2022: Year In Review

What an incredible year it has been! 2022 saw the label grow its roster, reach, and influence! We have created memories that will last a lifetime. We brought music to the people of New England and beyond! Our artists had a strong creative year, with many releases and nominations under the OHR banner! We want to highlight the incredible work that our team accomplished throughout the year. We have truly created our own grassroots scene; our bands, venues, and fans were all a testament to that fact. Let’s take a deep dive into what made this year so special!

The Fresh Faces

This year the label had the immense pleasure of adding not one, but five (5) new acts to our roster! Sage Hatfield (VT), Dylan Brody (CA), Autumn Hollow (MA), Haunting Titans (CT), and DC Wolves (CT) all decided to be Oak Honest with themselves and get on board! These acts range from indie/emo to comedy/spoken word to new wave and even metal. Diversity is more than an old wooden ship! It’s what gives vibrancy to the music scene and to life.

The Releases

Singles. EPs. Studio albums. Live albums. This year OHR did it all! As always, we were all over the place in regards to genre. Americana, funk, pop, indie, comedy, we saw a bit of it all!

Our release frenzy kicked off in April with Autumn Hollow’s first single with the label, ‘Meantime/Between Time’. This was followed up by ‘Rooting for Laundry’ and both singles were featured on the subsequent EP ‘Throw the House’. Fellow new member Sage Hatfield then got involved himself with ‘Massachusetts Plates’ the lead off single for his full length album ‘Leftover Bliss’. Shortly thereafter, our first Pacific Coast representative Dylan Brody released the first live album the label has done, a charming and soothing blend of music and comedy, ‘Road Tested’ with Chauncey Bowers.

Next label founder Derek O’Kanos dropped a new EP ‘Spoken Roads’, which was a 5 track blast of powerpop and folk rock. Sage Hatfield then followed up his full length with a new single ‘The Barista’s Lament’ and EP ‘Failing Upwards’. OHR’s first band of Bostonians, The Cosmic Vultures released a new single ‘Psychotherapy’, complete with a music video! The trend continued right into December when Autumn Hollow got back into the mix to release their latest single ‘The Dolphin’! Closing out our calendar year was The Cosmic Vultures’ frontman Derek Smith with his single ‘Fire in the Forest’ prepping us for his incredible solo album ‘Rubedo’.

The Nominations

We felt like proud parents this year when the excellence of our roster was recognized. It takes an unthinkable amount of effort, thought, skill, time, and money to be in the music/entertainment world. When we see our artists out there making waves, representing this truly grassroots collective, we see that as a win. Please allow us to quickly list the tremendous accolades OHR artists earned this year:

From Autumn Hollow at The Boston Music Awards

Autumn Hollow – New England Music Awards – (nom.) Rising Star: Massachusetts, Boston Music Awards – (nom.) Americana Act of the Year

Dylan Brody – Seattle Independent Film Festival / Hollywood Blvd. Film Festival / LA Indies / Magic Silver Screen – Best Comedy, Best Short Documentary, Best Experimental Short

The Cosmic Vultures – New England Music Awards – (nom.) Artist of the Year

Derek O’Kanos – Seven Days’ Best of Vermont – (finalist) Best Pop Artist

The Shows

Now, here’s where we really got cookin’! In addition to making great music and turning heads, we also got out there and put on some wonderful events! We kicked off the year with our traveling Songwriters Showcase Series – with 5 dates across New England showcasing 15 different acts from around the region, featuring solo acts and members of prominent New England area bands such as O’K and the Night Crew, Johnny Mainstream, Renegade Cartel, The Humans Being, Allovous, and others. From Portland, ME to Manchester, CT – we were out there!

L-R: Brendan Murphy, Derek O’Kanos, and Michael James Anderson at M&G 2

We also hosted our second annual label showcase on Nov. 26. This year our bash was held in Easthampton, MA and featured talent from 7 acts affiliated with our label. Being only our second anniversary of this event, we must say even we were surprised with the support we received. It was a great time and by all measures a success. Just wait ’till next year!

In December we kicked off a new traveling series, our OHR RNR Frenzy! The goal being to recreate our songwriters series for the bands of the OHR universe! We kicked off in Randolph, VT and will be taking the show to CT, NH, and MA in the first few months of 2023. We hope to see you there!

From the bottom of our stumps, we want to thank you all for your support! 2022 was a thrill, let’s see what we can accomplish in 2023!