Short review by Katherine Willis

ooooh la la i just got my tribute cd today and it is so lovely. i nearly peed my pants over “jack’s valentine” b/c my roommates and i are such fans of the voice-in-the-computer program (we make all the different voices say naughty things, hee hee). i haven’t listened to all of both cds yet but i love love love paul’s “all i need is everything” and drew’s grey monologue redux. i’m happy

So, no time to write a full-out, detailed review of the CD, but having listened to it three times now (it’s competing for time in my CD player with a three-CD set of “the best of Peter Gabriel” that I made the other day - it was going to be one CD, but I couldn’t narrow it down to 80 minutes. ;-)), I am *extremely* impressed. Bowled over, even.

The professionalism of all aspects of the project (except maybe the ability to meet deadlines… just KIDDING!!!!) is very commendable. This could easily sit in a record store and not tip anyone off that it was anything but a professional record. I tend to like the tracks most that are most different from the originals, since that throws the qualities of the song into stark relief (kind of like how the aliens in Dark City wanted to find out what was at the core of identity by switching people’s memories around. Ok, maybe that’s stretching the analogy a bit far…). However, the heartbreaking integrity of some of the straight-ahead tracks is quite moving. I’m delighted that the project also maintains a sense of humor and isn’t just hero-worship.

I thought the choices were fascinating. GDBD was far and away the most popular album, but only one person reached all the way back to TWHF, and the ones who did Ric-heavy songs like Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (never thought I’d hear an acoustic version of *that* one) tended to take an alternate (electronic) approach to the song that avoided using the guitar. At least, that’s the impression I got from the sound; not intending to impute motives.

So far, the stand-out stunners are (in track order):

All I Need Is Everything - the instrumentation reminds me of Loreena McKennit, with a sultry yet electronic feel to it. Nice string sound, and I like the layering of the instrumentation. The vocal has a mellow quality with just an hint of an edge to it.

Murder - This one kicks my ass. I’d heard it once before, so I knew what to expect, but my appreciation of it has only grown upon subsequent playings. What a wonderfully creative extrapolation of the mood of the song. Is that really Lindsey on the vocals? Wow. Love the eastern flavor from the sitar and the droning thing (what *is* that?), and the percussion is way cool. Easily my favorite track.

Grey Monologue - Drew, you crack me up.

Etcetera Whatever - I saw Ash do this when he opened for OtR at the Ark in 2000, and then he did it at the brunch last month, and I think it’s phenomenal. I’m so glad to have a recording of it. Very emotinally powerful, and the arrangement is simple to support the strength of his voice.

Lucy - Nice energy. I like the guitar sound.

Happy With Myself? - Wow! This one probably wins the “most unexpected” award… no, I take it back. See “Jack’s Valentine”, below. I was very intrigued by
the new lyrics, although I haven’t tried to look at them closely yet and see how they alter (if they alter) the meaning of the song. What prompted you to change the lyrics, Bruce? I liked the sound, too. The change in the pacing was very interesting.

Jack’s Valentine - with Stephen Hawking on vocals. What an idea. I was laughing out loud in my office at this one. Genius!

Happy to be So - I confess, I love Mike’s work, and this was a really rich, mellow arrangement that was sheer delight to listen to.

Nice work, everyone.

Review by Dan Temmesfeld

The Over the Rhine show last night… well, it ROCKED.

openers: Griffin House was good enough to plunk down the remaining funds in my wallet for a CD. Children’s House was unique.

Over the Rhine started out the show with “Spinning”
with Nag Champa floating aall around and a sitar’s
notes bouncing through the air.

Yes, a sitar at an OTR show.

Sweet.

All in all, they played a lot of OHIO tunes (except I
don’t know which version of Bothered they played).
All were a rockin’. They also played All I Need Is
Everything, Latter Days, The World Can Wait, When
I Go (solo was bueno), and possibly some others.

The new guitarist for this tour (Paul) was killer.
I liked him a lot. The sitar, 8 different guitars,
xylophone, and Nag Champa-powered Lap Steel… he tore some of the songs up.

K&L… bring Paul back often. He rocketh.

Dan

Crosley’s freshman offering, OFF THE LAUNDRY, is a great collection of pop songs. The music is tight, the writing is fun and catchy, and the riffs will stick with you. Vince’s voice soars on songs like GIRL LIKE YOU and SOUL SURVIVE, and the first cut, AUTOMATIC, will have you tapping your toes on the very first listen.

