Correspondent photo / Bob Jadloski Documentary filmmakers Alexander E. Tennent and Eric S. Vaughan, second and third from left, are shown with Warren native John Zabrucky, left, and Gerald V. Casale of Devo before an event May 4 at Medici Museum of Art in Howland. Tennent and Vaughan are working on a docuseries “The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll” chronicling Northeast Ohio’s important role in rock’s history and the next generation of acts continuing that legacy.

Documentary filmmakers Eric S. Vaughan and Alexander E. Tennent believe Northeast Ohio has had a larger-than-recognized impact on rock music, and they want the rest of the country to realize it as well.

The pair is working on a docuseries called “The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which will feature at least four installments looking at the region’s musical legacy.

“I find it to be very true that this region punches above its weight when you look at various aspects of life,” said Tennent, content producer on the docuseries. “It’s not just music, it’s sports, it’s business, it’s history. Youngstown probably has more champion fighters per capita than anywhere in the world. When you look at the musicians who have come from around here, I’m always discovering notable people that maybe didn’t make it here, but spring from here.”

Neither Vaughan nor Tennent are from “here.” Tennent grew up in Oregon and Vaughan is from Utah. Both now live in Akron and previously worked together on the 2020 docuseries “The Con.” The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was conceived last fall, and work began on the project in the spring. One of the inspirations for the project was May 4, 1970, events at Kent State University, where Ohio National Guardsmen fired upon students, killing four people and wounding nine more.

“I’ve always been struck by just the number of notable people who were impacted by that who were there, and how many of them are these prominent musicians,” Tennent said. “I’ve always been sort of fascinated by how music, and in this case, rock ‘n’ roll, serves as a tool to respond to all the ills that are happening in the world.”

Tennent and Vaughan used an event at Medici Museum of Art of Howland on the 55th anniversary of the Kent State shootings to connect with Devo founder Gerald V. Casale, who joined Warren native John Zabrucky for a conversation about their experiences at Kent State and their friendship of nearly 60 years. They shot footage of Devo’s concert later that month and shot interviews with Casale and other members of the band.

In addition to the members of Devo, those in Kent at that time included Joe Walsh (The James Gang, The Eagles), Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) and Chris Butler (The Waitresses, Tin Huey).

Northeast Ohio also became an important market for rock acts in the ’70s trying to break nationally. WMMS-FM in Cleveland was one of the first stations to play many of the decade’s biggest musical stars. David Bowie played his first concert at Cleveland Music Hall and many others made the Cleveland Agora (which had an affiliated club in Youngstown for several years) one of its first stops.

The region’s impact goes back even further.

“The very beginnings of rock ‘n’ roll and the role that the radio played in popularizing the new music form, so much of the engine for that was here,” Tennent said. “Youngstown is where Alan Freed (who grew up in Salem) got his start, then onto Akron and Cleveland and from Cleveland to New York.”

The documentarians decided to create “The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll” as a series rather than a single film in order to devote sufficient time to everything they want to explore, Tennent said. And if the initial episodes are successful, it would give them the opportunity to add additional episodes that might explore the impact of other regions in the state. Their goal is to start post-production on the first two episodes by late fall.

In addition to exploring Northeast Ohio’s role in rock’s history, the series also wants to explore its possible impact on the future by including acts defining the “Ohio sound” today.

Those include Youngstown’s The Vindys, who will play an event Thursday at Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. A private VIP investor event is planned as Vaughan, Tennent and producer Bill Reishtein work to raise funds needed to complete the first two episodes, but it will be followed by a concert by The Vindys. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $20 and are available online at theofficialmusica.com.

“We had been talking about what area bands we could get to play something like this, and they were always at the top of the list,” Tennent said.