A shoutout for the Talk Low Music Festival

Cincinnati has a new music festival to shout about: The inaugural Talk Low Music Festival, taking place September 24–29 across three local venues. Ryan Hall, who moved to Cincinnati more than a decade ago, curated Talk Low to showcase both seasoned and emerging performers who work across experimental, expectation-defying, and genre-bending sonic worlds.

A few are locals—Five-Pointed Stars; some are internationals—KMRU from Kenya; and a few others—such as Joy Guidry, Claire Rousay, and Desert Liminal—are affiliated with Hall’s own independent record label co-presenting the festival, Whited Sepulchre Records that he created in 2016.

Naturally, Talk Low has taken time and effort to come together; plans have been in the works for nearly a year. Hall landed an ArtsWave Catalyzing Impact grant that came through in January 2024. That funding proved crucial to Talk Low’s launch. “I couldn't have done it without getting that grant,” he said.

Devin KennyAs an abstract turntablist, sound artists and DJ, Maria Chavez presents unique methods of sonic exploration.His desire for founding the festival was twofold:

First, he wanted to continue in the lineage of some of Cincinnati’s other music festivals that’s he’s been to and loved.

“There have been some really, really incredible festivals that have come and gone here that really showcase experimental music, like the Music Now Festival and the No Response Festival,” Hall said in a recent phone conversation. “Cincinnati needed another music festival that really showcased forward-thinking ways of approaching sound.”

Second, he wanted to bring some under-the-radar artists into town who might not otherwise have had an impetus to perform here. Indeed, many will be making their first-ever appearance here. “The lineup really came together with just thinking, ‘who has never played Cincinnati before?’ That was a big point here,” Hall said. “Or ‘who would not play Cincinnati unless something like this existed?’ And so that's what really helped guide some of the choices for some of the playing artists.”

Some names might sound familiar: Laraaji for instance, a multi-instrumentalist who is perhaps best known for his work for his album installment for Brian Eno’s Ambient series (circa 1980); and turntablism innovator Maria Chavez, a Peruvian-born, Texan-turned New Yorker.

When asked whether there’s a common thread among the diverse artists in Talk Low, Hall said that they all approach sound in a unique way; all the artists exist in the liminal space between genres.

“None of it is what you would expect in terms of a pop song structure, something like that. But it all provides the listener a unique way to engage with the sound,” Hall explained of the genre-defying sonics. “So, some of it is going to be very soothing and calming, some of it’s going to be very confrontational and abrasive, and some of it is going to be straight up danceable…creating ways to listen with our body.”

The performance spaces also play a significant role in fostering Talk Low’s stated objective: “Creating Unique Experiences for Deep Listening.” Hall chose smaller, more intimate venues, such as DSGN CLLCTV (aka Design Collective) to draw the audience and artists closer together.

“It’s important that we, as much as we can, collapse the separation between the artist and the audience, because I think that brings a really beautiful vision of what it means to share music with one another when it’s very close and intimate, and there isn't this lofty separation between the art and the artist.”

The Talk Low Music Festival runs September 24–29 at various venues: DSGN CLLCTV, Woodward Theater, and the Contemporary Arts Center.

Information is available at talklowfest.cargo.site.