Over The Rhine at the Victoria Theatre

Over The Rhine at the Victoria Theatre

Cincinnati based band Over the Rhine is returning to the Victoria Theatre Saturday, October 5th, the only Dayton stop on their Meet Me at the Edge of the World tour. After last year's highly successful debut at Victoria, they are returning with a brand new double album released earlier this month. Over the Rhine is a band you should get familiar with and the best way to experience this band is live.

The first time I saw Over the Rhine perform live, they were opening for Vigilantes of Love (my favorite band at the time) at a club in Atlanta. I didn't know much about the Cincinnati band and nothing really prepared me for what I was about to experience. I was mesmerized. Years later, when I learned I would be moving to Dayton, Ohio; one of the things I was most excited about was being closer to Over The Rhine and the chance to see them perform more often.

Lead vocalist Karin Bergquist's live performances defy description. She has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. It is Billie Holiday meets Sarah McLachlan and it comes across just as breathy, sensual, soulful and haunting live as it does on recordings. That is a rare thing in this age of digital recording technology. USA Today described her voice as "achingly beautiful" and that is a great way to describe it.

The husband and wife duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist probably would be more successful had they given in to industry pressure and moved to Los Angeles or New York. Instead they stayed in Cincinnati and quietly developed a loyal fan base by producing intimate, honest, naked music without compromising their integrity and artistry to appeal to larger record labels. Along the way, they have made Ohio part of who they are as a band.

Karin graduated from Barnesville High School and went to college in Canton where she met Linford. They live in an old farm house built before the civil war just outside of Cincinnati. The band is even named after a neighborhood in Cincinnati. In 2003 they recorded a double album entitled Ohio that received one of the first and few five star ratings ever given out by Paste Magazine (one of the most respected magazines in the music industry). There is an added level of authenticity to their music because they choose to live in the real world rather than an industry town. There is also a special connection to their music because you realize their music is written about or influenced by the same place that you are from. When you hear lyrics like:

Hello Ohio
The back roads
I know Ohio
Like the back of my hand
Alone Ohio
Where the river bends
And it's strange to see your story end

You realize that these songs are about your life too. Detweiler (who does most of the writing) said "These songs all grew loosely out of the soil we live on". That is Ohio soil; the same soil you and I walk on. There is a connection there that makes the music more intimate.

Meet Me at the Edge of the World, released this month, was produced by Grammy award winning producer Joe Henry. The album contains at least three songs that feature places in Ohio prominently: "Highland County" (the county where their farmhouse is), "All Over Ohio" and "Cuyahoga". You can listen to a lot of their albums and purchase them directly on their site http://overtherhine.com/music/. Don't miss this opportunity to see one of the best bands Ohio has ever produced in the elegant and intimate Victoria Theatre.

OVER THE RHINE had already developed a large and intensely loyal following in their native Cincinnati, Ohio, before they independently released their first two albums, Till We Have Faces (1991) and Patience (1992). Their new double album’s (Meet Me at the Edge of the World) effortlessly engaging, timelessly resonant songs more than justify such loyalty, once again validating OVER THE RHINE’s enduring musical mission. Their 2012 debut at the Victoria Theatre has led to a return engagement.

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