Alabama Shakes, the soulful blues-rock band best known for their single “Hold On,” stopped by Columbus’s Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on September 29th this year. The tour is for their second studio album, Sound In Color, which was released April 21st, 2015.

    Between the commotion of a tour and new album, frontwoman Brittany Howard somehow found time to create and release an album in early September with her side project, Thunderbitch. Thunderbitch is a courageous project for Brittany, who dives much deeper into the rock genre with tracks like “Leather Jacket,” “Closer,” and “I Just Wanna Rock n Roll.” Under the “bio” tab on their website, it simply states “Thunderbitch. Rock n’ Roll. The End.” There are apparent differences between the two bands, even in the vocals, but the most shocking distinction can be drawn from the new band’s edgy appearance. Howard sports a short black wig, a leather jacket, and white face paint during performances with the band. Their first performance was October 16th, where they opened at Knitting Factory. Howard is in the midst of her tour with Alabama Shakes so the band only sopratically plays shows. While there are no upcoming performance dates, there is a promising “Maybe someday…?,” written under the tour tab of their website.

    This isn’t the only innovative side-project that is close to Columbus right now. Dan Auerbach, Akron native and the face of The Black Keys, is touring with his new side-project, The Arcs.  The Arcs released their debut album Yours, Dreamily, September 4th. Their music maintains The Black Keys’s characteristic rhythmic blues, but incorporates more garage/psychedelic rock. Songs such as “Put a Flower in Your Pocket,” “Cold Companion,”  and “Outta My Mind,” exemplify the new sound Auerbach is creating. The band will be making a pit stop in Columbus at the LC on December 4th. General admission tickets are $32.

    Not only is 2015 an extremely good time for music, but it’s an impeccable time to live in Columbus. Bands are consistently touring to venues like the LC, the Newport, and The Basement. There are some breakthrough albums being released right now and Columbus residents are lucky enough to be fifteen minutes from experiencing them live.