As far as rock ‘n’ roll origin stories go, The Bleeding Feathers’ formation has a certain rustic charm. The trio met for the first time in December 2011 during a jam session in a rusty old horse barn on the edge of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The three young musicians, each with unique styles and influences, jammed for four hours, almost instantly concocting a chemistry that led them to forming and playing their first gig together at JB’s in Kent a month later. Even their pedigree is cool, based on an introduction by Charles Auerbach, father of The Black Keys’ singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach. “After that first session, we were asking, ‘Is this a band?’ And the answer was basically, ‘Yes,’” says bassist Austin Glosik, who makes up The Bleeding Feathers along with Taylor Carano (guitar/vocals) and Tim Ellinger (drums). That first session inspired the group’s brand of “rusty barn rock blues,” a raw amalgamation of distorted guitars and growling vocals deeply rooted in the ’40s and ’50s blues and rock ‘n’ roll stylings of old masters like John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf. Other assorted influences include rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, and Black Sabbath, with a touch of hard-edged ’90s grunge mixed in for spice. The band has spent 2012 honing their craft at venues around Akron and Kent. Some of their material was ready-made by Carano before The Bleeding Feathers even formed. But since January, the group has been busy writing new music together while practicing out of a small room nestled inside the old barn where they first met. The fact that the barn is on the property of Carano’s parents’ house hopefully doesn’t diminish the musically romantic nature of that magical first session. “We get a unique sound playing in that barn,” says Glosik, 26, of Cuyahoga Falls, by day a project manager at RoofTec Inc., a Willoughby consulting firm. “It’s just two amps and a drum set with no mics. The sound is really tight.” Stylistically, each band member has his own specific talents and influences. Bassist Glosik’s “warm and dark” tone, similar to that employed by Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, mixes nicely with Carano’s over-driven guitar work and Ellinger’s multifaceted drumming talents. Carano and Ellinger, introduced to each other by Auerbach, had shared the stage at a few open-mic nights in Akron, so Glosik had to quickly meld his style with the rest of the band. “All three of us have a stylized approach to music,” he says. “Joining together has given us our own sound.” In addition to storming the local bar scene, The Bleeding Feathers have been putting together an EP so fresh it was just released August 18, during a show at The Vortex Concert Club in Akron. The band recorded with Kent-based engineer Rick Fuller, whittling down 20 songs into a mean half-dozen of their favorite tracks. “I’ve done DIY home recordings, but I’ve never worked with a skilled engineer,” says Glosik. “We did all six songs in two or three takes. We tried to keep everything very raw and livestyle.” The work he has done with The Bleeding Feathers is the most he’s ever dedicated to a band, Glosik notes. He was 10 when he first picked up the guitar, playing along to Nirvana and Metallica albums while dabbling in punk music in high school. He learned bass during his student years at University of Akron majoring in construction technology. “Any young kid playing guitar wants to be in a band,” says Glosik. Now that he’s in one, the next step for The Bleeding Feathers is to record a full-length album, most likely with an 8-track recording system using the barn as a studio. Otherwise, the trio will continue gigging and getting the word out, says Glosik, with hopes that a single jam session will one day evolve into a hard-charging blues explosion that rocks the nation.