“Today’s radio listener does not need to look far to hear a pop rock band on any of Ohio’s various stations. Listeners are flooded with songs about life and love, and these common themes never seem to get old. Once in a while there comes a band that breaks the mold or brings a fresh sound to a sometimes monotone-sounding music scene.”
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Today’s radio listener does not need to look far to hear a pop rock band on any of Ohio’s various stations. Listeners are flooded with songs about life and love, and these common themes never seem to get old.

Once in a while there comes a band that breaks the mold or brings a fresh sound to a sometimes monotone-sounding music scene.

My Favorite Highway may be one of those bands making a dent and they were in Cleveland this past June.

The foursome comprised of front man David Cook, bassist Will Cook, guitarist Pat Jenkins and drummer Bobby Morgentaler is sure to lure a listener in with their debut album How to call a Bluff.

As the band played the Grog Shop to a crowd of about 50 people it became more clear that this was a band who should be opening for OneRepublic or The Fray.

While the 30-minute set sounds short, it was worth the $12 cover charge.

Raging guitars were backed by a steady beat from the drums that were felt deep in your core. They were then topped off by a melody on the keyboard that would make anyone sit up and pay attention.

Their live show proved to bring their already catchy songs from How to Call a Bluff alive and left the listener wanting more.

The band opened with what sounds like a sure fire hit for the band Getaway Car which has, like the other songs, a story behind it.

In the lyric of, A buck forty-five left to keep you alive, for us that is where we wrote this record from, he said. This was going to be either the first or last great thing My Favorite Highway does.

The album has a mix of catchy hooks along with deep lyrics to give them the pop rock sound.

With lyrics like, You can’t take back the words you wish you’d never said, promises break and lovers will lie, you hold up your hands and let out a sigh from the song Bigger than Love,’ it would easy to place them in the same grouping as OneRepublic or even Switchfoot but it seems they know comparisons come with being a pop-rock band today.

We know our sound is pop. We don’t try and hide the fact that we are a pop-rock band, he said. We write songs that we enjoy, we love and are fun to play.

Everything about seeing these four perform tells someone that they truly love what they are doing, often getting into their own music as they danced around.

Cook could be seen running the small stage, standing on chairs and throwing his mic stand around in a Mick Jagger fashion.

When we play live people feel a connection with the band, he said. We try and put on great shows every night that we play.

Call news editor Allison Strouse:

330-972-7362.

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https://www.buchtelite.com

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