Six months ago, John Johnson and Joie Sherman-Johnson, both University of Oklahoma alum who make up the duo North Meets South, were working corporate jobs in Washington, D.C., playing “casually, not even weekly, not even monthly for about two years,” per Johnson, before relocating to Norman. Fresh from a short tour of the Midwest, the […]
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Cope skills
Photo: Anna Lee It only took one neglected guitar for Oklahoma City singer-songwriter Chelsey Cope to devote herself to music. “My older sister had this weird obsession with Garth Brooks when she was younger. She asked for a guitar to learn how to play, but she was gone all the time. She had a lot […]
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Two Snakes — Cut Them Down
Two Snakes call its brand of music meat-and-potatoes rock, but that’s underselling it. Humble, yes, but there’s a lot more going on here, and it’s a joy to listen to hard rock that brings in equal parts intellect and aggression. Lead track “Alleys” zips to a start, boasting a burly guitar hook and bass riff […]
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Dillard’s exclusive
Give Tara Dillard a spotlight and a stage and she is set. Earlier this summer, the Oklahoma City-based singer-songwriter released her first single, “So Long,” on iTunes and Spotify, with plans to release a full EP soon. “I’ve just released the one single right now,” she said. “The whole EP project I’m hoping to finish […]
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Oh, yeah
This fall’s co-headlining tour between Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees finds both acts in new territory. Longtime favorites of the underground garage-rock scene, the groups are far more used to playing in venues that double as closet-sized dive bars or warehouse backrooms, but as they begin to command more sizable crowds, they find themselves […]
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Depth test
Photo: Laura Raczkowski Owning a recording studio and heading a small, Oklahoma record label gives Chris Harris, front man of local shoegaze three-piece Depth & Current, a certain perspective on what it takes to survive in the world of independent music: Namely, adapt or die. To that end, the Norman-based “nightmare-pop” band decided to include […]
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Matt Stansberry & the Romance — Let’s Brighten It Up
The brilliant new nine-player band brings all sorts of new layers to the formula. Stansberry’s melodies are good enough to stand on their own; the backing vocals, horn section and keys add another dimension to his sound. The title track bridges the gap between ’50s pop and soul, beaming like sunshine with a good amount […]
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Cosmostanza — Rad Vibes
Other music is just a hell of a lot of fun. Oklahoma City garage-rock duo Cosmostanza falls into the latter category with its debut EP, Rad Vibes, which is as gnarly as the title would suggest. The record is charmingly lo-fi and jam-packed with just as much promise as young, nervy energy. Rad Vibes finds […]
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Mayhem fest
Oklahoma City outfit Chronicles of Mayhem isn’t like most metal bands. The four-piece is just about as concerned with shaking your hips as melting your face. “I like music that is accessible. There’s great music that is so highly technical and impressive because of that musicianship, but it can get lost in the crowd,” guitarist […]
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Youth group
Most people play in their first band sometime in high school. But recent high school graduate Scottie Noonan — chief songwriter, singer and guitarist of Enid acoustic-pop act The Fossil Youth — is already an old pro, with half a decade of experience behind him. “It’s helped me progress a lot quicker. A lot of […]