The Distiller

Michael Wilson Is More Than Just A Photographer.

He’s a Master. A storyteller. A record-keeper. A history maker.

Michael Wilson has been making pictures* for nearly 40 years, and in that time he’s developed a look and feel that is instantly recognizable. When you see a Michael Wilson photo, on an album cover, in a magazine, or from across the room, you know that it’s Michael’s work – even if you don’t know why you know. Yes, the technical precision in his work is unmistakable. He mostly shoots black and white, and almost entirely in natural light, so there’s a consistency about his style. And sure, he shoots almost entirely with film, and processes his own film and prints in his darkroom. And yet…there’s still something indescribable about what Michael captures on film, that goes beyond just expertise or style.

Perhaps that same ineffable quality is the same thing that makes it hard for Michael to describe his work or the arc of his career. Because it just seems like something that had to happen. From “stumbling” into photography in high school (after deciding the french horn wasn’t quite his thing) to finding himself with an academic scholarship as an art major at Northern Kentucky University. Michael’s career arc has guided him as much as he has guided it. And lucky for us, he’s been willing to follow, or as he calls it “be shepherded by” that arc. And with a singularity of focus (no pun intended), Michael has perfected his particular approach to his craft over those nearly 40 years into something that can truly be considered art.

You can see it in the photos he shoots around his Price Hill neighborhood on the west side of Cincinnati. It’s in the occasional (and obligatory) corporate work that often pays the bills. And it’s unmistakable in the work he’s best known for: musical portraiture and album artwork, including iconic photos of a seemingly endless list of artists (click the links to see Michael’s photos):

* B.B. King

* David Byrne

* John Hiatt

* Jason Isbell

* The Replacements

* Shawn Colvin

* Emmylou Harris

* Rodney Crowell

* Steve Earle

* Sarah McLachlan

* The Black Keys

* Aaron Neville

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Julius Jenkins Wants to Bring Street Culture Back to Life.

You may already know of Julius Jenkins, or his work, and not even know it. You may have seen his choreography as part of the street dance event “Heroes Rise.” Perhaps you’ve seen one of his collaborative performances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra or The Cincinnati Ballet. Maybe you’ve him dance as “Eclypse,” with his group “The Millennium Robots.” Or you’ve crossed paths with him at the University of Cincinnati, where he’s an adjunct professor at the College Conservatory of Music. Oh, and did we forget his role as Senior Dance Instructor at Elementz Urban Arts Center? Needless to say, he’s a busy guy.

But it doesn’t matter where you’ve seen him or his work, or what you call him; when you see him dance, it’s hard to look away. It’s part talent, part natural charisma, but Julius grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.

That magnetism is a powerful tool, and Julius is determined to use it to help revitalize street culture, including hip-hop dance, in and around Cincinnati. Ever since moving back to Ohio from the Middle East at the age of 17, Julius has been on a mission to re-ignite the art forms that inspired him as a teenager. And he believes that doing so can help teens and young adults to find meaning in their own lives as well.

It’s an idea that a lot of society has dismissed: that street culture is not the absence of adherence to societal norms…but the natural evolution of societal norms. It is the way generations of kids are finding meaning in a culture that has marginalized them. Julius is no mere pied piper of dance, he’s a powerful force for social change. A thoughtful, intentional force for good in the lives of a growing number of people.

The Millennium Robot in Price Hill

We met Julius on a late Sunday morning at the Incline Public House in Cincinnati’s Price Hill neighborhood. The Incline was just opening when we started talking, and by the time we’d finished, it was packed and hopping. You’ll hear that in this episode…the sound of a neighborhood joint coming to life. Thanks again to the staff of the Incline for putting up with us while things got busier. We talked about Julius’s work with Elementz, a center for Hip-Hop youth, his work as The Millennium Robot (including public performances at Newport-On-the-Levee in Newport, Kentucky, which he still does), and about his work as an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. He’s a busy man, doing great work, and we appreciate the time he spent with us.

The Distiller with Julius Jenkins at Incline Public House

 

 

 

Megan Trischler Helps Make Dreams Come True.

And we’re not just talking about her current position as Program Director for People’s Liberty. Megan brings design thinking and a desire to “make the ordinary extraordinary” to everything she does – and she’s done a lot. From founding the restaurant and cultural hub PieLab in Greensboro, Alabama to starting D:hive, a talent attraction and retention storefront in downtown Detroit, to collaborating on CoSign, an initiative bringing together artists and small business owners to create distinctive storefront signage, Megan brings expansive, creative thinking to everyday cultural and organizational problems.

In her current job as Program Director, Megan oversees the design residency programs for People’s Liberty. Her work is about helping others bring creative solutions to community issues and societal problems. In short, she’s making more of herself and that’s absolutely a good thing.

