Three other bands – Fight Before Surrender, Toxic Nobility and Falling Through Time – will also play. Admission is $7.
While his peers were listening to hip hop, boy bands, country and other genres, Knabe, a 2018 Springfield High School graduate, was drawn to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses, honing his guitar skills to follow in their footsteps. The challenge was finding other musicians who had the same rocking desire, and he found them in Tyler Wissman, Alex Lugo and Zach Lugo, who are from other areas of the Miami Valley.
Not content on doing covers, Knabe wanted to do his own music and didn’t have to look far for influences for his lyrics.
“My experiences here shaped the music,” he said. “Downtown Springfield has come a long way.”
Knabe said he saw people around him struggling, not living their best lives. But he hinted there’s a happier ending.
Dreadful Rumor has released other songs, but those were considered a practice run, and if they were going to put out a full album they wouldn’t rush it.
“This is the real thing. We’ve sat on it a while, and we’ve got it right at this point,” Knabe said.
Another challenge has been finding venues to play their music. The group played at Springfield’s Club Panama frequently prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and once at COhatch after.
The struggle is finding other similar bands to share a bill with. That won’t be a problem on Saturday as Knabe said meeting Brian Traylor of the State Theater at the right time was a key, especially with the theater’s recent revival.
“We’ll play the whole album, and there will be a couple of surprises,” said Knabe. “We’re ready to celebrate what we’ve achieved.”
The band will have CDs of “From Rags to Ditches” for sale at the release party. It will also be available through Dreadful Rumor’s social media outlets, www.instagram.com/dreadfulrumor/ and www.facebook.com/dreadfulrumor/.
As for the future, the next album is underway already. Knabe said the band will explore some new sound influences including Americana and the Rolling Stones, but won’t lose its rocking edge.
“We want to keep giving people things they can listen to,” he said.
HOW TO GO
What: Dreadful Rumor album release party
Where: State Theater, 19 S. Fountain Ave., Springfield
When: 6-11 p.m. Saturday, June 22
Admission: $7 plus 0.18 cents service fee
More info: www.springfieldstatetheater.com/
About the Author