When I first heard Shilpa Ray, I was the music director for UC’s student radio station, Bearcast. The perk of the position was getting new music sent to you daily. A lot of it was bad, a lot of it I was indifferent to, but sometimes a gem fell into my lap. Shilpa Ray was the best gem of my entire 3 year stint as music director. The CD that was sent to me on some rainy Monday was Shilpa Ray’s Teenage and Torture. I loved the cover, I decided to give it a listen. I was definitely not ready for what I heard. Rock and roll with melancholy and yet so…
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Kelly Thomas: Feminism, Strength and Equality expressed through Not Just One More Girl On A Stage
By: Roxie Conquistador ‘You know,’ she tells me, ‘I realize that I have a talent for pushing people to share what’s inside, to connect with their potential and project it.’ I’m sitting, standing, walking, running errands, sharing a pretzel, sharing a beer and sharing thoughts with Kelly Thomas; and already I’m more motivated. She’s a teacher, a fantastic mom, an organizer, a devoted advocate for the community and a talented musician with three projects of her own: an acoustic act, Kelly Thomas and the Fabulous Pickups, and the loveable Tammy Whynots. She was a driving force behind the Rivertown Music Club which benefited many of the region’s musicians and charities…
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Beth Harris: Cincinnati’s Straight Shooter
By Roxie Conquistador If you’re looking for a straight shooter, the honorable Beth Harris (“Delia P. Hider”) is your girl. Hailing from a lineage of cowboys and chorus lines, she embodies the epitome of both, lending pitch perfect vocals and shivering shakin’ to two impressive Cincinnati, Ohio bands: The Hiders and The Perfect Children. When I first saw The Hiders, I had to drive about 80 miles into the country, following a hand-scrawled invitation that instructed me to “drive until the road no longer exists and turn right at the broken fence with the ‘Keep Out’ sign”. Beyond that, woods. Into them I dove along with one of my oldest…
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Catching up with Alex White of White Mystery
White Mystery returns to Cincinnati this Thursday, May 2, to play MOTR for the first time. A lot has happened since they last played Cincinnati in September. Miss Alex White and I chatted the other day to catch up on some of the new and exciting White Mystery happenings! On 4/20, they released their 3rd full length album, Telepathic. Already this year, White Mystery has played 57 shows in 10 weeks. IK: So tell me about Telepathic, your process in both creating it and releasing it. AW: Well its the 3rd album written, recorded, produced and released by White Mystery. We recorded it in Oakland, California at the Creamery with Greg Ashley.…
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Jilly Weiss on the rebirth of We Are Hex
We Are Hex are back in action in a big way. Since their reformation this past winter, they have big plans for the summer. Last June, I ran into Jilly Weiss, lead singer of We Are Hex at the Black Belles‘ show at the Comet. When I spoke with her, she was working on a new project. We agreed to do a Women in Rock interview to talk about the changes in her life. Well, a year later its finally happened and We Are Hex have reformed! Here’s what Jilly has to say about the rebirth: IK: When did We Are Hex originally form? JW: I have the world’s worst…
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Natalie Ribbons on the transition from Agent Ribbons to Tele Novella
Meeting Natalie Ribbons at South by Southwest was probably the highlight of my trip. On my first night down there, I made sure to attend the Agent Ribbons show. To my surprise, the band was completely different. Natalie announced that the show was going to be a hybrid of Agent Ribbons songs and her new band, Tele Novella. I was excited to get a first glimpse of the new band and was extremely happy with the new material. To my delight, we were able to set up an interview while I was down in Austin. Natalie and I met at Rio Rita, the bar where she works, on Thursday, March…
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Venomous Valdez on being a Woman in the Music Industry
When I arrived at Venomous Valdez’s house on Wednesday, I was excited to get an inside look at the career of one of the most powerful women in the music industry. As a well-respected booker, bands in Cincinnati know, “If I call you, you have a gig, you’re getting paid.” Born and raised in Cincinnati, Venomous got her start in the music industry 13 years ago. She began as a DJ for WAIF FM Radio, co-hosting a program that broadcasted live from local concerts and after six months the show became hers. She also worked at WEBN for a year doing a local/regional music show, metal show and board engineer…
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The Lovely Ladies of Ancient Warfare: A Chat w/ Echo and Rachel
The best way to find new bands is to stumble upon them at shows, at least that’s my favorite way. It was my lucky day back in September when I first saw the ladies of Ancient Warfare perform at the Comet. I was immediately mesmerized with their haunted sound and a certain darkness that was not expected. Ancient Warfare is made up of Echo Wilcox on guitar and vocals, Rachel Yanarella on violin and Emily Hagihara on drums and vocals. A few weeks ago, I sat down with Echo and Rachel at the Green Lantern in Lexington, Kentucky and talked to them about the music they create. IK: How old were you…
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Q&A with Rizz of WAZU
WAZU recently came to Cincinnati and I was immediately charmed by Rizz. The goth duo was so genuine live and the set was awesomely dark with shadowy images projected behind them while they rocked out. Afterwards, I met Rizz and we agreed to set up a Women in Rock interview. I sent her some questions about WAZU and here’s what she had to say. IK: How did you get your start in music? RK: When I was very young, TV was a constant companion. I’d get lost in cartoons, TV commercials, movies… I remember getting obsessed with certain TV show theme songs or ad…
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An Exclusive Interview with Miss Alex White of White Mystery
"I believe in equality and strength and sisters doing it for themselves. All people have the right to express themselves and should be willing to do your own thing no matter what it is. People will say to me “you’re so good for a girl” and it doesn’t bother me because I’m probably exposing them to female musicians where they other wise wouldn’t get to experience it."
