BJ Stricker & The Kings

Today we’d like to introduce you to BJ Stricker.

BJ, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started playing bass guitar when I was 12 and then got my first electric guitar when I was 17. Started writing my own songs in college and found out how therapeutic it was for me, so I kept on writing. It was such a great way for a release of whatever was happening in my life and the songs gradually got better. I moved quite a bit before coming to Texas as I’m originally from Wisconsin and spent time in Montana, NYC, and North Dakota before moving here in late 2014. I spent a lot of time at open mics and blues jams after I arrived where I was able to network with fellow musicians and people within the DFW music community and that has allowed me to continue growing as a person, musician, and songwriter.

Growing up in the middle of nowhere, Northern Wisconsin where lumberjacks roam was the woodsy childhood of singer-songwriter BJ Stricker. Part of the last generation that actually played in the mud, Stricker’s upbringing centered around bikes, 4-wheelers & going up the road to get cookies from grandma while listening to music on grandpa’s record player.
Music has always been a release, first being able to express himself through a bass guitar at 12 years old. He learned his musical bearings in 6th grade pep band, finding himself in his first four-piece band as a 15 year-old freshman in high school. By 17 years old, he got his first six-string and wrote his first song during his first semester of college in a dorm room with his best friend. After college in Wisconsin, he bounced around quite a bit, living in Montana, New York, and North Dakota.
In 2014 he moved to Texas, briefly visiting New Orleans to immerse himself in the vivacious live music scene there. Energized with his passion for music, Stricker recorded his first EP Middle of the City in 2015. It was his first experience collaborating on original music with other musicians, including saxophonist Keith Anderson – who at the time was playing for Prince.
“All I could think was, ‘Oh my god. This is incredible.’ I was still finding my sound. But I knew that this was all I wanted to do. It’s what I’m meant to do.”
In June 2015 he met drummer Connor Pickle, and began writing songs with him. By February 2016, they had put together a five-piece band – giving Stricker the opportunity to cut his teeth booking his first shows. In early 2017 the band’s lineup included Ryan Dahir (sax), David Wilson (guitar) and Patrick Smith (bass); later on Luke Callaway would be a new addition, taking over drums from Pickle. After grooving with chemistry and playing just two shows together, they decided to record an album.
Driven by Stricker with a big & inviting folk rock-style acoustic sound, the full band brings warm accompaniment on electric guitar & saxophone with playful melodies influenced by the style of Dave Matthews, Neil Young and Amos Lee that gives their music a hint of blues and soul. The band released their 6-track record Roam as BJ Stricker & The Kings in November 2017, featuring an intimate listening party in Dallas. Currently the band is represented by 13th Floor Music and has been showcased this past year in Dallas-based festivals Cottonwood Arts Festival, Whistlestop Music Festival, and Deep Ellum Brewing’s Labor of Love.
The group recently released a live-recorded EP at The Rustic featuring two previously unreleased songs, with plans to produce another live album in 2019 with more new music.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think anything comes without challenges. It’s just not an easy road but that makes the successes even more satisfying because you know how hard the work is that you put in each day. It was a struggle finding the right musicians to start a band with, it was a challenge in booking our first gigs early on. All of the challenges and obstacles come and go always with a lesson left for you if you allow yourself to see it and learn from it. That can be for how you promote yourself to who you associate yourself with. It takes a team and sometimes people aren’t right for each other in that regard but you don’t know until you try. I’ve just kept rolling and doing what I think is best for my music, the band, and when something doesn’t quite work out the way it was intended I’ve learned from it and kept going.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m a singer/songwriter and frontman for my band. I’m most proud of how we continue to grow as a band and put on great live shows. The band is filled with incredible musicians who are all some of the very best around Dallas in my opinion. I believe we have a unique sound and style that is different from most everyone in the DFW scene that I’ve come across, but we haven’t really moved the needle, yet so I’m looking forward to more people taking notice of what we’ve got going.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would probably say releasing a live album in October of 2018 because I’ve personally always been a fan of live tracks and because I don’t know anyone else around that has done anything like it in recent years. - Voyage Dallas