Meet Kingsley Conkle of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kingsley Conkle.

Hi Kingsley, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Some of our earliest memories include watching our dad hold band practices in the basement or play three-hour shows from behind his drum kit at a local bar, as well as tagging along with our mom to rehearsals at church. Even our great-grandparents were quite musical. Our great-grandpa had his own orchestra and played the drums and several wind instruments, while our great-grandma played the organ and banjo. Music has always been a big part of our family and has been at the center of many gatherings.

Zac started playing drums at just two years old. I, Kingsley, got my first guitar at around the same age, but I left it outside, where it was ruined by the rain. At nine years old, I received my first electric guitar and began playing almost every day.

While in high school, Zac and I joined a small youth group in southern Ohio and started playing there on the weekends. After graduating, we moved to upstate New York and began working for a large organization called The Father’s House. We played several times a week, honing our craft in front of crowds of all sizes and in many different environments.

After a brief hiatus out West, we returned to our family farm in Northeast Ohio, started booking shows, and began to officially establish ourselves as The Conkle Brothers. Monthly gigs turned into weekly gigs, and weekly gigs quickly turned into fully booked weekends—and sometimes three shows in a single day. Today, we play almost every weekend in our hometown of Columbiana, Ohio. The support from our community is so strong that we rarely have to travel far for a gig.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There is no road quite like this one. Some days it seems smooth, and others, you can’t even see the path ahead, but we didn’t learn to play our instruments because it was easy – the reward of the journey itself has always been enough to make the condition of the road feel irrelevant.

We aren’t in this for the money, but unfortunately, exposure doesn’t pay the bills, and gear isn’t cheap. Finding the right price has been one of our greatest challenges. I don’t believe there is one right answer for every musician, but what has worked for us is performing consistently and local.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We specialize in LIVE music – no backing tracks, no drum machines, nothing prerecorded, and no autotune. Everything you hear is created live in real time.

We’re known for our sibling harmonies and full-band sound. Although we’re only a duo, our sound rivals that of most four or five piece bands. All the equipment we use to gig every weekend is a lot of fun, but we take pride in knowing that we don’t NEED any of it to perform. At its core, what we do is purely acoustic – and in today’s world, not recording to a click almost feels like an act of rebellion

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
We’ve taken a lot of risks as live musicians. Whether it’s saying “yes” to a private party and showing up to perform for a group of strangers at a place we’ve never been, taking on a residency at Cedar Point during the height of the pandemic, or simply pursuing a career in live music these days – it all feels like a risk. But you know what they say: high risk, high reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theconklebrothers.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheConkleBrothers
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheConkleBrothers
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/theconklebrothers
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kingsleyconkle