Songwriters & Tour Riders

By KOSU

What's Songwriters & Tour Riders about?

Songwriters & Tour Riders is an Oklahoma music podcast, giving you an inside look at musicians coming from Oklahoma and those just passing through. Join host Matthew Viriyapah as musicians tell stories of recording, touring and living as an artist.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Songwriters & Tour Riders episodes:

04.02.2024
The Great Divide
Red Dirt band The Great Divide came out with a new album in 2022, titled Providence. It was the first album of new, original songs by the original lineup in 20 years. The band returned to Stillwater in 2023 with...
03.05.2024
Willi Carlisle
This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah. Folksinger Willi Carlisle is not a native of the Arkansas Ozarks. But it's a place that he fell in love with. He has a new...
01.30.2024
King Cabbage Brass Band
This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah. Tulsa's King Cabbage Brass Band is bringing a taste of the Mardi Gras iconic sound to Oklahoma. They released their self-titled album last October and...
07.12.2023
Skating Polly
This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah. Punk band Skating Polly has released a double LP titled Chaos County Line. The band is made up of siblings, Kelli and Kurtis Mayo and...
03.28.2023
Thunder Jackson
Kyle Bradley was raised in Piedmont, Oklahoma. But his alter-ego, Thunder Jackson, was born in Los Angeles, California, after years of playing in smoky bars and busking since he was a teenager. He released his debut self-titled album in 2020,...
02.08.2023
The Lone Bellow
The Lone Bellow's latest album is titled Love Songs for Losers and was recorded in Roy Orbison's former home. Matthew talked with singer Zach Williams just before they started their first tour of 2023, which fell right around the 10-year anniversary of...
10.26.2022
Companion
Folk music duo Companion released their debut album Second Day of Spring in May 2022. Companion is made up of twins, Jo and Sophia Babb, who were raised in Oklahoma, and have been performing together since they were at...
08.10.2022
Sarah Shook
North Carolina country artist Sarah Shook & The Disarmers released their latest album, Nightroamer, in February. In this episode, hear Sarah talk about being LGTBQ in country music, getting sober, and the first time they met a non-binary person.
07.13.2022
Kaitlin Butts
Kaitlin Butts is a singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her latest album, What Else Can She Do, is a collage of different female characters who tackle that question and draw from parts of the country artist's own life. The first track's...
05.12.2022
Jason Scott and the High Heat
Jason Scott and the High Heat are an Oklahoma band fronted by singer-songwriter, Jason Scott. Jason grew up Pentecostal and was once a youth and worship pastor. Now as a musician, he is writing songs while his bandmates joke about...
04.27.2022
Norman Music Festival
Norman Music Festival is returning this week after two years of a pandemic-spurred hiatus. The festival brings hundreds of musicians and thousands of fans to the city of Norman, Oklahoma. Shari Jackson is the executive director of Norman Music Alliance,...
03.17.2022
Sun Deep
Sun Deep has only been making music for three years. But he has already produced songs for numerous hip hop artists in Oklahoma and is also part of the bilingual hip hop duo Finite Galaxy. His upcoming release 'Will Rap...
02.02.2022
Black History Month: Oklahoma Musicians
For Black History Month, we are taking a look back at some Black musicians that have been on the show in the past. You’ll be hearing again from Dr. View, Bartees Strange, Original Flow, and Jabee. They all released really...
01.19.2022
Wilderado
Max Rainer is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the singer for Wilderado. Their self-titled debut album was largely written in an old church that was being sold at auction. After a couple of years of struggling with writing, Rainer...
12.20.2021
RC & the Ambers
RC Edwards is from Tahlequah Oklahoma and is probably best known as the bassist for the Turnpike Troubadours. However this year he put out a new album with long time friend Amber Watson and produced by fellow Troubadour, Hank Early....
12.06.2021
Unwed Sailor
Unwed Sailor is an instrumental rock band based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but also has its roots in the 90s music scene of Seattle, Washington. Johnathon Ford is the bassist and songwriter and lived in the famous music scene with his...
10.27.2021
Parker Millsap
Parker Millsap is a singer-songwriter from Purcell, Oklahoma. On his latest album Be Here Instead, he explored writing from a more vulnerable and personal point of view in a way that felt like he 'was sneaking up on himself. The...
09.29.2021
Pisha
