Tulsa has a vibrant live music scene. Here are 18 local artists to go see
In Tulsa World Magazine’s first issue dedicated to music, we wanted to go local. Not only is the local music scene alive today, but it also has deep roots.
Some of the biggest names in rock, country and pop got their first shot on the stages of Tulsa.
Tulsa’s own Paul Benjaman says it often: Music has always been Tulsa’s greatest natural resource.
While you do hear a lot of cover songs as you scan the music scene, you can also hear Tulsa bands playing songs written by other Tulsans. By other Oklahomans. Many are hits. Others are tunes that keep giving Tulsa a place on the schedule at the South by Southwest festival in Austin and other national stages.
"The Tulsa music scene is second to none," said Kevin Smith, co-owner of Maggie's Music Box in Jenks with his wife, Amy, who has spent the past 12 years booking bands in Tulsa. "You can go to Nashville and see up-and-comers who our guys would blow away."
So, in the home of legendary Cain’s Ballroom, perennial national arena of the year candidate BOK Center, century-old Tulsa Theater and state-of-the-art casino venues, we dispatched Scene Writer Grace Wood, Columnist Bill Haisten, Editor Jason Collington and Staff Photographers Ian Maule and Daniel Shular to find the smaller local stages, watch bands and talk to musicians who keep bringing the crowds. Here is your guide.
Wanda Watson Band: Tulsa native, powerful blues singer will remind you of Janis Joplin
A native Tulsan and 1978 graduate of Will Rogers High School, Wanda Watson one day was singing in her car.
“You’re pretty good,” a friend said. “You should sing for an audience.”
At 23, Watson discovered she has a special voice. Within two years, she was providing vocals for a local rock band. As she became “more seasoned,” as she puts it, Watson developed an identity as a powerful blues vocalist.
The definition of a “loyal following:” when many of the same people who attended Watson gigs in 1987 are still there for Watson gigs in 2023. She has recorded her own music, worked as a background singer on the recordings of others, covered the classics of other artists, opened for big-name headliners at the BOK Center and dazzled fans at hole-in-the-wall Tulsa taverns.
It makes perfect sense that uniquely talented singers such as Aretha Franklin, Kim Carnes, Etta James and Bonnie Raitt are among Watson’s primary influencers.
And, Watson adds, “Janis Joplin always got tagged on me — whether I liked it or not. I was pretty wild in my younger days and, by pure coincidence, our mannerisms were quite the same.”
A typical Watson setlist would include covers of Humble Pie’s “Fool For a Pretty Face,” Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” and Raitt’s “You’re Gonna Get What’s Coming.”
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Brent Giddens Band: The group with a Red Dirt identity that has also mastered the art of danceable, classic country music
Brent Giddens remains an educator as a middle-school teacher in Glenpool, but he no longer coaches. For one of the busier music figures in the Tulsa area, coaching would clash with weekend gigs.
“I didn’t get into the music scene until my late 30s,” Giddens explained. “We were doing country covers when we didn't have Elvis shows, and then I started to write my own music. Writing songs kind of became an obsession.”
Today, the Brent Giddens Band has a Red Dirt identity while having mastered the art of danceable, classic country music.
A recent Giddens gig at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s Track 5 venue is believed to have attracted the largest crowd in the four-year history of what the Hard Rock markets as its “honky tonk saloon.”
Also, Giddens emphasizes, “the Drunken Rooster on Grand Lake is also one of my favorite places to play.”
The 49-year-old Giddens’ fourth studio album — titled “IV” — was released in 2022 and features classic lyrics and arrangements. The beautiful “Welcome Home” is as much a Baptist hymn as it is a country tune, while the guitar break on “Shades of Texas” sounds like something you’d hear in a Mavericks or Dwight Yoakam song.
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Cassie Latshaw: Singer-songwriter prefers living on Tulsa time over Nashville
In her latest music video, Cassie Latshaw sings while walking to the Mercury Lounge stage that "Everyone's a big deal in Nashville. That's why I prefer living on Tulsa time."
