MUSIC: Revue's musicians return to the roots

Little Rock gets a dose of Oklahoma roots music on Monday as a quartet of Sooners comes to White Water Tavern.

John Fullbright, Paul Benjaman, Jacob Tovar and Jesse Aycock are touring as the Tulsa Revue, where each player gets a solo set backed by the others before they all play together at the end.

"The whole idea for this tour was because a lot of us have been playing together over the years in Tulsa," Aycock says. "We have so much fun playing together in Tulsa, we thought, 'why not take this concept on the road?'"

Aycock mentions Joe Cocker's chaotic 1970 "Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour," when the British blues rocker toured with a group that consisted of mostly Tulsa musicians, as inspiration.

This one, of course, is a wee bit more low-budget.

"He was flying all his friends around on a private jet, which looked like all the fun in the world," Aycock says.

The four members of the Revue have the scope of the Tulsa sound covered. Fullbright is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter with a soulful voice and wry style; Benjaman is a bluesy groove-seeker; Tovar, who grew up on a ranch, is a classic honky tonk hero, and Aycock's rootsy songs have an ethereal sheen.

"Everyone is so good at what they do, and they're able to morph into their role," says the 37-year-old Aycock, who is also part of the band Hard Working Americans.

He talks about playing steel guitar for Tovar, whose classic country roots aren't exactly part of Tulsa native Aycock's regular jams.

"I love that old stuff, but it's not as much in my wheelhouse, so my approach to playing is not what his [regular steel guitarist] would do. It creates a cohesiveness amongst all of us because we're all backing each other up even though the styles may vary."

Aycock, an in-demand session player whose last solo album is 2014's Flowers and Wounds, has Arkansas connections.

Little Rock's Jason Weinheimer produced Flowers and Wounds in Tulsa, and Aycock has worked on several projects at Weinheimer's Fellowship Hall Sound studio, including Kalyn Fay's recent album Good Company.

"I've probably done more records out of Fellowship Hall than anywhere," Aycock says. "I'm comfortable working with Jason. I love the way he works."

Weekend on 10/17/2019