Leadfoot Granny sets hopes high

FOSTORIA — Mark Mikel has seen, done and heard a lot during a multi-decade musical career in Toledo and beyond. But he said he's experienced nothing like Leadfoot Granny, a four-teenager band that has produced good, old-fashioned rock 'n' roll and wowed Toledo-area crowds since coming together during the winter. That impact included Fostoria's recent Guitar Fest, where "I did notice that the crowd was way more receptive to them than the band before and the band after," said Mikel, who has worked in the industry with the likes of Alan Parsons and now, for the mixing of Leadfoot Granny's debut album, former Rush associate Terry Brown. Bloomdale resident and Elmwood High School graduate Odin Woodbury, 19, plays the drums in the band. Vocalist Hope Smith, 18, recently graduated from Perrysburg High School. Luke Ermie, a 19-year-old guitarist, also hails from Perrysburg. And bass player Owen Krupp is from Rossford. Their backgrounds differ, but they've converged with unique talents, a like-mindedness of seeing whether they can make it big and a connection to such an ambition with Mikel. Mikel has taken on a manager's role after having played in a church band with Krupp and trying to connect him with a band. And Mikel believes in what he's seen since the foursome made their way together. "I've never seen if before in my life," he said. "A lot (of) kids get together and start bands. Of course, I was one of them back when I was a teenager. We were pretty crappy, but we had kids in school loving. Really, we weren't that bad. But we weren't really like these kids. "You've got Owen, who's this musical genius who can do anything, and Luke, who's got this whirly-wand personality with his guitar and as a human being. There's this girl, who sings better than, honestly, anybody I've ever met, and Odin driving it like a steam engine. It's just really amazing. It's lightning in a bottle." Ermie and Smith were members of a band while in high school before Ermie connected with Krupp and Woodbury, who'd been drumming with a different band. Leadfoot Granny originated with a male lead singer, but his ambition didn't match those of the others, Mikel said, so they parted ways. Smith was then asked to join Ermie, Krupp and Woodbury to fill in for a gig at a house party. "I wasn't meant to stay in the band," Smith said. "They were, like, 'Do you want to do this house party?' I was, like, 'Yeah, of course.' And then, the first rehearsal we had – I remember I looked around at everyone and I was, like, 'Are you guys feeling the same way I'm feeling.' It was just song after song after song." Added Woodbury: "It was weird. First time this girl comes out here, we started rehearsing all these songs. ... It was all fresh; we were trying the music for the first time and we were just nailing it. Ever since then, it's just worked." Mikel thought they were special enough that he set them in the direction of making an album in his home studio. Hours of work followed, including the band's member's collaboration on original songs and recruitment of Brown. It all came to a head of sorts when Leadfoot Granny played at the Ottawa Tavern in Toledo for the first time, the crowd loved it and Mikel was moved to tears. "It couldn't believe it," Mikel said. "I thought I was going to have to put them through all these paces, like get them regular gigs every week, playing here and there. And when they were rehearsing at my place – they sounded good in rehearsal and stuff, but I wasn't prepared for when I saw them play their first show at the Ottawa Tavern. I mean, they just exploded and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh. What do I have here? OK, change of plans. We're only going to let them play once a month and make sure it's a big event every time they play.' "Before, I was, like, thinking of getting them a regular gig at Howard's (Club H, in Bowling Green) or something, every week. But I knew they weren't going to be, like, this local band plays everywhere. It's going to be a special event when they play. That's kind of been the model. Yeah, I was moved to tears because it was just too great. I'd never seen anything like it." The self-titled album's release date is uncertain, but it's been an eye-opener for the band. "When stuff started getting real and Terry Brown got into the mix, I realized, like, 'Oh, my gosh,'" Smith said. "I mean, the studio was great fun and all, so I wasn't really focusing on the big picture." What the big picture, optimally, would be is for Leadfoot Granny to be a big-time rock band in what's become largely a hip-hop-influenced business. And the group's members are all in on the idea. "I don't think any of us stop thinking about music at any point in the day," Ermie said. "It's our passion. Success, I think, is subjective. Success doesn't always mean making it big and famous and rich. I think we do a good job of focusing on the music. It would be great – it's our dream – to be rock stars. ... God willing, it will happen. But all we can do is hope and work as hard as we can – try to work harder than anyone else." Said Krupp: "If it doesn't work out, we keep trying harder and harder until it does." Even at this point, and in such quick time, Leadfoot Granny has progressed further than most acts. "Mark has all these great connections, so we really couldn't have done it without him," Ermie said. "Mark has been so generous and Terry's been so generous, too. He was more than happy to do it. He enjoyed the music, he said. It's just a blessing. It's all happening so fast. We're so fortunate." Mikel said the situation has developed into a good one for himself as well as the band. Whether everything develops into the maximum, he well knows, depends on more than talent. "Comparatively, do they have what it takes? They have everything that it takes – and at such a young age. If they stick it out, if it can happen, it will. "In a way, it seems like God has been guiding this whole thing, like delivering us to each other. I know they're fortunate to have me and I'm extremely fortunate to have them. It's something I needed. I thought it was kind of behind me at this age. I knew I wasn't going to be a big star, and at this point I didn't want to. I just wanted to make music, like I always have, and to be able to make money doing it. But these kids give me real hope for the future. They reignited that."