Songwriters & Tour Riders

This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah. Folksinger Willi Carlisle is not a native of the Arkansas Ozarks. But it's a place that he fell in love with. He has a new album out titled 'Critterland,' partially about trying to find community there and how he tries to share that with people who come to listen to his music. In this episode, hear Carlis...

This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah. Tulsa's King Cabbage Brass Band is bringing a taste of the Mardi Gras iconic sound to Oklahoma. They released their self-titled album last October and are playing with acclaimed New Orleans outfit, the Soul Rebels, on Thursday, Feb. 1 at Beer City Music Hall in Oklahoma City. In this episode, hear founder...

This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah. Punk band Skating Polly has released a double LP titled Chaos County Line. The band is made up of siblings, Kelli and Kurtis Mayo and Peyton Bighorse. After five years, Kelli Mayo said that they wanted to "walk to the separate corner of the map on all of our influences." In this episode, hear Kelli talk a...

Kyle Bradley was raised in Piedmont, Oklahoma. But his alter-ego, Thunder Jackson, was born in Los Angeles, California, after years of playing in smoky bars and busking since he was a teenager. He released his debut self-titled album in 2020, but after its release he said that music wasn't making sense to him anymore. It wasn't until he moved back to Oklahoma where he found the inspiration to crea...

The Lone Bellow's latest album is titled  Love Songs for Losers  and was recorded in Roy Orbison's former home. Matthew talked with singer Zach Williams just before they started their first tour of 2023, which fell right around the 10-year anniversary of the release of their debut album. In this episode, hear Williams talk about producing their own album, going back on tour, and what it...

Folk music duo Companion released their debut album Second Day of Spring in May 2022. Companion is made up of twins, Jo and Sophia Babb, who were raised in Oklahoma, and have been performing together since they were at least 15 years old. In Oklahoma, they performed primarily under the name The Annie Oakley but after moving to Colorado, they felt ready for a fresh start musically. The title track...

North Carolina country artist Sarah Shook & The Disarmers released their latest album, Nightroamer , in February. In this episode, hear Sarah talk about being LGTBQ in country music, getting sober, and the first time they met a non-binary person.

Kaitlin Butts is a singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her latest album, What Else Can She Do , is a collage of different female characters who tackle that question and draw from parts of the country artist's own life. The first track's title, "It Won't Always Be This Way" was a statement that she and her mother would repeat during a particularly rough period of their lives. And that statement...

Jason Scott and the High Heat are an Oklahoma band fronted by singer-songwriter, Jason Scott. Jason grew up Pentecostal and was once a youth and worship pastor. Now as a musician, he is writing songs while his bandmates joke about him once never having heard songs like "Stairway to Heaven."

Norman Music Festival is returning this week after two years of a pandemic-spurred hiatus. The festival brings hundreds of musicians and thousands of fans to the city of Norman, Oklahoma. Shari Jackson is the executive director of Norman Music Alliance, the organization that throws the free festival that Jackson calls the 'best annual party in the state.' Listen to hear her talk about the festival...

Sun Deep has only been making music for three years. But he has already produced songs for numerous hip hop artists in Oklahoma and is also part of the bilingual hip hop duo Finite Galaxy. His upcoming release 'Will Rap For Change' is his first producer album where he got sixteen other artists to join him. It is set to come out on March 19th with an accompanying release show where the proceeds for...

For Black History Month, we are taking a look back at some Black musicians that have been on the show in the past. You’ll be hearing again from Dr. View, Bartees Strange, Original Flow, and Jabee. They all released really wonderful projects, and they shared some of their stories and experiences that went into their music.

Max Rainer is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the singer for Wilderado . Their self-titled debut album was largely written in an old church that was being sold at auction. After a couple of years of struggling with writing, Rainer wrote songs there dealing with his struggles balancing being a father and a touring musician. Hear Max talk about writing in a church by himself, his fear of being an absen...

RC Edwards is from Tahlequah Oklahoma and is probably best known as the bassist for the Turnpike Troubadours. However this year he put out a new album with long time friend Amber Watson and produced by fellow Troubadour, Hank Early. The album, Big Country, is named after OSU basketball player, Big Country Bryant Reeves and puts together stories and players around Tahlequah and Sequoyah County, Okl...

Unwed Sailor is an instrumental rock band based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but also has its roots in the 90s music scene of Seattle, Washington. Johnathon Ford is the bassist and songwriter and lived in the famous music scene with his former band, Roadside Monument. Ford left his home in Tulsa looking for his 'Black Flag get in the van' experience, but he has since been back for about ten years. Now, in...

Parker Millsap is a singer-songwriter from Purcell, Oklahoma. On his latest album Be Here Instead , he explored writing from a more vulnerable and personal point of view in a way that felt like he 'was sneaking up on himself. The album was produced by John Agnello, who had previously worked with bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Kurt Vile. Together, they recorded the album with a full live...

Madeline Kassen is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and releases music under the moniker Pisha. The recent Berklee College of Music grad put out her first album titled Threnody earlier this year. The title means 'a lament' and the album is her lamenting 'a past self,' and represents a turning of age period in more ways than one. In this episode, hear more about why she took on a pseudonym as an artist and her...

Hear a preview of Songwriters & Tour Riders, as we give you an inside look at musicians coming from Oklahoma and those just passing through. Hosted by Matthew Viriyapah, hear musicians tell stories of recording, touring and living as an artist.

Josh Fudge was only 18 years old when he released his first album, Fun Times , at the beginning of this year. Juxtaposing sweet melodies with melancholic lyrics, the album captures his experience transitioning into adulthood. In this episode, hear more about what it was like graduating in a pandemic, how Josh's plans for the future have changed because of it, and what it was like putting out his f...

A born and raised Oklahoman, Kitt Wakeley recorded his album remotely at the historic Abbey Road Studios in London, England. On it, he combines his love for rock drums and riffs, sweeping orchestral melodies and pulsing electronic beats. The album's title — Symphony of Sinners and Saints — is a reference to the combination of 'Sinners' in his rock band and the 'Saints' of the orchestra. In this ep...

During segregation, North Tulsa and Greenwood was primarily Black and was called Little Africa. But it was home to one of the most prosperous Black communities in history, Black Wall Street. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob with the support of local law enforcement attacked, burning dozens of homes and buildings and killing an estimated 300 people. Now 100 years later, a collective of Oklah...

The pandemic was an unexpected blessing for North Carolina musician Matt Heckler. With the unexpected time and rest, he was able to record his latest album, Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at number three on the Bluegrass Billboard chart. But what he plays isn't exactly what you would call bluegrass. In this episode, Matt talks about his style of folk music which takes influence from places like...

LCG & the X spent 18 months performing and working on their first album. But when they released their self-titled debut, it came out at the worst possible time — March 2020, right as the pandemic became a reality for many of us. In this episode, Morgan Hartman, lead singer of the Oklahoma City rock band, talks about the album's release, writing a song based on A Tale of Two Citi...

Quese IMC is a Native American hip hop artist and citizen of the Pawnee and Seminole Nations. He has been part of the hip hop scene in Oklahoma for many years and helped organize Culture Shock Camp, one of the early hip hop summits to help establish what Oklahoma and Native American hip hop looks like today. In this episode, hear Quese IMC talk about his story in hip hop, the growth of Native hip...

Chad Whitehead is the operating partner for Tower Theatre in Oklahoma City, and for like many in the music business, the past year has caused heavily reduced revenue and numerous layoffs for his business. But for 2021, Chad gives a possible timeline for when live indoor concerts could truly return to Oklahoma.