After years of playing upright bass in other people’s bands, Kevin Martinez decided it was time to write his own music. He now leads Reclamation Band.

Akron's popular outdoor music festival returns to the city's Highland Square neighborhood Saturday. Plan your day with our curated selection of must-see local performers.

Cleveland band C-Level has spent nearly 15 years crafting a sound that mixes reggae, blues, punk and funk into something all their own. On this week’s Shuffle, band members Dave Deitke and Coda Crose talk about their origins at an open mic night and recording a song with their musical hero over a decade later.

Tori Kurtz, known as Willingness, turned to songwriting to write about love - the best of times and the worst of times.

Ben Marthey spends his days assisting with open-heart surgeries as a cardiac nurse. Outside the hospital, he’s Van Arlo, a Medina-based singer-songwriter using music to process the emotional toll of his work. On this week’s Shuffle, Marthey talks about how music became his outlet — and his lifeline.

Cleveland’s Chris Harris has built a career making music for TV, film and video games, while still finding time to create his own as DJ $crilla. On this week’s Shuffle, we hear from the artist whose music is everywhere—even if you don’t know it’s him.

Thor Platter and his bandmates are bringing classic outlaw country and honky-tonk tunes to Cleveland, one honky-tonk heartbreaker at a time. Country Honk joins Shuffle and Applause Performances for a special in-studio session and interview to talk about their latest album.

Northeast Ohio folk duo Upstream Drifters has released two albums this year, blending traditional old-time dance music with lyrical storytelling. Aubrey Helmuth Miller and Craig Mast join Shuffle to talk about their musical journey.

Kristal Mills was settled in her life, working in the corporate world in Cleveland. But the pull to explore her creative side led her down a new path. For this week’s Shuffle, Mills talks about the industrial techno beats she produces under the name Slugg.

Longtime Northeast Ohio musician Scott Paris talks about the year he spent chronicling the life of an independent musician, which led up to his decision to step away from the stage. His book, "A Guitar Called Harry V and the Cover Band Conundrum," is out now.

Jevaughn Bogard started playing saxophone in grade school. He went on to study sax in college, tour nationally and perform with stars. Now he's created his own band, Abstract Sounds, in Cleveland.

Clevelanders with a passion for modern Argentine tango are connecting audiences with a master. After 20 years of performing throughout the Midwest as the Oblivion Project, the group is releasing its first album.