Interview: Adam Ledbetter

August 25, 2016

Photo: Tori Beechum

During the summer of 2014, I moved to Oklahoma for graduate school.  Moving isn’t an easy thing to do, and moving to Oklahoma from Philadelphia was especially challenging. To say that I was the victim of cultural shock would be an understatement. I remember the summer before moving vividly. Family and friends would ask what my next move was, and I would tell them that I’d be moving to Oklahoma for graduate school. Immediately after telling people that I’d be moving to Oklahoma they’d typically start singing Oklahoma! (sigh) from the Broadway musical.  But I can’t blame them. Like many people from the east coast, I had my perceptions of Oklahoma, too, but hearing family and friends offer their interpretation of the song certainly didn’t help ease my worries of the coming cultural shock. 

For students attending school away from home (in my case 1,200 miles away from home), there’s the added adjustment of adapting socially and culturally to a new place, not to mention the workload; so to maintain some level of sanity, I needed a musical outlet. But where would my outlet be? How would I be musically fed? Like many of the people that would offer me their rendition of Oklahoma! when I told them I was moving to Oklahoma, I [ignorantly] only thought of Oklahoma as a place for Country music. But, after spending two years in Oklahoma, I’ve come to know some phenomenal musicians and artists all along the musical spectrum, one of them being Adam Ledbetter, a pianist, producer, rapper, composer, and member of Adam and Kizzie – a collaborative group with his wife. I caught up with Adam to hear his thoughts as someone raised in Oklahoma, a musician, and artist. Here’s our conversation:

STANLEY: Thanks for taking out the time to answer some questions about music in Oklahoma City! How would you describe the [Black] music scene in Oklahoma?

 ADAM: I would describe the [Black] Oklahoma City music scene as dysfunctional. Lol. Not my typical response because I love my city and the scene here but I feel like I should be totally candid. The artists themselves are very supportive of one another and I really believe that is what is sustaining the black music scene in Oklahoma. We can't lean on our fans because they are skeptical. We can't lean on professional colleagues (agents, managers, talent buyers, venue owners etc) because they simply don't exist, we can't lean on the radio stations because they have different interests but we lean on each other. I think that’s special because we believe in us if nobody else does. Oklahoma City in general has always suffered from an inferiority complex. We're too small and too close to Texas for our own good. The fans are reserving judgment until they see us get big enough to get props from everywhere else, the venues don't profit so they just bring in party and cover bands and we're left to remind each other "Hey, that's killer even if nobody else gets it." Jabee is a good example. His hard work is beginning to pay off but he's doing what he's always done: grind and put out albums like nobody's business. He did that despite OKC. OKC did not always have his back until he got an Emmy... Welcome to OKC. I dream of the day when OKC takes enough pride in itself to not need outside validation. There was a venue called Urban Roots that was the hub for black artists until it closed in May 2015. The owner, Chaya believed in the artists so she made her resources available to them. She gave us free access. We still had to put everything else together but what I witnessed over time was a chain reaction. The fans became more involved they became less skeptical. All of our shows went up in attendance. More artists were producing new music. People were participating. None of this happened because all of a sudden we got awesome. It was all because one venue owner said "I believe in you all". Other artists started making OKC a regular stop on their tours. It was magical and unfortunately aggressive gentrification pushed Urban Roots out of business. We're hitting the roads hard, game planning and hoping one day we can find a new nest to lay some eggs in. So yeah, dysfunctional - hopeful, but dysfunctional.

"I dream of the day when OKC takes enough pride in itself to not need outside validation."

STANLEY: You brought up a lot of interesting points, but I just wanted to highlight a few points that you made.

Urban Roots: When I first moved to Oklahoma and started exploring OKC musically, Urban Roots was the place I gravitated toward. It reminded me of my hometown, Philadelphia, but it had a fresh feel to it, largely because I wasn't expecting to find that type of venue in OKC. You know, you hear so much about Oklahoma, the music there, the culture, etc. so I think, more than anything, Urban Roots just caught me off guard.

