Bridget Battle of Tweens performing at The Carnegie Photo: Brooke Burkhardt

Bridget Battle didn’t always want to be a singer.

“I never thought that I would do it like I was,” she said. “I didn’t think that I was gonna be in a band.”

Growing up in Cincinnati’s Mount Washington neighborhood, Battle began going to DIY music shows around town by herself when she was a sophomore in high school. It was during these adventures that she would meet her future Tweens bandmates, Jerri Queen and Peyton Copes.

Although Queen and Copes are older than Battle, the trio struck up a friendship that resulted in Copes and Battle moving in together when she was just 18. Queen’s girlfriend resided in a small house in Northside, and told the trio that due to the lack of available spaces for shows, the house’s basement would be a great impromptu spot to practice.

“So the three of us all — well, the four of us together there — and then Peyton and Jay were in a band that would practice in the basement when there wasn’t a show,” Battle said. “And then we just all started playing music together.”

The band started out playing covers around the Cincinnati area in the late 2000s and early 2010s, as well as recording a “fake live” album, as Battle called it, but had yet to release any original music. Less than one year into being an official band, Shake It Records gave Tweens an opportunity unlike any other.

In 2012, Tweens opened for the iconic indie rock band The Breeders, who were performing a 20th-anniversary show celebrating their landmark album Last Splash at the Southgate House Revival. Shake It Records was the one to recommend Tweens as the opening band for the show. 

“After that happened, Kim Deal [the lead singer of The Breeders and a Dayton native] came over to us and she’s like, ‘That was great! Why don’t you play more shows with us?” Battle said. 

Then-19-year-old Battle and her bandmates embarked for the west coast — for the first time — to open for The Breeders’ anniversary tour.

“Everything was moving so fast. But if we really sat and thought about it for too long, like our minds will explode,” Battle laughs while reminiscing.

It was then that Battle began to write original music. Tweens released a self-titled full-length record in 2014 featuring professional recordings of several previously released demos.

Around the same time that the demos were released on the internet, the band gained interest from New York record label Frenchkiss, who signed them at the end of 2013. “It was just all of this luck at once,” Battle said.

Now, at the age of 32, Battle is still writing original songs. Only one thing has changed: she is now getting used to performing solo.

The Carnegie hosted Battle and Cincinnati band IdleAires for a night of music accompanied by Art Academy graduate Ian Hayes’ psychedelic art projections.

Battle, equipped with a pastel-colored guitar, took the stage at 8 p.m. to a crowd full of kids, tweens and adults. Performing never-before-heard songs, the audience was completely captivated by her powerhouse of a voice.

Visions of blue waterfalls and bright yellow fireworks floated above her, coating her in various colors as she sang into the microphone. Accompanied only by her guitar, her vocals and songwriting were on full display. Thunderous applause and cheers followed each performance. Battle could be seen smiling at friends on both sides of the small stage while strumming her guitar.

This was Battle’s second time performing by herself in almost a decade.

“Honestly, I was terrified. I was really nervous,” Battle said. “I was really stressed out.”

Battle stated that it was easy to hide under the moniker of Tweens, and that she was initially very hesitant to perform a solo set. But now, she says, “it’s cool.”

“My friend, my coworker at The Woodward [Joe Winterhalter of IdleAires], asked me to do this a few months ago,” Battle said. “And I was like okay, alright, I’ll do it.”

Having never performed at The Carnegie before — Battle says she is a “sucker” for playing at new venues — she mentions during her set what an “honor it is to be performing at this beautiful venue.”

Immediately after her performance, Battle was greeted by friends and fans complimenting her on her performance and the new songs before heading out into the cold night in late January.

Battle’s following performance at The Woodward on Feb. 8 featured her once again performing with IdleAires for a dark-wave show benefitting the Freestore Foodbank. Battle is currently recording new material for both Tweens and her own solo album.

After navigating a career she never thought she’d embark on, Battle can’t see her life any other way. “You just pick up something, and then next thing you know you’re on stage.”

Tweens is scheduled to perform at Cafe Bourbon Street in Columbus on April 5. Tickets are $10 and are available at eventbrite.com.

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This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.

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