“this is not the greatest [concert] in the world… this is just a tribute.”

A review by Dan Temmesfeld.

A Tribute to Over the Rhine
York Street Int’l Cafe - Newport, KY

11 artists, each doing one Over The Rhine cover and one original each.

The orginizer of the event, Ashley Peacock, put together a superb night. The only major malfunction was that York Street didn’t have any Tira Misu on hand… limey bastards!

who played?

• Shannon Lewis (from Set On Edge)
• Nathan & Anji
• Carl Shephard (from Entheos)
• Mark Cormican
• Todd Gilbert
• Chris Flinchbaugh (w/ Kim Nixon)
• Jessica Aguilar Walker (w/ Ashley Peacock)
• Ryan Adcock
• Brownhouse (Kim Nixon)
• Ashley Peacock
• Hypersomnia (Jay & Lynzi & friends)

Awesome show all around!! Truly superb, truly no bad performers all night. It was nice to hear everyones’ own stuff mixed in with their versions of one of our favorite band’s songs.

Highlights — There were many, but here are a few…

• Karin and Linford showed up… It was nice to see them be on the receiving end for a change…
• Shannon Lewis has a great voice. I must say that his original tune “I’ve Gone Somewhere to Be Alone” is a stunningly beautiful song. I snagged a CD of his shortly thereafter.
• Nathan… nice bass. I’ve never seen such a fine homemade contraption, but it had a nice sound in its simplicity. I dug it…
• Carl had a nice voice… I hear he’s a damn good rapper, too…
• Chris Flinchbaugh’s original tune (which I forget the name of) has some great promise… looking forward to the CD, dude…
• Ryan Adcock, Brownhouse, and Ashley Peacock all had stunningly great sets. These three artists seemed to have the most professional aura about them. All great stuff…
• Hypersomnia. Wow. I didn’t know that they were coming down from Michigan for this. I saw them on the list and figured I could lose some sleep to stay for their midnight show ender… Their version of “Murder” on the Tribute CD is my favorite track… Utter rockin’ beauty. Only complaint was that Jay’s vocals on Murder were hard to hear last night. Their 140bpm version of “Latter Days” was also a treat…

What was played (as I remember it):

• When I Go (twice)
• Poughkeepsie
• Etcetera Whatever
• Goodbye (This is not Goodbye)
• Murder
• Latter Days (twice?)
• Like a Radio
• Hej (I Do)
• Paul and Virginia
• Bothered
• … d’oh! Perhaps my brain doesn’t work too well on only 5 hours of sleep… I remember that I liked their original tunes better, though…

sleepy,
Dan

Over The Rhine, the Cincinnati-based band fronted by husband & wife team Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, have been meandering. Their latest offering, FILMS FOR RADIO on Virgin’s Backporch label, bears the fruit of these wanderings. Over The Rhine has been producing underground CDs for over 10 years, and this project comes after a hiatus of a few years between new releases.

Karin & Linford have been using their time well. This album proves it.


The eleven-song disc roves merrily from musical style to musical style, each style performed with a refreshing grace, talent, skill, and, occasionally, almost tongue-in-cheek humor. A new listener might be surprised to learn that all the songs come from the same band. Lyrically, the album’s writing is crisp, tight, personal, and strong — a hallmark of Over The Rhine. Even the liner notes are an entertaining read.

Production on the disc is consistent, and of a high quality. The booklet includes lyrics, liner notes, photographs by Michael Wilson (including a surprising photo of the recording studio!), and contact information. It is glossy, well-designed, and compliments the ‘feel’ of the project.

“The World Can Wait” launches the disc, offering catchy lyrics and a driving beat that confidently heralds this new sound for Over The Rhine. Karin’s soaring vocals are beautifully counter-pointed by the somber piano that seems to hesitantly drag itself forward in a compelling march.

“Give Me Strength” A fascinating vocal loop at the very beginning of the track… Does anyone know the origin? Borrowing the track from Dido Armstrong, Over The Rhine makes this song uniquely their own, and moves effortlessly into the style of Euro-pop.

“I Radio Heaven” A torchy, vampy style given a decidedly modern twist, thanks to Jack Henderson’s lap steel. One can almost imagine Karin tango-ing to this fun, smoky song that doesn’t take itself too seriously. “the truth is i bleed you/when these frequencies cut me/i’m a slut with a mission/a singular vision”.

