Carriers’ — the project helmed by Cincinnati, Ohio’s Curt Kiser — music has become something of an Ohio talisman, and Curt a true hometown hero. “I have a beautiful, symbiotic relationship with Cincinnati,” he says. Some of Cincy’s most enduring civic entities agree.

During the fall 2024 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals tapped him to play a set during a Monday Night Football game. He and his dad (“trust me, he shreds”) rocked out in front of 60,000 fans. Shake It! Records, one of The Queen City’s most beloved local vinyl shops, is working with Carriers on a series of special vinyl LPs.  John Curley of Cincinnati alt-rock legends The Afghan Whigs recorded Now Is The Time For Loving Me, Yourself & Everyone Else  at his studio. And, finally the Carriers project recently signed to Brassland, an esteemed Brooklyn label co-founded by one of Cincinnati’s most renowned 21st century cultural exports, The National. (That band’s drummer Bryan Devendorf contributed to Curt’s last LP and, in return, Curt did session work on The National’s pair of 2023 albums.)

Love for Carriers extends well beyond Cincinnati city limits. Carriers has opened up for the likes of Big Thief  and Damien Jurado and, in summer 2024, nabbed opening slots on tours with Band Of Horses and Fruit Bats. Sharon Van Etten even listed Carriers in the “Recommended Listening” section of the liner notes for her 2019 LP Remind Me Tomorrow.

“When I was 19 years old, I looked to the heavens and asked what I should do with my life,” says Kiser. “I sat on my porch in Cincinnati’s Camp Washington neighborhood and proceeded to write one of the first songs I’d ever written on my own. It’s taken a few hundred songs to feel confident in it, but I’m there now.”

Perhaps we’ll hear more from Carriers’ ever-expanding songbook in 2025.