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- 3/26/11 - Apologies for the downtime. We've been hard at work making a new record. After spending a month or so fleshing out the music, we huddled for a few days into a basement and created our next full length entitled "Common Nature". We will be celebrating it with a weekend of shows in West Virginia, Atlantic City, and then ending it all with a big hometown show in Boston. We're very proud of this record and hope people enjoy it. Stay tuned for more details.1/27/11 - We'll be taking part in the first annual Big Bullet Fest presented by Big Bullet Records. Also performing will be our friends in The Demon Beat, Prison Book Club, Dandelion Snow, Greg Loftus, and more. It's going to be a blast.1/17/11 - It's A Dynamic is up for Best New Local Song on WZLX out of Boston this week. We're up against some really great bands and would appreciate your support. Click here (updated link) to vote!
Special thanks for Anngelle Wood of Boston Emissions. It's a really great program so everyone should check it out.
1/15/11 - We are back with a new website. Kinks are still being worked out but this is the place to come.
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News
- 3/29/13 - It's obvious by the length of time between updates on here, but we're terrible at keeping up with this portion of the website. Facebook is the go to spot for consistent updates on here. To quickly recap what's happened since last May (that's a long time! sorry.), we released Leveled, were named one of the 7 bands poised to have a big year in 2012, Stephen got married, we played some more shows, planned on ending the band for 2 days, decided that was a dumb idea, began writing new music, played more shows, and now we're here. Things got hectic but this band is more important to us than we could ever fully describe. We're real excited for the future.On that note, in very exciting news, we got invited to take part in the 34th Annual Rock N' Roll Rumble, a staple of the New England music scene. We're honored and by luck of the draw, literally they drew it out of a hat, we got chosen to kick the entire thing off on April 7th. This will be a big moment for us and we're ready to play our asses off.We're also in the early stages of making a new record. Really hashing out ideas and working on things every week. We'll begin demoing soon and a Fall release is most likely.Thank you for the continued support. We love you all.5/22/12 - It's been a hectic, but incredibly exciting, month for us. We finished our newest EP, entitled "Leveled", and will be releasing it next week with a release show at The Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA. This show will be a bit different than our release shows in the past. Instead of one of the major clubs, we opted for an intimate space where we would more or less have complete control over the event. We are the only band playing and plan on doing a wide array of songs from our catalog. Old, New, etc.There are still some tickets left, but we anticipate it filling up so if you want to guarantee yourself a spot, go to our tour dates page and click tickets. If you order a ticket then you are automatically entered to win some special "Leveled" beer that we had brewed for the occasion. We'll also have new merch that night, including posters screen printed by Adam, and each person at the show will receive a physical copy of the album, which will be the only ones ever made.You can preview a track, which has been getting some airplay on the radio, by clicking on the listen link. It's called "Cliff".On a quick final note, another giant thank you to everyone who got behind us and helped us open for Portugal. the Man at House of Blues. It was a dream come true and we still can't believe it.See you all next week!4/1/12 - Hey everybody. Although it's been quiet here, things have been very busy for us. To make a long story short, we went into the studio last week for 2 days and recorded an EP. There is still some mixing and things to be done, but for the most part it is there. We will be releasing the EP, entitled Leveled, on Saturday, June 2nd with a show at the Lily Pad in Cambridge. Go to our shows page to get more info.The EP goes beyond just us though, and will include all of you. We're going to be collecting a bunch of fan art for this project and want everyone to contribute. To get a more detailed description, click on our Videos section and watch the video down at the bottom. I explain it fully there.In regards to that, yes, we have a youtube page now. We'll be posting updates and random things. Hopefully we can use it as another means of communication and break down the wall that builds up between bands and fans.Thanks for everything. Keep your eyes out for a special gift that will be coming soon.1/3/12 - Happy New Year to all. We wanted to thank each and every one of you for an incredibly rewarding and positive year. When 2011 started, the state of the band was kind of up in the air. We had a lineup change and were not quite sure where things would lead, but it ended up going better than we could have hoped for. We made a new record, played all around the Northeast, became even closer than we were before, were included in favorite songs of 2011 on WZLX, and played some of our biggest shows yet. It all feels like the beginning though. 