Brandon Berry
LightNews LightNews
banner
brandonberry.bsky.social
Brandon Berry
@brandonberry.bsky.social
160 followers 130 following 150 posts
Music, arts & culture writer at Dayton Daily News, Dayton.com
Send me story ideas.
www.daytondailynews.com/staff/BrandonBerry
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
brandonberry.bsky.social
Brandon Berry @brandonberry.bsky.social · Oct 13
Hey, know what? Amazon sucks. Buy the book here: shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params...
brandonberry.bsky.social
“I always wanted to know what else was happening on stage, beyond the close-ups,” Jeff Opt said. “So that’s what led me to do our own live version of it. I just wanted to get the full picture.”

Dayton's tribute to The Last Waltz is Nov. 26 at the Victoria.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Annual tribute to The Band’s ‘The Last Waltz’ returns to Victoria Theatre
On Thanksgiving Day, 1976, one of rock and roll’s most influential groups, The Band, held its final concert.
www.daytondailynews.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Thirty years ago, alt-country/punk legends the Supersuckers opened for the Ramones and White Zombie at Hara Arena. GeeGee Bradley was at that show.

Three decades later, GeeGee’s band Viceroy Kings is opening for the Supersuckers on their 2025 tour.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Punk, alt-country rides again with Supersuckers, Scott H. Biram and more
Thirty years ago, alt-country/punk legends the Supersuckers opened for the Ramones and White Zombie at Hara Arena. GeeGee Bradley was at that show.
www.daytondailynews.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
The first rule of dream interpretation is that you are everything in the dream.

After learning that, I was understandably concerned about the 717-word journal entry I’d just emailed to Dayton-based dream interpreter April Angel.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
A local dream interpreter walked me through what I was dreaming about
The first rule of dream interpretation is that you are everything in the dream.
www.daytondailynews.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Bluesmen have conversations, sometimes arguments, with their instruments. The back-and-forth commentary is the nature of the blues.

Cincinnati blues icon Sonny Moorman will perform a duo show Nov. 8 with harpist Jeff Dion.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Sonny Moorman brings stripped-down blues to Waynesville Music
Everything about the blues is call and response.
www.daytondailynews.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:19 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
The dynamics of Jason Scott & the High Heat’s 2025 album, “American Grin,” reflects a restless mindset. There’s cleaner production mixed with occasional lo-fi vocals, and a balance of raw emotions and humor.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Roots-rock band Jason Scott & the High Heat will kick off national tour at The Brightside
Ahead of its seven-date run with Blackberry Smoke, Oklahoma City roots-rock band Jason Scott & the High Heat will kick off its tour with a show at the Brightside on Nov. 6.
www.daytondailynews.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:34 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
The ‘hippie hop jam rock’ band Boogie Matrix Mechanism brings new energy and a costume contest to Yellow Cab Tavern on Nov. 1. Dayton dynamic rock band WAHFU is also on the bill.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Boogie Matrix Mechanism returns for Crushoween in Dayton
Continuing on the Halloween spirit after the holiday proper, Toledo’s Boogie Matrix Mechanism and Dayton’s WAHFU are bringing Crushoween — three full sets of jam music with a costume contest — to Yell...
www.daytondailynews.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:32 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
When I called Steve Poltz and told him who I was, he said, in a sarcastic voice, "what are you doing calling me?" At that point I knew it'd be a fun talk. And it was! Weird guy! Love his stuff.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
‘I’m just being a weirdo up there’: Singer, guitarist Steve Poltz brings his ‘greatest show’ to Yellow Springs
Every show Steve Poltz plays is the greatest of his life.
www.daytondailynews.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Brandon Berry
venuschild.bsky.social
Next week at The Brightside - the one and only Ellis Paul!
www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Singer whose songs have appeared in several films to perform Oct. 23 at Brightside in Dayton
Ellis Paul’s tours never start or end. They only continue.
www.daytondailynews.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:08 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Hey, know what? Amazon sucks. Buy the book here: shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params...
October 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
As of this sentence, Scott Yoder’s found new wheels — a decommissioned morgue minivan, in fact. But instead of corpses, it now carries four 1970s-attired bandmates, sputtering toward the next gig, and the next, and the next. Lover, let them in.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Scott Yoder rolls into town on his ‘Lover, Let Me In’ US tour
Yesterday, as this sentence is typed, Scott Yoder’s van broke down in Montana.
www.daytondailynews.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
“All of us are working class guys,” Coxey's Army singer Nate Rising said. “We punch the clock every day. We work hard to provide for our families. Punk rock is just our art, and our lives. And we bring that to our listeners.”

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Blue-collar punk band Coxey’s Army carries on a 19th century legacy
In 1894, Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey led a march of unemployed workers to Washington, DC, to protest economic hardship during the Panic of 1893 — the worst economic depression in the US until the Gre...
www.daytondailynews.com
October 6, 2025 at 2:15 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Growing up in the ‘90s, the two members of Black Violin were immersed in the hip hop world. They also happened to play viola and violin. But it’s that blend of strings and hip hop that’s evolved the idea of what classical music can be.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Hip hop duo Black Violin brings Full Circle Tour to Dayton
For nearly 20 years, hip hop duo Black Violin has fused classical strings with modern beats, breaking barriers and building community along the way.
www.daytondailynews.com
October 6, 2025 at 2:14 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
My book is available on Amazon. That said, while it may be cheaper there, with free shipping, if you want to better support this writer, reach out to me directly.

