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DATES

‘People In This Town’ out now from Black Mesa Records!

Heavy Light is out now! Get it here.

ABOUT

What starts as a scrappy ten seconds of scuffling and static emerges as a summer anthem from Oklahoma band Beau Jennings and the Tigers. Out June 9 from Oklahoma-based record label Black Mesa Records, the new single “People in This Town” follows the Tigers’ 2022 full-length “Heavy Light.” That record drew critical parallels to Tom Petty and the Wallflowers and Bruce Springsteen, and live, the band has shared billings with Dwight Yoakam, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Heartless Bastards and John Moreland.

In the new song, Jennings imagines the patrons of a bar on the outskirts—inspired by a real blink-and-you’ll-miss-it building in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. Having barely noticed it for much of his life, a recent drive nearby prompted Jennings to conjure the figures who might be congregating there.

This era of Jennings’ prolific songbook has become increasingly personal as he, now 42, refocuses his lyrical lens from a young artist figuring out his identity to ever-changing examinations of family, of home, of our limited time and acute observations of the lives of others. Thanks to the Tigers—guitarist Chase Kerby, drummer Dustin Ragland, organist Chris Wiser and bassist and sound engineer Michael Trepagnier—he’s also sharpened his knack for memorable hooks.

The band’s MO on upbeat songs is airtightness, handing the listener a tidy package that is as fun to listen to as it must be to perform. It’s rock ‘n’ roll for rock ‘n’ roll’s sake, handclaps and gang vocals propping up Jennings’ words and creating a world in which metaphors swap seats with literalisms and vice versa. Where 2016 saw Jennings “Back in Town,” chronicling a readjustment into being home again after some time as an expat, here, he’s on the inside again and seeing what else there is to be found.

“People in This Town” touches down at the intersection of a trinity of Oklahoman values, for better or worse: sports, religion, and misunderstanding your neighbor. The gentle admonition of the chorus—”People in this town don’t know what they got”—touches a nerve, highlighting the chasm between parallels: what we know we don’t know and what we don’t know we don’t know.

As it turns out, the bar in question is a much-beloved institution that plays host to its regulars’ holiday celebrations, bachelorette parties, musical projects and more. It’s a micro community, and most people moving past would have no idea. The building has no windows; you have to go in and really listen to find the lightness on the edge of town.


PRESS

“Deeply felt…emotions that cut like a knife” - Rolling Stone

“Beau Jennings and the Tigers capture what it's like to feel lost in a familiar place.” - NPR Music

“Shimmery, pretty production that sands off yesteryear elements that might evoke Creedence Clearwater Revival or alt. country like unrelated namesake, Waylon…it’s honest, modest, humble gentle and emotive.” - The Big Takeover

 “(Beau Jennings’ record) ’The Verdigris’…is exceedingly different from anything Jennings — and probably anybody else in Oklahoma — has ever done before.” - The Daily Oklahoman  

PHOTOS

All photos by Alexa Ace

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