When Tyler Randall and Rob Keenan of Dawg Yawp were discovered by their manager and producer, fellow Cincinnati musician Rob Fetters, they were performing seated on the floor at their local creperie. You would think it was the uniqueness of Randall playing the sitar in rock music that caught Fetters' ear — but more than that, it was Dawg Yawp's songs, which treated the unusual instrument as anything but a gimmick.

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