“Little Blue River”. Long-time fans will be thrilled to hear this concert staple that has finally made it to a record. A beautiful song even when done simply, with just acoustic guitars, this full-band treatment is precisely controlled and highlights the weary joy of the lyrics. Karin’s vocals soar in this piece, demonstrating her wonderful vocal instrument. Linford’s piano is absolutely joyful. Jack Henderson knows how to use the lap steel to add the perfect undercurrent to the song. “every step that you’ve been taking/is straying a little further south/as for me i am so tired of living (babe)/so hand-to-mouth”.

The style of the guitar-driven “Whatever You Say” is perfect for driving, with the top down, fast, down some lonely country road, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel.

“The Body Is A Stairway Of Skin” offers heavy back-beat & slinky trance/techno style, and once again, Karin’s voice tackles the style effortlessly. The spoken word in the latter parts of this song is so perfectly mixed that it sounds, through headphones, as if Karin is leaning over your shoulder and whispering gently into your ear. An altogether pleasant experience.

One of my personal favorites, “Moth” again highlights the wonderfully strong songwriting of Detweiler & Bergquist. “and my answer to the years of strife/is the way i chose to live my life”. Terri Templeton makes a too-rare appearance on this song, lending her ethereal voice to harmony vocals. I was very impressed that this song has been, apparently, re-recorded from the version previously released on the retrospective AMATEUR SHORTWAVE RADIO.

“When I Go” is a personal, vulnerable song revealing the mind of a lover who is leaving. Michael Timmons, from Cowboy Junkies, lends a seething guitar lead that expertly counter-points Karin’s delicate vocals.

Over The Rhine presents, with this latest offering, something for nearly every musical taste. They are masters of their craft; inventive and polished. FILMS FOR RADIO has been worth waiting for.

(I need to find some sunglasses like Linford’s!)

I didn’t know whether to do this or not…but what the heck…my thoughts on this past weekend (now that I have a moment to catch my breath).

I must say first of all that, despite how excited I was to do the weekend, I was more than a wee bit
nervous about meeting everybody. You see, sometimes I’m a bit awkward and a little bit bashful and
withdrawn in crowds of people, especially if I don’t know everyone that well. That’s why I went ahead
and stayed at a hotel. Sort of a retreat, if needed.

I arrived at the Taft nervous but excited about looking for people that I’d never seen before. I knew
it wouldn’t be difficult however. Find the corset and you find the crowd! Pre-show introductions were
actually a very pleasant foreshadowing of what was to come. I expected Drew, Don and David A to be
polite and cordial. Instead they were downright warm and friendly. It was also great to finally meet
Jan and Fran. I just wish I had more time to chat with you Jan dear. Fortunately David, Nikki and
Liesel made it down with no problems at all…Oh, wait…that’s not quite how it happened, huh? Of
course meeting the stunning Ms. Tarquini was the whipped cream on the apple pie!

Erin McKeown! I’m a fan. Was she more like Frente with a jazz trip or Dave Matthews with an estrogen
trip? I dunno, but I like her. And I’m still slapping myself for forgetting to buy her cd. The Millers - a bit disappointing. I really like Julie by herself, but together they were a bit to honky tonk for my taste. And why was he so frikkin’ loud? I did dig it when she settled down and did “Broken Things”. OtR - I must say, it was not the best OtR show I’ve seen. I agree with whoever said that Karin seemed a bit sad. Understandable. There a couple of times, though, when I think that actually worked for her. My favorite moments were ‘I Radio Heaven’, the first of the new Christmas songs, and ‘Helpless’ (even though I don’t particularly care for Neil Young.) Linford - work on those lyrics to JV, buddy!

Kudos to Bruce for taking it upon himself to shepherd us out of town folks to Unos for a very swell
time. I actually ate pizza with my $12 sprite with no negative consequences. The introductions began.
Puzzle pieces were put together. It was great walking and talking with Anita and her friend. Scott - I was secretly pleased when I said “I’m Kelvin” and you said “Bailey?” Steve and Jay, thanks for taking the initiative to introduce yourselves. You are both groovy cats! For a while I thought it would be a great idea to do the ’round the table introduction’ thing. I appreciate those who made it happen.

Brunch at Drews was a riot - Mormons and all. Kudos to Drew for offering his home and treating us like honored guests.

Let me just say this to the new folks on the list. I remember well being new and feeling very much like a fifth wheel. Up until Friday night - over 2 years after my first post - I still wondered if, despite the acceptance I felt on the list, I would really feel like a part of things when I met this motley crew in person. Trust me. No one was an “outsider”. No one was too weird, to straightlaced, too ANYTHING to be embraced by the folks I met. It seemed that everyone was just as glad to see and hang with relative newcomers such as Dan and Liesel as they were with those who seem to be pre-existant. (Don is truly amazing, and surprisingly down to earth for such a Dr. Smart Man.)

