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The OaKs
Indie / Alternative / Folk



Orlando, Florida
United States

Profile Views:  88447




Last Login:  10/27/2009
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   The OaKs: General Info
Member Since1/18/2007
Band WebsiteWWW.THEOAKSBAND.COM
Band MembersMatthew Antolick -- drums, marimba, vibraphone, percussion, electronics, some keys
Ryan Costello -- vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, pianica, organs and keyboards, lyrics.
Jeremy Siegel-- bass, trombone and some keys, mandolin
Melissa Reyes -- vocals, accordian, bells, percussion, some keys
Greg Willson -- guitars, saxophone and vocals
Tim Cocking -- Wurlitzer electric piano, accordian, synths, organ, bells, trumpet, vocals

PROMOTIONAL INQUIRIES:
Press: Vai Godhania : vai@fanaticpromotion.com
Radio: Dan Yocom : dan@fanaticpromotion.com
Internet Media: Andy Silva : andy@fanaticpromotion.com

LEGAL:
Nick Nanton, Esq : ndnanton@dicksnanton.com

InfluencesOur experiences both in America and abroad, infused with the sounds of

Kansas, Sting, The Police, Iona, The Beatles, George Winston, AKUS, King's X, Marillion, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Who, AC/DC, Steely Dan, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band, Parliament/Funkadelic, Bonnie Prince Billie, Isley Brothers, Curtis Mayfield, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Guns'n'Roses, Miles Davis, James Brown, Rush, Yes, Deep Purple, The Police, Cannonball Adderley, J.J. Johnson, Modern Jazz Quartet, Frank Sinatra, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Rage Against The Machine, Bob Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Big Bill Broonzy, Wynton Marsalis, Buddy Guy, David Bowie, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Mahler, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Billie Holiday, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Spacehog, Flaming Lips, Al Green, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Barry White, Charles Mingus, Kool and the Gang, Earth, Wind and Fire, Mendelssohn, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Guided By Voices, Gnarls Barkley, Heart, Herbie Hancock, Jamiroquai, Jethro Tull, Primus, Oysterhead, Black Crows, John Mayer Trio, John McLaughlin, Marvin Gaye, The Meters, Ralph Stanley, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish, Skatalites, Queens of the Stone Age, Santana, Spinal Tap, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Tool, Weather Report, Jaco Pastorious, Nirvana, Megadeth, Cream, Ellington, Tito Puentes, Arturo Sandoval, Machito, Tower of Power, Blood Sweat and Tears, Lee Morgan, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Sade, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Count Basie, My Bloody Valentine, The Album Leaf, Ahmad Jahmal, Bubber Miley, Pee Wee Ellis, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, The Pixies, Ahmad Jamal, Sufjan Stevens, Archer Prewitt, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, The Loving Spoonful, Bill Evans, Yo La Tengo, American Analog Set, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Gilian Welch, Neil Young, Cat Power, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto

Ryan's lyrical influences include Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, Andrew Young, e e cummings, Robert Bly, Frida Kahlo and Terrence Malick.

Sounds Like Praise for Songs For Waiting:

"On the band's sophomore release, Costello, drummer Matthew Antolick, and a host of new multi-instrumentalists strive to tell such hidden stories, from a minister's calling to assassinate Hitler to an Afghan boy's home-life heroism. Antolick is as illustrative and creative a percussionist as one could ask for - Art Blakey filling in for Levon Helm. Their success lies in that balance between hyper-literacy and a catholic musical sensibility that finds as much gravitas in a clap-along as a plucked guitar." - Paste Magazine

"Songs For Waiting” is an essential listen that is as deep and thrilling as any album released in recent memory. The OaKs have used personal experience to create a work of universal importance, and now the vultures will have to find something else to scavenge. A bigger and better rival has arrived."- The Harvard Crimson

"Much of what's called wrong in indie rock seems to get righted in Ryan Costello's project: Instead of alienated and academic music, we get something intimate and visceral." - CNET/Download.com

"Though this album’s roots are heavily folk and indie, far more informs the artistic vision of the OaKs, a six-piece from Orlando, Florida; Afro-Cuban rhythms subtly infiltrate the album in the clave-clap breakdown on “Pike County” and in the percussive jam on “Old Bones.” Aside from being incredibly engaging melodically, the eclectic yet solid grooves of drummer Matthew Antolick and bassist Jeremy Siegel provide a fluid feel as engaging as the vocal harmonies they support." - Bass Player Magazine

"With electric guitars and keyboards flavored by accordion, glockenspiel and ethereal vocal harmonies, the Waiting songs maintain the intimacy of the band's first album. Yet the music also unfolds with a sonic energy that eclipses Our Fathers....the band has refined its approach impressively on songs such as the epic "The Heart Is the Hunter" and the rhythmically charged "Old Bones."" - The Orlando Sentinel ..