People’s Liberty is “a philanthropic lab that brings together civic-minded talent to address challenges and uncover opportunities to accelerate the positive transformation of Greater Cincinnati.” This unique model of funding and mentoring individuals, not organizations, taps into ideas and people that traditionally do not have access to this kind of support. People’s Liberty awards various grants and fellowships to individuals and groups impacting their community; you can learn more, and apply for a grant or fellowship, at www.peoplesliberty.org/apply.

Talking Community and Creativity at Rohs Street Cafe

Megan and host Brandon Dawson met on a Sunday afternoon at Rohs Street Café, a hub for students from the University of Cincinnati. It’s owned and operated by University Christian Church with a commitment to both mission of spirit and quality of coffee. Rohs Street was the first fair trade coffeehouse in Cincinnati and has been the starting point for many who have gone on to create businesses of their own (including Les Stoneham, founder of Deeper Roots Coffee, roasters of artisan single origin coffees). Rohs Street consistently serves up some of the highest quality coffee and espresso in a city increasingly known for a high-quality cup of joe.

Megan Trischler is a designer, a graduate of Detroit’s College of Creative Studies. She originally set out to be a visual artist, but along the way found a passion for what she calls “creative placemaking.” We talked with Megan about her path to this point and how it developed the framework for what she’s doing now, including stints at a couple of design firms, the aforementioned foray into pie-making, and traveling across the US studying innovation in American communities.  And we talked about where this work is taking her from here. There’s a lot to be gleaned from this conversation. Perhaps most interesting to us is the wonderful tension between facilitating creative projects for others, and making space for one’s own creative exploits. Megan’s navigating that tension every day, and we’re glad she gave us a peek into her process.

The Distiller with Megan Trischler

Tamaya Dennard is the future of local politics.

As one of the newest members of the Cincinnati City Council, Tamaya Dennard represents everything happening right now in political discussions across the US. This is Tamaya’s first time holding public office. It seems clear that it will not be her last. We talked to Tamaya just four days after she was sworn in, still reflecting on a campaign in which she placed 6th out of the 9 candidates who won seats on the council, and out of the field of 23 who ran.

Talking with Tamaya you immediately get how she could come out of nowhere to win public office. She’s one of the most genuine, grounded people you’ll ever meet. She shares with us how her personal experiences with discrimination, inequality, poverty, and a loving but unstable home life perfectly prepared her for her current political role. She’s passionate about solving these issues and including the people who are living these experiences in the problem-solving process.

Tamaya Dennard didn’t set out to become a public servant. She left a very successful career in the corporate world, taking a huge pay cut to work on now fellow city-council member P.G. Sittenfeld’s first council campaign. But her interest in local government and in these issues has long been a priority for her.

We met Tamaya at Wavepool Gallery in Cincinnati’s Camp Washington neighborhood. Wavepool is “a contemporary art fulfillment center,” offering gallery space, studios, workshops, and even an on-site artist residency program. Owner/Founder Cal Cullen showed us around the space and set us up in Wavepool’s main gallery for our conversation.

Spending time with Tamaya is infectious. You get a sense of possibility. There’s a lot going wrong in our country right now. Talking with Tamaya, it’s exciting to meet someone so committed, so engaged, and so obviously capable of impacting a city for the better. Since our interview, Tamaya has already taken controversial stands on several issues important to the city of Cincinnati. She’s proving true to her word to remember those she represents and to bring them to the table with her.

We’re honored that in such a busy time, Tamaya chose to talk with us about her story. We can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

The Distiller with Tamaya Dennard

Matt Hart Is Not Afraid to Go Deep.

When discussing motivation, or empathy, or the pure punk rock power of a kick-ass poem, Matt is not afraid to get involved, to shed a tear, to raise his voice. And that’s why The Distiller wanted to talk with poet and teacher Matt Hart. We thought this discussion might involve some passion. We were not disappointed.

Matt joined us on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon on Cincinnati’s West Side. For those not from the Queen City, the West Side of Cincinnati gets a bad rap as the “old” side of Cincinnati. Maybe because it’s the more conservative side…the side people grow up in and never leave. But for people like Matt, who put a high value on Place and Commitment, the West Side is the place not to “settle,” but to settle in.

Westside Brewing owners Kurtis & Jim Remmel welcomed us in and served up a samples of their latest brews. It couldn’t have been a better setting for this conversation (Thanks Jim & Kurtis!). We covered a lot of ground, from Matt’s teenage years performing in punk bands (which he still does), to the first poem that really rocked him (Feeling Fucked Up, by Etheridge Knight), to his current job teaching poetry to visual art students as Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Chair of the Department of Liberal Arts at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Through it all Matt has consistently rejected expectations, and done the opposite of what he was supposed to do.

