With Camp Punksylvania 2024 only days away, I wanted to showcase a handful of my favorite things from last year, so you can see why we talk so much about this particular event. 1. The Unmatched Community Spirit and Camping Experience One of the most remarkable aspects of Camp Punksylvania is the unparalleled sense of community that it fosters. From the moment attendees arrive, there is a palpable feeling of camaraderie and unity. The camping experience plays a significant role in this, as it brings people together in a shared space, creating opportunities for spontaneous interactions and new ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE “Baseball Banjo Duet Embraces Ballpark Shenanigans and Cleveland Legend John Adams” Catch the “Baseball Banter,” a new song & video filled with color and hilarious dialogue Cleveland indie folk duo the Baker’s Basement (tBB) present their new song the “Baseball Banter” — available to stream and watch on Friday, April 5th.  The eccentric pair, known for their wondrous handmade video works, greet opening day and springtime with a hilarious and wildly colorful banjo-bop and music video wherein they embrace a certain perspective on the ball park experience. Writt ..read more

“…I clawed from the seams This reflection stings. Formed and she still breathes.” My favorite parts of “We Take Form” are actually Chy’s parts. If you know how much I adore and admire Molly Mess and how much “We Take Form” means to me, that may come as a surprise, but hear me out. I don’t know Chy and Molly’s entire love story, but I know enough of it to know that it is both beautiful and heart-wrenching. For the past seven years, we have been living out a similar love story, albeit not nearly as badass. There are so many sides of this disease that we as a society have failed to even talk abou ..read more

One of the hardest things to achieve is consistency. Improvement can be difficult, but it can also be a fluke. Consistency requires so much more effort. I don't know how Pat and Linda Dull manage to be so consistent, but they have a gift for it. After the Kicking Ass for Artie benefit show was announced, the Dulls soon announced another benefit show for Artie. Party for Artie was scheduled for February 3rd, 2023. It was set to feature the Howling Commandos, Hells Fire Sinners, and the legendary New Bomb Turks, who happen to be the most culturally significant punk act to come out of Columbus, O ..read more

Bone Knife is the most underrated metal act in Ohio currently, if not the country, and their newest album is a testament to that fact. “Death Looks Good on You” distills the enormously vast genre of metal down to its purest most concentrated essence while filtering out any impurities and imbuing it with something more. From start to finish, “Death Looks Good on You” is a love song dedicated to metal that celebrates so many of the giants of the genre. As I listened to the album it was easy to detect the wide array of musical influences that inspired the band. Depending on how well-tuned your e ..read more

I don’t think I have had the pleasure of meeting Arturo de Leon. However, I can’t say with any degree of confidence or certitude that he and I haven’t crossed paths. I have been fortunate enough to rub elbows with hundreds of musicians in the last year and have been inundated with wave after wave of new names and faces. I wish I could commit them all to memory, but sometimes—oftentimes—I fall short in this futile endeavor, at least when it comes to initial introductions. I will never forget a song lyric that resonates with me, even when hearing the song for the first time. Still, even after se ..read more

Album of the Year (National): Paintstroke by The Cryptics The best musical compositions expand your understanding of music and yourself as a whole. Sliding into first place on the technicality that it was released mere days after the conception of the Bands in the Bus website is Paintstroke, due in part because this musical masterpiece is greater than the sum of its parts. Beautifully mastered and expertly engineered, each track builds upon the previous song's momentum, allowing even short transitionary tracks like the introductory "Drifter" to feel essential to the total composition. Paints ..read more

I was invited to this particular event by Chad Kessler, drummer of Ted Danson and owner of 451 Spirits, and I was incredibly excited about this unique show. Unfortunately, that night, it was evident that I was overextending myself by doing multiple punk shows immediately following my surgery. Ultimately, I had to leave during the She Bears set before Palette Knife could even take the stage because I was suffering more and more as the night went on. However, I am glad I made an effort to come out. This event had a bit of a "world's collide" feel as well-to-do music and spirit connoisseurs mixed ..read more

We kicked off Day 2 by heading to Jungle Jim’s to fill a cooler with an indulgent yet healthy mix of goodies for a picnic lunch before the gates officially opened. One of my favorite things about this particular festival, at least currently, is that you can come and go as you please. It makes it easy for those with food allergies, dietary restrictions, or sensory processing issues (I have all three) to conveniently meet their own needs. I know as the festival grows in size, the security risks could eventually outweigh the potential accessibility benefits. Still, I am hoping this level of inclu ..read more

You likely already heard, but Hell Is Ohio Fest was a resounding success. However, I am not going to lie to you. The week leading into the festival was anxiety-inducing—to say the least— and things were looking pretty bleak at one point. The inaugural festival was plagued with lineup changes from the beginning. Luckily, the headliners stayed locked in as smaller up-and-coming bands dropped or were added in the weeks leading up to the festival. Costs were rising as the price of gasoline climbed precipitously, and unexpected expenses continued to spring up daily. Then the sworn nemesis of live m ..read more