“This was our biggest Battle of the Bands yet, and we couldn’t be more proud of what Dayton’s music scene is doing,” said Libby Ballengee, music booker at the Brightside. “The talent in this city is undeniable. And seeing all those little kids in the audience? That was my favorite part. That’s the next generation right there. This event just keeps growing, and we are so grateful to everyone who came out and showed up for local music.”
Toxic Brew Company hosted the event’s first-ever afterparty, featuring 2024 Battle of the Bands’ winner Freakquency. Sponsorship this year included Tony & Pete’s, Music Go Round, Omega Music, Resignation Records and more.
The Brightside Ballroom was sold out this year, with overflow into the Vod-Vil Bar. Each finalist had a 20-minute showcase, with winners determined entirely by the audience’s ranked-choice voting. Paid Leave brought it and took it.
“It’s taken a minute to process, but the wave of support we had those last couple weeks, the whole farm coming out to support everybody is what the scene in Dayton is really like,” said guitarist and vocalist Dylan Triplett. “It’s been overwhelming. I’ve just been catching up on Instagram notifications and emails today, and it’s something new every five minutes.”
Paid Leave formed in Dayton in 2023. Its first show was a Memorial Day weekend backyard barbecue. Classic rock covers were the starting point, but that 1970s aesthetic comes through in the original songs too.
“Middle school is when I got my first classic rock phase,” Triplett said. “I had the Beatles mop top haircut and everything. I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread.”
That may not be far from the truth.
For Brack Barrett, another guitarist/vocalist in the band, rock radio would be on in the house and garage. He also had two older brothers who were into it.
The other members of Paid Leave — bassist Dylan Thatcher, drummer Ethan Pearson and keyboardist/organist Liam Durcan — come from similar musical backgrounds.
Credit: JENNA SHUMAN
Credit: JENNA SHUMAN
It may be reductionist to call Paid Leave a classic rock band, particularly since the classic rock era is generally considered recordings from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. (Not to mention Paid Leave is a band made up of guys who were born after 2000.) But with floral-patterned shirts, bolo ties, loose-fitting vintage blazers, mustaches and Michael McDonald haircuts circa 1974, Paid Leave is both playing the part and dress it, too.
There is no issue referring to Paid Leave as a classic rock band. In fact, the band opened its Battle of the Bands set with the Allman Brothers song “Whipping Post,” a classic of the genre. But the boys in the band refer to Paid Leave as Midwest Americana, a term that mainly connotes folky singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars, which does not exactly fit Paid Leave’s loud, raucous guitar rock.
Dylan Thatcher explains.
“Being an Americana band in 2026 in our eyes is a little different,” he said. “Americana is almost rock and roll, a mixture of rock and roll and jazz and blues. All this American roots music. The way we look at it is we have a lot more to pull from than they did in 1968. It’s a fresh take on what Americana music can be.”
Paid Leave is a classic rock revival band that both pays tribute to its roots and pushes them forward.
“For what we’re doing specifically, I think this is the only time it could happen,” said drummer Ethan Pearson. “It’s the culmination of all the things, not only just those bands from the ‘70s, but those revival acts. We all have a really deep appreciation for early 2000s garage music. We’re really trying to blend all these elements together, to make something to try and push the old sounds further.”
Lately, Triplett’s found himself very heavy into the blues pioneers, which comes through in his solos. Those foundational elements created modern music. If there is no foundation, there is nothing else. It was built to last, and it has. Clearly, Paid Leave pays homage to those who came before, contributing to the timelessness of the music.
Last year, Paid Leave released its self-titled EP. A few months later, it released its latest single, “Three Quarters Away.” There’s more music in the can, with a plan to release its debut full-length later in 2026.
“We grew up in an era where rock and roll is like a rest stop gift shop souvenir thing,” Thatcher said. “We are compelled and inspired by this era and this time where it was a huge cultural driving force, when it was dangerous and uncomfortable. We’re trying to get back to that point.”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Paid Leave, Chorin, Novel Vibrations
When: 8 p.m. April 16
Where: Blind Bob’s, 430 E. 5th St., Dayton
Cost: $10
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