Oyo Returns with “Another Round” on June 27
Fans of Oyo will be excited to learn that the band returns with its rowdy and eclectic sound in its sophomore release Another Round, due out June 27. Ahead of the project’s release, singles are now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
Oyo features Cole Adair on guitar and vocals; Michael Bond on keys, vocals, and harmonica; Aaron Martin on fiddle, mandolin, vocals, and guitar, Bobby Rosenstock on banjo, Joe Ryckebosch on drums; and Drew Tanner on bass and background vocals.
In the spirit of Oyo’s gather-round-now y’all porch jam performances, Another Round features several special guests and collaborators from southeast Ohio and West Virginia, including John Borchard on pedal steel, Jesse Milnes on fiddle, Emily Miller on background vocals, Sam Lamont on background vocals and guitar, Andy Ray on percussion, and Adam Remnant on background vocals. The album was mastered by Glenn Davis.
Photo by Michelle Waters
Another Round features ten original songs by Aaron Martin and Michael Bond that continue the sonic journey Oyo began with their self-titled debut last winter. Fans of the first album will be pleased to find new songs to sing n’ stomp to during the band’s upcoming live shows this summer.
Their raucous honky tonkin’ barn dance energy comes through on many of the tracks, while a few moments take the listener on an introspective trek through vast landscapes and the depths of longing and the struggle of letting go.
The album opens with “Wheels Up,” an upbeat driving song that feels instantly familiar and archetypal of the beloved sound that fans have grown to love. Speaking from experience, this song, which is also the first single, is an easy one to play on repeat. The second track and second single, “Queen Bed,” introduces John Borchard on the pedal steel which lends the song a classic country overtone.
“Gonna Make a Fool Out of Me” is the first song on the album featuring Michael Bond’s vocal talent, earnest and endearing. “Old Buck Moon” picks up the pace again with a fiddle tune that will ‘keep dancin’ in your head.’
“Cheat River Girl” is my second favorite song on the album, a standout song that starts out on a somber note but quickens and hooks you with the chorus. “’Cheat River Girl’ is always a blast to play, the way it kind of ebbs and flows,” said Bond. “Plus, all I have to do is rip off ‘Nebraska’ for the harmonica solo.”
Whereas “Old Buck Moon” and “Love Won’t Wait” take the listeners out west, “Almost Heaven” drives them along the pot-holed backroads of the mountain state – “from down in Pocahontas to the Blackwater Falls.” And last, but certainly not least, “New Year’s Day” closes the album out on a high note. The longest song on the album, Martin’s vocals are hauntingly sincere until the last verse when he’s joined by the band for the send-off – and a reminder, “Don’t forget to drink you some rye.”
Photo by Michelle Waters
“The exciting thing about playing weekly with this group of guys is that songs almost never sound the same from performance to performance,” said Cole Adair. “Most of the songs were recorded in one or two takes, so we know them, but that’s when it gets fun. Moving around in the context of the song. Picking up on small changes the other guys make and trying to find a groove, inside the groove.”
Adair said the band has been playing some of these songs for years, like “Cheat River Girl” and “Leave Me Alone.” “But a song like ‘Love Won’t Wait’ feels like it’s still changing. So, I think each song lends itself to a different excitement when performed,” he said.
Another Round was recorded by southeast Ohio singer-songwriter Adam Remnant in a remote orchard hand's cabin, just outside of Marietta, Ohio, as well as in the studio at the historic Stuart’s Opera House, up the road in Nelsonville.
Photo by Michelle Waters
“We asked Adam to record and mix everything,” said Martin. “He was so laid back, working with him felt so easy. He is also a great musician and songwriter. He was the seventh member of the band for sure on this record.”
The cabin has become the band’s collective home, so it’s only fitting that it takes center stage for Another Round. “There are so many variables that make it hard for a band to persist and thrive for any length of time,” said Aaron Martin. “A good rehearsal space is just one of many. We happen to be incredibly blessed that Michael graciously opens the door of his cabin to us every Wednesday evening.”
“I like records where you can hear the room it was recorded in – if I close my eyes listening to The Walkmen’s “You And Me,” I can just about see every inch of the space they played in,” said Bond. “We recorded this album in the spot where we got comfortable with these songs – in the upstairs of my tiny house, deep in the woods. It’s a well-worn and roughly loved place and a good fit for our band. We never sound quite so good anywhere else.”
Adam Remnant, the album’s producer, is also a talented photographer. “At one point during the recording process, he dropped everything and ran out to get his camera,” said Bond. “The light was coming in through the windows of my messy kitchen just right, and illuminating a little still life of coffee, vermouth, and apples on the table.”
Bobby Rosenstock, who in addition to playing banjo operates JustAjar Design Press in Marietta, created a woodcut for the album cover that captures the intimate feeling of that orchard house in the woods. “Bobby took that photo as a beginning and added his own surrealistic touches in the carving. It’s not quite The Big Pink but it works for us,” said Bond.
The forthcoming vinyl edition of the album will feature hand-printed covers made from that woodcut. Preorders are currently open at oyotheband.com.
Oyo will celebrate Another Round’s release when they share the stage with Larry and Jenny Keel at the Adelphia Music Hall in Marietta, Ohio, on Friday, June 30. Tickets are available online at theadelphia.com/events.
You can find vinyl and CD copies of Oyo’s self-titled debut album in Clutch Collective right now. We will have “Another Round” on CD in July, and on vinyl later this summer!