After pictures were taken, goodbyes were said, I walked back to my car a very happy man. (Would have
been so even without the lovely serenade!)

Matt, Fred, Jessyka, Rhys…your absences were dark spots on an otherwise floursescent weekend.

Anyway…why am I rambling…does anyone care? I just had an amazing weekend. I discovered that most
risks are worth taking. (I may take more in the near future.)

All in all, the actual concert seems a bit overshadowed by the lostee-gathering-organism.

Nuff said

Kelvin

=====
Screw the whales. Save the subjunctive!

I like the Green Yellow Swallowtail song more and more. At the
SouthGate House show (in September) it seemed very eerie because they
had cut their backroads tour short within a week or two because Karin’s
mother had a stroke. The line something like “mother’s not dead she is
only sleeping” hit hard. Now the line seems softened but still has more
power now than its first performances. Karin said it started as a song
about Linford’s mother and became a song about Karin’s mother.

I also liked the “will it make a difference when I go” very much.
The old songs with a rock edge and the newer songs with a blues edge are
a fine complement to their overall mix of song choices. For a couple
songs all the warmup musicians plus Kim Taylor joined together. The
extra songs by Jack Henderson were a special treat.

I love Buddy and Julie Miller. The last time I saw them at
SouthGate House Buddy was wearing an over-the-rhine patience t-shirt
with a windup alarm clock at 9:30. It was a special treat to see them
with Over The Rhine instead of by themselves.

I missed the opener. Friday night Christmas shows make it
difficult to first adjust to getting off work and then getting to the
theater and finding parking. I was there at 8:00 and the first act was
already over. I saw all of Buddy & Julie Miller. The sound system did
not seem to be adjusted well for them and seemed too loud to me. The
sound system seemed adjusted for over-the-rhine as far as I could tell.
Someone else told me that they detected a buzz in the sound system.
Over-the-Rhine went on at 9pm and played to about 10:50 including
encores. The security people were quick to push people out of the
auditorium–maybe that is why noone posted a set list. During the show
one security person on each side of the stage was seated on chairs
facing the audience.

The show seemed too short to me but I never measured how long their
normal show lasts. An hour and 50 minutes sounds like a normal length
for a concert. There was some talking with the audience but it somehow
seemed less than usual except for the part about asking who travelled
the furthest. California or Oregon seemed to be the winner, then a man
yelled “Hawaii”. Karin did not seem to believe him. He yelled out
that he had his drivers licence (I guess to prove that he really was
from Hawaii).

Some people told me that after the show they were going to meet at
Kaldi’s. I went with the Uno’s crowd. There were 38 people in a
private room as far in the back as you can get in Uno’s. At one point
everyone stood up and said their name and where they came from, even
people who were not on the list but came as guests of people on the
list. A very large amount of respect when Don Smith said his name. I
believe he was one of three people who started this email list. Three
people even showed their tatoos: one on the right back shoulder, a
Christian fish on the top of a right foot, and a large new tattoo on the
left shoulder of David Armstrong.

The post concert brunch at Drew Vogel’s today was well attended.
Good food and coffee. Drew even arranged to have three acts of live acoustic music in his basement:

1) Ryan Adcock
2) Rick Callender (Bink who wears a kilt to each OtR Christmas concert)
3) Ashley Peacock

–Rick C

REVIEW BY: Bruce Lachey.

The show last night at Southgate was really fun, great sound.

Kim Taylor opened, and she was WAAAY better than I thought she’d be. It seems hard for me to retain interest in a live performer after 6 or so songs I’ve never heard, but she did great. Much looking forward to her CD.

I couldn’t snag a setlist after the show, but if my memory serves, it went
something like this:

• Go Down Easy
• Bothered
• The Last Time I Saw Jesus
• I Radio Heaven
• Lucy
• Little Blue River
• Faithfully Dangerous
• Orphan Girl
• Curse These Dreams
• Holy Rain
• World Can Wait
• Hello Ohio
• Jack’s Valentine
• Miles
• —
• Green Clouded Swallowtail
• Anywhere At All

Hmm. It seems like I’m missing a song. I could probably recall who played what for each song but that would even bore me. Linford manned the keyboard for about half of the songs, and also played acoustic guitar and some accordian. Karin played acoustic about 1/2 the night and keyboard for Hello Ohio. Jack played acoustic, electric and lap steel and sang lead on Holy Rain.

