It’s more than a drive in the country, it’s a drive with the music on 11 and plenty of great harmonies to light up the road when you ride with the Scenic Route, a rock band from Canton, Ohio, who have been gaining success and creating a buzz with their music over the past several years.  The Scenic Route have been busy all year long not only locally in Northeast Ohio but regionally and traveling out of state for shows thanks to the hard work of their manager Brad Crozier, who is also the father of the band’s lead vocalist Rachel and has been working with the band since the beginning utilizing his own musical background to the success of the band.  He is the band sound tech, recording engineer, and songwriter co-writing the songs and assisting the band members develop and grow.

“We are an alternative rock band from Canton, Ohio. Our sound is a blend of classic rock, punk and funk influences, with an emphasis on harmony vocals. We are the hardest working band in NE Ohio.”

 

Rachel who grew up in a musical family had plenty of support and inspiration to lead her into music.  “Our lead singer, Rachel, has always dreamed of a career as a singer (because she grew up in a musical family). She started performing out regularly when she was 10. When she was

14, Rachel decided it was time to start a band, so she and her parents formed The Scenic Route.”  Rachel was doing solo gigs when she was young. When she was 13, she approached her parents and said, “I don't want to be solo. I want to sing in a rock band.” Rachel loves the

collaboration and camaraderie of a band.

 

The band includes Rachel on lead vocals, Laura Richards on vocals, Van Lovelace, Thomas Newbauer and Francesco Luke on guitar.

 

The Scenic Route utilizes more than one vocalist fronting the band, which helps create their unique sound.  “Actually, we have 3 vocalists in the band. We are heavily influenced by vocal bands of the past like The Eagles, Journey, CSNY and Queen. From the beginning, the idea was to create a hard rock sound with beautiful harmony vocals.”

 

In addition to the rock version of the band The Scenic Route does play acoustic and plays shows of this nature separately which provides a new twist to the versatility of the group.  " We discovered early on that the flexibility to play acoustically dramatically increases the band's ability to find paid gigs.  Currently, about 50% of our gigs are acoustic.  Since the band members all enjoy acoustic music, we have embraced smaller, more intimate shows."

 

 

Now the band has grown and established themselves as one of the area’s finest groups and look to advance as career musicians.   “The primary goal of the band is to give all of our members the foundation for a career as professional musicians, said Crozier. The secondary goal is to become huge rock stars. We understand that while our secondary goal may not be realistic, our primary goal is very attainable. The general public doesn't understand that there is a musical middle class. We apply a blue collar work ethic to our craft, and we know that will ultimately make us successful.”

 

The Scenic Route won several NEO Local Music Awards in 2014-15 for vocals, keyboards and stage presence and in 2015 were the winners of the Canton Repository Battle of the Bands. Recently they placed 8th out of 113 bands in the Akron/Canton Hotlist Best Musical Act category and were one of two original bands in the top ten as well as being the youngest band in the top ten.

 

With two releases already under their belt, The Scenic Route are already working on a new material for the next release. “Our newest release is “Drama Queen.” It is different from our first release, “EpiC” for two crucial reasons. First, when we recorded EpiC, we were really a piano rock band. The album is very piano heavy. Our keyboard player left the band to pursue a solo gospel career, which changed the sound of the band drastically. Second, the act of recording an album makes a young musician better. The precision and focus required during the recording process teaches valuable lessons. Really, once a young band records their first album, the album is

obsolete immediatelybecause the act of recording changes the band.  The short version of this answer is that Drama Queen is different from EpiC because The Scenic Route is a more experienced, more professional band than we were 2 ½ years ago." 

 

 "Our writing is inspired by universal experiences. We try to write about what we see going on in the world around us. Some of the themes we address on our newest album are: young women with destructive daddy issues, feeling let down by the ones we love, modern society's lust for money and power among others.  We're currently writing for our next album. We will be back in the studio in early 2018. Also, we were recently signed to a development deal by a mentorship program. It's basically a masters level music business course, and it's really helped us focus our efforts and understand the realities of the music business. We will be touring in 2017 or 2018. It's time to hit the road, and we're currently negotiating with an extreme sports tour and with a college tour.   We have been busy with some tour stops (Nashville, Vans Warped Tour,Sandusky, Columbus,Pittsburgh, Maryland and WV), recording a new EP for a Fall/Winter release date and playing local summer festivals."

 

Crozier believes that it comes down to not only musicianship but professionalism when speaking of what the Scenic Route bring to the table in terms of success and dedication. “Musicianship and professionalism. Most musicians don't really understand that when you start a band, you start a business. Because of this, they never accept the realities of the career path they've chosen. We strive to be the best artists we can possibly be, and to present ourselves in a professional manner at all times.”  And this has directly helped the band evolve into what they are today says Crozier, “We definitely sound more mature now. When we started, all the band members were 12 – 15 years old. It was almost a novelty act, except that they were so good! Through dedication and hard work, the band has evolved into a mature group of artists.  ”Our work ethic and dedication. We gig and practice relentlessly. To become a professional musican, an artist has to get 100's of hours of stage time. There is no substitute forexperience. Also, we never give up. Most bands last a year or two, maximum. The Scenic Route is six years old and going strong.