The folk siren with big hair from Bristow is a singer-songwriter who you can find many Friday nights at Mercury Lounge. She and her band are heading on tour this spring but will always find a way to play in Tulsa at the same time.
"You get some street cred when you say you play in Tulsa when you are out and about," she said. "My heart is in Tulsa. It lives and breathes music and is getting bigger and bolder by the day."
She said her shows are mostly originals with some covers performed in their own way.
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John Fullbright: Grammy-nominated artist is best known for folk, country, Americana sound
There was a live debut album in 2009. In 2012, there was a studio debut release — “From the Ground Up” — that became a Grammy nominee in the Best Americana Album category.
In 2014, there was a third album and a “Late Night with David Letterman” appearance. Subsequent to that, there were countless gigs but not another album until 2022, when John Fullbright’s fans were thrilled with “The Liar” — a masterpiece collection of fresh recordings.
If you’re determined to wedge Fullbright’s music into a specific genre, it’s impossible. A pianist, guitarist and songwriter, he’s been described as a folk artist. There are tinges of country in his music and voice.
The 34-year-old Okemah native does shows all over the country and recently headlined a two-night event in Perkins. When he is scheduled to play a Tulsa venue, you should capitalize by being there. You should hope for several cuts from “The Liar,” the recording of which spanned only four days.
The album’s opening track is “Bearden 1645,” a breathtaking bundling of Fullbright’s piano and voice with steel guitar, slide guitar and harmonica. If the great George Harrison had been challenged with writing a perfect American song, he might have responded with something that sounds like “Bearden 1645.”
Find more information and tour dates at johnfullbrightmusic.com.
King Cabbage Brass Band: Tulsa musicians bringing New Orleans sound to Oklahoma
King Cabbage Brass Band certainly knows how to make an entrance.
The ensemble draws its inspiration from the New Orleans brass band tradition, a fact that becomes obvious as soon as the band enters the room, marching in tandem while playing “When The Saints Go Marching In,” setting the tone for the lively performance to follow.
“The spirit of the music is all about spreading joy,” band leader Greg Fallis said. “It’s what people need right now.”
King Cabbage is the creation of Fallis, a native Tulsan who pursued music in New Orleans for several years before returning home during the COVID-19 pandemic to be closer to family and friends. With his musical aspirations still top of mind, Fallis sought out — and found — a diverse community of Tulsa musicians who also wanted to bring the New Orleans sound to Oklahoma.
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LEX: Owasso singer-songwriter makes waves with unique pop sound
Although she’s only 21 years old, Lexi Onyango, known as “Lex,” has been carving out a name for herself in the Tulsa music scene for years now.
The gifted singer-songwriter hails from Owasso and has steadily made waves with her unique pop sound since she picked up a guitar at age 15. Quickly recognized as a massive talent, Onyango played her first show opening for a pop-punk band at The Vanguard just a year later.
Citing music as her true passion, Onyango made the choice to abandon a traditional career path and pursue her artistry full-time. Though she was in college on a pre-medicOnyango describes her sound as indie, experimental pop, and her songs feel much deeper than what you might hear on the radio. Songwriting for Onyango is “like writing in a diary,” and her tracks like “manifesto,” “Skin Off My Back” and “FOMO” take on deep subject matter such as heartbreak, anxiety, the difficulties of childhood and growing older. Onyango names Phoebe Bridgers as one of her biggest influences, especially her ability to write poignant, emotional lyrics set against upbeat, poppy melodies.
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Jake & The Idols: One of the more in-demand bands in the Tulsa area with loyal fan base
During the late summer and fall of 2020, as live-music bars resumed outdoor entertainment in responsibly safe ways, one particular band benefited from word-of-mouth recognition: “You’ve got to hear these guys. The front man is really young. The other band members are older guys. They cook.”
It didn’t take long for Jake & The Idols to develop a loyal fan base and become one of the more in-demand bands in the Tulsa area.