Over a couple of Westside Brewing Session IPAs, Matt and The Distiller host Brandon Dawson talked about poetry with fireworks, the value of work that makes you ask the right kinds of questions, writing a poem every day of 2017, and the similarities between poets, drunkards, and preachers. We covered the now twenty-five-year-plus history of Forklift Ohio, the poetry journal Matt and a friend still publish in a garage.  Maybe best of all, we finished up with Matt reading one of his own poems for us (“Poem with a Chorus by Jawbreaker,” from his book Radiant Companion.)

It’s strong medicine, and not for the faint of heart. And it’s exactly what we needed. We hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

 

 

 

 

Stephen JohnsonGrove is a professional do-gooder,

the Deputy Director for Policy at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a non-profit law and advocacy office in Cincinnati. OJPC offers pro-bono legal services to incarcerated people, along with advice and representation for people who have a criminal record and are trying to re-engage with society. Along with his mentor, and the founder of OJPC David Singleton, Stephen is a dogged advocate for the disenfranchised and a force, not only in Ohio but nationally, in criminal justice reform. This is good work.

To know Stephen in private life is to know a gregarious, kind, ebullient guy who’s always ready to laugh. To see Stephen at work is to know an entirely different person: focused, intense, committed to solving entrenched problems on behalf of people who don’t have access to, or understand, the systems that conspire against them. Stephen contradicts every shady lawyer stereotype in favor of the lawyer as Robin Hood; protector, maybe even avenger.

Second Sight Spirits

We met Stephen on a snowy, blustery December afternoon at Second Sight Spirits in Ludlow, Kentucky. Ludlow is a town that time forgot, in the best way. A small-town slice of real Kentucky, right across the Ohio river from Cincinnati. Co-founder Carus Waggoner welcomed us in, took our coats, and served us the most perfectly timed hot buttered rum any of us had ever tasted. And it was delicious.

While we sipped, we talked about Stephen’s work, about growing up in up-state New York, and about the decisions that led to his current work, and the sense of mission he brings to it. He spoke about the challenges our society faces in coming to terms with its inherent prejudice, and about the challenges he faces in taking that on. One of those things, Stephen’s primary area of focus right now, is “The Neighborhood Safety, Drug Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendment,” targeted at strategically reducing the prison population in Ohio, and doing so in ways people can get behind. Click the link and read the amendment. The Ohio Justice & Policy Center is currently working to get signatures to get this on the ballot in Ohio. And please do contact OJPC for more information if you’d like to help them get the word out.

We also talked about the work David Singleton did to get Tyra Patterson released. OJPC is doing truly good, deep work.

Episode 5 Reading List:

* The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Fredrick Douglas

* The Black Lives Matter Syllabus

* The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (PDF)

* Between The World And Me by Ta-Nahisi Coates (NYT Review)

* “The Neighborhood Safety, Drug Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendment” – Stephen’s OJPC ballot initiative (PDF download)

 

Recipe: Second Sight Spirits’ Hot Buttered Rum

* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

* 2 cups light brown sugar

* 1 tsp ground cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

* pinch ground cloves

* pinch salt

Matt Gunderman saves lives for a living.

Some people do work that seems sexy…exciting…but when you dig a little it’s just another job. Other people make a difference in the lives of individual humans every single day. Matt Gunderman is one of the latter: an everyday superhero.

Matt is the Director of Air Care & Mobile Care at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He’s in charge of the helicopters that fly wounded people who cannot be reached quickly enough by ground-based first-responders. Needless to say: he’s seen it all.

After starting his career as a paramedic firefighter (during which time he won the Benjamin Franklin medal for Performance Beyond the Call of Duty) Matt became a flight nurse with Air Care Cincinnati, and eventually (through many hours of training, education, and countless on-duty flight and rescue hours), rose to the position of Director. Matt is humble, funny, and inspiring to listen to as he talks about his work, his personal and philosophical approach to safety, and how he views his responsibility to his team and the people for whom they care.

A couple of unexpected tidbits? Matt went to college on a “surprise mountain biking scholarship;” and he cares deeply about tea, as you’ll hear during the conversation.

We spoke with Matt at New Riff Distilling in Newport, Kentucky. New Riff General Manager Hannah Lowen welcomed us in, gave us a tour, and set us up in their 3rd floor event space, which was perfect for our conversation. And not only that… she provided us with not one, but two delicious offerings… a cocoa-nib infused Manhattan, and their delicious O.K.I. Bourbon. Needless to say, we were charmed.

