Nat Tracey-Miller's Profile

Barrence Whitfield takes no prisoners. His live performances are big, physical experiences, no longer quite as raucous as his 1980’s Boston heyday (he nearly “started a riot” during an opening slot for The Damned when he started tossing beer cans into the crowd for the...

Okay, let’s start with the resume: three decades fronting King Crimson. Frank Zappa. David Bowie (at the height of his power). Talking Heads (at the height of their power). Nine Inch Nails. A 35 year solo career. Oh, and a huge chunk of those funky, needly guitar lines on Paul Simon’s...

San Fermin’s self-titled debut record, released a little over a year ago now, is absolutely bursting with ideas and creative flourishes at every corner. It’s frankly difficult to take it all in on first listen, with new details emerging every time you make it through. The angular pop of Dirty...

“Fuck California.” Erika M. Anderson knows how to make an entrance. She co-fronted South Dakota doom folk outfit Gowns for four years (recording Red State in the process, one of the most underrated records in recent memory), and self-released her debut LP as EMA in 2010. But most people first...

Just like last year, Wussy will be taking the Midpoint Music Festival Main Stage in Washington Park opening for 90’s alt-rock legends from southeastern Ohio (The Breeders last year, The Afghan Whigs this time around). Just like last year, they’ll probably open with “Teenage Wasteland,” a...

Will The Drinkery even still be standing by the time Liturgy is done with it? Does the venue have a contingency plan for the third day of Midpoint Music Festival after Liturgy demolishes their sound system? Will there be an unshattered eardrum remaining? Only time will tell. Liturgy’s Midpoint...

When Paul Janeway steps up to the microphone and opens his mouth, Otis Redding comes out. It's not what you expect. Janeway is a young white guy, bespectacled with a receding hairline, and not particularly tall. He looks like he might be the band's webmaster. But the music hits and “St.” Paul...

John Prine is a special kind of storyteller. He’s got a peculiar eye for detail, zeroing in on characters others wouldn’t bother with and settings others would fly over. On Friday, he’ll let us into their lives under the beautiful proscenium of the Taft Theatre. Prine grew up outside of...

The Afghan Whigs (Washington Park Mainstage, Friday, September 26, 8:30) I have seen a lot of music in this town; never have I been present for anything like The Afghan Whigs' return to Bogarts in October of 2012. Even before Wussy's (typically expert) warmup set, there was a palpable electricity...

Americana is a term that’s gotten all the life sucked out of it, pulled every which way by hyphenated subgenres, and oddly enjoying a festival-headlining renaissance that Uncle Tupelo would’ve deemed unimaginable two decades ago. But with Hurray For The Riff Raff, we have a queer-positive...

Jason Isbell has been a busy man. His Ohio River Throwdown appearance on Saturday is his 92nd show of 2014, with 18 more to go beyond that. This will be his third show in the Cincinnati area since the Southeastern tour began in June of last year (he headlined last year’s Whispering Beard), in...

Some nights at MOTR, the music begs for a larger stage, nights when the band is clearly playing venues this size one last time before they move to the big rooms. Strand of Oaks played such a show to a packed house on Thursday, three days removed from their network television debut on Late Night...