Dan Van Vechten's Profile

(Picture it, June 2016, at the Bunbury Music Festival) “Let’s see…  I want to check out a band I haven’t seen before…  hmmm….  who’s playing?  Oooh, cool!  Dead Man String Band!  I really like string bands, with the banjos...

It’s like church.  Every Sunday, people from all walks of life crowd into a West Covington bar to break bread, enjoy some spirits, and come together over a shared love of music.  Like church, it’s not the building that makes the congregation a community, but the common ground...

So I get this message a couple of months ago from Jake Ryan, who introduced himself on behalf of a band called Mighty Brother.  He was interested in booking a show in Cincinnati and was scouting for local acts to help find the right venue to get their music out to new ears.  I looked up...

The Foxfire Freedom Festival looks forward to kicking off its second annual event on September 11th and 12th at a new location.  Morgan’s Canoe & Campground in Morrow, OH will be the setting for a weekend of fun, fellowship, tradition, and opportunities to learn about living...

It’s not very difficult to become a fan of the Rubber Knife Gang.  There are a lot of string bands around town whose styles range from the most traditional to more modern versions of folk themes.  I love bands made up of musicians who have really delved into their roots and found...

Mark Utley & Bulletville will play at the MidPoint Music Festival this Thursday, September 25th at Mr. Pitiful’s.  This will be the seventh year for Utley, but he is returning with some newer bandmates and a recommitment to singing the songs he considers his roots.  Utley enjoyed a long run...

When good singers come across other singers who can easily find the right harmony, there become more than two voices coming together.  Something else happens when the rare, right fit falls into place, and Honey & Houston have it.  Lauren Houston and Heather Turner have been playing together...

How does one not feel a little curious when they hear of a band named The Almighty Get Down?  I think we can all agree that getting down is generally enjoyable, and almighty sounds like a pretty top-shelf superlative.  My hopes were set high.  I reached out to The Almighty Get Down for a...

I started writing these blog posts because I am an amateur songwriter and moonlight as a musician every now and then.  I’m not “quit your day job” good when it comes to the music, but let’s just say I’m into it.  After almost two years of writing songs I was hoping to find some...

There have been plenty of blogs and articles lately about Arlo McKinley & The Lonesome Sound, and I will be the first one to say how well-deserved the attention is [Check out this video we made of them at Buckle Up].  I’ll admit it – I’m a fan.  I have listened to the band’s eponymous...

It’s an old baseball gloveIt’s my granddaddy’s knifeIt’s a good pair of bootsIt’s a farmer’s wife So begins the song, “Life is Beautiful”, which Willy Tea Taylor introduces to explain to people where he is from rather than naming the northern California town where he was born.  The...

James Funk has been attending the Whispering Beard Folk Festival since the second annual event, but this is the first time he and Red Beard’s Revenge get to take the stage.  A well-known Beardo in the community of west side musicians, there are few people who could quite represent what...