted, some denied, and some, like John Craigie, wrote and recorded an album about street mermaids and howling at the moon, among other practical concerns. e Portland-based singer/songwriter just Craigie with his guitar, his songs shining with shades of warmth, wit and poignance. John Craigie plays Madison eater at 8 p.m. Sept. 18. Doors open at 7 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: madisontheater. com. (Greg Gaston) recently released Mermaid Salt, a stirring, intimate collection of moody songs and spare instrumentation.

As a longtime folkie in uenced by John Prine, Craigie’s wry perspective peppers his songs with twisted humor and surreal leaps of imagination. He used to open for Jack Johnson, distilling his storytelling skills and comic timing into inspired vignettes epitomized by “Laurie Rolled Me a J” and “I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man.” After his most recent prior album, 2020’s Asterisk the Universe, gave him a higher pro le, Craigie began headlining larger theaters with his laidback, slightly cracked folk tales.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nomadic Craigie said, “I got time to silence all the noise and chaos of touring and look inward.” Mermaid Salt reveals a more somber, contemplative tone in his songs. Instrumentally, he relies much less on his acoustic guitar and more on piano, with a purring electro-beat set back in the mix, accompanied by a rotating cast of musicians. Onstage, ttingly, it’s usually just Craigie with his guitar, his songs shining with shades of warmth, wit and poignance. John Craigie plays Madison eater at 8 p.m. Sept. 18. Doors open at 7 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: madisontheater. com. (Greg Gaston)

OLD 97’S WITH THE VANDOLIERS September 20 • e Southgate House Revival

When Old 97’s began sessions in a Nashville studio for their twelfth studio album, appropriately titled Twelfth, the city was rocked by a tornado outbreak that ultimately caused 25 deaths, injured 300 and left billions of dollars in damages across four states. e alt-country trailblazers may well have thought they were lucky to have survived an EF3 storm and that the worst was behind them. But that was in early March 2020, and an even worse outbreak was just on the horizon. e band — for 30 years composed of frontman Rhett Miller, bassist/vocalist Murry Hammond, lead guitarist/vocalist Ken Bethea and drummer Philip Peeples — would release Twelfth that August, in the midst of a long, costly pause that halted most live music.

Outside of a few scattered gigs last year, this marks the Old 97’s’ rst fullscale tour since 2019 and their rst local appearance in four years. Before the pandemic shut things down, the band was still touring on the backto-back releases of 2017’s Graveyard Whistling and 2018’s primarily original Christmas album Love the Holidays, and looking forward to doing the same for the forthcoming Twelfth. e unplanned hiatus had one happy outcome; Miller had time to write and record his eighth solo studio album, e Mis t, which comes out Sept. 16. e album’s rst single, “Go rough You,” was just released as a teaser.

While the 97’s are ostensibly touring behind Twelfth, the band’s recent

OLD 97’S WITH THE VANDOLIERS September 20 • e Southgate House Revival

When Old 97’s began sessions in a Nashville studio for their twelfth studio album, appropriately titled Twelfth, the city was rocked by a tornado outbreak that ultimately caused 25 deaths, injured 300 and left billions of dollars in damages across four states. e alt-country trailblazers may well have thought they were lucky to have survived an EF3 storm and that the worst was behind them. But that was in early March 2020, and an even worse outbreak was just on the horizon. e band — for 30 years composed of frontman Rhett Miller, bassist/vocalist Murry Hammond, lead guitarist/vocalist Ken Bethea and drummer Philip Peeples — would release Twelfth that August, in the midst of a long, costly pause that halted most live music. Outside of a few scattered gigs last year, this marks the Old 97’s’ rst fullscale tour since 2019 and their rst setlists have only featured one song from the album, the pounding brilliance of “Turn O e TV.” is circuit instead seems focused on their earlier recordings, particularly 1997’s Too Far to Care; the band even bows to superfans and hauls out a couple of tracks from their 1994 debut, Hitchhike to Rhome. An Old 97’s show is like pizza or sex — the worst you’ll ever experience is still pretty damn good. e Old 97’s play the Southgate House Revival at 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Doors open at 7 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: southgatehouse.com. (Brian Baker)

local appearance in four years. Before the pandemic shut things down, the band was still touring on the backto-back releases of 2017’s Graveyard Whistling and 2018’s primarily original Christmas album Love the Holidays, and looking forward to doing the same for the forthcoming Twelfth. e unplanned hiatus had one happy outcome; Miller had time to write and record his eighth solo studio album, e Mis t, which comes out Sept. 16. e album’s rst single, “Go rough You,” was just released as a teaser.

While the 97’s are ostensibly touring behind Twelfth, the band’s recent setlists have only featured one song from the album, the pounding brilliance of “Turn O e TV.” is circuit instead seems focused on their earlier recordings, particularly 1997’s Too Far to Care; the band even bows to superfans and hauls out a couple of tracks from their 1994 debut, Hitchhike to Rhome. An Old 97’s show is like pizza or sex — the worst you’ll ever experience is still pretty damn good. e Old 97’s play the Southgate House Revival at 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Doors open at 7 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: southgatehouse.com. (Brian Baker)

Fans can likely expect to hear old favorites and even a few deep cuts at Old 97’s upcoming show

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT Fans can likely expect to hear old favorites and even a few deep cuts at Old 97’s upcoming show

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT