Clementine Easton is a student at Whetstone High School. This piece was written for Columbus Journalists in Training, a program sponsored by the Columbus Dispatch and Society of Professional Journalists Central Ohio Pro-Chapter for Columbus City Schools students. Clementine was a member of team Music Talks.
COVID-19 may have put a damper on Columbus' live music scene, but as stages have opened back up and crowds have begun to form again, one of Columbus’ most unique local bands has returned to the spotlight.
The Dad Band is exactly what it sounds like: a group of Clintonville dads united through a passion for music performance, with proceeds from their shows going to local schools. The group's upcoming show is at Global Gallery coffee shop in Clintonville 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 13. Music starts at 7.
The Dad Band formed gradually in 2014 and 2015, with founding members Allen Kraus (guitar) and Gus Dahlberg (vocals) turning a backyard jam session into a full-fledged band, eventually adding Joel Husentis (drums) and Craig Freshour (bass) to their act.
“We learned a couple of songs together, and that worked out pretty well, and then (Kraus) was like, ‘we should add a drummer, a drummer would make this really good,'" said Dahlberg, explaining that they then recruited Husentis and Freshour.
“At the time, all of our kids were at Clinton (Elementary)… and there was carpooling going on,” said Kraus.
Most of the group's members were originally in other bands before they had kids, according to Freshour.
From Beastie Boys to Neil Diamond, the band covers a wide range of music by artists you’d never expect to hear in the same set. Kraus describes the band's repertoire as “whatever our wives and friends are most responsive to.”
“With each of us being middle aged dads, we’re walking around with these databases in our brains of like, a hundred thousand different songs, so it’s interesting when we get together and see how those venn diagrams overlap," said Freshour.
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The Dad Band went on hiatus because of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, but Freshour said that playing their instruments live wasn’t necessarily what the Dads missed most.
“Beyond just playing music, I think a big part of Dad Band is the social aspect and getting together. It’s one of the opportunities to get with other guys my age that I have stuff in common with,” he said.
“[Coming back from the pandemic] was a feeling of elation. Especially the first show we did after coming back, it felt like a community… all of these people, even in the neighborhood, that you hadn’t seen in a year and a half because we were all locked up,” said Husentis.
The band’s audience mainly consists of families from Clintonville schools, such as Whetstone High School and Dominion Middle School. Dad Band shows typically feature a donation bucket, where audience members can donate money that goes to Columbus City Schools and local parent-teacher organizations like the Whetstone PTA, according to Kraus.
The band also gives students opportunities to perform music with them at events.
“There’s usually 4 or 5 songs per show that are featuring guest performers,” said Kraus. “People love seeing kids perform and being like ‘oh, they’ve got some talent, this is really cool,'” said Freshour.
Not only does the Dad Band bring a sense of community to Clintonville families, but it means something special to each of its members.
“I would say my favorite thing is the camaraderie,” said Husentis.
“My favorite thing is the give and take process," said Freshour. "Even though we play cover songs, we don’t necessarily play them as reproductions of the songs, so there’s still a creativity element… which I don’t get to do a ton during the day and during my job.”
“We always try to figure out, no matter how complicated the song is, how can we do it Dad Band style?” said Kraus.
“My favorite thing about the Dad Band is the end result,” said Dahlberg. “When we’re onstage and the audience is out there, what I love the most is when we break out a new song that they haven’t heard us do yet, and it’s 180 degrees from what we just did.”
Clementine Easton is a student at Whetstone High School. This piece was written for Columbus Journalists in Training, a program sponsored by the Columbus Dispatch and Society of Professional Journalists Central Ohio Pro-Chapter for Columbus City Schools students. Clementine was a member of team Music Talks.