A guitarist and lead vocalist, Jake Karlik is the 23-year-old founder of the group. The Idols are Barry Seal (guitars, lap steel, vocals), drummer and vocalist Jeff Smith, bassist Sky Slater and recent addition Michael Baxter. "Papa Bax,” as he is nicknamed, completes the band’s sound with piano and soulfully old-school organ fills and solos.
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Charlie Redd and the Full Flava Kings: Tulsa’s best variety group can play a little bit of everything
A staple of any musician interview is a question about influences and whether one particular artist might have been particularly significant.
Charlie Redd responded to that question with a reference to his birth month: January 1966.
“When I was growing up,” he said, “the radio played everything.”
When you experience a Full Flava Kings performance, that’s pretty much what you might hear from Tulsa’s best variety group: a little bit of everything.
Redd fronts the Full Flava Kings and is the only original member of a band that was established in 2000. From the Kings, there really is no such thing as a “typical” setlist. If you’re there to dance, this band covers pop-funk classics from artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Pharrell, the Ohio Players and Earth, Wind & Fire.
If you’re in the mood for something bluesy, you might hear something from Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Rap? There could be Snoop Dogg and Drake classics.
Classic rock? The Full Flava Kings can deliver hits by the Eagles, the Rolling Stones and Tom Petty.
When Redd was a kid in San Antonio, his vocal chops were developed in church choirs. His guitar-bass-keyboard talents were sharpened in gospel ensembles and his school’s jazz band.
Apparently, when his favorite radio stations were playing “everything,” Redd paid attention. Since moving to Oklahoma in 1998 and joining the Kings two years later, he has played everything in every imaginable venue and setting.
“It was a goal to create a group that could entertain everyone,” Redd says. “I’m still learning and loving new experiences.”
Check out the band at reverbnation.com/charlieredd.
Count Tutu: Ensemble makes dance-friendly music with lyrics rooted in social issues
Count Tutu has been a quintessential part of the Tulsa music scene since forming in 2015.
Led by Nathan Wright and Branjae Jackson, the nine-piece band brings together bass, drums, guitar, horns and striking vocals to form a sound that transcends any one genre. While the band cites Nigerian Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti as its biggest influence, its music is also rooted in R&B, funk and Latin music.
Count Tutu effortlessly juxtaposes lively, dance-friendly music with lyrics rooted in community and social issues — a standout track, “Slammer Song,” takes a poignant, yet sarcastic look at the American criminal justice system — with the goal of raising awareness and bringing people together.
“We’ve written about pharmaceutical companies, we've written about guns, but the topic has shifted toward unity, recently, because there seems to be a really disenfranchising division between people,” Wright said. “I think that probably our biggest political issue right now is a lack of coordination.”
If you have a chance to see Count Tutu perform live, take it. The group has an incredible stage presence, a testament to the talent and passion of each member on stage. In addition to phenomenal vocals, Jackson's choreography — often employing colorful scarves and ribbons as accoutrements — never fails to excite.
The band’s self-titled debut album was released in September and is available on all platforms. Follow Count Tutu on Instagram at @counttutu or on facebook.com/CountTutu.
Jacob Tovar: Get a true feel for Tulsa history with his classic country sound
With all the acts in town, hardly any are known to put on an old, classic country show. Jacob Tovar doesn’t get it.
“I mean, this is the home of Bob Wills,” said Tovar, who’s opened for Chris Stapleton. “We got Billy Parker. Roy Clark. Hank Thompson. Everyone was from around here. I don't know why there aren’t others like me. Everyone is more pop-sounding. That’s not who I am.”
Tovar has played gigs since 2011, but one of his fans gave him a stage unlike any other: in an episode of the first season of “Reservation Dogs,” the shot-in-Oklahoma series on Hulu that follows the adventures of four youths.
“(Show co-creator) Sterlin Harjo was coming to my shows, and he was a big fan and asked if I wanted to be part of the show,” he said. “That’s how the band was able to perform on the show. He directed my music video for my single ‘I Felt Love.’ He’s a big supporter of local music. He believes in it.”
