AQUABEAR LEGION

Oh man, I cannot in any way at all think about my life without We March. When I came to Athens as an Ohio University freshman in 2001, We March was one of the first bands I saw down here and it made me feel instantly at home. These guys are the real deal. And we are honored to have them once again play their third Aquabear County Fair on Saturday, March 6th at The Union.

Not only has We March seen most venues and towns the road has to offer, been written up in Maximum Rock and Roll, and broken bones while playing shows but they have been doing it FOR TEN YEARS plus. And they are still very, very good.

Watch the video of them playing last year’s Blackoutfest from our friend Milo:

Chris Biester is arguably the best damn musician in this town, so what better way to open up the Friday night Casa show then with a set from him? Chris hosts the weekly Wednesday Open Stage at Casa Cantina and melts all of our faces with the occasional Chickenpussy performance besides working as an artist at Passion Works Studio in uptown Athens. And of course, I cannot preview a Biester show without bringing up his former band, Athens legends Appalachian Death Ride. For those of you who have never heard ADR you should remedy that problem immediately.

Watch Chris play solo and check out a great Appalachian Death Ride video for “The Serpent”  put together by Mike Elliott below and come see Mr. Biester play himself FOR FREE at the Aquabear County Fair on Friday, March 5th at Casa Cantina.

There is one band that has played every Aquabear County Fair, and the even played the first Aquabear Showcase at The Wire in 2005. That band is Weedghost. They will be joining us at again at The Union on Saturday, March 6th.

Comprised of Andrew Lampela and Kris Poland, Weedghost has been making and looping noise for over 5 years. These fine folks also help out a ton with Aquabear and have spent time playing in The Arch Villans, Collapse, Kid Panda Hands, Dinner of Swords and the 1,000 bands Andrew has been in. Weedghost has also been part of the group of Athens musicians who hosted and played at the regular (and now semi-regular) ARTS/West Noise Nights.

At this year’s County Fair Weedghost will be playing short sets inbetween bands at The Union on Saturday, March 6th and it wouldn’t be out of the question to see them at Casa Cantina on Friday, March 5th.

Watch the video below:

So. Aquabear has decided to preview one band EVERY DAY in the weeks leading up to the Aquabear County Fair on March 4-6, 2010.  In all, 15 bands will be playing this year over the course of three nights and three venues. Today marks our first entry: Columbus, Ohio’s Men of Gentle Birth. They will be joining the Fair on Saturday, March 6th at The Union.

First off. Holy crap! These guys haven’t played in several years (I believe one of their last shows was the 2nd annual Aquabear County Fair at Casa Cantina in 2008), and have remained a favorite of mine and many others too. Aquabear considers it an honor that MOGB has decided to get back together at our little County Fair, and we couldn’t be more excited.

If you haven’t seen Men of Gentle Birth before you really need to be at The Union on Saturday, March 6th. Seriously.

And instead of trying to describe how much I love their music, watching the video below of a badass show downstairs at The Union about four years ago…

by Laura McMullen

The first few songs on Cleveland native, Tom Evanchuck’s album, Tom, have lots of talk about train stations, roads, coming home, etc.—the usual sort of reflective, acoustic shtick. But at about two tracks in, it’s clear Tom makes it work better than most.

Sure, there’s the Lonesome Dove sort of fiction lingering behind his ode to his “darlin’ Mayapple,” and in a few tracks where Evanchuck can be pictured leaning against a tree in the Old West—guitar and brow dusty from livin’. But sometimes a guitar and a great voice can turn even the cutest, Ray-Ban-sporting twenty-year old into a weathered cowboy. Cue the bluesy “Bury My Wife” where he declares, “I’m gonna bury my wife under that old pine shade. Lord knows that woman don’t know how to behave.”

Read more

by Zachary Long

Ohio music lovers will be happy to know that the dates and line-up for the 2010 edition of the MusicNOW Festival in Cincinnati were announced this past week. The annual festival, now entering it’s fifth year, showcases some of the most forward-thinking artists in contemporary music. The event is curated by Bryce Dessner, a Cincinnati native who is better known as a guitarist for The National. The festival is held at Memorial Hall, a 150-year-old restored theater in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine district.

This year’s festival kicks off on March 30th with a performance from harpist Joanna Newsom who will likely be playing material from her upcoming Drag City release, Have One On Me. On March 31st, St. Vincent will headline and the yMusic ensemble will premiere a commissioned piece penned by St. Vincent front-woman Annie Clark. The festival will close out on April 1st with a solo performance by Justin Vernon, better known for his work with the band Bon Iver
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The 4th annual Aquabear County Fair takes place March 4-6, 2010 in Athens, Ohio and we are thrilled to announce the lineups for that weekend! And this one is shaping up to be one of the best we’ve had…

Saturday, March 6th at The Union, 8pm
This Moment in Black History (Cleveland)
Makebelieves (Athens)
Men of Gentle Birth (Columbus)
Megachurch (Cleveland)
We March (Athens)
Sun God (Cleveland)
Weedghost (Athens/Dayton)

Friday, March 5th at Casa Cantina, 10:30pm
FREE SHOW!
Dragline Bros (Athens)
She Bears (Athens)
Manor Animals (Athens)
Chris Biester (Athens)

Thursday, March 4th at The (bruce) Manor, 7pm
Seascapes (Athens)
In Silent Movies (Athens)
Thx. Tiger (Columbus/Athens)
Dead Winds of Summer (Athens)

- And look for one more event on Saturday afternoon to celebrate County Fair weekend, more details soon!
- Holy crap this is going to be awesome

And don’t forget to become a “fan” of the new Aquabear County Fair Facebook Page…

Aquabear Pancake Breakfast and Noise Show
Pancake Breakfast from 1-5pm followed by a Noise/Improv Show upstairs.

Here are a couple songs from the Moon High performance at the Ohio Winter Folk Festival at Stuart’s Opera House last Saturday. Moon High will be performing at the Free Aquabear Show this Friday, January 22 at Casa Cantina. Recorded by Zachary Long.

On and On
Untitled

moonhighmusic.com
myspace.com/moonhighmusic

The Aquabear Legion is looking for folks to contribute to our website!

Submit your writing, photos, videos, reviews, or anything else related to Ohio music, art, or film. Want to write but don’t have an idea? No worries, we have lots of those too. Send us an e-mail at contact@aquabearlegion.com if you are interested in becoming an honorary Legionnaire!

In other and related news we have a few new volunteers around these parts that are keeping the ‘Bear moving along. So a big Aquabear welcome to Stephen, Zach, and Laura! And this is also a great chance to thank Emily, Dan, Sherri, Kris, and Andrew for helping as they always do. You guys are awesome.