CLEVELAND, Ohio -- There’s plenty of new music coming out of every corner of Ohio.
We’ve compiled some of the most exciting, interesting bands and musicians from around the state. Check out Dayton indie-folk, Youngstown outlaw-country, Columbus hardcore, Athens indie, Toledo blues-rock and Cincinnati dreampop. (Plus, plenty of picks from Cleveland and Akron, too.)
Looking for some fresh tunes to enjoy this year? Here are 20 Ohio bands and musicians you should check out:
Siena Bella
Hometown: Cleveland
Must-listen track: “Lights Out”
Siena Bella has built up quite a following in the past couple of years, racking up more than a million followers on TikTok and millions of streams on music platforms. And that audience continues to grow with Bella’s crystalline pop releases, like the moody, ethereal “Walking on the Moon,” the angsty “Lights Out” and her featured contribution to MIMO’s club-friendly explosion “Skin.”
Chelsea Pastel
Hometown: Cleveland
Must-listen track: “Stop Asking”
Chelsea Pastel (aka, Chelsea Ferguson) released her upbeat debut album, “Pastelevision,” this year, and it’s a stunner. Everything in Pastel’s tunes – from her cartoon music-inspired beats to her snappy lyrics inspired by her own life – was created by the musician, and in her own unique voice. With hundreds of thousands of streams accumulated just this year and more music in development, Ferguson has no plans on slowing down.
Low Morale
Hometown: Cleveland
Must-listen track: “Quarantine Dream”
Plenty of folks experienced bouts of low morale during the pandemic -- but not this group of pop-punkers in Cleveland. Low Morale debuted its first music in 2021, compiled in an album titled “Making You Better Feeling.” The spunky project tunes in on COVID-19 themes in songs like “Quarantine Dreams” and “We Are The Virus,” drawing on plenty of appropriate-feeling angst. Songs fitting for these troubling times.
200 Stab Wounds
Hometown: Cleveland
Must-listen track: “Itty Bitty Pieces”
With a band name like “200 Stab Wounds,” you know things are going to be brutal. And with song names like “Phallic Filth,” “Drilling Your Head” and “Tow Rope Around the Throat” – all from its 2021 acclaimed project “Slave to the Scalpel” – it’s clear that this Cleveland death metal outfit isn’t for the weak of heart. But within its latest project, you’ll find sonic ferocity in soaring, complex guitar riffs and headbang-worthy breakdowns.
Smith Taylor
Hometown: Cleveland
Must-listen track: “Disguise”
Braxton Taylor, formerly the singer of past Cleveland blues-rock band Samfox, has struck out on his own under the name “Smith Taylor.” His debut self-titled album features a melding of rock, funk and blues elements under his catchy performance on touching songs like “All For One,” “Dad’s Song” and “Disguise.”
Terrycloth Mother
Hometown: Cleveland
Must-listen track: “The Dancing Plague”
Lottery League – Cleveland’s experimental band mix-up series – has a way of randomizing local musicians into interesting new groups every few years. Sometimes, those bands stay together, as is the case with Terrycloth Mother, which formed during the 2019 Lottery League. We’re glad this crew has stuck it out for the past few years, and that it finally released its debut self-titled album in 2021, defining its own dreamy rock sound.
ZOD1AC
Hometown: Akron
Must-listen track: “The Girl In The Mirror”
“Yesterday & Tomorrow” is an album about growth. Zod1ac, aka electronic musician Val Murray, used the 15-track project to chronicle her gender transition over the past couple of years, according to her Bandcamp profile. The result -- a dreamy, expertly executed soundscape -- showcases her beat-making skills, with a few appearances from fellow local musicians Floco Torres, Mirrorish, Oxela and more.
Free Black!
Hometown: Akron
Must-listen track: “Bullets!”
Floco Torres and HR3 combine forces in the eclectic Akron hip-hop duo Free Black (stylized as Free Black!). Vintage samples, tight lyrics and lavish production meld together into pure, free-flowing expression on the group’s two albums, 2020′s self-titled release and 2021′s “Black Tuesday.”
In a 2018 interview with cleveland.com, Torres talked about the band’s unconfined attitude toward music-making: “When you say somebody’s free, you say they’re free from all connections and ties to societal barriers and things like that. ‘Free Black’ is just another version of that.”