Gentrification: It's ironic that you mentioned the aggressive gentrification that played a key role in the demise of Urban Roots, because the first time I visited Urban Roots I noticed the heavy construction and development being done in the area, as well as the neighborhood demographic, the style of housing (lofts, brownstones, etc.), and I couldn't help but wonder how this would play out for a black owned business. So, I leave Urban Roots after my 1st visit, I go home and look up the history of the Deep Deuce, the area where Urban Roots was located, and come to find out that the area was historically black, and at one point the epicenter of black culture/music during the 1940's and 1950's, only to be throttled by the highway development of I-35; a sad, but all too common trend for many inner city, Black communities around the United States. Seems as if the elimination of Black spaces has been an ongoing project for 70+ years.

While the loss of Urban Roots may have hurt the music community somewhat, I think Bistro 46 and Ordinary People Lounge has played a nice role in filling the gap and offering a space for artists and musicians to grow.

STANLEY: Who are some artists from OKC/OK that you think we should be on the lookout for?

ADAM: The artists to look out for in OKC are Adam & Kizzie (shameless plug), Jabee, Cooki Turner, Sean C. Johnson, J. Lee The Producer, Kadence, and Tony Foster Jr. Band. That's my bread and butter right there.

STANLEY: I'm familiar with most of the artists you mentioned. Y'all are the first group/people I mention when I talk about OKC's black music scene. I love y'all's music so much, seriously. 

STANLEY: If you could change one thing (or more than one thing) about OKC/OK's music scene, what would you change?

ADAM: If I could change simply one thing about OKC's music scene I would reopen Urban Roots! No brainer. It is the most significant of several missing puzzle pieces. It serves the artists by giving them space and it serves the people by making it easy to find where the art is taking place. There has never been more cooperation, camaraderie, diversity and ambition in this music scene in my lifetime than when Urban Roots was open. Worth noting, that Urban Roots developed over time as well. It was serving a need that many people in OKC didn't immediately know existed once they caught on though, it was magic. Beyond that I would convince the fans how important they are. I'd make them believers.

"I would convince the fans how important they are. I'd make them believers." 

STANLEY: Wow - that's profound: "...I would convince the fans how important they are" You've put a good bit of emphasis the role of fans in the creation, and success, of the music scene in Oklahoma City, as opposed saying there's a "talent gap" on the end of the artists.

Often times, it seems like we (fans) put a lot of emphasis on making the ARTIST feel like they're important, but you're saying the opposite, which I think is a valid point. But from my time in Oklahoma I learned a lot about the so called "hidden", and in some sense, undervalued talent in Oklahoma City. OKC has a lot to offer musically!

ADAM: No question bro! OKC has a ton to offer musically. What we don't have that a lot of the healthier scenes I visit have is a sense of ownership among the fans. In OKC they're taking all of their cues from the artists which doesn't work. There has to be give and take but here the artists give and receive nothing in return. If you look at every major musical movement in America's history you'll find a lot of drugs. I believe the reason for this is because the artists, by pushing boundaries end up requiring more from fans than they are willing to give and in order to continue to give without receiving self-medication becomes necessary. This is just one angle to the issue, but I believe this pattern exists! In OKC, among the artists I've mentioned, drugs aren't a part of the culture which is another thing I believe that makes it special. That said, the fans here don't understand that they can place any value on their local music scene that they want. They can demand excellence, and get it. They can demand individuality, and get it. Sadly OKC suffers from an inferiority complex (always trying to compete with Texas) and there's a deep insecurity that prevents fans from recognizing and championing the things that do make Oklahoma special. When I go to Richmond the venues are full of gatekeepers. Same thing in Austin, Chicago, Asheville, Atlanta etc. Those people make it their business to enjoy their local music in a serious way. Here everyone just laments that we don't have what those other places do, but if the fans showed up and became gatekeepers the venues that keep closing wouldn't and if those venues didn't close, the artists wouldn't move, and if the artists didn't move the standard would go higher and higher, and then people would move here.

All photos come courtesy Tori Beechum.