Performances
This year’s festival is set to dazzle audiences with an impressive lineup of musical talent with artists promising to deliver an eclectic mix of genres catering to a diverse audience. From dynamic pop sensations to soulful indie bands, the 2024 lineup offers an unforgettable experience for music enthusiasts of all tastes. With headliners known for their captivating stage presence and chart-topping hits, attendees can expect nothing short of another electrifying atmosphere at this renowned cultural event in Tulsa.
John Fullbright
Friday, May 10, 8 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
“If you can’t say it, you don’t have to,” sings John Fullbright on “Bearden 1645,” the opening track to his new record “The Liar.” The song details the GRAMMY-nominated songwriter finding refuge in playing the piano, starting as a child and still today. For fans, it may feel like a bit of a rebuttal to “Happy,” the opener from 2014’s “Songs,” one of several in his repertoire that speak explicitly about mining one’s angst in order to make music. In that way, “Bearden 1645” is also a firm nod to the fourth wall: Fullbright knows you’re thinking about his songwriting. He is, too…but not quite the way he was before. The public at-large hasn’t heard much from the him since the critically lauded “Songs,” a chasm of eight years that seemed unthinkable for someone with so much hype—including a GRAMMY nod, an Americana Music Association Emerging Artist nomination and awards from ASCAP and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame—surrounding his early career. Why did it take so long? “It’s been a process of learning how to be in a community of musicians and less focusing on the lone, depressed songwriter…just playing something that has a beat and is really fun,” Fullbright said.
King Cabbage Brass Band
Friday, May 10, 8 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
“Since arriving on the Tulsa music scene, King Cabbage has taken the region by storm with its infectious blend of classic brass band tunes, modern covers, and original music. Their sound fuses the popular New Orleans brass band style with an eclectic blend of pop, R&B, hip-hop, and funk. Typical performances include renditions of recent favorites by artists like Beyoncé, Outkast, Justin Timberlake, and Rage Against The Machine, as well as their own spin on the brass band standards of NOLA. KCBB is on a mission to bring people together, party, and forget their problems through joyful music!” -Julie Watson, Tulsa People Magazine
Joleen Brown
Saturday, May 11, 4 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
Joleen Brown is a young emerging country music artist from Tulsa. She has performed at SXSW, Cains Ballroom, and The Hunt Club Tulsa and has been an opener for Bri Bagwell.
Josh Fudge
Saturday, May 11, 6 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
Josh Fudge fashions a kaleidoscopic take on pop by conjuring modern vibrancy through analog proficiency. The 19-year-old Oklahoma City-born singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer paints from a broad palette of alternative, indie, and pop, envisioning a world of his own in the process. He took to the piano at the age of four, spending hours on the instrument daily. At nine-years-old, he noticed a flier in a local arts district. The words, "Street Performers Welcome," beckoned him. Much to his mother's chagrin, her middle schooler set up shop with a tiny keyboard and amp and busked, taking home $200 in cash. Drawing inspiration from everyone from Billy Joel to Mac DeMarco, he bought a guitar, a bass, a drum set, and amassed an arsenal of analog synths. Sharpening his songwriting, he locked into an "aggressive release strategy" throughout 2020. His single "7 in the Morning" landed a placement on Spotify's Fresh Finds. Coverage followed from Indie Shuffle as the track shot to #1 on Hype Machine. He maintained this momentum with the independent project, Fun Times. Among many highlights, "When She's Gone" cracked 1 million cumulative streams. However, he reached another level yet again with 2021's "FEEL LIKE." It debuted on Spotify's coveted New Music Friday playlist and generated 2.8 million Spotify streams. After amassing 10 million-plus streams independently and receiving support from Spotify's New Music Friday, Glide Magazine, and more, he invites everyone into this space on a series of singles and more music to come.
