Over The Rhine, Ventipop's favorite band, performed their annual Holiday concert at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio last night. They always put on a fantastic show, but last night was especially magical as they were backed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The additional layers of strings, bass, harps and brass brought already great songs to full, glorious life. It was almost as though I'd been listening to these songs I've listened to and loved for years in black and white, but the backing orchestral arrangements brought the to full technicolor brilliance. Over The Rhine is husband-and-wife team pianist/guitarist Linford Detweiler and vocalist/guitarist Karin Bergquist. If you've never had the pleasure of attending an Over The Rhine concert, it's a highly recommended salve for the soul. They've been generating consistently great, honest music for over 25 years. I'm happy Over The Rhine still feels like a secret after all this time, but can't for the life of me understand why more people don't shower down the love on this abso-friggin'-lutely incredible band. With so many memorable songs to choose from, it was a chore to choose only 12 songs to give listeners a snapshot into the world of Over The Rhine; so I cheated and picked 13. Enjoy the music as we trudge along towards Christmas. And if Karin or Linford might be reading this, thanks for a great darkest night of the year.
