NOTES ON THE CORRIDOR

NOTES ALONG THE Corridor

by RICK REILEY

THE MAGIC OF HOPE The Music of Nightingale

I was scrolling my social media feeds the other day and ran across some local music that gave my heart an immediate lift it hadn’t felt in a long time. This Tulsa group was called Nightingale. That made it even better to know such wonderful music seemingly anchored in the heavens was being made in my home territory. Thispositivemusicseemstobefirm in thecertaintythat everything’s gonna be alright.

The genre listed on their website is listed as folk/soul. And it is that, but it’s much more than that. It was just what I needed at the moment. Thefirstsong I clicked on wascalled ‘New Year’s Day’. It soothed my senses and elevated me to a new appreciation of being alive in the here and now.

Something I’d almost, albeit temporarily, forgotten.

I was surprised and energized and quickly listened to more.AndeverythingIheardwasjustasgoodasthefirstcut. I tracked them down in an attempttofind outmore. How could people this good, this close to home, making such finemusic, haveescaped meuntil now, I wondered? SoI wenttoworktofind out.

A couple of years ago they performed at the Hanson Brothers Hop Jam festival and were featured by local press as an “Artist to Watch”. They were also standout performers at Tulsa’s 2018’s MISfest. The group had a guest spot in 2018 at the performance stage at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa as part of Tulsa Little Jam Music and interview series. They’ve also appeared on KOTV Channel 6’s In The Morning and at many other area venues.

Their initial self titled recording was completed in February.

Briana Wright, Nightingale vocalist (a powerful voice reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan or Dinah Washington ‘ delicate, breathyand bold), filled mein on someofthedetails.

This all Okie group is made up of:

Parker Ferrell (guitar), Zac Hardin (bass), Briana Wright (vocals) and Michael Frost/Frosty (drums)

RR: Who’s the poet, lyricist? Who shapes the musical direction of the band?

Briana: Parker is our poet! The EP that we released in February was almost exclusively written by Parker. We’re extremely collaborative when it comes to creating the sound we have - we experiment and add our own contributions onto the foundation of each song til it feels ‘right’.” Thisstoryissomewhatdifferentfrom mynormal fare, pretty distant from my red dirt country/folk comfort zone. Butithasall thesamehallmarks. Greatstuff!

The music embodied here works to provide much needed magic in an increasingly tumultuous world. As Duke Ellington so aptly put it, “There are two kinds of music, good musicand theotherkind.” Thisisdefinitelygood music.

The singular thread that ties the lyrics and the music together is this: Hope. Constant hope. Unfailing hope. Infectious hope.

Whether the subject matter is the occasional struggle of love in ‘Lost Cause’ (I hear faint echoes of Gladys Knight in thisone)orthedifficultiesofamigrantworker, an amalgamation of real life stories presented in ‘Silverado’, the mood is always anchored in energetic hope and light. (This one would make Woody Guthrie proud!)

And you can dance to it! I asked aboutthedifficultyofcategorizing theirsound: “I thinkbecauseofourinfluences, we’vejustdeveloped a sort of sound that is fresh and new in a lot of ways, but stays timeless and creates a sort of nostalgia for some people. “Ourheavierinfluencesrangefrom classicsinger/songwriters like Jim Croce and James Taylor to soul and R&B. We don’t get a lot of comparisons as a group to be honest. I also kinda like that we’re hard to put in a box, I’m like that as a person, too. Our music really is for anyone.”

RR: How did the band get together?

Briana: Parker and I met through a local musician, John Coggins. John played guitarformeformyveryfirstgigs and followed his star to LA, but didn’t leave without introducing us (thank GOD!). It wasn’t long before Parker asked if I’d be interested in singing his original music sometime and it turned out to be magical, so we built a band! Zac made us a trio not long after I learned his songs and we added an amazing local drummer, Chris Wylie. Frosty jumped in on drums in May of 2018. Fun Fact: Chris mastered our EP, so it felt like we kept it all in the family. We’ve been together like that since!

All of these folks are from right here in Oklahoma. So this is truly original, organically home grown Oklahoma music from stem to stern.

I asked about their backgrounds.

“Zac was a child prodigy type who was touring in high school.

“Mike has been gigging nationwide and has especially made a name for himself in Oklahoma’s jazz scene.

“Parker has some real Tulsa music lineage - his dad used to head up Castle Records that was based in The Church Studio and is also an amazing musician. The Tulsa Church studio was begun by Leon Russell and later owned by the, now late, Steve Ripley. It’s probably no surprise that Parker has also always been prodigious. I mean, his high school band Xanadu won the Battle of Bands at Cain’s!

“I came into singing (seriously) later in life than the boys, forsure. Mycareerreallykicked offafterfilming Season Two of The X Factor USA where I made it to the top 16 young adult category. I came home and I’ve been singing ever since!” They’vebeen afforded manynewopportunitiesrecently but the pandemic has put some of that on hold. They still work together via the internet to work on material for new upcoming recordings and can’t wait to get back on the road. “As soon as it’s safe for everyone!”

They have a few really nice, professional videos on YouTube and I highly recommend. But only if you’re ready for a breath of fresh air and an energetic dose of hope.

Listen with someone you love. Or like a whole lot. Or all by yourself.

In any case you’ll come out a winner! Here are a few links:

Performance on 6 in the Morning http://www.newson6.com/ story/5e3728fcd63bd92feda8320f/nightingale-performs-on6-in-the-morning Performance on Tulsa Little Jam: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=ydO-gKhyZ-M Performance of The Long Haul- https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Yrag2trsRYw

You can follow them on Facebook at ‘Nightingale the Band’ or their website www.nightingaleband.com n