The Xanadu story began in 2004 when friends and Tulsa natives Brian Payne (guitar/lead vocals- 18 yrs old) and Parker Ferrell (guitar/mandolin/vocals- also 18) realized their identical interests in music/songwriting and decided to start a simple acoustic duo. Dubbing themselves Lyle Newearth & The Runaways they soon became a regular staple at churches, coffee shops and small venues citywide. Their energetic and impressive live shows soon became events to see, quickly building a large and mostly high school age audience, consistently packing venues beyond the maximum capacity. These shows were generally acoustic jams where they would showcase surprising musical prowess beyond their years as well as intelligent and mature songwriting, stemming from both Brian and Parkers 6-plus years of experience on their instruments. On occasion, LNR would invite close friends Alex Winters (18) or Joe Wright (17) to sit in on their shows.
Both Alex and Joe, despite their ages, already held quite impressive credentials. Alex is a student of the upright bass on the classical side (he placed 7th on the upright bass in a statewide high school competition and also sits in the All State Orchestra) but is also quite proficient on the 5-string electric bass. Joe, who first picked up the sticks at age 9, gained experience playing for numerous bands and has also worked as a studio session drummer since age 14. On the occasion that either of these two would sit in, Alex would generally play upright bass or acoustic guitar, or Joes role would strictly be percussionist, playing the hand drums.
After almost a year of doing this, Brian and Parker decided to evolve the group to more of a band format, with more emphasis on song structure, while often still staying true to the live jams that they were known for. This transition proved to be simple. Enlisting Alex on the bass guitar/harmony vocal responsibilities and Joe behind the drums, the foursome- who had now changed their name to Xanadu immediately began rehearsing. (The name simply came from a dictionary-reading phase Parker was in at the time, and bears no reference to the Olivia Newton-John film. They plead age ignorance- after all, they werent even born then!) As word spread about this young supergroup with amazing songs, musicianship and vocal harmonies, the attendance at the shows grew even larger, bringing older fans and even parents who love to draw comparisons to bands of their generation such as Crosby, Stills and Nash.
The highlight of the bands career to date would surprisingly be only their 3rd show together, at Tulsas legendary Cains Ballroom. When the boys heard that the Tulsa World was putting on a high school battle of the bands sponsored by the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus as well as numerous local vendors, they quickly threw together and submitted a live bedroom recording of two of their songs. Out of almost 60 bands that entered and only 7 that were chosen, Xanadu was one of them. The night of the battle turned out to be what every band dreams of: a sold out show, almost two thousand people watching, dancing, singing along. At the culmination of the evening, Xanadu was the winner, earning the cash prize as the crowd favorite, as well as the grand prizes as the judges favorite. Aside from the extremely positive press the band received as a result, the icing on the cake was no doubt that the band got the chance to record their crowd-favorite song So High on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, as well as shoot a music video for the same song. The song and video were placed on the Tour Bus website and automatically entered into the annual John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Their song was also entered into the nationwide fan-voted high-school battle of the bands competition, where they placed 2nd in the nation.
Other highlights this year included the opportunity to play the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, receiving a nomination for a Spot Music Award, as well as performing live at the Spot Awards ceremony. The band has just finished their debut album. And a huge thanks goes out from the band to Steve Ripley and his Church Studio for putting SO much time, effort, help and advice in the cd. If you have the opportunity to experience a live perfomance, don't miss it- chances are they will take you to that "beautiful, idyllic place" that only music can go. A place called Xanadu.
