Biography

Contact Info
Drew Tanner
304-646-9979
info@oyotheband.com

UPDATE: New music coming June 2023! Visit AirPlayDirect.com/Oyo-AnotherRound

RELEASE DATE: February 8, 2022

"[Oyo] feels familiar and sounds like home. Maybe it's because the music feels close--as though you are in the room watching the group squeeze in around the mic... Tracks like 'Light in You' and 'Old Friend' take the edge off the loneliness of winter with lyrical optimism, while 'Santa Fe Train' hooks you in the gut and takes you back in time, much in the spirit of Josh Ritter's haunting song stories. Oyo's debut album earns top marks in storytelling, but it's the loose, 'gather-round-now-y'all' energy that sets it apart."
-Sarah Arnold, ClutchMOV
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"True to the band's exquisitely oddball Appalachian aesthetic, 'Oyo' was recorded over the course of a weekend in the belly of an abandoned church in West Virginia. The result is a 12-track album tackling themes that are often delightfully domestic, à la. John Hiatt's 1987 'Bring the Family,' brimming with often heartrending contemplations on what exactly it means to be 'home,' or perhaps more devastatingly yet, 'in love.'"
-Emily Votaw, WOUB
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Born on the banks of the Ohio River, Oyo is a dynamic six-piece Appalachian roots band that formed from jam sessions in the back of Marietta's JustAJar Design Press. Gathered around a single mic, their high-energy performances are equal parts honky-tonk and barn dance, with an indie rock undercurrent.

Featuring traditional acoustic instrumentation, driving rhythm, and poignant lyricism, Oyo trades off lead vocals between Aaron Martin (fiddle, mandolin), Cole Adair (guitar) and Michael Bond (guitar, keys, harmonica, spoons), with Bobby Rosenstock (banjo), Drew Tanner (bass), and Joe Ryckebosch (drums, washboard) joining in.

Oyo take their name from the Iroquois word for the Ohio, meaning "beautiful river." Like that big muddy river, Oyo is fed by many influences and tributaries upstream: folk, bluegrass, old-school country, and rock & roll.

Oyo's self-titled debut album features twelve original songs by Aaron Martin and Michael Bond that take the listener on a sonic road trip through the West Virginia mountains to the Deep South, the American West, and points beyond. Along the way, they encounter the heartache of complicated relationships and the ecstasy of connection, all while capturing the raucous energy of their live performances and distinctive sound.

The album was recorded in the sanctuary of an abandoned church in Elkins, West Virginia, by Ben Townsend, of Questionable Records, and mixed and mastered by Michael Bond at Datawaslost Studios in Marietta, Ohio. Special guests include Heather Hannah on background vocals, Andrew Gilmer on dobro, Ben Townsend on fiddle, and Read Connolly on pedal steel. Album artwork is by Bobby Rosenstock and Joe Ryckebosch, with photography by Shannon Brown.