Harvest Kings

The Harvest Kings are a Columbus Ohio band consisting of veteran musicians Chris Bair (guitar), Carolyn O'Leary (drums), Kerry Stewart (bass), Jon Schaer (guitar), and singer/songwriter John Joseph. O’Leary and Bair hail from legendary Columbus Ohio bands and national recording artists Scrawl and Silo the Huskie. Joseph, whose raspy vocals recall the weathered pipes of Ryan Adams or Paul Westerberg, entered the Central Ohio Music Scene with the late 90s alt-country blues rock band Pilot Dogs. While Pilot Dogs did not find national success, locally they established a solid following and their song “Rip It Up” was featured on a number of Columbus radio stations. Stewart and Schaer have been in a number of successful local and regional bands including The Second State Butchers, The Dirty Flags, Cur Dogs, Eric Stein Band, and Woosley Band.

Harvest Kings released their debut full-length CD, “Cardboard Crowns,” on Singing Moon Records in October 2010. The CD quickly found itself on many national alt-country and Americana radio shows and podcasts, eventually landing on Americana Rock Mix's "Top 23 albums of 2010." The songs and the band do not shy away from their Midwestern roots or obvious comparisons to the Columbus "sound" of big guitar riffs, a driving rhythm section and catchy pop melodies. The band fits comfortably next to the likes of Son Volt, The Drams, Tom Petty, The Jayhawks, John Mellencamp, The Replacements, and The Dexateens. Roots Rock, Pop Rock, Americana, Southern Rock, Alt-Country, and Midwestern Indie; however you want to label them, in the end it's about the songs, and good songs are good songs.