Fans of Americana and country music are stomping their boots for Country Honk. The four-piece Cleveland band is making waves with its debut album and building a following across Northeast Ohio and beyond.
There aren’t many bands like Country Honk in this region, and that’s just how singer-guitarist Thor Platter likes it.
Platter said the band is filling a local gap for fans craving authentic, home-grown country music.
“People come out, and they want to put boots and hats on, and they want to save themselves the travel down to Nashville," Platter said.
Platter said he and his bandmates have friends in the music scene who travel to Nashville for gigs, but there are plenty of country-music fans in Cleveland, too.
“People are starving for it,” he said, “To have acts that are home-based, and they can come out and see it a couple times a month.”
Bringing classic country to Cleveland rather than chasing it down south is at the core of Country Honk.
With a sound that mixes sharp songwriting, rich harmonies, and toe-tapping rhythms, Country Honk isn’t aiming for the glossy polish of country pop.
Instead, they lean hard into the heart and grit of classic country with a modern twist, drawing from a well of influences like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam.
Taking a leap of faith
The band was born out of a bold personal decision. For years, Platter balanced music with a day job — until the COVID-19 pandemic pushed him to make a choice.
“At the start of the pandemic, I lost that job and was kind of faced with, ‘Well, do I really dig in and do music full-time or go back to that or try and find something?’” he said.
Recognized for his soulful, Americana sound and poetic songwriting, Platter has been a staple in the roots music scene as a solo artist for years.
Platter decided to take a leap of faith and dive into his passion headfirst.
“At the end of 2020, I just kind of dug into it and started going full speed,” he said.
That leap led directly to the creation of Country Honk in 2021.
Originally an outlaw country cover act, the band began writing original material and shaping a distinct identity.
It wasn’t long before they had enough to record their debut album.
“Bad Decision,” a 10-track collection, is filled with honky-tonk heartbreakers, sharp songwriting and nods to both tradition and personal storytelling.
The album was recorded at Suma Recording in Painesville, a historic studio that specializes in analog equipment. The band produced the record themselves.
Platter credits much of the band’s chemistry to its rhythm section: bassist Tom Prebish and drummer Fred Perez-Stable.
The two have been playing together since high school, bringing a deep, intuitive understanding to every song.
“When I had the opportunity to start hiring them for other acts or other gigs that we had picked up, I just jumped at it,” Platter said. “So, it's really been great because they're established. They're set. They've known each other since they were teenagers. It’s kind of like they speak their own language.”
Together with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Papaleo, who handles electric guitar, steel guitar, piano and backing vocals, the band has built a sound rooted in country’s golden era but alive with its own point of view.
Reaching new audiences and staying rooted
With themes exploring life’s tough choices, relationship complexities and the push-pull between chasing dreams or staying grounded, the album’s songs resonate musically and emotionally.
From the lonesome, introspective ballad “But I Do” to the spirited instrumental “Bob’s Your Uncle,” the band’s range of influences, from Hank Williams to Buck Owens, gives them a distinct sound in the honky-tonk and country music sphere.
Onstage, each musician’s versatility and showmanship are a standout part of the Country Honk experience, especially as the band gears up to tour behind “Bad Decision.”
The album has recently reached a wider stage thanks to an unexpected boost from Saving Country Music, an online source with serious clout in the roots-music world.
“We felt like it was when we were teenagers, what you would get in Rolling Stone,” Platter said.
The article helped introduce Country Honk to new fans across the U.S. and abroad, expanding their reach well beyond the Cleveland bar circuit.
“We have a lot of European audience now from that. Europeans are very much into American country music,” Platter said.
Still, Platter isn’t interested in trading Cleveland for Nashville or another big music-industry city.
"I think we have something really special here in Cleveland.”Thor Platter
While he respects the artists who’ve made the move — and counts several as friends — he believes Country Honk has something unique in its homegrown roots.
“A lot of my friends moved down there at that point, and they're really successful,” he said. “But I think we have something really special here in Cleveland.”
That "something special" is precisely what keeps fans coming back.
Country Honk shows are filled with honky-tonk energy and anchored by a rhythm section that never misses a beat.
Audiences show up ready to dance, sing and connect with music that feels familiar yet fresh.
Country Honk will perform at Forest City Brewing on June 15, followed by shows throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and New York this summer.
