Back with a ROAR
Red City Radio returns with uplifting punk rock EP, hometown show
Garrett Dale is half man and half SkyTiger. But at the moment he’s tired from a rehearsal session, and the Red City Radio frontman is hunkered down at a HiLo Club bar top. If you haven’t been to the compact venue, it’s got a reputation for being a dive bar’s dive bar. Also, try picturing the opposite of the Braum’s that was proposed to replace the Classen Circle mainstay last year. In a lot of ways, it’s home.
“I love this place a lot,” Dale says between sips of tequila and acknowledging friends. “I’ve been coming here since I was 18.”
The Oklahoma-raised rocker has a passion for seriously joking. Just moments before, he asked me if I was happy that HiLo wasn’t a Braum’s to which he quipped: “What, don’t you like ice cream?”
Dale’s played the tiny room many times over with Red City Radio. Even the bartender on duty, Ian, is a fan. He pointed to where he broke his foot at a RCR show — he says the injury hasn’t totally healed yet.
The band’s known for rowdy punk shows that not only flex popinfused harmonies but also become infectious enough to get Blue Note patrons to put down their
pool cues and party. Guitarist Ryan Donovan, drummer Dallas Tidwell and bassist Jonathan Knight round out the quartet’s current lineup.
Dale’s been running around the world with the band for more than a decade.
He says he joined Red City Radio as a teenager right around the time he dropped out of Rose State College and answered a “guitar player wanted” web ad. Born on a Wichita Falls, Texas Air Force base, Dale spent his youth hopping between the U.S., Spain and London before his family settled down in Edmond.
What’s a SkyTiger?
Today, he’s approaching Red City Radio’s latest effort with a renewed passion. It’s called “SkyTigers,” a five-song EP that’s big on righteous guitar hooks and might be more of a state of mind than anything else.
To give you an idea what a SkyTiger is, let’s start with what isn’t: Having your label dissolve.
That happened shortly after the band’s 2015 self-titled LP tried picking up steam
while Staple Records folded. Dale knows plenty of bands who would’ve broke up in that situation.
But Red City Radio kept going.
“We didn’t sit around and wait for something to come to us,” Dale said. “We went out there and pushed the f--- on. The Woody Guthrie way.
“Being from Oklahoma, nobody’s coming out here to help you. Nobody’s coming here to find the hot, new talent. That’s just not real, man. Now, you don’t have to go anywhere to do it, but you have to commit yourself 100 percent.”
That’s exactly what being a SkyTiger’s all about.
“We tried to elevate our band, our brand and the way that we think about music,” Dale said. “Even the way that we communicate with each other. That’s actually what a SkyTiger is. It’s the next level of consciousness, my man.”
That wasn’t a simple path. After a pretty rigorous touring schedule following the label debacle, Dale took a break from writing and then a close friend’s death sent him into a funk. Selfdoubt soured his mood.
“It ended relationships. It ended my positive mentality,” Dale said. “But every end is a beginning though. Every lowdown, dirty thing that happens to you only exists because
the opposite is out there in the universe.
“You have low times and you have great times. As long as you keep your gratitude higher than your expectations, life’s a little easier.”
Enter Mike Kennerty
When Mike Kennerty’s not playing guitar for the AllAmerican Rejects or reviewing breakfast cereals on Instagram — which is a very entertaining follow — he’s producing and recording music out of an Edmond-based studio.
Dale clicked with Kennerty on a 2017 solo effort and that opened the floodgates for a Red City Radio followup. “SkyTigers” — released last month via Red Scare Industries — takes the band in a more dramatic direction. The quartet still approaches its craft with a go-for-broke energy that I could only imagine attaining after downing a fridge full of Red Bulls.
There’s also more quiet moments and those are balanced with some acrobatic guitar squeals that’d be a fit for an arena crowd. “SkyTigers” spans only 21 minutes, but every one of those five songs has an album’s worth of enthusiasm.
“I realized I control my own destiny and my own universe,”
Dale said. “I had stopped thinking that way. That’s where the idea for ‘SkyTigers’ came from.”
I could be wrong, but I’ll take a stab at a few more things Dale might consider a SkyTiger move: Staying positive, getting a DEVO tattoo like the one on Dale’s arm, listening to Horse Thief, hitting the Celebration Station batting cages with Taking Back Sunday’s drummer, attending OKC’s Rock and Roll Camp for Girls or performing at an all-ages venue.
“At this point and time in our career, I think we’re doing OKC a disservice by not playing all-ages shows,” Dale said. “I grew up at the Green Door. I grew up seeing Minutes Too Far play in churches . ... I was able to see that stuff because it wasn’t always 21 and up.
“Stop catering to the drunks. ... We’re not allowing kids to come to our parties. Why are we so surprised that there’s not a lot of young people wanting to be a part of rock and roll? We’re not sending out the invitation.”
Tower time
Consider yourself invited to Red City Radio’s April 13 homecoming show at Tower Theatre. Dale promised he’d keep to the salty language to a minimum. He’s also eager to catch the defunct, like-minded Oklahoma band Minutes Too Far reunite for an evening. Back in the early aughts, Dale played his very first concert opening for MTF inside of an Edmond church.
At the gig, his bandmate threw a drumstick into the crowd and it plopped onto the carpet because nobody caught it. Dale’s music and showmanship has come a long way from that evening, and he’s happy to route Red City Radio’s latest tour through his hometown.
“North side Oklahoma City’s where our dreams come true and die / Ain’t the prettiest place on earth / There’s everywhere to run but no place to hide” Dale and Co. growl on the new EP opener “If You Want Blood (Be My Guest)” before reaffirming change is within anyone’s reach. Oklahoma is home, but these punks are here to say it’s far from perfect.
“I love Oklahoma City. I think it’s time to love ourselves,” Dale said. “It seems like there’s people with a lot of money in this town that wanna build a lot of cool stuff, but we all know people with a lot of money ain’t cool.
“If you wanna be cool, support art.”
I think that’s what a SkyTiger would do.