Listening Midwestward - The Lighthouse and the Whaler

Cleveland, Ohio is a city whose residents are generally described as, "hard working", "blue-collar", and as people who "bring their lunch pails to work." It's an old steel town that never lost the steel town reputation; a place that seems to fit fuzzy guitars, and heavy backbeats. In recent years the city has been trying to shake off the Rust Belt aura, and the sweet, ornate indie-pop of The Lighthouse and the Whaler is a sure step in that direction.

Ohio Through Fresh Eyes

In 2006 I was chomping at the bit to get out of Ohio. I was on the tail end of four years in Columbus capping 23 years total in the state. Anxiety and frustration flowed through my veins like blood and alcohol and my impatient restlessness was at its peak. I'd been wanting to leave since I was 13 years old, dying to go off in search of some sense of purpose and belonging.

As I drove off in that U-Haul in the mid-August heat there's no way I could have predicted how comfortable I'd feel coming back.