Larry Elefante
Hometown: Youngstown
Must-listen track: “Too Much”
Head to the back porch for some “hillbilly ruckus” with Youngstown’s Larry Elefante. The outlaw country group released its foot-stomping debut album “I Get Sentimental” this year. It showcases the band rocking out to songs like “Real Cool,” “One Foot In the Mud” and “Too Much.” The group can scale things back, too, for softer moments on songs like “I Get Sentimental” and “Daddy’s Heart.”
Clemont
Hometown: Bridgeport
Must-listen track: “On My Own”
Clemont – aka, musician Katelin Clemont – infuses soul and R&B into her emotionally charged songs. That’s highlighted on her debut EP “In The Beginning,” which traverses between brightness on “Bubblegum” and “Sunset” and downright devastatation on “On My Own” and “Emotion.” These already shiny songs get an extra level of polish, provided by Cleveland producer Jesty Beatz.
Chanelle Kazadi
Hometown: Ravenna
Must-listen track: “Superheroes”
Chanelle Kazadi’s debut album, “Make It Work,” is a knockout. The Ravenna rapper is also a boxer -- and shows off her strength in music, too. Sharp lyrics about her upbringing and her work in the music industry show a musician who is very quickly on the rise. In “Superheroes,” she raps: “Use my lyrics as fuel to generate the weapons, take my time when I’m aiming, shoot right up at the stars.” Here, Kazadi’s aim is true.
Clubhouse
Hometown: Columbus
Must-listen track: “Weekend”
Clubhouse asks a question that doesn’t seem to apply to itself, through the title of its debut EP “Are We Going Too Slow?” That same EP includes its sunshiney breakthrough hit “Weekend,” which has introduced this Columbus indie-pop group to fan bases around the world, along with a prominent tour in support of The Wombats in early 2022.
Tobilla
Hometown: Columbus
Must-listen track: “God’s Tears”
For the past few years, Tobilla has been prolific, churning out new tunes in Columbus, appearing on other musicians’ releases, and crafting bassy beats for sale. The rapper’s not slowing down, with more music on the way in 2022. Check out his 2020 album “Billa” for a taste of his easygoing flow.
En Love
Hometown: Columbus
Must-listen track: “Poacher’s Discard”
Columbus hardcore band En Love lets it rip on its latest EP “Love Will Drown the Nest,” released during the pandemic in 2020. The band speeds through six high-energy songs, breaking into doomy stretches and unfettered aggression. These songs build from the band’s 2018 demo “Like Someone en Love.”
Justin Stone
Hometown: Columbus
Must-listen track: “Sky”
“Maybe Next Year”... or maybe, this year, for Justin Stone. The rapper’s multifaceted emo-rap masterpiece arrived at the end of 2021, with tracks exploring mental health, the music industry and Stone’s dedicated, ever-expanding fanbase.
The Katawicks
Hometown: Dayton
Must-listen track: “Dark Cloud”
Foot-stomping indie-folk meets polished rock with Dayton’s The Katawicks. The band first formed in 2011 for one year, and then took a six-year hiatus before coming back together in recent years to put out a string of singles and EPs. Listen up for more music on the way this year.
No Stars
Hometown: Athens
Must-listen track: “Clarity”
A self-described “moss-rock” band, Athens trio No Stars puts out lo-fi indie-rock tunes, with tons of heart. Powerful lyrics are shared over no-frills strums and sparse beats; fans of indie acts like Florist, Adult Mom and Frankie Cosmos, listen up.
Eerie Point
Hometown: Toledo
Based at the Northwest corner of Ohio, Toledo’s “Eerie Point” combines blues, alt-rock and indie influences on its handful of releases over the past few years. All of it has one thing in common: it’s undeniably catchy.
Must-listen track: “Pocket Change”
Bershy
Hometown: Cincinnati
Brea Shay and a collective of fellow musician friends create textured, vintage-sounding dream-pop in Cincinnati under the name “Bershy.” A few polished love-song singles point toward a potential future EP from Shay – and, in the meantime, provide the soundtrack for an ultimate dance party of positivity.
Must-listen track: “Sixty Seconds”
Lo, the Loyal Conscripts
Hometown: Cincinnati
This Cincinnati trio describes itself as a “post-everything” band on its social media, and you can hear it in its mathy, complex riffs that build into soaring, textured instrumental soundscapes. Lo, the Loyal Conscripts’ 2019 EP “In the Shell of the Old” is a good showcase of the band’s range, from the three-and-a-half minute-long “Keep Closed,” to the 10-minute-long “Arriving At Dawn.” But, no matter the length, each track takes the listener on a tightly wound listening journey.
Must-listen track: “Monomyth”
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