2011 brought a new dynamic, and although we released a record pretty quickly, it felt like we were still really finding our groove as a 5 piece. Things are still evolving but it feels tighter than ever. We're ready to take 2012 to a different level. It begins this week. We start demoing for our next release. We're not sure what it will be exactly, and we want to keep it that way. No limits or parameters or pressures to put out a certain product. Full length, EP, something else. We have no idea. We're just going to create and then see where we are. Based off what we have so far though, we couldn't be more excited. This will be fun.9/4/11 - Summer is slowly fading and New England autumn is upon us. Things have been a bit quiet for us. Working, resting, and planning for our next move. We have some things in the works including some recording projects. Shows will be sparse and typically on short notice as our schedule is a bit tight right now. We will be playing on Saturday November 5th though, at the Somerville Armory in Somerville, MA. A beautiful space for what is sure to be a momentous event. A full on community event revolving around a ton of local Boston talent. Check out our tour dates page for more info and a link to buy tickets.7/19/11 - It's been a little bit since our last update on here. If you want to keep up with our daily happenings, be sure to follow us on twitter or facebook. The links are provided on the "links" tab of this website. Anyways, it's been a fun summer for us so far. We had a a really amazing time as we opened for the wonderful Wooden Birds last week. Next week we will be performing a special stripped down set at the Hedge House in Plymouth, MA. It is Friday 7/29. It's Free. It's outdoors and literally right on the water. It's going to be pretty ideal. In even bigger news, we got invited to be a part of this years Kahbang Festival in Bangor, ME. We are honored. Also performing throughout the weekend will be My Morning Jacket, Lupe Fiasco, Surfer Blood, Grace Potter, and more. We'll be back with more updates soon. Have a few things up our sleeves and some ideas are brewing. In the mean time, check out this video of a brand new song that we played last week. A random fan happened to catch it. We wrote this song the night before and decided to give it a try.http://youtu.be/gr2rJHD3EO05/11/11 - A belated and endless thank you to everyone who came and saw us during our CD Release weekend. It was a blurry but rewarding few days in West Virginia and New Jersey, capped off by one of the most amazing nights of our lives at The Middle East in Boston. The record, Common Nature, is out there for you all to enjoy or hate, whichever you prefer. We are getting our summer schedule together and hope to see you all this summer. We will be opening for the amazingly talented Wooden Birds at Great Scott in July. Talk to you soon!4/19/11 - Our new album entitled "Common Nature" is here! We're very proud of this and hope that you enjoy it. You can stream it for free by clicking on the "listen/download" link. You can also download it for $8 or purchase a physical copy for $10. We appreciate all of the support. Spread the word.4/14/11 - Just noticed that the link for news on this website magically disappeared. Not sure what happened. To recap, our new album entitled "Common Nature" comes on Tuesday! It will be available both digitally and physically. We also have our first T-shirts ever which will be available at our upcoming shows. It's going to be a busy but exciting week and a half.
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Bio
- Stephen MacDonald - Guitar/Vocals
Ryan Ward - Bass
JM Craven - Guitar/Background vocals
Adam McElreath - Guitar/Vocals/Etc.
Dave Chardo - Drums
The Okay Win ride the line between energy and intimacy all while remaining completely earnest.
Based out of Boston, MA, the band has consistently grown since it began playing shows in 2009. In that span, they have released 4 albums, performed at a rapid pace around the northeast, and cemented themselves as one of the up and coming band in Massachusetts.
They have shared the stage with such acts as Kevin Devine, Portugal. the Man, Colour Revolt, An Horse, Wooden Birds, Twin Atlantic, Brian Bonz, Atlantic/Pacific, White Wives, and more; and continue to further their reputation as a band you need to see live.
2012 continued the upward trend for the group and included a performance at the House of Blues, while also being featured in the Boston Phoenix's Best Music Poll issue as one of the 7 bands to look out for. They also released their latest effort, entitled "Leveled", which was decidedly their most cohesive and realized piece to date. With 2013 now here, they have begun writing a new record and plan on touring throughout the year.
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Tour Dates
- Saturday May 4th - Red Room @ Cafe 939 - Boston, MAThursday June 13th - Great Scott - Allston, MA - *Stephen is playing solo* - Big Big Buildings CD Release showThursday June 20th - Precinct - Somerville, MAFriday July 19th - TT The Bears - Cambridge, MA - w/ A Great Big Pile Of Leaves - TicketsSaturday July 20th - Nelson Park - Plymouth, MA - Plymouth Independent Music Festival
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Albums
- 12 tracks
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Wall
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- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VjaCy5gck&feature=youtube_gdata_player This is from our drummer Dave. "love how he is in this gorgeous studio, wearing a skull cap indoors and is killing this song. So beautiful."
- Booking local shows and beginning to plan some out of state stuff. Want us to play somewhere? Let us know. House, venue, etc. We're up for all of it.
