So you have been drinking generic domestic offerings all this time and really want to know what all the fuss is about with this whole craft beer thing. It must be a a fad you think to yourself, but the thought of exploring it still strikes a chord of intrigue in your mind. Lucky for you, Buzzbin is here to help you out a bit. Here is our guide to what you need to know if you plan on taking the plunge to drink some beer with flavor and actual taste. Facebook Is Your Friend Start to follow breweries, bars and bottle stores online. This will keep you up to date on new beers that will be tappi...
Well folks, thankfully we are still alive and drinking. Christmas was wonderful, and New Year's Eve was a blast, but quite frankly this has been the worst apocalypse ever. However, since things did not go the way the Mayan’s planned I can continue to drink good beer. I am starting off 2013 by drowning my sorrows with Founders Breakfast Stout. The first time I tried this beer was on draft at the Auricle in Canton. Also, during my first visit there I was surprised by their craft brew selection on tap. It was a small cup with a hefty price tag, but filled with divine elixir. I suggest drinking ...
Yet another terrific brewery has made its way to the Northeast Ohio shelves. Chicago's Revolution Brewing opened just three short years ago but has been on a steady incline ever since. So sit back, relax and crack open a beer as you learn more about Revolution Brewing. In the summer of 1995, homebrewer Josh Deth landed a job cleaning kegs at the now-defunct Golden Prairie Brewing. As a beginner, Josh dutifully cleaned kegs and scrubbed tanks containing such intriguing beers as Maple Stout, Honey Ginger and Buckwheat Ale. Years later he moved over to the famed Goose Island as a cellarman ...
There are a lot of terrible album covers out there. Surprisingly, it was hard to narrow it down to just a few. That being said, there's certainly a clear winner here, thanks to the late great Ethel Merman. In 1979, at the age of 71, American screen and Broadway legend Ethel Merman decided to jump on the disco bandwagon with "The Ethel Merman Disco Album." Merman was 20 years past her last Broadway successes and apparently wasn't quite ready for retirement. Originally, Merman recorded 14 songs for the album, but only seven would see the light of day on the finished product. Each of the so...
Despite only being together for a relatively short time, Massillon's First and Thorne have made some major waves in the regional music scene with their aggressive indie rock stylings. Comprised of Sean McGonagle (guitar/lead vocals), Phil Bregy (bass/vocals), Christian Bochkor (drums/vocals), Ryan White (lead guitar/vocals), the group originally formed through a chance meeting. “It kind of was like fated man,” McGonagle said. “I broke up with this girl and I started going to this garage to party, and there were musicians there and we just jammed.” He went on to explain that thoug...
On Friday, February 1, downtown Canton got another welcomed addition to the city's booming art's district, Frankenstein Records. With more than 35,000 records, a slew of independent books, local music, posters and artwork, Frankenstein Records promises to be Canton's newest one-stop vinyl shop. It gets better — this monster is owned by one of the Canton music scene's longest supporters, Chris Bentley, of The Most Beautiful Losers, and he's making damn sure the Canton music scene keeps growing. The Losers are gracefully gearing down the national touring life after years of being one of the...
Canton's art scene is in the middle of a renaissance thanks to organizations like ArtsinStark. The city already boasts more than 20 art galleries, shops and studios and it just gained another, The Hub Gallery and Studio, brainchild of Tim Carmany. Twenty-seven-year-old Carmany grew up in Huntington, Ohio. Believe it or not, visual art wasn't his first love, it was theater, "I really love all aspects of theater. It's a high art form that hasn't yet seen it's pinnacle." He spent his free-time perusing acting while he was in high school. Writing, acting, producing and directing interested h...
A staple in the local pop-culture art scene, Thirteenth Floor Gallery had hosted some pretty killer exhibits and events at its previous locations in Massillon. However, gallery owner Billy Ludwig packed up his macabre and outsider art and moved it into a new location right in the heart of the Canton Art District on 4th St. “It was a rather impulsive move,” Ludwig said of the relocation. “From the initial decision, checking out the space and signing the lease — it literally all happened within a couple days. Fourth St. very quickly felt like home, not to mention the neighboring galle...
The Northeast Ohio Blues Association (NEOBA) will host a blues challenge on Saturday, April 27, 2013, at The Eagles, 6979 Sunset Strip Avenue, NW in North Canton. Blues bands and solo/duo blues acts will compete for cash prizes and NEOBA sponsorship at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, Tenn., in early 2014. The IBC is the largest gathering and showcase of blues talent in the world. The winning band will receive $500 in cash and NEOBA sponsorship; and a solo/duo blues act will receive $200 in cash and NEOBA sponsorship. Any serious blues musician is invited to apply. ...
BRITE WINTER ANNOUNCES 48 BANDS ON 6 STAGES FOR 2013 FESTIVAL IN OHIO CITY CLEVELAND, Ohio BRITE WINTER has announced that the annual free winter art and music festival will feature 48 bands on 6 stages on February 16th, 2013 in Ohio City’ Market District. The event is a showcase of up and coming Midwestern artists including The Floorwalkers, Teen, Total Babes, Wolf Ram Heart, Bethesda, Ashley Brooke Toussant and many more. In 2012 the festival grew to feature 40 groups and drew 10,000 attendees for the single day art and music festival, sponsored by GE Lighting, The Cleveland Institut...
My Dear Republicans (The Fiscal Cliff Song) by ShiSho LYRICS: Hi, we’re ShiSho from Kent, Ohio And we’re here with a message for EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN in the House of Representatives from middle class America My dear Republicans I am here today To advise A compromise To keep us from recession We ask you to agree That the middle class can’t take this type of a beating You see the fiscal cliff is daunting Pitting friend against friend Democrat vs Republican We arrive with a plea For each of you personally Bob Gibbs, Stephen Fincher, Renee Ellmers, H...
Out of Kent, OH comes a rip-roaring supergroup with a big-band blues sound that incorporates an impressive brass section with guitars that drip with classic rock goodness. Bold vocals, killer solos, bright horns and lush, rhythmic drumming make Scarlet and the Harlots a refreshing delight in an age where rock is supposed to be dead. With powerful, Joplin-like vocals, Scarlet leads the pack on the band's impressive self-titled December release. The inspired 10-track disc mixes the jazzy innovations of Herbie Hancock with the rock-blues of Zeppelin. Although the band is clearly well-versed in...
Last month, we informed you of the exciting emergence of Colorado’s Oskar Blues in Northeast Ohio. This time around, we figured we would introduce you to what they have to offer. Here are a few of their most popular brews, which can all currently be found down at the Buzzbin Shop. DALES PALE ALE (6.5% ABV) First canned in 2002, Dales Pale Ale is chock-full of its fair share of hops, yet successfully balanced by a sufficient amount of malts. This is an incredibly drinkable ale, which I could find myself tipping back on a daily basis. Smooth as it is blossoming with hop flavor, Dales Pale ...
Not another pumpkin ale!? I know I have all ready done one. However, I think Fat Jack is the undisputed king of pumpkin ales and by far the best I have had. I wanted to share this lovely chub of a brew with you all in hopes that you might find some as soon as possible. Even if you can't track one down you will have been enlightened to its existence and this is a good thing. I bought two 22-ounce bottles and poured one into a chilled pint glass. An active cascading, billowing pour yields close to three finger's worth of densely packed, slightly creamy, light khaki-colored head. Excellent ret...
“So what is the big deal with Christmas Ale?” Those were the exact words out of the mouth of one my longtime best friends in reference to Great Lakes famed holiday brew. So what exactly is the attraction with Great Lakes holiday brew? Has it become a bit too overhyped at this point for its own britches? Every year, fans of the Xmas ale call off work, take longer than normal lunch breaks and even drive from surrounding states to head to Ohio City for the weekday afternoon tapping of the first keg each year at the Great Lakes brewpub. Esquire.com even spotlighted the madness of its relea...
Back in 2005, before Midge Ramone was in kindergarden, she and her sister's indie-pop band, ShiSho, wrote and recorded, "Get Behind Me Santa," a comedy song inspired by the White Stripes project du jour, "Get Behind Me Satan." Little did they know, this funny ditty would earn them a recording deal with England's Filthy Little Angels Records, rotation on BBC radio and attention from Pitchfork and the Sufjan Stephen's camp. Seven years have passed and ShiSho's Vivian and Midge Ramone have found their single's sleeve art published in a new book titled, "Covered: Classic Sleeves and Their Im...
“To make it to the future, we must first get through to the past,” sings Sam Hunt on Eddie Doldrum’s debut EP “World’s Best Dad.” It’s a lyrical sentiment that could sum up the plight of any northeast Ohio musician who has tried to defend the region through song. Rust Belt artists know the area’s scattered pockets of forward-thinking and optimistic people, who despite economic decline and population loss, are the ones building a future of exciting and important culture. And it’s those residents who wear their optimism like a badge of honor even when cynical politicians and...
New Orleans is known for its rich and distinct music history, but out of the city comes The Winter Sounds, a five-piece indie band set to define new musical genres. With synth-heavy beats, roots-rock guitars and vocals that echo the English New Wave greats, The Winter Sounds offers something a little different and evolved. What bands like The Killers and The Bravery started 10 years ago is taken through an Arcade Fire filter and twisted around in intricate knots to create the music this quintet is composing. The band's latest release, “Runner,” drops Nov. 27, and it's a dozen exciting t...
How just two musicians from Canton could create a six-song debut that sounds bigger than the sum of its parts is a little mind boggling. But We Are Public Radio have done it. In just a half-dozen tracks, singer-songwriter Andy Dolson and guitarist Patrick Boyle have created a polished album worthy of praise. The debut's quality boils down to heartfelt songwriting, contemporary melodic instrumentation and the crisp production value of Matt Goldman, a favorite amongst indie musicians. As a whole, We Are Public Radio's new release sounds a little like a mesh of David Gray, The Wallflowers and Lan...
I have to give the Misery Jackals credit. For someone whose musical tastes have refined themselves over the years, I must admit I never got into bluegrass. To me, the genre sounded decrepit and was squarely to blame for giving way to the abhorrent class of recent jam bands. But with “No Place for Children,” Akron’s Misery Jackal’s ensnared my hesitation with a debut album ripe with zydeco, native, punk and even pop-influenced songwriting. Using bluegrass as a mere jumping-off point, the Misery Jackals are lead by the bespectacled, top hat-wearing Sweet Willy C., aka Bill Corgan, who...
