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KATHRYN STACY/THE DAILY
Local artist Jabee performs on April 26 at the 2019 Norman Music Festival.
CALEB WELLER/THE DAILY
The Ivy performs on April 27 at the Lyft Opolis Outdoor Stage during the 2018 Norman Music Festival.
Headliners of day 1 STORY BY COOPER MARSHALL • COOPER.R.MARSHALL-1@OU.EDU
Six bands will be playing on day one of the Norman Music Festival: Rat F!nk, Dreamgirl, Lust Online, Blac Rabbit, The Ivy and Luna Luna. There will also be a documentary titled “Skating Pop: Ugly Pop” featured by Deadcenter about the band Skating Polly showing that will be followed up by a Q&A with the creators and the band. The two headlining bands for day one of Norman Music Festival are Luna Luna and Dreamgirl. Dreamgirl originated in Missouri. The original band members, Skylar Smith and Lacey Gronniger, were in a band together that broke up. “Skylar was like, ‘Well, let’s start a new band,’” Lacey Gronniger said. Dreamgirl’s first show was in 2013. Now, the band has four members, including Ian Dobyns who joined in 2016 after his own band broke up and Joe Gronniger who joined in 2019 and recently married Lacey. “I tried out for Dreamgirl and we just gelled,” Dobyns said. “It was cool.” Smith plays lead guitar and sometimes keyboard; Lacey is lead singer and also plays tenor guitar and keyboard; Dobyns
plays drums; the newest member Joe Gronniger plays bass; and while on tour, Grady Phillip Drugg plays lead and rhythm guitar and backup vocals. Dobyns is also the producer of most of Dreamgirl’s music. He owns a recording studio in which the band recorded their self-titled album. The genre of Dreamgirl is best described as dreamy rock. “I always like to say (our music) is like summertime, feel-good, have-fun-by– the-pool kind of music in the way that it sounds,” Lacey Gronniger said. “Our lyrics are pretty dark, but I’ve written them so that they can be interpreted by anyone who is listening. I think it can mean different things to other people.” Right now, Dreamgirl has two new singles out, Poolside and Sometimes. While they have recorded most of their music live in the studio, Poolside was recorded and assembled with help from music producer Jason Kick. “Jason Kick was the engineer who did the (first) Mild High Club record,” Donyns said. “He’s a super cool guy, and he ended up doing the mixing and mastering for Poolside.”
They are excited to play Poolside at Norman Music Festival in addition to their regular set. This will also be their first ever show in Oklahoma. “We’ve never played in Oklahoma,” Lacey said. “We are fans of some bands from the Norman scene like Sports and Broncho, so it’s super cool to come and see what it is all about.” Catch them on April 28 at 7 p.m on the Fowler Auto Main Stage. Luna Luna got started back in 2017 in the North Dallas area through open-mic nights. Originally the solo project of Kevin “Kavvi” González, the band grew into a duo and eventually a quartet. González was born in Colombia and grew up in Dallas. Danny Bonilla and Ryan “Gordo” Gordon also grew up in the Dallas suburbs while Kaylin Martínez grew up in Lufkin, Texas. González and Bonilla sing and play keys, Gordon is the bassist and does backup vocals and Martínez plays drums. Luna Luna’s music has a dreamy synthpop style, but the band always loves trying out new things for their music. “I think it is kind of fun not to stick to a specific genre because I definitely always
want to try something new,” González said. “It just keeps music fun that way.” González and Bonilla also produce their music while Gordon does studio work. Their latest album, Flower Moon, demonstrates how their music has evolved over the years. “It’s just from growing up as a person. You’re into certain things … you have new experiences and then you get inspired by something different,” Bonilla said. “I think that reflects in our music.” Currently they are on tour with Dent May and Pearl & The Oysters. After the tour, Luna Luna plans to start working on new music. Their stop at Norman Music Festival will be one of their last shows. “I think since it will be one of the last shows we play on our tour, (Norman) will get (one of) our most refined shows,” González said. “You’ll see the best version of us there.” Luna Luna will be playing day one of Norman Music Festival on April 28 at 11 p.m. on the Fowler Auto Main Stage.
