Taddy Porter

Taddy Porter — Concert Photography by Wayne Dennon

About Taddy Porter

Taddy Porter formed in October 2007 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, a college town best known as home to Oklahoma State University. The band was initially envisioned as the duo of Andy Brewer and Doug Jones, but after Brewer took guitar lessons from Joe Selby, he brought Selby on as lead guitarist, and the three invited Doug's brother Kevin Jones to fill out the quartet, taking their name from a beer Andy noticed on a bar list that he felt suited the group. The band originally began building their act at Dirty's Tavern, a local bar in their hometown of Stillwater, and in December 2007 they recorded a 4-track EP, Monocle, produced by Trent Bell at Bell Labs Recording Studio in Norman, Oklahoma. From the start, their sound leaned into a mix of classic rock and blues in a modern-rock setting. The band's breakthrough came through a chance encounter: in late 2009, Scott Frazier of Overtone Music Group was sent to Oklahoma City to see another band, but Taddy Porter approached him and asked him if he would watch their support set, and Frazier was so impressed he signed them to a management contract within a few days. That connection led to a bigger deal, as after building up a following around the Oklahoma City area, they were signed to Primary Wave Records for the release of their self-titled debut album on June 29, 2010. Ahead of the release, they earned airplay for the single "Shake Me" and placed their music on television shows including Monday Night Football, ESPN SportsCenter, and Cougar Town, while "King Louie" and "Mean Bitch" were featured on the season premiere of Entourage two days before the album came out. The classic lineup driving this rise consisted of Andy Brewer on lead vocals and guitar, Joe Selby on lead guitar, and brothers Doug and Kevin Jones on drums and bass.

The years following their debut saw Taddy Porter grow into a relentless touring act while continuing to evolve musically. They landed a run of dates opening for Slash and Myles Kennedy in September 2010, and that autumn toured with Canadian rock band Finger Eleven on select dates. Their music continued to be featured prominently in HBO's Newsroom and Entourage, Showtime's Homeland, Monday Night Football, ESPN's SportsCenter, and more, and they shared stages with acts ranging from Slash to Band of Skulls, at one point playing more than 250 shows in a single year. That grueling pace fed directly into their second album; as frontman Andy Brewer explained, after touring non-stop the band took stock of their direction, feeling that "with the first record, everything moved really fast," but that they had "to get back to our roots and just be more honest with ourselves about the music we wanted to make," a shift that resulted in their 2013 album Stay Golden. They followed it with a third studio album, Big Wheel, in 2017. Taddy Porter has remained active since then, still carrying the same lineup and rooted firmly in the Stillwater rock scene that produced them, with a discography that spans an early EP and three full studio albums. Their sound, drawing on classic rock and blues filtered through modern production, along with a busy touring history and prominent television placements, cemented a reputation as one of Oklahoma's most recognizable rock exports of the era, admired for their raw live energy as much as their recordings.

It's fitting that a band built on relentless live performance found its way into Wayne Dennon's lens. Wayne photographed Taddy Porter twice between 2009 and 2010, right as the band's momentum was building toward their debut album and national tours, capturing them across two shows in two different cities in two states. Those images, now numbering 68 photographs in the archive, have drawn nearly 53,000 views from visitors, a testament to both the band's enduring fanbase and Wayne's gift for freezing a hardworking young rock band on the verge of its breakthrough.

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Photos From 2 Shows

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May 30, 2010 📷 Photos

Pryor, OK Catch the Fever festival grounds

November 10, 2009 📷 Photos

Cincinnati, OH Bogart's

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