A new band made up of area musicians will bring “dad rock” to Dewain’s Place at 8:30 p.m., Friday, January 17, featuring Kyler Smith and The Sunday Sinners.
Council Hill features local artists Newt Farris, of Peggs, Oklahoma, and Sam Cox, of Tahlequah, as well as musicians Ethan Adams of Durant and Patrick Butcher of Council Hill, after whom the band is named.
The group formed in April 2024, according to Farris.
“It was an idea that we had been toying with for a long time, probably a year or two before that,” Farris said. “But we didn’t really take it seriously until the other bands we were all touring with started slowing down in mid-2024, so we decided to give this band a chance.”
Farris, Cox and Adams were on tour with another local artist, Autumn Ragland.
Adams is also the drummer for Wesetta Switch and The Weathered Souls. Butcher and Cox previously formed a band together during their high school years called The Composition.
Farris said the band members came from diverse musical backgrounds, such as Christian rock, metal and Americana, but that the “entrance” genre for each of them was the rock music that one could be found on radio stations throughout the 2000s. Some call it “dad rock.”
“So nowadays it’s a little bit of a different term,” Cox said.
Farris said 10 to 15 years ago, this was what their parents grew up listening to: AC/DC, Def Leppard, Guns N Roses and Pearl Jam.
“But over time, the kids of the 2000s have now grown up and had children. So these days, people refer to ‘dad rock’ as music that might have been played on the radio in the 2000s: Nickelback, Creed, Hinder and 3 Doors Down,” Farris said.
It’s quite versatile music across different age groups, according to Adams.
“It’s the music that our parents listened to in the 2000s while driving us to school. But we were in elementary, middle or high school at the time,” Butcher said. “So we were listening to it too.”
Regarding performing, Adams said it was a goal everyone in the band shared from a young age.
“It’s really all any of us ever wanted to do,” Adams said.
“We all started in the garage or in a school group. We have now spent most of our lives doing this.
After the Dewain concert, the band plans to travel to Dallas and Hays, Kansas. Additional shows will be announced later this year.
Check it out
Follow Council Hill on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CouncilHIll.