It’s March now, so that means we’re in the strange, in-between time of the year when the cold has relented, the days are getting longer, and the calendar is filling up with local shows in advance of the coming festival onslaught of the Spring.
The metro’s local slate is actually looking a bit different this time around, though.
With Tower and Beer City now catering primarily to buzzworthy touring acts and their well-honed dance party/tribute act lineup, the local load is being lifted by stalwarts like Speakeasy, Resonant Head, and the excitedly resurging Blue Note along with more creative spaces like Factory Obscura and bookstore/venue Bookish.
And even with the impending festival season sucking up a lot of the musical air, all of those stages are still hitting the scene hard this month with showcases for some of the most electric, soulful, and surprising acts Oklahoma has to offer.
Wet Muscles / AJ Harvey / Stephen Salewon – 51st St. Speakeasy – Friday, March 7th
A trio of some of OKC’s best soulful, funky pop acts is descending upon The Speak to kick off the season with some swoon-worthy songwriting and croon-worthy soft-rocking.
Salewon and Harvey each provide some serious pipes and their own brands of soulful swagger while Wet Muscles sweep through with quite a bit more youthful, indie-rock energy to tie a big, danceable bow onto the evening.
For more information, follow @the_speak on Instagram.
Ut Mutem / Allison Ward / The Blackstar Experience / Sofia Silueta – Bookish – Saturday, March 8th
OKC-based dark experimental organizers Dissociation are at it once again with another ear-popping lineup on what’s essentially become their home stage inside indie bookstore and event space Bookish.
As the only OKC local of the night, Ut Mutem will be representing the city with his unsettlingly ambient cassette looping alongside two devastatingly dark Tulsan experimenters: noise-ambient hybrid artist Allison Ward and electro- deconstructionist The Blackstar Experience.
They’ll all be joined by Houston’s Sofia Silueta, an experimental cellist who uses the instrument to create everything from transcendent ambient beauty all the way to mind-shattering noise and harshness.
For more information, visit shop-bookish.com.
Skating Polly / Keathley – Factory Obscura – Thursday, March 13th
Sibling punk-poppers Skating Polly may have moved on and set up shop in Washington now, but Oklahoma will likely always claim them as our own, especially as their style of irreverent, high-energy chaos-pop paved the way for a whole host of young Okie acts to come.
They’ll be blowing through to grace the recently exploding Factory Obscura stage as part of the arthouse venue’s Spring Break Stopover series through March.
Also joining is Minnesota’s Gully Boys and OKC’s own Keathley, who’ll no doubt be adding a touch of darker detachment and attitude to the night’s sound.
For times, tickets, and more, visit factoryobscura.com.
Coat / Cherry Laurel – Blue Note – Friday, March 14th
After a long stretch of re-finding their feet in the concert scene, Blue Note appears to be back to reclaim their spot as one of the best sites for local acts with a stacked slate of shows over the next couple of months.
Any fan of hypnotic, textural indie-pop should take note of this double bill featuring two of the city’s hottest bands for chill indie as Coat and Cherry Laurel join forces in the historic venue.
Coat have quickly established themselves as one of the tightest bands in the scene and Cherry Laurel have been hitting the ground running in recent months on the heels of their gazey dream-pop debut “Taxi Lullaby.”
For times, tickets, and more, visit okcbluenote.com.
Oh Jeremiah / Baileyboy / Chase Kerby – Resonant Head – Sunday, March 30th
Hailing from Nashville by way of Mississippi, Oh Jeremiah trade in a kind of whimsical and homegrown spin on southern-tinged folk-pop.
But when they tumble through Capitol Hill’s colorful Resonant Head late this month, they’ll be supported by a couple of city acts that will be on hand to open up the breadth of sounds and styles for the evening.
Singer/songwriter Chase Kerby has long been one of the strongest and most nakedly introspective songsmiths on the scene, and Baileyboy has recently and rapidly grown from a similarly hushed and vulnerable folk act to something much louder as singer Bailey Gilbert and her electrified band react to the changing world.
Taken together, this late Sunday looks to run a full spectrum of emotions as much as sounds.
For times, tickets, and more, visit resonanthead.com.
You can find out about local music and performance happenings in the OKC metro weekly in this music column by Brett Fieldcamp. | Brought to you by True Sky Credit Union.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