"The diverse styles of each of the band’s six members paint a landscape where experimental synth and folk melodies come together with sharp, jazzy beats and a classical understanding." - Two.One.Five Magazine

"Whether it is through humanitarian efforts or making songs that speak about personal struggles, the members of The OaKs have produced an album that is rich in sound, lyrical philosophy and heart....Songs For Waiting is a stunning example of musicians merging and sharing their individual talents and ideas to create songs that are genuine and powerful." - Amplifier Magazine

"Definitely a band to watch in 2008." - Muzzle Of Bees Blog -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The OaKs in NYC performing on Public Radio International's FAIR GAME with Faith Salie

Clip from The OaKs playing Masood live in Tampa:

The Making of Songs for Waiting Part 1 of 2

The Making of Songs For Waiting, Part 2 of 2

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Seriously AWESOME KINGLY-NESS at South By South West (SXSW) 2008, in Austin**

**explanation: Please note the following important points. 1. Everyone in this video is sober. 2. Greg and Matt are demonstrating how to walk like a king. 3. How to walk like a king a. Be serious b. Walk in a straight line, with arms and legs in the same direction at the same time c. If you learn to walk like this you will rule. Try it!

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The OaKs's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

OUR NEW BLOG SPACE - intheoaks.blogspot.com  (view more)

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Photos from our earth-shattering CD release party!  (view more)

About Our New Single "Masood" - the story behind the song  (view more)

New album! ( and the OaKs begin to emerge from exile...)  (view more)

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   About The OaKs
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SONGS FOR WAITING by The OaKs - (2008) - TRACK LISTING:

1. The Two Calls (of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
2. Masood
3. Old Bones
4. Pike County
5. After the Fires
6. The Attraction of the Pilgrim
7. Here I Am Again
8. War Changes Everything
9. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
10. Song For Waiting

OUR FATHERS AND THE THINGS THEY LEFT BEHIND (2006) -
TRACK LISTING:

1. Prologue, Meditation
2. For Hugh Thompson, Who Stood Alone. Vietnam, Mai-Lai Massacre, 1968
3. The Sins of My Fathers
4. My Heart Is Weighed and Found Wanting, Kabul
5. Survey for a Distribution of Winter Clothing
6. My Father's God
7. Hugh Thompson, The Aftermath
8. Message from the Moon
9. Freeing My Heart
10. Epilogue, Celebration

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Songs For Waiting CD - 2008 - Click below to purchase on Itunes


Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind
CD - 2006 - Click below to purchase on Itunes

50% of profits from each copy of Our Fathers sold go directly to Afghan widows and recently returned refugees


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In late 2003, just two years after 9/11, The OaKs's Ryan Costello sold everything he owned, joined a humanitarian organization and moved to Afghanistan. Costello lived there for two years, working in the Central Afghan mountains with returned refugees, teaching them creative agricultural techniques and becoming fluent in their native language, Farsi. Late at night, while the dust storms blocked out the stars and rattled the windows, he would sit and work out impressions of what he had seen and heard that day on his acoustic guitar.

After returning to the United States, Costello joined back up with his long-time creative and song-writing partner Matthew Antolick, who was drumming full-time in a Moroccan band. Antolick and Costello began working out Costello’s melodic ideas and lyrical concepts, home-recording in Antolick’s apartment what eventually became Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind. Exploring themes of self-sacrifice and introspection over roots-folk and jazzy melodic layers, Our Fathers... was an original breath of fresh air for independent music.

The release of Our Fathers... drew immediate attention to The OaKs in Orlando's press and music scene, and the attention quickly went national as Paste magazine featured Costello and The OaKs in their July 2007 cover story "Can Rock Save the World." The OaKs also partnered with Global Hope Network on the release of Our Fathers...and agreed to donate 50% of the profits from each CD or track download from that album to aid widows and recently-returned refugees from Afghanistan.

