About eight years ago, Justin Markert and a buddy opened Cellar Door Coffee & Music in Madison. Indie bands on their way to Cleveland would play the small club, which also promoted plenty of local music. Encouraged by the artists’ DIY approach, Markert started Cellar Door Records, which released local music compilations in 2003 and 2007. The third set launches this weekend with a CD-release show at 8 p.m. Friday at the Grog Shop, featuring Joshua Jesty, Humble Home, Rob Greer, and Frozen Hellsicles. It’s also Markert’s birthday. “This started as me wanting to throw a show on my birthday,” he says. “I put the word out, and it came together pretty quick.”
The compilation is a great overview of the local indie-rock scene, opening with “Ghost” by Humble Home. Indie poppers the Lighthouse and the Whaler (“Under Mountain, Under Ground”) and Frozen Hellsicles (“Everybody Gettin’ Naughty”) also check in. There’s even a hip-hop number: E.React’s “Patience Slays the Beast.” “I’m more excited about the compilation than I’ve ever been,” says Markert, who’s also a singer-songwriter (you can hear one of his songs on the album). “It’s a great group of bands. If this is successful, maybe I’ll even devote more attention to the label.” Tickets to the show are $10 and include a copy of the album. For more information, go to cellardoorrecords.com.
Canton indie rockers Via Lotus play a CD-release party at 8 p.m. Friday at Musica in Akron. As If, Mary Mee, and Rachel Roberts open the show. Tickets are $7, available at akronmusica.com.
The Down Fi are a rock band from Indianapolis featuring Craig Bell, an original member of Cleveland punks Rocket From the Tombs. They come to the Happy Dog at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. The Drexel and Deezen share the bill. Tickets are $5.
Musica will host a benefit for Cystic Fibrosis featuring Put-in-Bay singer-songwriter Mike “Mad Dog” Adams at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Flying J’s and Moose will also perform. Tickets are $20, available at akronmusica.com.
Hard rockers Typhoid Mary just released a heavy new single, “Request Denied,” which will be on their upcoming album Infected. You can hear the song at youtube.com.
Crop chef Steve Schimoler brings his band Cream of the Crop out of the bistro and into the Happy Dog at 9 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $5.
Alt-country singer-songwriter Brent Kirby and his band the Lost Fortunes are recording their new album, Coming Back to Life, at C-Town Sound Inc. Kirby is self-releasing the record, which should be out in mid-May. He’s also putting together an acoustic album due by the end of the year. You can find more info at brentkirby.com.
This article appears in Mar 16-22, 2011.
Justin Markert here. I’m not the only one behind Cellar Door Records. Here’s a quick bio:
Cellar Door Records is a small boutique label run out of Cleveland Ohio.
In 2002, good friends Justin Markert (me) and Rick Fike opened a coffee shop in small town Madison Ohio called Cellar Door Coffee & Music. The 135 capacity room served as a catalyst for the arts, an organic space taking many shapes and forms. Sometimes it was an art gallery, showing the work of a local painter, sometimes a comedy club during an amateur open mic, but mostly it was a music venue. Bands were booked on a weekly basis. Everything from acoustic singer-songwriters to four band hardcore shows. Dozens of nationally touring bands came through Cellar Door, opening the eyes of it’s clientel to a world of music they had never experienced before. We wanted tangible evidence of this creative music scene that had sprung up in rural Madison, thus Cellar Door Records was born.
Cellar Door Records Volume I had a run of 125 copies. Printed and put together by hand, the compilation contained two tracks from six of our favorite artists. A CD release show was thrown, the artists performed and the CD was given out for free. We sold the coffee shop and went back to our normal lives.
In 2007, Rick and I regrouped with partner Adam Butcher to officially re-launch Cellar Door Records. The label was reborn at the Beachland Ballroom on March 3, 2007, with the official release of Cellar Door Records Volume II. We got lots of press, had a run of 1000 CDs professionally printed and drew a very large crowd in one of the most respected venues in town. Since then we’ve had 5 official releases and many Cellar Door Records sponsored shows. After putting out a number of individual artist’s albums, we’re returning to form with the release of Cellar Door Records Volume III.