Leadfoot Granny to celebrate album release

FOSTORIA — The four members of Leadfoot Granny can often be found rehearsing in a converted chicken coop in rural Fostoria. On Saturday night, though, the young rock band will put the fruits of its labor on display in downtown Toledo's iconic Valentine Theatre with a party and concert to celebrate the release of its debut, self-titled album. Tickets on VIP and standard levels are available for the event by visiting www.leadfootgrannyofficial.com. The band will perform all of the album's 10 songs, which include eight composed by the band's members and two covers. Food and drink will be available, as well as album CDs and other merchandise. All of this is happening for a band whose members have only known each other for a little more than a year. Leadfoot Granny includes a pair of 19-year-old Perrysburg residents in lead vocalist Hope Smith and guitarist Luke Ermie; 20-year-old drummer Odin Woodbury, of Bloomdale; and 20-year-old bass player Owen Krupp, of Rossford. The group was fortunate to come under the management and mentorship of Mark Mikel, a longtime part of the Toledo music scene whose contacts accrued over decades helped the album's production fall into the more-than-capable hands of heavy hitters in the music industry. Mikel, however, pointed out that the band is genuinely good enough to attract the mixing of Terry Brown, who has worked with Rush, and the mastering of Rob Fraboni, who has been associated with the likes of Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. "They loved it so much that they wanted to do it," Mikel said of Brown's and Fraboni's takes on Leadfoot Granny's sound. "Terry offered to mix it, and then he contacted Rob and played it for him and Rob just went nuts for it. So, it's a labor of love on everybody's part. But it (usually) doesn't happen this way. These kids have only been together since December of 2023, and their first gig was in February of '24. And here we are, doing a big Valentine Theatre gig now in January of '25. So, that was super fast. I've never seen anything like it before." Prior to the band's existence, Mikel knew Krupp as a talented musician. Mikel said Krupp and Ermie became fast friends after meeting, and Woodbury connected with them after having played with another band. After bringing Smith on board, the group was on its way. "It's a synergy between four people that only happens once in a while," Mikel said. "I'd never seen it happen locally. ... There's something about these four together. It's just a magical combination that was hit on, pretty much, just by divine intervention, I guess. I don't know. "I thought they were great kids. I loved their personalities. It didn't take a lot of searching. Once you got the four of them together and they got on stage, it was, like, 'Oh, my gosh.' I'd never seen anything like it. Their first gig — they rocked the house. The place just loved them." Since recording the album at Mikel's home studio several months ago, Leadfoot Granny has played a number of shows in and around Toledo — including gigs in Fostoria and Tiffin — and has branched out to play in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Detroit. Plans include a summer trip to the west coast. Mikel said the band members have continued to work hard and have remained humble through all of the positive reviews, invitations to play at various sites and possibilities for "fame and fortune and everything that goes with it," as Queen's Freddie Mercury sang. "I kind of push that, to make sure they stay humble," Mikel said. "The minute you think you're (exceptional), that's when it's all going to go (downward). No matter how good you think it is, you've got to keep pushing forward. I stress that the love between them is what'll keep them together. This isn't going to happen for them if they switch out one of the people. The odds that anything like this will ever happen again are not good." Mikel said the band's sound and likeability have paid dividends. "It's great that the community seems to be behind them," he said. "Their parents are very supportive. Back in the '70s, we didn't have parents that were pushing us to be rock stars. It was more like, 'Go to school.' Their parents do guide them that way, too. It's like, they support the band, but they want to make sure if it doesn't work out, they have something to fall back on. "But the fact is that all the grownups now are rock and roll fans. They're all excited about it, too. And everybody seems to want to help them because they're so lovable and they're so good. And if they become big, the whole (area) scene would become great because that tide would raise all the boats and this would become the place to come for new rock music." After Saturday, Mikel said, Leadfoot Granny's album will be available on streaming and download platforms and in area stores that agree to carry it. A mail-order infrastructure is being developed.