The O's
Dallas, Texas, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2008 | INDIE
Music
Press
The O's lure fans with pop hooks. - Dallas Morning News
The O's lure fans with pop hooks. - Dallas Morning News
The sophomore effort from Dallas’s The O’s is amazing.
It has the sly lyrics of the Mountain Goats and the alt-country lure of Ryan Adams. It’s got dashes of the heart and soul of Mumford & Sons and hints of the energy of the Avett Brothers. - Verbicide Magazine
The sophomore effort from Dallas’s The O’s is amazing.
It has the sly lyrics of the Mountain Goats and the alt-country lure of Ryan Adams. It’s got dashes of the heart and soul of Mumford & Sons and hints of the energy of the Avett Brothers. - Verbicide Magazine
'Between The Two' has a spirited folk feel with bluegrass, Americana and pop influences abound flavored with a hint of Appalachia, not too far removed from early Scud Mountain Boys, Avett Brothers or Mountain Goats, yet sunnier and brighter. - The Synaptic
It’s not difficult to fall in love with the richness and authenticity of the perfectly blended vocals of The O’s. The band’s debut effort, We Are The O’s, truly gets to the heart of human existence. - Alternative Press
It’s not difficult to fall in love with the richness and authenticity of the perfectly blended vocals of The O’s. The band’s debut effort, We Are The O’s, truly gets to the heart of human existence. - Alternative Press
Stark and remote in some places and complex when it’s called for, their songs run the gambit from traditional country/folk to an interesting Americana-tinged slacker rock. - Dallas Observer
Stark and remote in some places and complex when it’s called for, their songs run the gambit from traditional country/folk to an interesting Americana-tinged slacker rock. - Dallas Observer
No-frills, sparsely arranged gems call to mind Rhett Miller and his knack for broken-down, introspective story songs and the raw and witty folk of the Mountain Goats. - Riverfront Times
No-frills, sparsely arranged gems call to mind Rhett Miller and his knack for broken-down, introspective story songs and the raw and witty folk of the Mountain Goats. - Riverfront Times
Everything from xylophones to dueling banjos to Led Zeppelin to down and dirty, soggy-bottom rambles. - CD Insight
Everything from xylophones to dueling banjos to Led Zeppelin to down and dirty, soggy-bottom rambles. - CD Insight
It’s a focused, substantive piece of work.
A- - Dallas Morning News
It’s a focused, substantive piece of work.
A- - Dallas Morning News
The O’s on record has the raw and honest qualities that make “Between The Two” a must have album for music fans of any genre - Zoiks Magazine
We Are The O’s” [is] a stripped-down country-rock album that is gritty and raw like a Texas sunburn. - AM New York
We Are The O’s” [is] a stripped-down country-rock album that is gritty and raw like a Texas sunburn. - AM New York
On a typically desolate Monday night in Deep Ellum, John Pedigo of the The O's opens his trunk to reveal dozens of cardboard boxes filled with his group's new CD, Thunderdog. It's a big moment, not just for The O's but for Punch Five Records — the label he and bandmate Taylor Young own and operate. It's not a reach to say the trunk's contents are a physical representation of the label's birth. It is a proud moment for the two, as Pedigo rips open one of the rectangular boxes to look at the cover. "Damn," he says, handing a CD to Young. "Those are some good-looking dudes!"
Anyone who has seen The O's perform one of their trademark shows featuring off-the-cuff Smothers Brothers-style banter mixing smoothly with their brand of stomping roots-rock knows that such a self-deprecating response makes perfect sense. Certainly, the thousands of CDs represent the band and business' future. But it's just one more step for a band that has taken many already.
Inside the closed-on-Mondays AllGood Café on Main Street, Pedigo enjoys a glass of iced tea while Young sips coffee from a mug printed with the slogan "No More Birthdays, Only Parties." They work during the day delivering medical supplies and at the AllGood, respectively. The typically chatty friends are setting up for their first rehearsal of the year. Rehearsing new songs will always be a necessary, if unglamorous, step for the veteran band's continued progress.
Thunderdog was recorded at the famed Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, just along the Mexican border near El Paso, as well as at The Bubble in Austin — it was produced by Chris "Frenchie" Smith. It's the third album for The O's, but the first to be recorded away from their former label, Dallas-based Idol Records. According to Pedigo and Young, the split was a natural process. Their arrangement with Idol was to record two albums, and it was just time to get rolling with the vision they had developed for themselves.
"At this point," Young explains, "John and I have so many years of experience in dealing with this [the music industry], and I think we know most of the things that need to be done for a record label, and we definitely know what's best for our band. Now it's up to us. If we want to lose our money putting it behind things we think are good, then we'll do that and hope it all works out."
They have reason to hope for success, at least if the next steps are as positive as the recording experience was for the duo. The Sonic Ranch is well-known beyond the borders of this state. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently recorded their new album there, in fact.