It’s also safe to say we’ll be back and New Riff very soon. Thanks again to Matt and Hannah for their time, the wonderful stories and insights, and the delicious whiskey.

Recipe: Cacao Nib-Infused Manhattan

From Hannah Lowen at New Riff Distilling

* 2 oz OKI Straight Bourbon Whiskey

* 1 oz Cacao Nib Infused OKI Straight Bourbon Whiskey (rest a bottle of OKI in a glass jar or bottle for 1-3 days with 1/2 cup of nibs)

* 1 oz Contratto Sweet Vermouth

* 2-3 dashes Aztec Chocolate Bitters

* Bada Bing Cherry for Garnish

Serve over ice or neat, depending on your preference.

The Distiller with Matt Gunderman at New Riff Distilling

 

Ric Hordinski and David Wilcox have known each other for over 20 years.

They’re craftsmen in the truest sense, and two guys who bring a great deal of intention to everything they do.

David is an award-winning folk singer and songwriter with 18 albums to his name. He crafts smart, funny, poignant folk songs that are unabashedly earnest. Equal parts acoustic guitar virtuoso and engaging performer, David’s sets are a reminder that the “craft” of performance often comes as a result of working through a lot of personal stuff in the background. David is not afraid to talk about that, and to go deep, quick.

Ric was one of the founding members of the band Over the Rhine, and since has fronted his own itinerant group Monk. He also performs as a solo artist, teaches music theory and composition at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music (CCM), and of course…produces a wide variety of artists at Monastery Studio, the church-turned-recording studio and performance space in Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood. Ric is a student of quality. He’s a musician’s musician, a skilled and moving performer, an extremely talented and accomplished guitarist, and a force driving toward excellence in all he does.

The Work of Creating Art

Both of these guys have been interviewed a thousand times, and they know the drill. But the goal of The Distiller interview is to talk about work, and the intention we bring to the work we do. For episode 3 of The Distiller we met on a Saturday afternoon at the Brew House in Cincinnati, and amid the early lunchtime conversations and the normal bustle of a functioning corner bar we talked about creativity, collaboration, the “time lapse bravery” of songwriting, and what it means to bring yourself to your work, over and over again.

Ric Hordinski & David Wilcox at Brew House Cincinnati

 

 

 

People talk a lot about “work-life balance” these days.

But what if your work is your life, and vice-versa? What if your work life is also your marriage? And what if the combination of the two is tied to your mental health and well-being (how could it not be)? And if you’re a small business owner… is there any other way to live?

Episode #2 of The Distiller was recorded at one of Brandon’s happy places: Spun Bicycles in Cincinnati’s Northside neighborhood. Owners Dom & Judi LoPresti are a couple of unique people with an amazing story, much of which was covered in their 2015 Bicycling Magazine profile. It’s worth a read if you haven’t already.

We spoke about life since that article, and about the changes in their lives since opening Spun in 2014. We talked about how the shop, and the all-encompassing nature of running a small business, fits not only who they are, but how they live and maintain their marriage and their sobriety. In an industry of posturing and posing Dom & Judi are the real thing, and there’s no mistaking that when you talk with them.

As you might imagine, we skipped the cocktail/spirits for this episode. Instead our co-producer Teri lovingly procured coffees from Northside’s Sidewinder Coffee, which was perfect for warming up our conversation on a cold (fairly) early November Cincinnati morning.

Thanks again to Dom & Judi for welcoming us into the shop, for being so open about their lives and their relationship, and for giving us some insight into what it takes to maintain an local business in the days of big-box outfitters and pretentious social-media-posturing-as-marketing-strategy bike shops. If you’ve never been to Spun, check them out. And maybe we’ll see you there.

-bd

Spun Bicycles – Photos from Episode 2:

 

 

Danny Korman has been a fixture in Cincinnati for the past decade, but things change.

In the inaugural episode of The Distiller, Danny talks about moving from Chicago back home to start his “green general store” Park + Vine in the early 2000’s, as well as the store’s amazing 10-year run and what’s next for him now that that chapter is closed. Dan and Brandon Dawson, the host of The Distiller, also discuss how we think about our work, and talk Dan’s process for evaluating what’s most important to him as he not only changes jobs, but plans a move across the country.

Dan and Brandon met on a beautiful October afternoon at The Anchor – Cincinnati’s premier seafood restaurant, and shared a cocktail while they spoke. Whether you’re a Cincinnatian or not, the themes of place and purpose, and how we make the decisions that shape our lives, will resonate as we walk with Dan through his process of exploring the next chapter in his life. And you’ll just have to listen to the show to find out where Dan’s headed next.

Images from our interview with Danny Korman at The Anchor-OTR