“Go Down Easy” was slower than the CD, and the acoustics in the room were dandy. The audience is SO quiet, it’s astonishing. Karin had a lot of ad-lib vocalizations at the end that were beautiful.

“Last Time I Saw Jesus” was something apparently recently completed, and Karin said it was conceived when they were recording in New Orleans (probably Eve). It’s from a woman’s perspective, I think the first few lines are “the last time I saw Jesus, I was drinking bloody marys in the South” and “New Orleans” works it’s way in there at the end of that/the refrain.

Karin and group seemed to be in reasonably good spirits and glad they were playing live. She talked about the recent troubles she’s been having and told a story about watching the Wheeling news on TV at her mother’s house last week. Apparently some dude was arrested for walking around naked in town, and when asked what he did for a living, he said he grew marijuana. Sure enough, they went to his house, and he does. Karin then kinda “dedicated” I Radio Heaven to her naked pot-farming TV buddy. It was a groovy version, just two acoustic guitars, kinda strumming along. It was one of the few songs of the night that wasn’t shifted downtempo of it’s original version.

They said something offhand about taking requests, and someone requested “Green Clouded Swallowtail”. Karin joked that that was a mouthful to say; it’s much easier to yell “Freebird!” and maybe they should make their song titles shorter… She told the girl that they might be able to pull that one off later.

“Faithfully Dangerous” didn’t have Linford on keys at all, but on acoustic guitar. Still spiffy.

Talking about the current tour (which if ya don’t know was only a handful of dates that weren’t canceled), Karin said the original plan was to just put the three of them, no crew or anything, in a van and take backroads. They started in Arlington VA, and took 50 all the way from Cincinnati. 500 miles later (and still on US RT 50!) they were at the club. Although the tour was cut short, they hope to play like this in the future again.

“Orphan Girl” is that same Gillian Welch song they’ve been playing for years. (Yawn) Pretty and all, but (yawn).

Karin said they were at one of her favorite parts of the setlist, and they played two songs from Jack’s fine fine new CD. If you bought the first one and were afraid of his singing, lemme tell ya it’s VASTLY improved. The songwriting still seems top-notch. The first one, Karin sang and Linford had GREAT piano adds from midway into the song on. “Holy Rain” was similar to the MP3 download from a few months back (which Karin referenced).

Jack ups and leaves stage. Karin says, “We should play something from that record we just put out… That’s a novel concept” or something, and they launched into a nice “World Can Wait”. Piano part was way more varied than the CD.

Then Linford and Karin stand, Linford leaves, and Karin mans the piano. Says “with a man like Linford around, who needs to play piano” but that she still likes to write on it. She talks about growing up in E Central OH, about 20mi from where Linford grew up and how mining-focused the whole area is. She says how other couples grow up looking at the same moon or something all the time, she and Linford were looking at the same strip mine machines. She continued talking about growing up in that environment, going out with friends, etc. Also about losing a neighbor boy or something to drowning in a strip pit. Anyway, this all leads to “Hello Ohio”. It pretty much was a song about the things she just talked about, and the chorus if you’d read it on paper or here would read a little dopey maybe (”I know Ohio/like the back of my hand” was the second line of the refrain) but under her great playing and emotive voice, was a really special song. The bridge had a lot of names of friends (Holly/Mary/Natalie maybe) and that and the whole of the song conjured a lot of beautiful images. The last line of the chorus was something along the lines of “it’s hard to see, the story end”.

Then the group rejoins stage, Jack plays acoustic, and they rip into “Jack’s Valentine”. Linford skips the “part about the paintings, ‘cos I frankly wish I had never written that part”. Pretty fun.

“Miles” was arranged pretty differently than any of the other millions of ways it’s been played live. Nice to hear it again. As were the encore tunes. During the insufferably long “Little Blue River”, Megan and I wandered ’round the venue stirring up trouble here and there. From the balcony just behind the stage, I thought I saw four songs listed on the setlist for encore, but only two were played.

As always, it was good seeing y’all listfolk out on a Sunday (Melissa H, Rick C, Dan T, Megan L, Drew V, Andy S, Jacob M, Brian S, Jon W, I’m sure I’m forgetting some more) and your posses.

Hmm.

That’s all I can think to write.

Your sort of human being,
Bruce