"We decided to go out to Sonic Ranch at the recommendation of Frenchie, our producer," Pedigo says. "He'd done a lot of work out there and thought it would be great for us musically and philosophically. He was 100 percent right. It's a magical place that sits on the border surrounded by a million pecan trees. There are sweet ladies that make you food every day and more importantly, they make you the Sonic Ranch Red Sauce. We ate it by the gallon and put it on everything — burritos, tacos, pizza, you name it. We literally lived there for two weeks and worked at all hours of the day and night. We usually stopped around 2 a.m. because we had to catch CSI Miami. I'm not really sure why that kept happening."
A key ingredient to Young and Pedigo's country-folk recipe is more than a dash of kick drum. Thanks to mainstream acts such as Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers who also employ the stand-up technique, new fans might (inaccurately) accuse The O's of folk-y plagiarism. In fact, the band has used the en vogue percussion tool since their 2008 formation simply out of necessity.
"We wanted to keep the band to just the two of us," Pedigo says. "Taylor was already a drummer, so having him play a kick drum was an easy decision. Thankfully, it just didn't sound awful."
The album's title, Thunderdog, is also the name the duo gave to Young's 36-inch kick drum long ago. "We would always say that thing could 'Thunderdog' any crowd we played in front of," Pedigo says.
On Thunderdog, the propulsive nature of the kick drum is certainly present, but what really makes the record great is the way the duo, in keeping with the spirit of learning and progressing, expands its sonic textures while remaining very true to the banjo-driven style they've perfected. The album's exciting final track, "Kitty," a raucous tune with Young on lead vocals, represents the grandest sign of growth — and departure — when compared to their previous works.
For the first two minutes of the song, Young rhythmically spins an ominous yarn about a girl who can't put the pipe down before Pedigo blazes in with what initially sounds like The O's first ever electric guitar jam on record. As it turns out, the line, which maniacally muscles its way to the tune's conclusion, is just an old instrument taken to new places.
"That's just a banjo solo," Pedigo says, laughing. "It's my banjo through a fuzz pedal. Just like Thunderdog represents what we do with the bass drum, this is how I Thunderdog the banjo. I wouldn't have been able to try that two years ago, let alone actually put it on a record."
Thunderdog means many things to the O's. It defines the method they are using to achieve their version of success for the future. As it has always been, The O's are just doing what feels like the right thing to do in order to improve.
"Thunderdogging is a blazing of our own trail," Pedigo says without a hint of his usual sarcasm. "So, the deal behind naming our album that is creating our own path with the record, and with the new record label." Young takes a sip of his coffee and nods.
"There aren't any rules," he says. "So we're just Thunderdogging our own way through it all." - Dallas Observer
Discography
"We Are The O's" (2009) - Idol Records
"Between The Two" (2011) - Idol Records
"Thunderdog" (2013) - Punch5 Records
Photos
Bio
We started our group in the summer of 2008, and after having known each other through all of our other groups (Polyphonic Spree, Young Heart Attack, Slick 57, Rose County Fair, Hi-Fi Drowning, etc), it was an easy upstart and took no time jumping in head first. We both had songs that we felt needed to be played but no band to use as an outlet. Three months later, we entered the recording studio and recorded an EP which ended up being half of our first album We Are The Os (2009 Idol Records).
We have since toured relentlessly all across the US, UK, Europe, and even jaunted to Hawaii, hi-fiving friends and fans alike; just trying to keep ourselves out on the road and creating new music for good people. In 2011, we recorded our second album with the Grammy award winning Stuart Sikes. Entitled Between The Two, we decided to play every instrument on the album and had Stuart man the helm. It was liberating and excited and brought us further than we had been before.
We hit the road again jumping back and forth across the great ponds, made music videos, bought and broke vans, bought and broke gear, ate poorly, ate well, had fun and not so much fun, met amazing people, learned a lot about life, forgot a lot of things, slept a little, bought and wore out hundreds of pairs of pants and shirts, resoled our cowboy boots countless times, played with incredible artists, performed on TV shows, talk shows, radio shows, festivals, clubs, bars, restaurants, several different countries and continents, swam in clear water, dredged through the gulf, and other countless, endless adventures to name.
We did this all as we have always, to make good music for good people.
And into the future we go with Thunderdog, our third studio album to be released in July 23, 2013. We decided to record the majority of the new album, at the recommendation of our great producer, Chris Frenchie Smith, in Tornillo, TX at the legendary Sonic Ranch Studio. Its a state of the art, top notch studio where we could stay on site, eat on site, and record without distractions (other than the delicious Sonic Ranch Salsa de Roja that lead to many debates on whether or not anything would taste good without it afterwords) We finished up the album at The Bubble in Austin, TX and look forward to getting it out the door and into everyones hands!
See you folks on the other side and we look forward to the ride.
Band Members
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