The South Carolina native has made a huge impact on Tahlequah’s music scene through his open mic nights and other ventures.
Austin Reese’s musical journey began before he came to Tahlequah in 2017. He learned to play the trumpet in grade school. In high school he developed a passion for low brass instruments and after graduating he studied Music Education at the University of South Carolina where he primarily played euphonium. Reese also plays keyboards, guitar and bass.
Reese ended up working at Yellowstone National Park before heading to Tahlequah, where his time at the park led to him performing in a talent show at Old Faithful Lodge in front of an audience of about 400 people, and inspired him to pursue songwriting.
He played a few open mic nights when he first moved to the city, and then spent three years playing with Colton Clos & the Murder at venues like Cheetham Street Warehouse in Texas. After the band’s frontman moved away, Reese branched out into a new but familiar adventure: open mic nights.
Reese hosts the Local Legends Open Mic every Wednesday at 7pm at The Branch, and Reese says the best part is being able to focus on creating new material and writing new songs while building a fanbase.
“I just took all the songs I’ve written over the last few years and put them together,” Reese said.
Reese makes frequent stops at The Colony in Tulsa to learn about the music scene and recruit Tulsa musicians to play in Tahlequah, which he said can be a challenge but exposes performers to other kinds of music.
“I met a lot of great players who play other instruments,” Reese says, “Usually in small towns, everyone seems to play guitar, so there aren’t a lot of violinists, mandolinists or keyboard players, so it’s hard to find people who can play multiple instruments. But when you go to Tulsa, there’s a whole pool of musicians.”
Reese would go on to form another band called “Green Country Special” featuring a rock, blues and Americana sound, with members Jeff Porter on bass, Dewayne Robertson on drums, Kevin Kimble on guitar and Cody Marriott on fiddle.
Green Country Special plans to release an album next year.
What’s next?
Reese will be performing at The Branch on August 3rd from noon to 2pm, Piddle’s Cajun Bar & Grill on August 10th from 7pm to 10pm, Arrowhead Resort on August 24th from 6pm to 9pm and at the Blue Note Roundup on September 7th at 10am.