In the late '60s and early '70s , many predicted that the children of the hippies, freaks and rock 'n' rollers would be tomorrow's straight-laced conservatives who, presumably, would spearhead a Mantovani/Lawrence Welk revival. In fact, today's musical landscape is littered with kids of players from the first great flowering of underground rock. Instead of rebelling against dad's or mom's profession, these kids are intrigued by it and the promises of self-expression it offers, and want to follow in their parents' footsteps.

Take Jesse Bryson, for instance. His father, Wally Bryson, was lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for Cleveland's influential Raspberries from 1970-1975. At a time when it was fashionable to make “serious” music that valued musicianship over a good tune, the Raspberries harked back shamelessly to the '60s British invasion, earning praise and ridicule in equal measures.

Three decades later, 23-year-old Jesse is doing the same thing on his new disc, Dry , released as the Bryson Group. The other half of this “group” is none other than his 54-year-old father, who produced the disc, played guitar and sang harmonies on a batch of songs composed mainly by the younger Bryson. The two share a cross-generational affinity for tunefully romantic Beatles-styles tunes and Stonesy goodtime rock 'n' roll.

Although their musical tastes are clearly sympathetic, Bryson doesn't sound all that much like his father, whose voice is rawer and whose songwriting always had a harder rock edge. The songs on Dry are soft-centered: even rockers like “Come Inside” or “You Gotta Rock” have a sort of relaxed, sunny sweetness. But Bryson seems most comfortable on ballads, whether they're acoustic-flavored and intimate like “Stay In,” “Shallow” or “Dry” or sweeping and orchestral in feel like “Just Dream of Me” or “Disappointed.” His clear, gentle voice seems better suited for these or even the acoustic, country-flavored “Looks,” and the ringing harmonies on most of the track emphasize the tunes' sheer prettiness.

Bryson's fate was cast early. He was 17 when his high school band, Qwasi Qwa, won the first High School Rock Off at the Odeon in 1997, launching it on the local club circuit. The band worked steadily for five years, putting out a live CD and showcasing at the prestigious South by Southwest Music conference in Austin, Texas. Bryson's dad lent a hand in mixing the live CD and even played onstage with the band occasionally.

But Bryson had a backlog of songs he'd never done with Qwasi Qwa, and he'd always wanted to work with his dad.

“A lot of them we did in a different way in Qwasi Qwa and we overhauled them,” he says. “Some I'd just done on demos, but [Wally] would come up with harmonies on the spot and make them better. He's good at working out harmonies on the fly. Dad is a great harmony singer, and I fancy myself to be a pretty good harmony singer.”

Prodded by Kay Bryson, Jesse's mother and Wally's wife, they went into SUMA Recording in Concord Township to do the CD with the help of engineer Paul Hamann and a mix of musicians that included Jesse's contemporaries as well as musicians like drummer Dave Alexy and keyboardist Ken Margolis from his dad's generation.

“I wanted to have a mix of old guys and young guys,” he says. “We didn't rehearse much. We had five rehearsals and then we recorded. We didn't want to work like maniacs — just go in and keep it loose.”

These songs and working with his dad definitely constitute a side project for Bryson, and one he'd like to repeat. But his musical energy is currently focused on a band he joined about a year ago, veteran local roots rockers Rosavelt, who will release a new studio album in the spring.

“Qwasi Qwa was kind of tailing off. It had kind of lost its luster, guys moving away and things like that,” Bryson says. “I'd been going to see [Rosavelt] since they put out [1997's] Carp and Bone and had talked about getting together to jam. I've been a fan since the first time I saw them. They'd been looking for a replacement for Kevin [Grasha] for a while, and after the first time I played with then, they said ‘you're in.' I've been having a blast playing with them. I hope to be in this band for a long time.”