Clarence and the Beekeepers places second at Tri-C High School Rock Off

JOHN BENSON FOR THE COMMUNITY GUIDE

The buzz surrounding this year’s Tri-C High School Rock Off “Final Exam” was Lorain County-based outfit Clarence and the Beekeepers, which came in second.

The country quartet — Christian Gendics (guitar, vocals), Daniel Durant (guitar, vocals), Lincoln Garrett (bass) and Ethan Meszaros (drums) — put on quite the show during its performance held last weekend at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“It was great getting country music to place in that competition,” said Gendics, 17, a junior at Amherst Steele High School. “It’s crazy because usually you don’t see that style of music being played. We kind of rock it up a little bit. We played a rocked-up country song called ‘Take me to the Top.’ It’s a song we wrote with a great chorus and good harmonies. I think they appreciated that.”

Influenced by Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Ricky Skaggs, Clarence and the Beekeepers earned a second-place cash prize of $1,500 with an additional $100 going to their respective high school music programs.

“We’ll probably going to buy a new piece of gear,” Gendics said.

It turned out playing the Rock Off is nothing new for Gendics and bandmate Durant, who were in not one but three “Final Exam” bands including Antimatter and Skippy’s on the Run.

Put in context, Gendics over the last few years has played in 11 Rock Off bands leading to a total of more than 15 Rock Hall performances.

When asked for the secret of playing so many Rock Off dates, Gendics said, “I think it’s the attention to detail and timing for the covers and originals we do.”

As far as Gendics’ interest in performing, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the rock ’n’ roll tree considering his dad, Brad, is not only a local gigging musician but also owns Ron Zehl Guitar Center.

“Oh, it’s great,” Gendics said. “It’s like walking into a candy store every day. You can’t ask for a better setup than that.”

More so, the Avon Lake business in recent years has produced a cottage industry of High School Rock Off bands as part of its Rock Academy program.

“We’re very fortunate to have good families and students that believe in what we do,” Brad said. “We work very hard and put a lot of time and effort into our Rock