Summertime blues (and other music genres)

The official start of summer is just around the corner. So are some decent shows. But first, a P.S.A.:

All day today (until midnight PDT), Bandcamp is holding their third annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where they donate 100% of their share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a racial justice organization with a long history of effectively enacting change through litigation, advocacy, and public education. Read their statement here.

Tonight:

• Steve Rosen discusses his book Lost Cincinnati Concert Venues of the 50s and 60s at MOTR at 6 p.m.
• The two-day Hell is Ohio festival kicks off at Swine City Brewing in Fairfield, with 500 Miles to Memphis as the headliner.
• Ben Levin plays Front Street Cafe in New Richmond
• The Wood Brothers, Guster and David Wax Museum play the Marsha Brady
• Fitz & the Tantrums and St. Paul & the Broken Bones double-ampersand the Fraze.
• Matchbox Twenty and the Wallflowers are at Riverbend
• Hiroshima is at the Ludlow Garage
• Carriage House Farm in North Bend is hosting Songwriter Sweep: An Evening of Short Sets with The Hiders, Night Owl, Zapruder Point and Peace Police.

Saturday:

• Indigo De Souza plays Madison Live
• Jackie Venson (blues) and New Breed Brass Band are at RiversEDGE in Hamilton
• Neal Francis headlines the Fountain Square free show
• This Pine Box plays a free show at MOTR with Boa and Fat Sal. Showtime is 10 p.m.
• Ben Levin’s at BrewRiver
• Jesse Terry will be at Parlor & Patio (a.k.a. the home of list members Dave & Jacqui Killen) in Ft. Thomas. A few tickets might still be available here – and check out the Jesse video below.

On Sunday, Train makes a stop (ba-dump-bump) at Riverbend, with Jewel, Blues Traveler and Will Anderson in tow. (List member Lisa Collins saw Blues Traveler play at Top Cats back in the day. Perhaps the hook will bring her back.)

But most of the smelly hippies will be at the Greg Brady on Sunday night for An Acoustic Evening with Trey Anastasio.

Sunday is Father’s Day too – This Week in Live Music would like to wish a very Happy Father’s Day to all the dads on this list. May your day be peaceful and relaxing.

But Tuesday, is a day for The Chicks (nee Dixie Chicks)… they play Riverbend, with Patty Griffin as the opener.

Or if you prefer Bon-Bons, you can savor Bon Iver and Bonnie Light Horseman at the Ovation. (Sorry, no Bon Jovi.)

Tuesday also is the official start of summer.

The smelly hippies will be back in full force on Wednesday, when Dead & Company come truckin’ into Riverbend. Yours truly will be there, as Mrs. TWILM is quite the deadhead.

Samuel Hibbard plays a free gig at Washington Park on Thursday as part of their Roots Revival series.

Next Friday, June 24th:

• The Jan Brady hosts An Evening with Jackson Browne
• Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers play the Taft
• Phil Vassar plays the old Annie’s

Letters to the Editor

List member/Cereal Killer Howard Cohen riffed on last week’s SMÖRGÅSBORD theme by sending us this gem of a 70s TV commercial:

That commercial sent me down a Mason Reese rabbit hole… I’m still there.

Speaking of rabbit holes, list member Gil Kaufman and I were at the same grad party last weekend and he was telling me about his detective work trying to track down the kid from the Pearl Jam “Jeremy” video. The piece Gil wrote for Billboard back in 2017 is here – as Spock would say “fascinating!”

Silliness for a serious cause

Also from Gil comes news that you can pre-order a seven-inch vinyl edition of this Who medley from Tenacious D, with proceeds benefitting Everytown for Gun Safety:

Silliness for the sake of being silly

If you’re not familiar with James Fridman, a Photoshop whiz who accepts requests from anyone… but often turns them into something a bit too literal… you really need to check out his website. Here’s an example of his work:

Album Cover of the Week

Happy Father’s Day! Happy Summer!