Aaron Hale, Psychedelic Singer/Songwriter

Aaron Hale is a classically trained (Oklahoma State University), multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Upon the release of his debut album “Wildflowers & Atom Bombs” in 2017, Hale began performing with and without his band (Aaron Hale & The Human Beings) at music festivals nationwide taking with him a strong message of environmental stewardship, Native American Sovereignty, and global unity. Currently Hale is recording his sophomore album, “Stardust & Campfires.” The album features McKenzie Webb on drums, and Patricio Labarca (Medicine for the People) on bass with Hale playing guitar and keys. The album also features a collaboration with Supaman, Peewee Dreads (Wookiefoot) and Sierra Marin contributing vocals, and Tim Snyder (Medicine for the People/Wolfgang Timber) on violin. Hale is also featured as a keyboardist in Chase Makai’s (Medicine for the People) debut album “Undique.” Trent Bell (Chainsaw Kittens) produces and records Hale’s albums at Bell Labs Recording in Norman, Oklahoma.

Colby Luper, Metal

Born in the Cherokee Nation capital of Tahlequah, OK, Colby Luper fell in love with music at a young age. Hard rock and heavy metal made the biggest impression on him when he first heard bands like AC/DC and Black Sabbath on classic rock radio. He’s been a metalhead ever since. Picking up his first guitar at age 12, he began learning every Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest riff he could manage. He began writing his own music in high school and started jamming with friends around the Tahlequah area. His musical influences include the aforementioned artists as well as Nirvana, Weezer, Black Flag, and Slayer. He’s currently a guitarist and vocalist in the alternative rock band “Still Loading” and uses his solo material as an outlet for his love of metal. He resides in Tulsa with his wife, Erica.

Kalyn Fay, Folk / Americana

Oklahoma-bred songwriter Kalyn Fay has a voice that commands rapt attention, whether filling a theater or piercing the din of a dive bar. It’s a tenor timbre a first-time listener once aptly described as “butterscotch,” all rich and velveteen, bold, singular.

Fay’s been writing and recording her own music for as long as she’s had a story to tell. She’s lived more than her share of life: She’s loved and lost, voraciously pursued higher education, questioned her faith, walked the line between her upbringing and her Cherokee roots, and figured out how to process and express all that through her art. She’s traveled. She’s come back home. She’s left again.

Monica Taylor, Folk / Americana

Monica Taylor earned the nickname, The Cherokee Songbird, for her distinctive singing style, her Cherokee heritage and her home near the Cimarron River in Oklahoma. For more than three decades she has been writing songs from the heart and has recorded and performed with a litany of famed Red Dirt, country and bluegrass musicians including Jimmy LaFave, John Fullbright, Jared Tyler, Robin Macy, and the godfather of Red Dirt, Bob Childers.

Monica has worked with many performers on stages across the country. Garrison Keillor, Asleep at the Wheel, the Nitty Gritty Dirtband, Ellis Paul, Sam Baker, Keith Carradine and others. With a sound like Emmylou Harris and a slight yodel in her voice, Monica captivates you her vocals.

Desi & Cody, Rock

The Tulsa, OK-based duo, Desi and Cody are united both through music and matrimony. Desi’s seductive voice combined with Cody’s emotive vocals and sweet harmonies, sonically manifest a refreshing homage to classic 60’s femme fatales with chamber pop and baroque textures which transform their Okie roots into the realm of futuristic folk.

A native Oklahoman, and part Cherokee, Cody grew up in the backwoods while Desi grew up in the Northwest (Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR). She rediscovered her singing after connecting with Cody—who first heard her talent emanating from the shower.

Desi and Cody’s music possesses an inherent irreverence reminiscent of Lynch or Tarantino movies. Songwriting for Cody is a visual expression, “Film usually inspires me most,” he states.“ “No Depression” called their self-titled album “superb” while The Tulsa Voice” lauded: “there’s no higher praise an album could receive.”

