WYSO Presents a taste of southern Ohio music today at Brightside

A taste of southern Ohio music could be the tagline for the WYSO Presents concert at The Brightside in Dayton on Friday. The eclectic bill features Cincinnati-based soul-pop group Jess Lamb and the Factory with Siri Imani, indie rockers the Snarls from Columbus and Dayton-based rapper Dos.Grandiose.

“When we play what we call local music on YSO, we really consider all of Ohio as local,” said WYSO music director Juliet Fromholt. “It’s a big space but there’s so much crossover between cities in the music community. There just aren’t as many radio stations statewide that play local music, so we want to give as many of our independent artists a chance both on the air and when we’re booking shows.

“My hope is we bring audiences from other cities to Dayton and our Dayton musicians will go play in other cities,” she continued. “They can trade gigs with artists and our audiences will go to other cities to see stuff. We want to facilitate that back and forth with communities so we’re not always leaving Dayton to go to shows but people are coming to us, and there are opportunities in other cities for our bands to grow their audiences as well.”

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The WYSO Presents concert is taking over for Sonic Springs, the annual benefit for the Yellow Springs-based Public Radio Station organized by Eric Mahoney.

“Eric got so busy with the Yellow Springs Film Festival and its ancillary events, which we’re so happy about,” Fromholt said. “He didn’t have the bandwidth to do the Sonic Springs concert anymore. That’s fine, that’s how these things naturally work sometimes. Somebody starts something and then they move on to other creative endeavors. We decided to keep the concert going.

“Libby Ballengee and I worked very closely on the lineup for this,” Fromholt continued. “We really wanted it to be a partnership event. All of these artists are familiar to us. Snarls has played at The Brightside before as has Jess Lamb and the Factory. Dos.Grandiose is somebody we’ve been so excited about from our own artistic community. As we got the bill together it all came together in a way felt really good and made perfect sense.”

The Brightside, which is owned by Carli and Hamilton Dixon, has been a frequent partner of WYSO over the years.

“The team over at The Brightside is amazing,” Fromholt said. “Everybody over there is a dream to work with. We really appreciate their partnership. It’s also a great room. It’s one of the biggest rooms we have right now without going to some place like Victoria Theater. It’s great to have a room of that size that sounds that good.

“The Brightside is such a good space for a rock show,” she continued. “It has the front bar, which is a nice mingling space. You can toggle back and forth between the rooms. We’ve had a great working relationship with them alongside many other local venues. We like to support them and work with them whenever we can.”

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO KATE SWEENEY

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO KATE SWEENEY

The performers

Here’s a look at the participating artists.

Musical act: Jess Lamb and the Factory with Siri Imani

Home base: Cincinnati

Year formed: 2016

Musical style: Pop, soul, R&B

Fun fact: Lamb was a contestant on season 14 of “American Idol” in 2015.

What’s new: The artist performs free at Toxic Brewery in Dayton on the second Tuesday of each month. The next appearance is May 14.

Discography: “Slow Down” (2018), “You Are” (2021)

Artist info: jesslamb.com

Musical act: Snarls

Home base: Columbus

Year formed: 2018

Musical style: Dream pop, indie rock

Fun fact: The members of Snarls began making music together as students at the Arts & College Preparatory Academy in Columbus.

What’s new: The new album, “With Love” was recorded in Norway with producer Chris Walla, whose credits include Death Cab For Cutie and the Decemberists. It comes out on Take This To Heart Records on May 3.

Discography: “Snarls” (EP 2018), “Burst (2020), “What About Flowers?” (EP 2021)

Artist info: snarlsmusic.com

Musical act: Dos.Grandiose

Home base: Dayton

Years active: 10 years

Musical style: Rap

Fun fact: The rapper formed the group Sisqopink with DRTYWHTVNS and Zola 182 as high school students. The name was later changed to Bad Genes.

What’s new: Dos.Grandiose appears on the Bad Genes album, “Bad Trip,” which was released in September.

Discography: “Bad Genes presents: Star Platinum EP” (2022)

Artist info: instagram.com/dos.grandiose/

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.

HOW TO GO

What: WYSO Presents concert with Jess Lamb and the Factory with Siri Imani, the Snarls and Dos.Grandiose

Where: The Brightside, 905 E. Third St., Dayton

When: 8 p.m. Friday, May 3

Cost: $20 general admission

More info: 937-410-0450 or thebrightsidedayton.com

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