It’s become practically impossible to get online and scroll the music pages these days without seeing one think piece after another declaring that touring is dead and unsustainable and impossibly out of reach and pointless for most up-and-coming musicians and artists.
To believe the blogs and influencers, you’re better off as a young songwriter now just pouring all of your energy into endless Tik Tok dances and algorithm-pleasing daily “content creation” rather than cramming into a van and taking your music directly to the people.
But there’s a host of Oklahoman artists hitting the road this season that are aiming to prove all of that wrong.
While the nation at large may still believe that Oklahoma music is relegated to little more than Zach Bryan and The Flaming Lips, the biggest breakouts from our OKC scene are striking out to prove that our state has an undeniable place on the indie map.
So let’s do something a little different, shall we? Instead of running down all the national acts traveling through or spotlighting the locals on stages around town, how about we take a look at the various OKC artists that are spreading their music far and wide and some ways that you can help and support them on the road?
stepmom – On tour now through March 23rd
Surely one of the hardest working acts in Oklahoma at the moment is the unstoppable stepmom, that hot pink, sharp-fanged quartet of propulsive, punk-powered psych-poppers.
The full stepmom experience extends far beyond their self-billed “orchestral dream-punk” sound, though.
They’re currently crossing through the Midwest and South inviting new audiences into their standout live show that recently wowed OKC at Factory Obscura’s “Profitopia,” featuring their locally iconic dancing characters, oozing stage props, and unmistakable mindset extolling the power and force of all things unapologetically “girly.”
While they’re on tour (and while they’re no doubt planning for more,) you can support them directly through donations on their site, and also through their unique merch, including props and items from Profitopia.
See stepmom tour dates at stepmomband.com/tour.
Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards – On tour March 27th through June
At this point, it’s safe to say that Johnny Manchild and his Poor Bastards have found their niche and are now just consolidating their powers and converting new faithful followers by the day.
The emo-tinged, theater-adjacent piano-rockers have captured hearts and minds across a very specific and rabid young fanbase online, even securing their own wiki on Fandom.com.
But even though the boys just dropped the full-length “Rapture Waltz” only one year ago, they’re already releasing new singles like the recent “Already Over” and the upcoming “Voluntary Animals” ahead of a sprawling North American trek through theaters and clubs.
They’ll be stopping back in their hometown here at Resonant Head on May 3rd before setting off again to hit about half the country and even to pop into Canada.
If you want to get in on their irrepressibly rising action, you can buy their albums on their site, join their Patreon and get a bunch of fun exclusive content, or just add your number to the 60,000-strong streamer army they’ve amassed.
See Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards tour dates at manchild.band.
Jabee – On tour through April and May
Speaking of irrepressible, the inexhaustible champion of OKC rap, Jabee, is poised to break somehow even bigger and bolder than ever before as he hits the road throughout April and May with Minneapolis legend Brother Ali.
This is Jabee’s first major tour since joining the wavemaking hip-hop label Mello Music Group, placing the Eastside breakout alongside some rap giants and some of his own personal heroes like Ali, Murs, Oddisee, and even groundbreaker Kool Keith.
If you can’t swing a road trip to any of the shows – and if you don’t have any friends or family in those cities that you can convince to make it out – you can still support Jabee on the road and on the label. Hit up the Mello Music Group site and snag a golden cassette or one of those gorgeous orange splatter vinyl releases.
See all the dates for Jabee supporting Brother Ali at brotherali.com/events.
Jason Scott and the High Heat – On tour April through August
Scott and his High Heat boys are not only one of the biggest recent successes from Oklahoma’s underground country scene, they’re also surely one of the best recent additions to the kind of guitar-rocking, foot-stomping, drink-swigging outsider country style that the genre’s mainstream is lately largely ignoring.
And that’s why it’s so heartening to see them securing festival slots and generating major buzz ahead of the release of new album “American Grin” later this month.
This spring and summer are set to see them popping up in theaters from New York City to Dallas and on festival lineups as far-flung as Oregon and Washington state.
So if you want to show some love to the High Heat while they’re proudly carrying the Okie spirit all over the country, you can grab a t-shirt or pre-order “American Grin” on their site right now.
See Jason Scott and the High Heat tour dates at jsandthehighheat.com/tour.
Husbands – On tour April through May
It feels like while no one was really looking, OKC’s Husbands snuck through some kind of back door to become the biggest breakout act from our state, riding their surf-y, garage-y, occasionally electro-kissed indie-rock all the way to headline tours and Lollapalooza slots.
Even with massive worldwide follower counts and streaming numbers in the hundreds of thousands, it’s cool to see that they’ve still got “okc” in their online handles and web addresses.
But they’re definitely not resting on any of their heels or laurels, already set to criss-cross the country once again on the beautifully named “Skippin’ Texas Tour” alongside some seriously awesome acts like TOLEDO, Tennis, and Spaceface.
So if you want to throw some love Husbands’ way, you can jump onto husbandsokc.com (see?) and pick up some copies of any of their albums (including 2023’s most recent “Quatro”) or maybe just snag a shirt or two in some of their characteristically and appropriately summer-y styles.
See Husbands tour dates at husbandsokc.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.