Ken Pomeroy, Alternative Folk

Ken is a singer/songwriter, transcending her age with a unique vocal quality that blends smoothly with her heartfelt lyrics. Ken began singing, writing songs, and playing the Baritone ukulele at age 9. She quickly learned to play the Concert and Soprano Ukulele, and at age 10 began playing guitar. In 2018, Ken opened for the legendary Wanda Jackson at the Oklahoma Rodeo Centennial Opry. Just recently in 2018, Ken won the 1st Annual Jimmy LaFave Songwriting Contest in Stillwater, Oklahoma at Willie’s Saloon. She shared the stage with Stoney LaRue and Bo Phillips at the Bob Childers Gypsy Cafe Event benefiting the Red Dirt Relief Fund in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She is a regular at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival playing Lou’s Rocky Road Tavern stage and The Hen House. You can regularly catch Ken playing numerous venues around Oklahoma City and Norman, including JJ’s Alley in downtown OKC.  

She has played the Grand Stage at the Riverwind Casino and is a regular at the Oklahoma Rodeo Opry. She also played the first Mile 0 Fest music festival in Key West. She was featured on The Oklahoma Room 2018 compilation CD and attended Folk Alliance International. In 2016, Ken received the Rising Star award. Ken released her debut EP “Minutes to Hours” in 2017 and has just completed her 2nd album “HALLWAYS.”

Austin Markham, Pop / R&B

Austin Markham is a Nashville-based, 22-year-old pop/R&B singer-songwriter set to catch your attention with vulnerable lyricism accompanied by buttery vocals. He works endlessly to perfect the music he puts out, and pushes himself to be a role model of confidence, self-love, and perseverance to listeners of all backgrounds. With a strong passion for his heritage and the experiences that have shaped him into the artist he is today, Austin is excited to share his unique roots with the world. Although his music falls under the pop/R&B umbrella, Markham effortlessly blurs the lines between genres, creating an environment for various discussions and feelings.

Travis Fite, Reggae

A Cherokee citizen based in Tulsa, Travis has been a part of many music groups and ensembles. He has toured with funk-soul bands such as Phat Thumb, What It Is (San Francisco), Leon Russell, and several Tulsa-based R&B ensembles such as Full Flava Kings, Wayman Tisdale, Eldridge Jackson and Toni Estes. Travis can be seen in his current solo loop act Uncle Funkus as well as his two primary ensembles The Steve White band, and Rebel Soul Reggae Band. Other groups include his funk-fusion group What’s That and an acoustic ensemble with singer-Songwriter Jared Tyler (Tulsa) and his wife, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Monica Taylor (Perkins). 

Travis currently runs SoulTree recording studio in Perkins, Ok, writing, producing and recording music for local and national artists. As of fall 2021, Travis could be found reprising his role as Dragging Canoe for the ninth season in the original Cherokee rock musical drama “Nanyehi, the story of Nancy Ward” , Written by acclaimed Nashville songwriter and performer Becky Hobbs. 

IIA (Lillian Charles), Pop

Lillian Charles is a 14-year-old Cherokee citizen from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She writes songs, short stories and screenplays and is also a prolific artist. She is a winner of the Gateway Entertainment Youth Scriptwriting Competition, and Tulsa Library Youth Writing contest winner.

Agalisiga Mackey, Country

Agalisiga “Chuj” Mackey is a Cherokee guitarist/musician and singer/songwriter from the Cherokee Nation in Northeast Oklahoma. Chuj spent the early years of his life growing up on a creek bank in the small traditional Cherokee community of Kenwood, where his mother’s family settled after the forced removal of Cherokees from what is now North Carolina. Chuj then moved to Tahelquah, the Cherokee Nation capital, to become a language learner at the Cherokee Immersion Charter School. Chuj grew up participating in traditional ceremonies, ceremonial songs being the foundation of his voice which he carries with him as he creates more modern music. Chuj writes and sings original country-folk music in the Cherokee language. He is inspired by classic country and blues sounds and themes. Additionally, he has performed at various events including the Cherokee National Holiday and the grand opening of the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, OK. His goal is to perpetuate the Cherokee language and culture. In addition to his artistic endeavors, Chuj is an adult language student through the Cherokee Language Master Apprenticeship program and a father to a son who he plans to teach both Cherokee and music to.