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Barrett Lewis Band: Talented band of veteran musicians is a must-see
When Barrett Lewis was a child, his mother took him to see Garth Brooks play at Drillers Stadium.
"There was a point where the crowd was doing the 'Wayne's World' 'we're not worthy' and bowing," Lewis said. "After that show, I said 'Hey, Mom. That's what I want to do. Play guitar and sing songs."
After years of taking guitar lessons and then teaching them himself, Lewis started performing at the old Bourbon Street Cafe on Cherry Street and Lanna Thai. He was doing acoustic shows and remembers how close he felt to the audiences sitting on the couches there at Lanna Thai.
Those shows helped him find his way to bigger stages and a living. He has been a full-time musician since 18, and the 35-year-old is considered one of the most talented playing in Tulsa. The Barrett Lewis Band is made up of Lewis and some of the most well-connected and veteran musicians in town: Beau Charron, Rick Huskey and Alan Ransom.
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Paul Benjaman Band: Artist draws on Tulsa Sound pioneers, makes each show a unique experience
Since getting his start in the late 2000s, Paul Benjaman and his ever-evolving band of local musicians continue to bring their unique blend of blues, rock and Americana — what Benjaman calls “boundary-free 1970s rock” — to the Tulsa music scene.
Armed with his 1959 Fender Stratocaster, Benjaman combines skilled guitar-playing with lyrics addressing topics such as family and heartbreak. “When I was a little kid, I went to see 'Star Wars,' and I wanted to be a Jedi,” Benjaman said. “Being a guitar player seemed to be the logical next step — I wanted the same power as the Force.”
Benjaman said he draws on the influences of pioneers of the Tulsa Sound like Leon Russell, J.J. Cale and Steve Pryor and constantly enhances his music by performing with a wide array of talent from Tulsa and beyond.
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Steph Simon: Rapper, producer and activist creates music with a mission
Rapper, producer and activist Steph Simon creates music with a mission.
After the death of his mother, the then-20-year-old Tulsa native turned his focus toward hip-hop music and exploring the history of Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre. From there, Simon discovered his purpose: creating music with meaning that highlights Tulsa’s past while working to create a brighter future.
Through his personal music and collaborations like Fire in Little Africa — an award-winning collective of musicians and artists gathered to commemorate the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — Simon sheds light on important topics and gives a platform to up-and-coming artists in the community.
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Booker Gillespie Trio: Established jazz band lends velvety touches to any kind of music
When the University of Tulsa hosted a Blue & Gold fundraising gala at the Reynolds Center, classy entertainment was required. TU made the perfect choice: the versatile, talented Booker Gillespie Trio, generally known for being a jazz outfit but with the ability to add velvety touches to virtually any piece of music.
During the ’80s, Gillespie was a locally renowned vocalist even before his graduation from Cascia Hall. He sang with the Oklahoma State University Concert Chorale and the OSU Jazz Ensemble, and his talent has taken him all over the U.S. and to Europe.
This year, Gillespie commemorates 36 years as a singer and actor. He has been featured in several high-profile musicals at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, and on many occasions he was a headliner on the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame stage.
Find Gillespie and bandmates Frank Brown (guitar) and Jim Bates (bass) at downtown Tulsa venues like the LowDown nightclub and the Sisserou’s restaurant.
Seth Lee Jones: Tulsa's true Guitar Man can play, build and repair the instrument
Bundling his prowess on the instrument, his ability to repair the instrument and his skill in building the instrument from scratch, Seth Lee Jones qualifies as Tulsa’s true Guitar Man.
Within the Tulsa music industry, there is no more respected figure than the 38-year-old Jones — a genius guitarist with a powerful voice that perfectly complements his playing.
At 16, Jones secured a student loan so he could study at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, where he became a certified guitar expert.
There was the hope of a music career in California, but Jones ultimately realized that “there are a zillion guitar players out there. You’ve got to be connected to really make it (in a band) or as a session player.”
He returned to Tulsa, establishing SLJ Guitars — his guitar-repair/guitar-building workshop — while performing as a fantastic slide player and soulful vocalist. To sample the essence of Jones as a modest dynamo in a T-shirt and jeans, check out his “Tulsa Time” and “Long Distance Call” videos on YouTube.
