Oklahoma Uprising
Oklahoma Uprising is a roots rock band led by Oklahoma songwriter Joel T. Mosman. Their songs cover themes from comeuppance to community, and other issues by way of allegorical storytelling. Songwriting influences include Sturgill Simpson, Tom Waits, and Gillian Welch. Musical influences include the Drive-By-Truckers, The Band, and Reckless Kelly. Mosman and Oklahoma Uprising have 10 years performance experience at venues like The Will Rogers Theatre, The Burford Theatre, and festivals including Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Red Brick Nights, and Norman Music Festival. Mosman has also appeared for TV and radio performances for the Rise & Shine Morning Show on Freedom 43, Oklahoma Rodeo Opry, and The WAFTI show.
In 2017 Mosman was honored to be the opening act for country music legend Roy Clark and then for red dirt legend Jason Boland in 2018. Mosman and his band have supported artists including: Jason Boland, Roy Clark, Arlo Guthrie, The Damn Quails, Travis Linville, The Red Dirt Rangers, Edgar Cruz, The Dirty River Boys, Frontier Ruckus, Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy. Mosman, who also performs as a solo artist, won 2nd place in the 2017 Woody Guthrie Songwriting Contest with his song “Letter to Woody”. Mosman and his band have also had songs featured on various radio shows and blogs including The Oklahoma Rock Show on KOSU, Cellar Door Music Group “Singles Grab Bag”, and Nathan Poppe’s Middle Of Nowhere blog in The Oklahoman.
In 2017, Mosman and his band released their debut EP Bridges & Borderlines. The release is the first of a series of productions that represent the band’s studio work to date and will continue to be released through 2018. All songs were produced at the T. Hodge Lodge Studio in Shawnee, Oklahoma and at the home of the band’s drummer Zach Wiederstein. “When we started the band, I just wanted to make good music. As the songs began to reveal themselves, I realized that a lot of them were about my struggle to become a better person… and how I’m always failing at it!” The releases started as a series of songs emailed back and forth between Wiederstein and Mosman. “I would have an idea and send it to Zach. A couple days later he would put some drums on it a send it back my way.” Mosman said. “Pretty soon, we had so many tracks we didn’t know what to do with them. So we spent a lot of time polishing them up and decided to release them.”
“I can’t stay dedicated to a single genre” Mosman said in a radio interview on Lakes Country 102.1FM. The genres on the songs move from rock to folk, to blues, and even bluegrass. John Souders of The WAFTI SHOW describes the song Talking Oklahoma Blues as a “Woody-Guthrie-Bob-Dylan-esque ditty…which follows the trials and tribulations of a man whose home is wiped out by a tornado and ultimately winds up finding himself in jail.”
In addition to fronting the band, Mosman is a DJ, freelance writer, video blogger, promoter, and associate at T. Hodge Lodge, Inc. (Stage and studio production). He is also family and community oriented and an active citizen who maintains a line of communication with legislators, and other community leaders. Zach Wiederstein, the band’s drummer, percussionist, and songwriter, was born and raised in Shattuck, OK. Zach is a physical education teacher and football coach.
Travis Lyon, the band’s bass player, is a father, math teacher, basketball coach and adjunct professor from Cherokee, OK. Wiederstein and Lyon met Mosman in 2007 while playing in a Red Dirt Country band when Mosman joined as a guitar player. “I was always really happy they let me tag along with them” Mosman said “I’ve always looked up to them musically. They’re just all around good dudes!” The band eventually parted ways but Wiederstein and Mosman continued to make music until 2016 when they invited Lyon to join them again to form the band ‘Oklahoma Uprising’. (In addition to the trio, there are many other performers that sit in regularly). Oklahoma Uprising prides themselves on being a versatile, professional band that is easy to work with. Mosman is available for solo performances, or as the frontman for a three, four, or five piece band. They tailor their music to fit whatever venue or environment they are playing. Their musical spectrum includes Americana, Singer-Songwriter, Roots Rock, Folk, Blues, and Alternative Country. Oklahoma Uprising has been described as ‘Woody Guthrie with a rock band’.