Costello and Antolick immediately realized the difficulty of translating their multi-tracked compositions into a live setting with just a duo, and began working to put together a band of diverse musicians who could make the compositions come to life on stage. They were joined by Jeremy Siegel, a classically trained bassist steeped in Led Zeppelin and Bootsy Collins riffs, and also fluent in classical and jazz trombone. Tim Cocking came next - a piano major and audio engineer who's as dexterous on his trumpet as he is on his keyboard and accordion, and Greg Willson, a seminary student wielding a mandolin and electric guitar and who played the breathiest Stan Getz-style saxophone they had ever heard. Their lineup was completed shortly thereafter by Melissa Reyes, a singer-songwriter whose alto voice and folk harmonies complemented perfectly with Costello’s high vibrato. From the first guitar riff at their debut show on stage at the 2006 Anti-Pop Music Festival, it was apparent that they were meant to be making music together – the energy in the room was electric, and the reviews were raving.

Out of this natural chemistry was born many new songs over the winter of 2006/2007. Inspired by the unique talents of each member, Costello and Antolick began writing songs that would showcase the bands rhythmic tightness and diverse instrumentation. Lyrically, Costello delved into themes of spirituality in the midst of brokenness, of longing and searching, and continued to explore the previous album’s themes of social justice and self-sacrifice. The OaKs honed these tracks in the living room of Costello’s wood-floored 1950’s style house, and at live shows across the state, until the musical complexity and rhythmic tightness of the music exceeded anything they had created before.

In late July of 2007, Costello put in for part-time employment at his social work job and the OaKs began recording Songs For Waiting. Using the warm, full sound of Costello’s old house, they determined to use no artificial reverb on the new album, instead using room mic’ing techniques to mix the elements together in the style of their favorite 1960’s jazz and rock albums. Even synthesizers were played through amplifiers and speakers and run into the room to give them the woody ambience of Costello’s house. Over the next few months The OaKs employed trumpet, trombone, sax, Hammond organ, bells, synths from the 70’s and 80’s, acoustic and classical guitars, electric and acoustic bass, a plethora of shakers, tambourines, and hand-drums, and a Wurlitzer electric piano from 1959.

In mid October Antolick, Costello, and keyboardist Tim Cocking began mixing the new album. Using as few modern mixing tricks as possible, including no artificial reverb or delay, they carefully arranged each song. Throughout the mixing process they were mentored and guided by Alan Douches of West West Side Music, who’s hand has been on great recordings from Paul Simon’s Graceland to Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House and Sufjan Steven’s Illinois.

Finally, after over four long months, the OaKs’ Songs For Waiting was finished on November 8, 2007. The album was released on March 4, 2008.

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Check out our feature article in the July 2007 Issue of Paste Magazine here

Read more about Ryan's work doing agricultural development in Afghanistan with Global Hope Network at www.ghni.org

and see the photos Ryan took while living in Afghanistan here

Visit our Virb.com page here

Become a "fan" of the OaKs on our PURE VOLUME page here

and you can check out our Sonicbids electronic press kit here

iLike The
Oaks

Thanks for stopping by!

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The OaKs's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 465 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
Amber Norell [Film] ;)

Amber Norell



Oct 19 2009 4:51 PM

Hey come check me out in R!OT magazine this Friday at their release party at Knight Klub :)
xoxo
Amber Norell
peter doran

peter doran



Oct 19 2009 4:51 PM

cheers guys... currently got your record itune-ing it's way to me.
Wishing you every success
~Peter
PARIS IS BURNING

PARIS IS BURNING



Oct 19 2009 4:50 PM

what's up! Hey we're gonna be playing @ The Dungeon in Orlando, FL next Saturday Oct 3rd and would love for you to come out and hang with us. We have a nice set prepared for saturday so it should be fun.

Here's the address, really hope you can make it :D

10/3/2009 8:00 PM at Paris is Burning,Rise to brutality,13 Below, From the Depths ans more!!

6440 NorthOrange Blossom Trail, ORLANDO, Florida 32810

Cost: $8.00
Neurotic November

Neurotic November



Sep 24 2009 2:44 AM

Hey what's up. What do you think of our music?
HGR Florida Bands ONLY Network

HGR Florida Bands ONLY Network



Sep 18 2009 11:37 PM

Thank-you
Keep on Rockin!
Alex

Alex



Sep 13 2009 3:05 PM

i can't purchase your CD. it said 'NO ACTIVE VENDOR'!!? and i can't find anywhere to illegally download it either!! haha.

