Ohio: The Birthplace of Rock n' Roll

Introduction

The musical history of Ohio is rich and deep. Not only is Ohio home to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but it’s also where some of our favorite bands got their start. Today we’re going to talk about a few musicians, new and old, who call Ohio home. Who knows, maybe you’ll find out one of your favorite bands used to live down the road from you or went to the same school as you did. 

Akron 

Let’s start off our list in Akron, which would make the first band Devo. They’re an experimental rock/new-wave band who formed in 1973. Their first performance was at Kent State University’s Creative Arts Festival, and their first two music videos [Jock Homo (1978) and Secret Agent Man (1979)] were filmed in Akron and Cuyahoga Falls. The band's line-up originally was made up of two pairs of brothers, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Jerry and Bob Casale. Ever since 1976 though, when drummer Alan Myers joined the group, the line up has been pretty fluid. If you want to learn more about Devo’s time spent in Ohio you can check out “The Beginning Was The End: Devo in Ohio” by authors David Giffels and Jade Dellinger.

The Black Keys, also from Akron, got their start almost 30 years later in 2001. They’re a blues/rock duo consisting of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. The two have been friends since they both attended Firestone High school together (although they had known each other since childhood) and decided to start a band together after both dropping out of college. They started off playing together in different basements and produced their music by themselves. It wasn’t until 2010 that they had their breakthrough moment with their album Brothers.

Columbus

Moving on to Columbus brings us to Rascal Flatts, a group who blends pop and country together to bring a more modern sound to the country genre. They first started making music when Jay DeMarcus called his second cousin, Gary LeVox, asking him to leave their hometown of Columbus to help him work on a project. Through their work on different musical projects they met the third member of their band, Joe Don Rooney and the three instantly formed a bond with one another. While most of their early music making wasn’t done in their hometown, they still visit once a year to close out the Ohio State Fair held in Columbus. 

Next up is alternative rock/indie pop duo Twenty One Pilots. This group got their start in 2009, although back then they had a little bit of a different line up. Twenty One Pilots was originally a trio consisting of Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas, and Chris Salih. Joseph and Thomas first met while playing youth basketball together, and they’d continue to be friends throughout high school. He then met Salih during his time at Ohio State University, who presented the idea of starting a band to Joseph. The trio played at a variety of venues across Columbus, while also participating in battles of the bands and starting to record and release their music. When Salih decided to leave the group he invited his coworker, Josh Dun, to take his place. Thomas left the group not too long after Salih, and Twenty One Pilots, as we know them today, was born. 

Dayton

Next up is Dayton, Ohio, which plays home to The Breeders as well as The Ohio Players. Starting off with The Breeders; they’re an alternative rock band that began as a side project for Kim Deal (from the Pixies) and Tanya Donelly (from the Throwing Muses.) They were first formed in 1989 when the two girls got together and decided to start recording a demo in between work with their other bands. To this day all of the band members, including Jim Macpherson and Josephine Wiggs, either live full time in Dayton, or split their time between Dayton and New York. They all say that Dayton, Ohio is an integral part of both the music they make, and their day to day lives. 

The Ohio Players got their start 30 years earlier, all the way back in 1959. The group started off with five members: Robert Ward, Marshall Jones, Clarence Satchell, Cornelius Johnson, and Ralph Middlebrookes. After Ward proved himself to be a bad leader, the rest of the band’s members went back to their hometown of Dayton, where they replaced Ward with Leroy Bonner. They also added drummer Greg Webster. After adding the two new members to the band they decided it was time for a new sound and a new name. They started making more R&B music per Bonner’s request, and changed their name from the Ohio Untouchables to the Ohio Players.

Cleveland

Our last stop in Ohio is Cleveland, The Birthplace of Rock n’ Roll and home to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. This is where the Dead Boys, a punk band founded in 1976, got their start. Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz, the lead guitarist and drummer respectively, joined the early punk band Rocket From the Tombs in 1975. Chrome, however, kept inviting his friend on stage to sing during performances, which eventually led to the band breaking up. Lucky for them, though, the friend just so happened to be Stiv Bators who would eventually become the vocalist for The Dead Boys. After RFTT broke up the trio recruited the last two members of The Dead Boys, Jeff Magnum and Jimmy Zero, to help them form a band called Frankenstein. Frankenstein broke up in January of 1976, but when all of the band members relocated to New York, they reformed as The Dead Boys in July of the same year. 

Cloud Nothings was also formed in Cleveland. They’re an indie rock band that actually started out as a solo act. This group began with Dylan Baldi making music on GarageBand for personal entertainment. He attended Case Western University and was studying music/audio recording technology. When he wasn’t on campus you could find him in Westlake Ohio, recording his original music in his parent’s basement. He would release what he wrote online using made up band names, one of which was Cloud Nothings. An underground rock promoter in New York City stumbled upon “Cloud Nothings” music and invited Baldi out to New York to perform. It was then he realized he may actually have a future in music, scrambled to find some real bandmates, and dropped out of college to pursue his goals. 

Local Bands You Might Like

As you can tell plenty of talented people have come from Ohio, and there are still loads of musicians hiding right up the road, but you don’t have to look too hard! We do our best to make it easy for you to find new music here at Hollow Bone, and although we don’t have all of them listed online, we have a selection of records by local artists right here in store! Some of the titles we have in stock right now are: 

Bowling Balls from Hell by Various- a collection of punk rock from Akron

Scared of the Dark by Unit 5 - new wave/pop/punk from Akron

Echoes & Anchors by City of Invention - indie rock with folk inspirations from Kent

From Akron II by Bizarros and Bad Dudes - punk rock groups from Akron

Support Your Local Artists!

There is plenty of good music to be found all around you. Supporting the music scene happening in your area allows talented people like these to find their audience, and makes room for you to find some cool music nobody else has heard yet. The kids in the audience the day Devo performed at Kent State didn’t realize they were watching the beginning of something special. Most people watching Battles of The Bands in Ohio of 2009 didn’t think to remember the name ‘Twenty One Pilots.’ Much like them, you never know when you’re going to stumble upon your new favorite song or whether or not a band will be selling out stadiums someday. That all being said, it is absolutely worth it to take the time to learn more about the music made right in your neighborhood. Whether it be taking a stroll back through time, getting a group of friends together to go to your local punk show, or, I don’t know, maybe taking a look at your favorite record store’s “Local Artists” bin, there’s always something to be found for everyone.

-Bee Zak <3

Hollow Bone Records Employee