If you think you’re tuned into the local music scene, love rocking grungy flannels and going to basement shows where it’s bring your own PBR or bring nothing and you don’t also know about The Ohio Weather Band, you’re living a lie, man.

The Ohio Weather Band serves up a love letter to the classic raw American rock stars with their self-titled debut album. You can hear the guitar influences of Neil Young and Eric Clapton, and similarly in their vocals and in their unbelievably authentic songwriting. The honesty and ingenuity found in the beautiful simplicity of “Wear on These Bones” is one of the breakthroughs on the album.

The raw element isn’t just brought on by lack of resources, like is the case with most local bands.

“We recorded the album ourselves and really took advantage of the DIY method of creating an album,” vocalist and songwriter Corey King said. His work here emanates the unbridled spirit of American musicians like The Black Keys and Joe Walsh of The Eagles.

Channeling that, he’s written some tracks that are probably too good for a band based solely out of Kent, such as “Feathers and Tar” and “Fortune Teller,” realistic looks at passing relationships and conscious to the struggles of Ohioans. The whole album is a relatable and imagery-laden ode to youth, asymmetrical with optimism and pessimism.

The Ohio Weather Band consists of King, bassist Derek Strata, keyboardist and backup vocalist Ray Lump and drummer Pete Childerson.

Submitted Album Cover

The group’s driving factor is their optimism. After choosing to release this album on their own Ohio Weather Records, fully committing to the DIY theme, the band plans to assemble a makeshift label. “[It] will hopefully turn into a collective of musicians and artists who use one another as resources to help them along their music career, in a do-it-yourself fashion,” King said. This initiative was clear on the album.

The album’s narrative is a great account of passing time in small town America. King’s mastery of imagery, relatable themes and memorable refrains and verses makes “The Ohio Weather Band” an unforgettable listen. Even older audiences will relate to drinking lots of liquor in a smoke-filled room, breaking a heart or too, reminiscing of an ex who still hates them and the mature assertion that you still lived “The Good Life”.

The trials and tribulations of life in rural America make for a cohesive roots-rock record, both sonically and in their storytelling. The Ohio Weather Band proved themselves worthy to open for bigger local bands This is an insightful and empathetic rock overture leading to something much bigger — the future of the band.

The Ohio Weather Band’s album release show is April 4 at 8 p.m. at Musica in Akron, where the album can also be purchased.

Contact Zac Younkins at [email protected].