A blistering guitar solo, some crunchy power chords, a jukebox classic or some new tunes, prog rock, indie, metal, indie, country, indie, hip-hop, or even indie – whichever sounds fire you up the most, you can find it here in Columbus.

(614) loves Columbus music, and putting together our first ever music issue required a herculean effort, because even with 108 pages to work with, there were some amazing bands, venues, and stories that we had to leave out. Thankfully, there’s always next year!

The ensuing pages will showcase some of the city’s most triumphant musicians, diligent artists. While some are household names, or veterans of their genre, like Tim Easton and J. Rawls, others are fiery upstarts. We will clue you in to some of what actually happens behind the scenes for your favorite bands and artists. We’ll illuminate the personal struggles of bands like Watershed, who’s Joe Oestreich just released the definitive book on a Columbus-based music career that has spanned over two decades. We check back in with X Factor runner-up Josh Krajcik, whose brush with that snotty British dude has us calling him in London, England.

We let you take a sneak peek at all the awesome music lined up for us this summer, from festivals to the huge artists touring through town, as well as some smaller shows that you won’t want to miss, and we take a look at five Columbus musicians on the rise, bands so good they might be the ones selling out arenas next year.

So, as you read through our inaugural music issue, crack open a beer, cut the sleeves off your favorite concert tee, and dive into some of the best music Columbus has to offer – and don’t worry. As usual, there’s no cover, here at (614).