Area rock band remains on the upswing

FOSTORIA — Taylor Swift's fan base of "Swifties" has become famous in its own right.Don't look now, but a collection of "Grannies" has been growing in Northwest Ohio, and continued hard work and good fortune could dramatically increase the following of area rock band Leadfoot Granny.Singer Hope Smith, guitar player Luke Ermie, bassist Owen Krupp and drummer Odin Woodbury spend countless hours rehearsing in a converted chicken coop on the property of Woodbury's maternal grandparents in rural Fostoria, but in the approximately 18 months since they formed Leadfoot Granny, they've brought attention to themselves with their live performances both in the greater areas of Toledo and Seattle, a banger of a self-titled debut album that was, in part, produced by music industry giants Terry Brown and Rob Froboni, and an online presence that includes more than 10,000 Spotify streams of their song "Sunny Rays Around the Corner."Though the range in age only between 19 and 21, the group's members perform largely self-composed songs. And if they haven't already, area folks will get the chance to sample Leadfoot Granny's work on Friday, when the band kicks off the entertainment of the Tiffin-Seneca Heritage Festival. The group's show is set for 5 p.m., at the Frost-Kalnow East Green Amphitheater in downtown Tiffin, and admission is free.Talk to those with a musical ear, such as Leadfoot Granny's manager, longtime Toledo music industry figure Mark Mikel, and you'll hear assessments of how the band has improved over time. Layman listeners, though, simply know what they like. And they seem to be digging and talking about Leadfoot Granny by increasing numbers."That's something that's absolutely shocking to us," said Ermie, 20, who, like Smith, 19, is a graduate of Perrysburg High School. Woodbury, 21, graduated from Elmwood High School, and Krupp, 20, is an alumnus of Rossford High School.Ermie spoke of a chance encounter he experienced after Leadfoot Granny played at the Black Swamp Arts Festival in Bowling Green."Odin and I went to Howard's (Club H) to see another band play and then we went to Taco Bell, and some kid I hadn't seen since elementary school said, 'Oh, my gosh, I've heard tons about the band,'" Ermie said. "My professor talks about you guys to the class. I was, like, 'Who's your professor?' It was some random guy."And, we were standing in line to get into a bar and some guy saw us and said, 'Are you guys from Leadfoot Granny?' We were, like, 'Yeah.' And he just walked us right up to the front of the bar, past security, and we didn't have to pay or anything. And a ton of people recognize Hope where she works."Said Smith, who works at a cafe in Perrysburg: "I have daily regulars who come in and talk about music and shows. It's super fun."Added Ermie: "It's really humbling. It's really cool because we were not expecting that."But here they are, growing their star. And the group made itself known about 2,300 miles to the west when it played five shows in and around Seattle in July."For that big of a tour, we had a lot of help," Woodbury said. "I have family out there, so my aunt got in contact with some friends and some people she knows and she kind of got some help booking us some shows out there. ... So, we got the shows booked and she got in contact with friends who loaned us some gear, so we really didn't have to bring anything. (Krupp and Ermie) just brought their guitars and I brought some drumsticks. All we did was go out there and pick up the gear and rent. We had an Airbnb that we stayed at and then we just rented a U-Haul and that was it."While the band members generally enjoyed themselves in Washington, the tour got off to a bit of a rocky start."I fell off a scooter and ended up in the (emergency room) on the second day," Ermie said."We got so lucky, though, because as soon as he hit the ground, an ambulance pulled up," Woodbury said.Ermie hit his head on the street, drawing blood, and sustained some road rash, but his injuries were relatively minor, though inconveniencing."He had to take baths instead of showers because his back was so messed up," Smith said.Ermie didn't miss a show, which included a date at a location of significance in the music business."The coolest place we probably played was the Blue Moon Tavern," Woodbury said. "That's got some history behind it. It's, like, the diviest of dive bars, but the Grateful Dead played there, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam. All the giant bands played there."Casting their eyes toward the horizon, the band has its sights set on writing and recording a second album and perhaps connecting with another band to tour in the near future."We're not at the point in our band yet where we have, like, the whole next year planned out," Ermie said. "We still kind of flying by the seat of our pants. What we really want to get working on is our album. That's our passion — just making music. Performing, too, obviously. But it's nice, just having that feeling of accomplishment after get a song done. We all kind of feel like we miss playing new stuff."But, first things first. The Heritage Festival date is Friday, and it will be special for Krupp to return to the city where his father, Eric, grew up and attended Columbian High School."It's cool, yeah," he said. "Last year when we played there, my uncle was working backstage. He was helping us load in and all that. It was pretty funny."Some of my cousins and aunts and uncles came last year. That side of the family, we kind of spend a lot of time there around Christmas, together. So, now we just make any excuse we can to meet up there."The next day will bring a performance at the 419 Music Fest, at Holland's Homecoming Park with Leadfoot Granny's show at 10 p.m., wrapping up an 11-band slate."This year, every single band has a frontwoman," Smith said. "I just think that's super cool, and we're headlining this year."Indeed, it should be a fun weekend for a growing legion of "Grannies."