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Rocket Science: Band offers a blast from the past with '80s rock covers
During a standing-room-only gig at Lennie’s Club & Grill, Tulsa ’80s band Rocket Science opened with Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night,” a six-minute and more-complex-than-most metal hit from 1987.
It was a message to the audience: We’re not messing around up here.
“That’s kind of a scary song to open with because your fingers and voices aren’t warmed up,” Janna Squires said. “It was (Scott Squires’) birthday, so I said, ‘You make the setlist any way you want it.’ He gave us a good one.”
Janna Squires is the Rocket Science guitarist, and Scott Squires is the lead vocalist. They have been married since 2012. Rocket Science has been rocking local venues since 2014.
After opening at Lennie’s with a Whitesnake classic, the band followed with a flurry of songs by Rush, Poison, Ratt and Bon Jovi. Most of the Lennie’s patrons seemed to be in their 40s and 50s, and Rocket Science delivered with three hours of their collection of the heaviest rock hits of the ’80s.
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Mark Gibson: Singer-songwriter blends soul, blues and rock 'n' roll
Some of Mark Gibson's albums have that singer-songwriter feel. Others show off his bluesy roots. He recorded a full-length live album, "Live From Soul City," in 2018, showcasing a seven-piece band of Tulsa and Oklahoma City musicians.
Now at 40, he's finally carving out what his sound really is. He's defined what he is as a solo artist and what he is with his band, Boomtown Revival.
Gibson "is as good as people you see on the Grammys," said Kevin Smith, co-owner of Maggie's Music Box. "He has the look. The girls like him. The guys love him. It blows my mind."
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As she became “more seasoned,” as she puts it, Watson developed an identity as a powerful blues vocalist.
Gillespie has been featured in several high-profile musicals at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, and on many occasions he was a headliner on the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame stage.
If Tulsa has a Steely Dan equivalent, it would be Pilgrim — a Beau Roberson-driven group armed with elite players clad in beanies, hoodies and faded jeans.
During a gig at Maggie’s Music Box in Jenks, the Idols’ opening set included songs by the Allman Brothers, Joe Walsh, Grand Funk, Jimi Hendrix and Bill Withers.
Simon sheds light on important topics and gives a platform to up-and-coming artists in the community.
Gibson "is as good as people you see on the Grammys," said Kevin Smith, co-owner of Maggie's Music Box.
At a typical show, you can expect to hear covers of iconic New Orleans music by Rebirth Brass Band and Paul Barbarin, as well as some band originals.
At a Rocket Science performance, the band plays classics by Whitesnake, Rush, Poison, Ratt, Bon Jovi and more.
The beautiful “Welcome Home” from his latest album, "IV," is as much a Baptist hymn as it is a country tune.
Armed with his 1959 Fender Stratocaster, Benjaman combines skilled guitar-playing with lyrics addressing topics such as family and heartbreak.
The 34-year-old from Okemah does shows all over the country but still plays close to home, too.
The Barrett Lewis Band is made up of Lewis and some of the most well-connected and veteran musicians in town: Beau Charron, Rick Huskey and Alan Ransom.
If you have a chance to see Count Tutu perform, take it. The group, led by Nathan Wright and Branjae Jackson, has an incredible stage presence.
With all the acts in town, hardly any are known to put on an old, classic country show. Jacob Tovar doesn’t get it.
Although she’s only 21 years old, Lexi Onyango has been carving out a name for herself in the Tulsa music scene for years now.
In her latest music video, Cassie Latshaw sings while walking to the Mercury Lounge stage that "Everyone's a big deal in Nashville. That's why…
From the Kings, there really is no such thing as a “typical” setlist. The band covers pop-funk classics, bluesy tunes, rap, classic rock and more.
Within the Tulsa music industry, there is no more respected figure than the 38-year-old Jones — a genius guitarist with a powerful voice that perfectly complements his playing.
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