Over the Rhine, with original line-up decidedly still intact, has succeeded in leaving I.R.S. Records, the label which discovered and signed the band in early 1993.

"Fortune favors the bold, or so I've heard," says Linford Detweiler, the band"s bass and keyboard player, "and this is a bold move on our part. We are free agents. We are currently an unsigned local band. I cannot begin to tell you what a relief this is."

How did a band that I.R.S. touted as its next R.E.M. succeed in slipping out of a six-record deal?

"It's all pretty hush-hush," continues Detweiler, "but the label was sold last year and has been unstable ever since. Most of the people who we worked closely with over the last few years have now left the label. Of the 36 employees that were there when we signed, all of which we knew on a first name basis, there remains less than a half dozen. I.R.S. Records may be absorbed into a larger conglomerate, or dissolved or it could be rebuilt. But we were not looking forward to waiting around while all this is being decided. And the label is in no position at present to do anything significant for our music."

Detweiler, the band"s guiding force convinced key players at the label that it was a waste of time to continue working together. "I like to think of the last three or four months as a long cool chess game. I still can"t believe they let us go."

So what does the future hold?

Over the Rhine and Peter Asher Management are opening dialogue with other major labels, a few of which have already begun to express interest. But in the meantime, don"t expect the band to go on vacation anytime soon.

Over the Rhine will be releasing an independent record later this month on Sunday, June 30. The band will play an "almost free" show ($2 voluntary donation, children under 12 free) at The Sawyer Point P&G Pavilion that same Sunday evening, June 30 at 8 pm.

Karin Bergquist, Over the Rhine's lead vocalist, states, "We wanted to make up for the Jammin' on Main fiasco. It was ludicrous that our fans who paid to get in were sent home early. There was no problem whatsoever at our stage. People had driven from Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania to see the show. Oh well, it"s an excuse to get together and unveil our new homespun release and it"s a full moon that night. And the river will be close by. It will be good."

Less than a week after Over the Rhine parted company with I.R.S. Records, the band had transformed thirteen home recordings into a full length record. The band will tour throughout the summer to introduce audiences to this project, their fourth overall.

The band will also record a Christmas album this Fall and will tour 15 cities in December to promote it. Final Stop: The Emery Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 21, 1996.

Other local summer highlights include a show at Coney Island, Friday, August 2 with The Ass Ponys. Also, later this year, Over the Rhine intends to play a short-weekend concert series of some of the small sweaty clubs in Clifton where it got its start: Sudsys, Ripleys and Top Cats.

So is there any trepidation at all accompanying the transition from major label act back to local band?

"Well there"s always the chance that our fifteen minutes are over, but I don"t think so," concludes Detweiler. "We've always been able to accomplish a great deal as an unsigned act. There"s much less bureaucracy. We will pursue a deal with a major label, and we will get signed again, but I personally won't mind if it takes a while. It"s always curious to me that some local acts are so hung up on getting signed. Being signed has nothing to do with writing an honest song. Theoretically, being on a label is supposed to help a band find a larger audience but that should never become something that overshadows why we do this in the first place: we do this because we love music."