Madeline Kassen is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and releases music under the moniker Pisha. The recent Berklee College of Music grad put out her first album titled Threnody earlier this year. The title means 'a lament' and the album is her...
09.10.2021
Introducing Songwriters & Tour Riders
Hear a preview of Songwriters & Tour Riders, as we give you an inside look at musicians coming from Oklahoma and those just passing through. Hosted by Matthew Viriyapah, hear musicians tell stories of recording, touring and living as an...
07.29.2021
Josh Fudge
Josh Fudge was only 18 years old when he released his first album, Fun Times, at the beginning of this year. Juxtaposing sweet melodies with melancholic lyrics, the album captures his experience transitioning into adulthood. In this episode, hear more...
07.14.2021
WoodyFest 2021
The annual festival honoring the legacy and music of legendary Oklahoma singer Woody Guthrie is returning to his hometown. Last year's Woody Guthrie Folk Festival — affectionately known as WoodyFest — went completely virtual. But this year, musicians like Grammy-winning singer-songwriter...
06.23.2021
Kitt Wakeley
A born and raised Oklahoman, Kitt Wakeley recorded his album remotely at the historic Abbey Road Studios in London, England. On it, he combines his love for rock drums and riffs, sweeping orchestral melodies and pulsing electronic beats. The album's...
06.03.2021
Fire In Little Africa
During segregation, North Tulsa and Greenwood was primarily Black and was called Little Africa. But it was home to one of the most prosperous Black communities in history, Black Wall Street. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white...
05.19.2021
Matt Heckler (bonus)
This bonus episode features more conversation and music with North Carolina musician Matt Heckler. In this episode, he talks more about recently getting into biking, touring with Flogging Molly and Dock Boggs.
05.05.2021
Matt Heckler
The pandemic was an unexpected blessing for North Carolina musician Matt Heckler. With the unexpected time and rest, he was able to record his latest album, Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at number three on the Bluegrass Billboard chart. But...
04.14.2021
LCG & the X
LCG & the X spent 18 months performing and working on their first album. But when they released their self-titled debut, it came out at the worst possible time — March 2020, right as the pandemic became a reality for many of us....
03.24.2021
The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts
The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University begins its second season on Sunday, March 28th with brass quintet Canadian Brass. The multi-million dollar performing arts center opened in Stillwater, Oklahoma in October 2019. For its inaugural season...
03.17.2021
Quese IMC
Quese IMC is a Native American hip hop artist and citizen of the Pawnee and Seminole Nations. He has been part of the hip hop scene in Oklahoma for many years and helped organize Culture Shock Camp, one of the...
02.24.2021
Black History Month: Oklahoma Musicians
For Black History Month, we are taking a look back at some Black musicians that have been on the show in the past year. You’ll be hearing again from Dr. View, Bartees Strange, Original Flow, and Jabee. They all released...
02.10.2021
Chad Whitehead of Tower Theatre
Chad Whitehead is the operating partner for Tower Theatre in Oklahoma City, and for like many in the music business, the past year has caused heavily reduced revenue and numerous layoffs for his business. But for 2021, Chad gives a possible...
12.21.2020
Mike McClure
Mike McClure is a pioneer of the Red Dirt music scene that began in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He was part of The Great Divide and produced numerous other records for acts like Cross Canadian Ragweed and Turnpike Troubadours. With the pandemic...
12.21.2020
Mike McClure
Mike McClure is a pioneer of the Red Dirt music scene that began in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He was part of The Great Divide and produced numerous other records for acts like Cross Canadian Ragweed and Turnpike Troubadours. With the pandemic giving...
12.02.2020
Original Flow
Blackmankidboy, the latest album from Oklahoma City hip hop artist Original Flow, highlights his experience growing up and contrasted with today. While making this record, he lost his mother due to cancer and then was on the verge of giving...
12.02.2020
Original Flow
Blackmankidboy, the latest album from Oklahoma City hip hop artist Original Flow, highlights his experience growing up and contrasted with today. While making this record, he lost his mother due to cancer and then was on the verge of giving up...
11.12.2020
Daniel Donato
The debut record from 25-year-old Daniel Donato brings together jam band music and outlaw country. It comes after about a decade of playing guitar professionally in Nashville. When he was 16, he was the youngest person to ever play with...
