Small Artists Going Big Time From Oklahoma

With the latest announcement of two home-grown Red Dirt artists getting a big break in the upcoming “Twisters” sequal, I thought it might be worth pondering who else is cutting their teeth on the big leagues.

Gannon Freemin & Cross County Rev

They come from humble beginnings, performing in fairs, bars and events all over southwest Oklahoma. But these young men have played the social media game incredibly well over the last eight years they’ve been together.

The 4 piece madhouse of musicians has gained over 6,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram and over 19,000 likes on Tik Tok. These boys from Oklahoma do the damned thing well on stage and are just as fun behind the scenes.

Cade Roth and The Blacksheep

Where CCRev is the powerhouse of young talent, Cade Roth and The Blacksheep take Rock Country to an entirely new level thanks to the true experience of these players. You won’t find a more reliable set of players and when they get together, magic happens right before your eyes on stage. In fact, the magic was so great that they recently walked away the winners of the 2024 Battle of the Bands at this year’s Calf Fry, earning themselves a spotlight in the massive event. If you ask any musician from Oklahoma, Stillwater’s Calf Fry is a true marker of greatness in the music world. In fact, Stillwater in general is music making city, just ask the next artist.

Wyatt Flores

You may recognize this name from the marquee sign for the soundtrack of “Twisters.” He’s born and bred from Stillwater, Oklahoma and was lucky enough to have performed with and be personally influenced by artists such at the Turnpike Troubadours, Mike McClure and many from the O.G. Red Dirt scene. In fact, he just performed alongside the Turnpike Troubadours at Red Rocks.

Although we haven’t heard yet what the new song being released on the movie will be, you can get a taste for his true home-grown, intimate red river style of music is by listening to his music here.

Wilderado

Yet again, Oklahoma has brought out some of the best artists and now the rest of the world is seeing them, like Wilderado. If you’re more of the folk, soft rock lover, you’ll LOVE this band. Coming from Tulsa, Oklahoma, they’re a bit less country and a lot more what I would call “Coldplay” and “Kings of Leon” meets “Flatland Calvary”.

Skylie & Davy Thompson

February of last year, many of us saw her on our TVs and phone screens, hearing a heartbreaking answer from the American Idol judges to her incredible performance. But since that audtion, Skylie and her father Davy have taken the social media world by storm: climbing over 44,000 follows on Tik Tok and millions of views of her original work.

Her father Davy was right when he told Luke Bryan that “she’s young, but she’s raw and you guys have raw talent to work with.” From where we’re sitting, Luke may be blown away by his loss at a chance to work with the talent from Cyril, Oklahoma.

AleXa

She said it perfectly in her interview when she mentioned “when you think of Oklahoma, you don’t think of K-Pop” but that’s what she’s doing and she’s rocking at it. Originally born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, AleXa has skyrocketed in her K-Pop career. Since her start at 13 years old, she’s traveled the world performing for millions of people and even won contests like the American Song Contest.

It’s easy to see the riches from the world at the top like AleXa sits, but she has some advice for all artists of all genres out there. “Don’t give up – there are so many things that will work against you, but you can overcome it,” she said. And for the rest of Oklahoma’s performers, just remember that to get to the stop, we all have to start from somewhere.

Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival ’24 Official Photo Gallery: Part 2