Oil Boom

"The Sneak Tip," by the Dallas-area garage-rock band Oil Boom, gives me an instant thrill. The group's new album Red Metal, produced by Ben Harper's former drummer Jordan Richardson, has an element of power pop — a bit of a shift from a sound that had mostly been about bluesy, scrappy rock 'n' roll. Ryan Taylor's excited pre-chorus stutter and plentiful "woah-woah-woahs" are bound to pull you in, so break out your air guitar and let your hair down. —Ryan LaCroix, KOSU's The Spy - NPR

One of the best things about roaming the streets of Austin late at night during SXSW is running into a unexpected club and seeing a band that turns it all upside down. For me, that was the Dallas-area trio Oil Boom. If you like the grittiness of The Black Keys, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hanni El Khatib and good, loud garage-rock guitar in general, Oil Boom is for you. Its members claim influences from Nirvana to Dinosaur Jr., and are busy putting together the funds to record their next album. Until then, check out "45 Revolutions Per Minute," the A side of a new 7".

—Anne Litt - NPR

OIL BOOM After back-to-back EPs that recalled a retro intersection of the Black Keys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Oil Boom’s “45 Revolutions per Minute,” the A side of the trio’s just-released single, reveals them settling into their own distinctively bluesy bluster.

-Andy Langer - New York Times

Black Gold - OK Gazette

We have a large amount of great local acts hitting the Granada Theater stage in the coming weeks. For the next few weeks, we’re going to highlight some of the great local talent that you should check out in addition to the other great bands our team has on the calendar for your live music pleasure.

First up this week in the #supportlocalmusic series: Oil Boom


Oil Boom are guitarist and vocalist Ryan Taylor, drummer Dugan Connors, and bassist Steve Steward. This bluesy garage rock trio claim residencies ranging from Fort Worth to Dallas, however have played Fort Worth a bit more than Dallas up to this point in their existence. They’ve recently started playing Dallas a bit more, including a recent free show next door over at Sundown at Granada just earlier this month.

The band released their debut EP, Black Waxy in 2011 and have followed that up with last year’s stellar Gold Yeller EP. The band has begun drilling for new opportunities since their recent EP was released just seven months ago. They were recently announced as a part of the lineup for the massive indie music fest, “KXT’s Summer Cut: The Happy Funtime Fest.” You don’t have to wait until June to see Oil Boom burst open with their infectious bluesy hooks. This local trio will only continue to gain local buzz when they open for Granada-vet Bob Schneider on Saturday, March 30.

The band has their wildly engaging and grooving Gold Yeller EP available in your choice of digital formats over at their Bandcamp website. With Gold Yeller, the band creates a stylish brand of garage rock rhythm and blues with a North Texas swagger that could help them settle in as one of DFW’s strongest upstart rock bands.

GOLD YELLER by Oil Boom

Don’t miss Oil Boom with Bob Schneider at Granada Theater on Saturday, March 30 and be sure to check back here next week for another act in the #supportlocalmusic Granada Blog series. - Granada Theater

We have a large amount of great local acts hitting the Granada Theater stage in the coming weeks. For the next few weeks, we’re going to highlight some of the great local talent that you should check out in addition to the other great bands our team has on the calendar for your live music pleasure.

First up this week in the #supportlocalmusic series: Oil Boom


Oil Boom are guitarist and vocalist Ryan Taylor, drummer Dugan Connors, and bassist Steve Steward. This bluesy garage rock trio claim residencies ranging from Fort Worth to Dallas, however have played Fort Worth a bit more than Dallas up to this point in their existence. They’ve recently started playing Dallas a bit more, including a recent free show next door over at Sundown at Granada just earlier this month.

The band released their debut EP, Black Waxy in 2011 and have followed that up with last year’s stellar Gold Yeller EP. The band has begun drilling for new opportunities since their recent EP was released just seven months ago. They were recently announced as a part of the lineup for the massive indie music fest, “KXT’s Summer Cut: The Happy Funtime Fest.” You don’t have to wait until June to see Oil Boom burst open with their infectious bluesy hooks. This local trio will only continue to gain local buzz when they open for Granada-vet Bob Schneider on Saturday, March 30.

The band has their wildly engaging and grooving Gold Yeller EP available in your choice of digital formats over at their Bandcamp website. With Gold Yeller, the band creates a stylish brand of garage rock rhythm and blues with a North Texas swagger that could help them settle in as one of DFW’s strongest upstart rock bands.