PawPaw Rod
Saturday, May 11, 8 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
PawPaw Rod is a rapper and singer born in Hawaii and raised in the state of Oklahoma. His passion for writing found him at a young age as he traveled all over the world as a military brat. “HIT EM WHERE IT HURTS” was his debut single, an effortlessly cool blend of rap, 60s soul, and house was released on Godmode. His debut EP, A PawPaw Rod EP dropped at the end of 2021 and has amassed over 90 million streams on Spotify. With continuation in mind, Rod released his highly anticipated follow up project, Another PawPaw Rod EP on October 14th, 2022. PawPaw Rod's music has reverberated across screens, featuring in popular shows like Netflix's "Outer Banks," Apple+'s "Platonic," HBO's "Insecure," Peacock's "Bel-Air," Apple's recent iPhone commercial, and Nike's Union LA collab short video, celebrating the anniversary of the classic Nike Cortez shoe. You can now enjoy Rod's latest project, This Must Be A PawPaw EP, which was released on all platforms on October 13th, 2023.
Vince Kadlubek (Meow Wolf)
Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m., ROARK STAGE @ 101 GARDEN
Vince Kadlubek is a Founder and Director of Meow Wolf, an art collective that has transformed into an award-winning Art and Entertainment Production Company that specializes in immersive, open-world walk-through experiences. Vince acted as leader and CEO for Meow Wolf through its formative years, having created the business plan for Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return and leading the team towards the project's completion in March of 2016. In January of 2017, Kadlubek formed Meow Wolf, Inc. as a full-fledged arts production company and creative studio positioned to create the largest, most innovative and audacious monumental art exhibits in the world.
Willie Jones
Saturday, May 11, 7 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
For Willie Jones, June 16 can’t come soon enough as Shreveport’s finest readies Something To Dance To, his major label album debut and eponymous lead release. Arriving via Sony Music Nashville in partnership with The Penthouse, each of the album’s 11 tracks delve into a new emotional facet but carry a central theme of finding joy in life’s experiences. It’s a celebration of it all: the highs and lows, the loves and losses, the starts and ends, and the connective tissue of just being human. Lacing traditional country soundscapes of steel guitar, banjo, and harmonica with Jones’ signature Louisiana hip-hop gumbo, the resulting sonic heartbeat reflects a man whose upbringing molded him into an innovator who bridges the Block Party and the Barn Dance. Look no further than the sample of Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Looking” that opens flirty hip-swinger “Slow Cookin’” or the warped banjo riff found on slow burn jam “No Tellin’.” For the creative behind it all, it represents a story of growth and progress indicative of his own evolution. “The album dissects all of me,” he says. “It’s the turnt up Willie Jones, broken-hearted, being a little irresponsible, bringing the party, or just realizing that all of this is a temporary moment in time and I’m growing and hopefully learning. It’s just all of me.
Samantha Crain
Sunday, May 12, 5 p.m., Main stage @ Guthrie Green
Samantha Crain is a Choctaw singer, songwriter, poet, producer, and musician from Oklahoma. She is a three-time Native American Music Award winner and an Indigenous Music Award winner. Her genre-spanning discography has been critically acclaimed by media outlets such as Rolling Stone, SPIN, Paste, No Depression, NPR, PRI, The Guardian, NME, Uncut, and others. She has toured extensively over the past 17 years nationally and internationally, presenting ambitious orchestrated shows with a band and intimate folk-leaning solo performances. She has toured with First Aid Kit, Neutral Milk Hotel, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Avett Brothers, The Mountain Goats, Brandi Carlile, Langhorne Slim, The Staves, and many other bands and artists. With her new album, “A Small Death”, and newer EP, “I Guess We Live Here Now”, she continues her tradition of keeping things close to the heart and the ground by leaning into the fulfillment of affinity with an audience and the satisfaction of a song with a memorable melody and an honest story. Most recently, she has composed the score for the award-winning film, Fancy Dance, and the short documentary film, Winding Path, and has had her songs featured on the TV shows, Reservation Dogs and Marvel’s Echo, along with many other shows and films.
