THE JUKE HOUNDS
In 2006, the Juke Hounds were drawn together by a shared attitude about the world. A Midwestern grit that made each of them relate to a rockin' sound -- and then to each other.
The Juke Hounds play the ”blues with a feeling” all right. But that feeling is not the familiar woe-is-me nobody-loves-me pose, but one of defiance and swagger that says "you can't keep me down." The music, the lyrics and even the bands aggressive stage presence, announce they are a force to be reckoned with.
Brittany Nader Of Buzzbin Magazine agrees that when the Juke Hounds start to play, “it’s impossible not to get up and start shaking along to the rhythm.”
Mike Fuller of Water Street Tavern, echoes the observation: "There are a lot of people dancing and moving around. Not a lot of people are sitting down…. Everyone stands and treats it like a rock show, and that's pretty much how it is."
The Juke Hounds know something about defiance. When friends, family and even fellow musicians insisted that playing the blues in Ohio was a foolish waste of time, The Jukes took their advice as a personal challenge. Today, the Juke Hounds are rocking to packed houses across Northeast Ohio -- not to mention all the way to Memphis.
In 2010, The Juke Hounds won the Cleveland Blues Society “Road To Memphis” competition and represented Akron, Canton, and Cleveland at the 2011 International Blues Competition in Memphis where the band showcased at the Hard Rock Café’ on Beale Street. This year (2013), The Juke Hounds won the NEOBA Blues Competition and will represent Northeast Ohio at the 2014 International Blues Competition held in Memphis TN.
Steeped in electric blues, these seasoned musicians bring their considerable musical skills to put a Midwestern spin on strong original material and traditional blues repertoire. Frontman, Bob Gardner belts out melodic vocals that soar over the groove and with the rock solid bottom by bassist Gerard Dominick, the hard-hitting beat laid down by drummer Jesse Marquardt, and the tasty guitar of Daryl Rowland the Juke Hounds will get you on your feet, as they have in packed houses across Ohio.
The Juke Hounds hit hard, that's for sure. But their musical pugilism isn't about knocking anybody down. It's about bringing the crowd to their feet and keeping 'em there until it's time to go home -- maybe even a little later. With their second release, “BluesiTude”, The Juke Hounds bring their aggressive uplifting sound to disc so fans can groove and dance anytime they want.
The bands new release scheduled for late 2015 focuses on The Juke Hounds pride in their home area of Akron/Canton/Cleveland. This area has long been considered a “flyover” and it’s time the record is set strait on the power of music that stems from Northeast Ohio.
Their fast moving sets offer bluesy defiance -- swagger in the face of adversity -- and a pace that feels like an accelerating train moving inexorably toward deliverance from our earthly burdens. Catch a show near you or check out their website,
JON MOSEY
"I've been a full-time musician pretty much all my life. I'm entirely self-taught. Started out playing electric guitar (Cream, Blue Cheer, Doors, Airplane, etc.) when I was 12. When I ws 19, I heard a guy fingerpick San Francisco Bay Blues - that changed the world for me. Put the electric under the bed and taught myself to play Ragtime and Piedmont Blues on a Sakura 12-string (with 6 strings, because I couldn't afford a whole set). One thing led to another, and I've since played Classic and Folk Rags, every regional pre-war blues style, Old-time string band tunes, Bluegrass, Appalachian ballads, Fiddle-tune flatpicking, Western Swing, Irish, Dixieland, Honky-tonk, Country, different Rock styles, Brazilian Choro, Old Standards, and I'm sure I've left a few out. At one time or another, I've played (professionally) electric guitar, acoustic guitar (fingerpicking, flatpicking, slide, open tunings, etc.), harpguitar, mandolin, clawhammer banjo, bluegrass banjo, tenor banjo, lap steel, cavaquinho, dobro, fiddle, bass guitar, lap dulcimer, and I sing, of course. I sometimes write in the styles I've played, but mostly, it ends up a mixture of all of them. I'm told that I'm a great guitar player, singer, performer, writer. I don't know about that, but I do as well as I can and hope that people enjoy it. So far, so good."