Looking for some new indie-rock, pop, hip-hop, post-punk or emo music?
How about a theatrical rock opera, or a groovy party song?
Look no further than Greater Cleveland's music scene. We've compiled a new edition of the Cleveland Current playlist for your listening pleasure, featuring 30 songs by artists and bands based in Northeast Ohio.
Read on to hear from a few featured musicians below, and be sure to follow the playlist on Spotify for a new batch of local tunes, every month.
Brian Bacon, Murder of Crows
Over the course of 10 tracks, you’ll hear stories about everyday people and locations — a farming family, a valet parker at a Tremont restaurant, a person at a drive-thru liquor store — that singer-songwriter Brian Bacon has been familiar with from his time growing up in Southern Ohio. “It’s these small, commonplace moments that have something mythical about them,” Bacon says.
The folk rock opera album Murder of Crows shows a theatrical flair for the musician, who has been consistently performing out in Northeast Ohio for the past five years ever since first playing at Brent Kirby’s 10x3 songwriter showcase. But his love of music goes back to his childhood, Bacon says — and things recently worked out for him to record some of his own songs. “It was good timing for me because my younger daughter was graduating from high school,” Bacon says. “So I was looking to make a big change, a second-act type of change in my life, and I decided to go for it. It’s something I wanted to do for decades.”
Bacon linked up with Nashville-based producer Nick Bullock, bonding over their shared love of Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson, and then relocated to Nashville to record the project. (Currently, Bacon splits time between Cleveland, Cincinnati and Nashville.)
Now he’s supporting the project with a tour, including an Oct. 17 benefit show in Asheville, North Carolina, to help residents affected by Hurricane Helene. He’ll return to Northeast Ohio to perform with a full band in a local house show (Oct. 19) and at Coda (Nov. 16), and will play a solo show at Chestnut Beer Garden in Cuyahoga Falls (Nov. 15). Find more details at his website.
Mr. Gnome, A Sliver of Space
After eight years away from the stage, acclaimed indie-rock married duo Nicole Barille and Sam Meister have brought their band Mr. Gnome back to the stage — many stages. The band is on a 27-date U.S. tour that brings them along both coasts and wraps up in Cleveland at the Beachland Ballroom (Nov. 2).
“We were so nervous because it just has been so long,” says singer-guitarist Barille. “We didn’t need to take that much time off, but with having our son and COVID, it’s just kind of all kept dragging on.”
The two are supporting the otherworldly A Sliver of Space, marking their sixth full-length release — and one that was written during the pandemic, just after the band put out its previous album. “The Day You Flew Away was all about loss and the birth of my son, and then we were thrown back into it,” Barille says. “I lost my cousin, who was my absolute best friend in my whole life. And then two months later, we lost Sam’s brother.”
The two focused on the album while isolating during the pandemic (“That’s just what we do,” Barille says. “We take our emotions and try to put them somewhere.”), and was produced by Claudius Mittendorfer, known for his work with bands like Parquet Courts and Weezer.
It's just the latest musical milestone for the couple, who will reach 20 years of Mr. Gnome next year. “It’s awesome. I feel so lucky that people still care about what we’re doing,” Barille says.
Prince Ish, “Clocks”
Ishmell O’Neal shows a different side of himself when he hits the stage as Prince Ish. “My friends and people at my shows — it was such a weird mix when they met, because they were like, ‘Yo, I had no idea you were, like, this aggressive onstage,’ because I’m a very reserved person,” O’Neal says.
You’ll see some of that energy on the alternative hip-hop artist’s newest single “Clocks,” which arrived with a music video in late August. It’s the latest in a string of singles that reach back to his 2019 album Somewhere Between Nowhere, recorded with Chris DiCola and Savage Royale.
The 30-year-old performer has been playing out for the past decade, after growing up in East Cleveland, and then his teen years on the West Side of Cleveland. During his senior year at John Marshall High School, O’Neal first got into creating his music.
Ever since, he’s been refining his voice, and getting bigger gigs, performing at venues like the House of Blues and IngenuityFest. “Now I know what my voice is, I know what I want to say, I know who I am,” O’Neal says, “and I’m ready for that sound to come out more.”
O’Neal plans to release more new music in 2025 and will announce shows on his website.
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