11.12.2020
Daniel Donato
The debut record from 25-year-old Daniel Donato brings together jam band music and outlaw country. It comes after about a decade of playing guitar professionally in Nashville. When he was 16, he was the youngest person to ever play with the...
10.21.2020
Bartees Strange
One of Bartees Strange's fears is just being one thing. Born in England, Bartees Cox Jr. grew up in a military family that bounced around from place to place until they settled down in Mustang, Oklahoma. His mother is an...
10.21.2020
Bartees Strange
One of Bartees Strange's fears is just being one thing. Born in England, Bartees Cox Jr. grew up in a military family that bounced around from place to place until they settled down in Mustang, Oklahoma. His mother is an opera...
10.07.2020
Tennessee Jet
Tennessee Jet, whose real name is TJ, grew up traveling with his parents on the rodeo circuit. And while in the truck, he listened to traditional country music on the radio. His newest album, The Country, is an ode to...
10.07.2020
Tennessee Jet
Tennessee Jet, whose real name is TJ, grew up traveling with his parents on the rodeo circuit. And while in the truck, he listened to traditional country music on the radio. His newest album, The Country, is an ode to country...
09.23.2020
Kyle Nix
Kyle Nix is best known as the fiddle player for the Oklahoma country band Turnpike Troubadours. While that band has been on hiatus, Nix took that time to work on his solo debut, Lightning on the Mountain & Other Short Stories....
09.23.2020
Kyle Nix
Kyle Nix is best known as the fiddle player for the Oklahoma country band Turnpike Troubadours. While that band has been on hiatus, Nix took that time to work on his solo debut, Lightning on the Mountain and Other Short...
09.02.2020
Jabee
Jabee says the idea of his latest album's title, This World Is So Fragile and Cruel I'm Glad I Got You, "kind of floats throughout the climate we are living in." It comes after a four year period of learning and...
09.02.2020
Jabee
Jabee says the idea of his latest album's title, This World Is So Fragile and Cruel I'm Glad I Got You, "kind of floats throughout the climate we are living in." It comes after a four year period of learning...
08.19.2020
PUP
Stefan Babcock is the singer and primary songwriter for the Canadian punk rock band, PUP. Their latest album, Morbid Stuff, was listed on NPR's list of The 15 Best Rock Albums Of 2019 and recently won a Juno award. With songs drawn from...
08.19.2020
PUP
Stefan Babcock is the singer and primary songwriter for the Canadian punk rock band, PUP. Their latest album, Morbid Stuff, was listed on NPR's list of The 15 Best Rock Albums Of 2019 and recently won a Juno award. With songs...
08.05.2020
Dr. View
Dr. View, aka Dr. Stevie Johnson, holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Oklahoma. Currently based in Tulsa, he's also a hip-hop producer and the manager of education and diversity outreach at the Woody Guthrie Center...
07.22.2020
Samantha Crain
Samantha Crain recently released her new album. It's an album she didn’t think she would ever going to make. Following three car accidents in 2017, Crain was left with debilitating injuries to her hands. She had to cancel her entire...
07.22.2020
Samantha Crain
Samantha Crain recently released her new album. It's an album she didn’t think she would ever going to make. Following three car accidents in 2017, Crain was left with debilitating injuries to her hands. She had to cancel her entire U.S....
06.17.2020
Beau Jennings
A veteran musician and formerly of the band Cheyenne, Beau Jennings turned to a new chapter of his career when he returned to Oklahoma after eight years in New York City. Forming a new band called the Tigers, Jennings released the...

What's Songwriters & Tour Riders about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Songwriters & Tour Riders episodes:

The Great Divide

Willi Carlisle

King Cabbage Brass Band

Skating Polly

Thunder Jackson

The Lone Bellow

Companion

Sarah Shook

Kaitlin Butts

Jason Scott and the High Heat

Norman Music Festival

Sun Deep

Black History Month: Oklahoma Musicians

Wilderado

RC & the Ambers

Unwed Sailor

Parker Millsap

Pisha

Introducing Songwriters & Tour Riders

Josh Fudge

WoodyFest 2021

Kitt Wakeley

Fire In Little Africa

Matt Heckler (bonus)

Matt Heckler

LCG & the X

The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts

Quese IMC

Black History Month: Oklahoma Musicians

Chad Whitehead of Tower Theatre

Mike McClure

Mike McClure

Original Flow

Original Flow

Daniel Donato

Daniel Donato

Bartees Strange

Bartees Strange

Tennessee Jet

Tennessee Jet

Kyle Nix

Kyle Nix

Jabee

Jabee

PUP

PUP

Dr. View

Samantha Crain

Samantha Crain

Beau Jennings

Other shows like Songwriters & Tour Riders: