Kenmore Winter Break Music Festival Today and tomorrow, the Rialto Theatre and the Summit FM will present Kenmore Winter Break, a two-day festival featuring 12 bands and solo artists in the heart of Akron’s music row, home to five recording studios, two guitar shops, and many of Akron’s working musicians. Youngstown-born and bred musician/songwriter JD Eicher and his band headline tonight, and Akron rock/pop/indie sextet Big Pop (whose lineup includes members from Time Cat, Fancy Legs, Free Black!, and The Dreemers) has the headlining honors tomorrow night. Cincinnati-based folk rockers the Heavy Hours, who released their first single “Don’t Walk Away,” a folksy anthem co-written by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys last year, Detention (who are now receiving regular airplay on SiriusXM and recently shared the stage with comedian/musician Fred Armisen and Gerald Casale from DEVO), emerging Struthers native Candace Campana, and Rialto staples A Band Named Ashe
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Some of our favorite local music of 2020 included albums and singles from Free Black!, Spirit of the Bear, Coby and the Prisoners and Peachcurls.
While the coronavirus pandemic silenced the live music scene, many Northeast Ohio artists and bands stayed busy recording songs and releasing albums this year. Amanda Rabinowitz and Brittany Nader each share their favorite local albums and songs of 2020.
At the top of both of their lists is the Akron hip-hop duo Free Black! with the album Freedom Summer.
Floco Torres and Holbrook Riles III who produces and performs as HR3 released the quintessential summer 2020 album, rich with themes touching on the Black Lives Matter movement, racial injustice and power dynamics. Torres freestyled the chorus to the album’s single, “The Elizabeth Keckley Award,” at HR3’s house last summer. The track was originally titled “Ms. Lincoln,” but as they continued building the song and watching current events unfold, they shifted from a focus