Here's to the continuing life of print media. 🥂

a.co/d/jdznVmY
'Unauthorized, self-republished observations about music* from the perspective of a meandering and self-indulgent rock critic *And a few other things' a book by Brandon Berry.
October 3, 2025 at 4:53 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Roaming the haunted halls of Poasttown Elementary School in Middletown, experiencing movement in the darkness, you realize that the motto is accurate: when you leave, you believe.

I tagged along on a paranormal investigation. Here's my account:

www.daytondailynews.com/community/bu...
For $2 you can tour Middletown’s ‘haunted’ school: What you might experience
It’s 9:21 a.m. My shirt smells like palo santo and sage. There’s a smooth purple crystal on my desk that I’m told is amethyst. And I feel generally cleansed.
www.daytondailynews.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:59 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Hiroya Tsukamoto's music suggests profundity in life’s simple pleasures: reading, walking, exercising, cooking — “the regular stuff,” as he calls it. These everyday inspirations often become songs.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Solo fingerstyle champion guitarist returns to Waynesville Music
Hiroya Tsukamoto, an innovative fingerstyle guitarist and acoustic composer, fuses folk, jazz and world music to create what some have described as “cinematic guitar poetry.”
www.daytondailynews.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:52 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Sadbox guitarist and singer Paul Levy is precise, no matter what he’s doing in the universe.

“Anywhere I can shove enormity into something that’s mundane, I like to."

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Dayton band Sadbox’s new EP suggests ‘Everything’s A Shame’
“No matter how hard we try to get away from ourselves and write in character, that character is still informed by what we do every single day.”
www.daytondailynews.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:50 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
“Art will… you can’t squash it. The question is can people below a certain means have any hope of having their kids be exposed and encouraged to be artistic, and have that be part of their education."

I spoke with Ben Folds ahead of his show at the Schuster.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Ben Folds & A Piano Tour at the Schuster Center in Dayton this weekend
Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter Ben Folds has made his mark with genre-bending music, including pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, a holiday album and numerous collaborative record...
www.daytondailynews.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:49 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Springfield country rock quintet Matt Clarkson Band is nominated in four categories at the 2025 Josie Music Awards in Nashville. The band is also releasing a new single “Used To” on Oct. 8.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Springfield’s Matt Clarkson Band continues award momentum with four nods
Following on the boot heels of last year’s recognition, Springfield country rock quintet Matt Clarkson Band is once again nominated for Josie Music Awards, “the most revered award in the independent m...
www.daytondailynews.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:46 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Here's my conversation with Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestselling author of “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension." Great talk.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Author kicking off Yellow Springs Speaker Series is an award-winning poet, essayist and cultural critic
Mad River Theater Works will begin its Ohio Arts Council supported Yellow Springs Speaker Series with the highly regarded author Hanif Abdurraqib.
www.daytondailynews.com
September 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
“With music, it’s an art where there’s always been a really strong appreciation for the people that have paved the way and come before."

King Kyote will make Ohio debut at the Brightside in Dayton on Sept. 19.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Maine’s King Kyote to make Ohio debut days after dropping debut album
For Maine musician King Kyote, aka Jon King, the best parts of life happen in the analog — surfing frigid waters, developing film in a darkroom, or grinding through guitar practice until fingers bleed...
www.daytondailynews.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:35 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
I interviewed Exene Cervenka ahead of the X & Los Lobos show at the Rose. She only frightened me a little bit.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
X & Los Lobos: 99 Years of Rock ‘N Roll tour makes stop at the Rose
Two legendary punk bands, pillars of the Los Angeles music scene, are teaming up for their first national tour together, to celebrate 99 years of rock ‘n roll.
www.daytondailynews.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:46 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
@hiphoptino.bsky.social gets cold emails semi-regularly about collaborating on tracks. Generally, they never materialize into anything more than a few exchanges, and hardly ever make it to the music-making phase. Even fewer of those emails come from the EU.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
French DJ and Dayton emcee bring hip-hop and graffiti art across town
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dayton hip-hop artist TINO got an email from a producer in Rennes, France.
www.daytondailynews.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:29 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
“We didn’t have bathrooms at first. We had to throw shows for people who didn’t care about it being a very nice, clean place. So that’s metal and punk shows and EDM raves.”

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Fairborn Phoenix to host 1950s throwback gala for city’s 75th anniversary
As the city of Fairborn continues to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, the Fairborn Phoenix, the city’s historic theater, will step back in time for a night of swing, sparkle and small town ma...
www.daytondailynews.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
For 21 years, Dayton Music Fest has been the city’s biggest showcase of local sound.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Dayton Music Fest this weekend to have 27 acts at 5 local bars and venues
For 21 years, Dayton Music Fest has been the city’s biggest showcase of local sound.
www.daytondailynews.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:27 PM
brandonberry.bsky.social
Before the release of 'Breach,' Twenty One Pilots is giving fans a chance to step inside the new album. The Columbus-born duo is celebrating with listening parties worldwide, including stops in Dayton, Troy, and Yellow Springs.

www.daytondailynews.com/entertainmen...
Twenty One Pilots to host new album listening parties in Dayton, other local areas
Before the release of “Breach,” Twenty One Pilots is giving fans a chance to step inside the new album. The Columbus-born duo is celebrating with listening parties worldwide, including stops in Dayton...
www.daytondailynews.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:26 PM