"Fatkid Dodgeball to Play Elbos" from Dayton Daily News
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By Carol Simmons
Dayton Daily News
DAYTON | When was the last time you heard a young rock band sing harmony? Real harmony? Harmony drenched in driving drum rhythms and crashing guitar riffs, at that.
OK, maybe you can think of an example off the top of your head, but still, you have to admit it's relatively rare.
But it's all part of the package for the Columbus-based Fatkid Dodgeball, which plays Elbo's this evening before heading to New York City for a New Year's Eve gig at the famed CBGB's nightclub.
Formed in 2001 as part of the Ohio State, High Street scene, the quartet has built up an avid Columbus following that is expanding along its regional edges. Athens and Springfield have already joined the team, and Dayton is likely to follow with additional exposure.
Fairborn is taking note as well, seeing as guitarist Casey Potts grew up there, graduating from Fairborn High School before his eventual move to Columbus.
In addition to Potts, the group includes founders Brian Frank (vocals and bass) and Brian Turnbull (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar) and more recent addition Jon Lawrence (drums, percussion and electric guitar).
A new album is due out early in the new year, and the melodic anthemic singles Ohio Skies and Get It are already getting some Midwest radio airplay.
D.X. Ferris of Cleveland Scene Magazine has written that he expects big things from Fatkid Dodgeball, which he has described as "a study in contrasts: acoustic riffing and electric leads, vocal harmonies and pop-punk energy, and gentle melody over hard-hitting beats."
Former Fairborn-ite Potts recently told a reporter at the Fairborn Daily Herald that he has high hopes for his band, but won't ever forget his origins.
"I grew up in Fairborn. Fairborn is my home," Potts told the Daily Herald's Rainey Howarth. "I've moved around, but Fairborn will always be home. One day I'd love to play at the Nutter Center and say 'Fairborn' — they like to say it's in Dayton, but it's not — 'Fairborn, Ohio, get ready to rock!' "
Contact Carol Simmons at 225-7309. |
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