Hall of Fame City, whose name is appropriately derived from their hometown's legendary professional football museum, is ready to put Canton, Ohio on the map in a different way. With a unique combination of flow, melodic tone, and genre versatility, Hall of Fame City attracts a cross-stream of listeners and fans. As momentum builds, Hall of Fame City continues to work on their debut album "Glory of the Victor" and looks to set new standards in 2008 within the music industry.
Hall of Fame City is comprised of two life-long friends Caspur (Ryan Ahbel) and Lodi (Nicholas Monter) who jokingly refers to themselves as the "rat pack of rock and rap." Caspur and Lodi attained their nicknames from Casper Avenue, the street in which they lived in Canton, and also Snoop Doggy Dogg's classic 90's remake of "Lodi Dodi". The chemistry that has enabled their friendship to last decades translates in the studio and allows Hall of Fame City to exhibit a comfortable collection of influences within their music.
Caspur and Lodi were predominantly listening to rap in high school. They quickly discovered their talent as they rapped along to the likes of fellow Midwestern natives such as Bone Thugs and Harmony, Twista or the West and East Coast influences of Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas. Lodi recalls, "I began rapping because I would listen to music and think 'I can do this myself' and so I started writing and rapping and from there my sound began to evolve." In 2000, Lodi and another friend convinced Caspur that he would make a fine addition to their newly developed group; making them a rap trio entitled ABG Appeal. Though the new group was successful, they were both young and inexperienced. After a short run, Caspur pursued a less than fulfilling solo career. Caspur adds, "Our sound really has progressed. We started out heavy on the hop-hop and eventually began to blend it with some more rock elements because the mixture of the two felt more natural to us."
The first single "Glory of the Victor" from Hall of Fame City's debut album effortlessly demonstrates an adrenaline pumping blend of Rock and Hip Hop. "We wanted to write a song that captures the moment that Hall of Fame City is in now. That's how we feel on stage, in the studio, or every time we hear our song on the radio. You get a high from it and it motivates us to keep demanding more out of ourselves", explains Lodi. Their motivational yet relatable message in "Glory of the Victor" is indicative of Hall of Fame City’s vast array of concepts that they have in their arsenal.
Hall of Fame City's unique combination of rapid hip hop flows is infused into an edgier rock element and has attracted a variety of fans who covet a "new age" style of music. Hall of Fame City’s MySpace page (www.myspace/halloffamecity330.com) receives thousands of messages a week. Songs such as "Punishment", "Mouth Piece", and their single "Glory of the Victor" are on countless Myspace profiles. When viewing their page you come across the hundreds of comments they receive weekly from fans all over the country and the world. "We get messages in German and French all the time" jokes Lodi, "we can’t understand what they say but we like to think they are saying good things!"
The complete essence of Hall of Fame City is experienced in their live shows. With the heavy rock influence of guitarist Mike Bailey and drummer Jessie Marquart, the interplay between Rock and Hip-Hop is exchanged the best. A notable Hall of Fame City performance took place when they were invited to perform a live set at the special event hosted by VH1's "Rock of Love" winner Jes. When it comes to performing live, Caspur humorously notes, "There is a lot of good music around here, we want to take our music on the road and show that Ohio has more than corn and football."
Aside from performing as many live sets as possible, Hall Of Fame City is in the process of having their debut album mixed and mastered in Nashville, TN. With a tentative completion date set for the fall of 2008, Hall Of Fame City is aiming to get picked up by a major record label to take their progressive hybrid sound to new heights. "We love Ohio but our goal is a lot bigger than being big here" says Lodi. "We feel this new project is a step in the right direction as far as being appealing to a wide variety of music listeners without compromising our craft."
"We feel this is the type of project to take on a national level" says Caspur when asked about his outlook for the future of Hall Of Fame City. "2008 is going to be a big year for us.†With Hall of Fame City's momentum and fan base rising by the day, 2008 will prove to be a monumental year both musically and personally. Hall of Fame City is ready to take their invigorating approach and sound to the top of the charts.
Myspace Contact TablesLodi & Caspur on stage together for the first time as "Hall Of Fame City" in Nashville, TN with Damien Horne.
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