Seriously though.
GET ME A COPY!!!
Gene Smilek (music) RALEIGH, NC NOV. 12TH!!!

Gene Smilek (music) RALEIGH, NC NOV. 12TH!!!



Sep 13 2009 3:04 PM

Hey yo...hows it going???

btw, I am currently on tour right now!!! You should check them out. Hopefully i'll see you soon.
In Violent Times [add our Facebook Page!]

In Violent Times [add our Facebook Page!]



Sep 13 2009 3:04 PM

hey were playing a Free show at House of Blues next Saturday August 15th. would you want to go?
Rockwell Merch is printing for Ryan Shelley!

Rockwell Merch



Jan 24 2009 5:16 PM

Thanks for the friendship! Looks like you've already got a good merch source; but if you're ever shopping we’d appreciate the chance to talk with you!
The Liquid Kids

The Liquid Kids



Jan 29 2009 3:08 AM

Thanks for the add. Check back for some fun contests and feel free to chat with us on A.I.M.
Stay in touch!
Grand National Championships on WMNF Tampa 88.5 FM

Alastair and Jerrad



Dec 25 2008 4:36 PM

Congratulations!


www. grandnationalchampionships. com
Orlando Artists

Orlando Artists



Jan 11 2009 3:52 PM

Thank you for adding us!

Best regards to you!



Photobucket


Freckles

Freckles



Dec 4 2008 12:56 AM

i love the oaks =) thank you! love))
Karen Grace

Karen Grace



Nov 23 2008 11:11 PM

Hi Ryan!! My good friend Peter How gave me your first album to listen to the other day and I really love it, especially 'The Sins of my fathers' upon first listen! Peter said he has played you my music in the past; I hope you like my new tunes which are on my myspace page!

Keep up the amazing music; it looks like you guys are doing really well- you're an inspiration!

Karen Grace
The Totally Awesome

The Totally Awesome



Dec 3 2008 2:43 AM

Thanks for the add! Please keep The Totally Awesome in mind for any of your upcoming merch needs! New specials will be posted soon, so keep checking back!

Rob
The Totally Awesome
Rock for Hunger

Rock for Hunger



Oct 15 2008 4:53 AM

Get your Tickets to Rock for Hunger Fest 3! Support the Cause, and Enjoy a great night of music! Tickets are available at Ticketmaster. Just click on the flyer below or visit www. rockforhungerfest3. eventbrite. com! Each ticket feeds 80 people!!!

Rock for Hunger Fest 3
Renee Arozqueta

Renee Arozqueta



Nov 7 2008 12:02 AM

free lint with every cd purchase!!


ReAl

ReAl



Oct 7 2008 7:07 PM

The Oaks,
You are invited to our Demo Cd release party. Plus you will get a free demo at the show if your on the cd list. Just comment back "put me on the cd list".
M.G.R

M.G.R



Oct 11 2008 6:46 AM

hi!
Fritz (clubitus promotorus)

Fritz Maugile



Oct 13 2008 12:48 AM

Come see me tuesday at VINTAGE ..let me take care of you :)
shots on meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......

also be on look out for CK's Celebrity fund raiser @ LAXAUTICA fri oct 24th >>> for a great cause




VISIT FRITZ MYSPACE PAGE FOR MORE

DETAIL!!





VISIT FRITZ MYSPACE PAGE FOR MORE

DETAIL!!

Hills Rolling

Hills Rolling



Sep 9 2008 12:13 AM

Hey The Oaks, cool sound you have here! Thanks so much for supporting Hills Rolling! Hope you have a great week and keep in touch ok!

Don't be shy, come on over and check out the NEW CD ‘Something Delicious’ by Hills Rolling, and see what tastes so good!

Click to buy the NEW CD or Download songs at iTunes!



Click to buy Hills Rolling's debut CD, ‘Sweet Tea’

Chasing Jonah

Chasing Jonah



Aug 27 2008 11:36 PM

Love your music
Tempestuous

Tempestuous



Aug 3 2008 9:37 PM

Photobucket

Thanks for the add...some beautiful music here...welcome to my life....T
Chandra!

Chandra Lee



Jul 17 2008 7:01 PM

Thanks for the add.
Best wishes for your careers:)!
Dish

Dish



Jun 10 2008 2:46 PM

thanks for playing with us guys, hope to see you again soon.
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