GOLD YELLER by Oil Boom

Don’t miss Oil Boom with Bob Schneider at Granada Theater on Saturday, March 30 and be sure to check back here next week for another act in the #supportlocalmusic Granada Blog series. - Granada Theater

Don't be mad if you didn't get tickets to see the latest Muse concert; there are plenty of other Texas favorites worth checking ... out - Oil Boom, The Long Shots, and These Machines Are Winning - and here's what you missed over at 35 Denton. Let's take a listen to the Music Box!
- AOL.com Entertainment

Garage rockers Oil Boom work the groove into a stinging onslaught that never lets up. - Dallas Morning News

Oil Boom remains a North Texas band on the rise. - DFW.com

"...one of North Texas' strongest upstart rock bands..." - Oklahoma Gazette

"...one of North Texas' strongest upstart rock bands..." - Oklahoma Gazette

"The disc is, frankly, bursting with skilled musicianship and a
fervor you simply wouldn’t nd coming from a band in
decline.. " - Fort Worth Weekly

"...the epitome of a sophomore slump-beater." - DFW.com

"They’ve built a stylish brand of roots rock with a garage band edge, quirky pop influences and they have put together a hell of an EP." - OffAir StL

"Gold Yeller shows the band with a new swagger...the EP's six songs are all solid and each could be used as a single..." - Urban Tulsa Weekly

The duo used to be in The Rounders, a blues-based jam band that spent nearly a decade playing throughout Oklahoma. After Ryan Taylor and Brian Whitten separately moved to Texas, they reconnected, continued jamming together and began pushing toward their latest musical venture, Oil Boom.

Musicians Ryan Taylor and Brian Whitten left Oklahoma City, but they didn't forget to take their music with them.

The duo used to be in The Rounders, a blues-based jam band that spent nearly a decade playing throughout Oklahoma. After developing a strong local following and releasing three albums, the band dissolved in 2008. Shortly after, Taylor followed his wife to Dallas.

He found more than a day job waiting for him across the state line. Whitten already had settled in Texas, and the two realized their interest in music hadn't faded. They reconnected instantly.

“I can write songs,” Taylor said in a recent phone interview. “But I can't sing them that well. It was nice to have him to lean on.”

The musicians continued jamming together and began pushing toward their latest musical venture, Oil Boom. Still, something was missing.

Taylor acquired the talents of Missouri musician Dugan Connors after he answered a Craigslist ad.

Connors said he began a grueling search to find a band to play with after a music project fizzled in 2009. After several failed jam sessions, he refined his posting and found musicians with a Delta blues sensibility.

Since then, the trio has crafted thunderous and simple rock songs in the vein of the White Stripes and the Black Keys. Oil Boom lacks a bass guitar, so the combination of drums and guitar takes full force in songs such as “Mind in Trouble” and “Death of You.”

Taylor said making old songs sound new is his specialty.

“That's at the heart of what I've tried to do musically,” he said. “I like so many old things — the roots of American music, blues and country.”

Oil Boom will perform at 8 tonight at The Conservatory, which is the site of the last show The Rounders played.

“It's not the nicest or cleanest of places,” Taylor said. “It's cool; that's what makes it attractive. It's our version of CBGB or something. It's very punk rock.”

Connors said Oil Boom is working on wrapping up an EP by spring 2011. Until then, the band is pursuing weekend touring opportunities in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. Performing weekends is Oil Boom's only option. Family and work come first.

But Connors said music is in his bones.

“I think if anybody denied themselves the time to entertain their passion, then life really isn't worth living,” Connors said.

- The Oklahoman

Although Oil Boom -- the trio of Brian Whitten, Ryan Taylor and Dugan Connors -- is based in Dallas, its members hail from Oklahoma (Whitten and Taylor) and Missouri (Connors). The band's Midwestern embrace of hard, elemental rock tinged with a hint of Americana rust evokes such critically acclaimed acts as the Black Keys or, closer to home, Fort Worth's own expert fusionists, Josh Weathers and the True+Endeavors. Tracks such as the phenomenally flinty Mind in Trouble cry out to be heard in a dimly lit, tightly packed club. The band is in the process of recording its debut album. - DFW.com

Radio DJ TheLocalEdge Mark - "Oil Boom is Local Edge approved." - 102.1 The Edge (Dallas)

Dallas’ blues trio Oilboom started the show off right. I say “Dallas’” somewhat loosely as all 3 band members originally hail from St. Louis and Oklahoma, and only recently became Texans. However, Oilboom produced a Texas-sized sound considering their lineup consisted of only a drummer, a guitarist, and a vocalist.

When the band first took the stage I questioned why singer Brian Whitten didn’t play bass or guitar, I just found it odd. But after only a few songs in I quickly realized that you wouldn’t want anything detracting from his soulful singing. You can tell this guy was raised in St. Louis, a city where blues, jazz, soul, and ragtime music was something as commonplace as a beard is in Denton; this cat sounded like James Brown or St. Louis’ own Chuck Berry, you dig?

Brian did play another instrument however, and he did so to perfection. In “Jesus Walked on the Water,” a ragtime song to the core, Brian nailed a kazoo solo that sent everyone in the bar back to the roaring’ 20’s.

Drummer Dugan Conners pounded his deep-sounding drum kit with precision all night - he had converted an old marching band bass drum into his kick drum and between that and his two floor toms, his drum sound boomed throughout the night in songs like “Mind in Trouble,” a song they closed their set with. The tom beat in this song shook the giant glass window behind the stage; you could literally see the glass shake in perfect synchronization with every strike of the drumhead.

Guitarist Ryan Taylor shined in songs “Leaves in my Coffee” and “Death of You.” For “Leaves in my Coffee” Ryan busted out a shiny silver slide that he used masterfully. Jimi Hendrix tunes came to mind immediately upon hearing this riff. If you enjoy bands like The Black Keys and The White Stripes, check these guys out next time around.
- My Dallas Music