- Thanks to those who came out to last night's show, all of the other acts, and our friends at Brewster Productions for helping out. We'll see you all soon.
- Who uses spotify? As of this morning you can now listen our latest ep, Leveled, on it. Check it out.
- Unfortunately we won't be appearing on Almost Famous tonight. Stephen is fighting this New England sickness that seems to be infecting everyone. You should still tune in though to hear Anika Skribbling and other great local bands. On a more positive note, today is our own Ryan Ward's birthday. Hug him, high five him, and ask him to Gangnam Style. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
- Tomorrow night, Tuesday 1/15, we'll be live on Almost Famous on WATD 95.9 to talk about our show this Friday and play a few songs. Be sure to tune in!
- For the first time ever we have some merch available online! You can now order T-shirts and posters, all designed by Adam, by going to the link below. Allow me to be honest for one quick moment, and hopefully this doesn't come off terribly. For a majority of this band's life we have just given away stuff for free. I've never felt comfortable asking people to pay for anything, and in the end I'd rather people just dig what we do and tell they're friends. You guys have really outdone yourselves on that too, and we appreciate it more than anything. However, that can get expensive on our end, and after a long conversation last night, we realized that we need to save some money in order to do what we want to do. We are planning a tour, as well as making a new record, so anything you guys purchase will go directly towards helping us keep this afloat. We have our reservations on starting a Kickstarter campaign so we want to go about this as organically as possible. Thanks everyone! We love you. http://theokaywin.bandcamp.com/merch
- Really great practice. Wish you guys could hear these new songs.
- A gentle reminder that our first show of the year will be next Friday in Kingston, MA. Let's party. http://www.facebook.com/events/465898696800794/?ref=ts&fref=ts
- This year was incredibly exciting and beyond rewarding for us. New album and shows that blew us away every time. We feel incredibly lucky. Thank you to everyone for everything. We have plans for 2013, and hope to make it just as big. Happy New Year to all of you! Be safe.
- Our first show on 2013 will be on Friday, January 18th at the Kingston Knights of Columbus w/ Anika Scribbling. It's very rare for us to be make it down the south shore, so we hope to see some of you out there. More info to come.
- Merry Christmas to everyone. Thanks for everything!
- Thanks to everyone who came out to our final show of the year! We hope you had as much fun as we did. 2012 has been amazing and we owe all of it to you guys. Enjoy the holidays, and we will see you in 2013.
- Tonight is our final show of 2012! This year has been a surreal one for us, and we owe it all to you guys. Let's send it out the right way. http://www.facebook.com/events/209724889161066/?ref=2
- 3 days! Let's make this a good one. Spread the word. http://www.facebook.com/events/209724889161066/?ref=ts&fref=ts
- Less than 2 weeks. Our final show of 2012. Saturday 12/22. This will be a good night. Let's celebrate! http://www.facebook.com/events/209724889161066/?ref=ts&fref=ts
- A recap and thank you for this past year. Please read, and please come out on 12/22. We love you. http://www.facebook.com/notes/steve-macdonald/2012/10152062938241953
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Tweets
- RT @SMMacDonald: Some takes. https://t.co/ZigbqfUvcs
- RT @SMMacDonald: Chips! https://t.co/SXN9CIgxmm
- RT @SMMacDonald: Getting ready to begin recording. https://t.co/loMt9rz4nZ
- This is going to be good. Ready to go. https://t.co/Pi8YNbWuoSMay 03, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @theRSL: This SATURDAY @stevenrothmusic and @LILYANDTHEPTRIX and The @OkayWin play @redroom939 $12 http://t.co/L7MkI9y8Qp look a @mofde…May 03, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @theRSL: Great Music comes to Boylston St! @stevenrothmusic @LILYANDTHEPTRIX & @OkayWin an All-Ages Show @redroom939 http://t.co/f…
- We're playing @redroom939 on Saturday night. Let's let loose. https://t.co/Pi8YNbWuoSApr 28, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- We're on this!“@ttthebears: Tix for A Great Big Pile of Leaves @agbpol July 19th show ON SALE!http://t.co/opUtTb3pYr @BoweryBoston presents”
- RT @redroom939: ANNOUNCEMENT @StevenRothMusic @LILYANDTHEPTRIX & @OkayWin are coming on 5/4! We're STOKED! Make sure to get tix: https:…
- What a week. Still healing to do but we can breathe a bit easier. Love you guys.
- Just got back from the benefit show at TTs. Wonderful to see all of the support. Still bands playing so get down there.
- RT @jedgottlieb: Thanks Richard Bouchard, Michael Marotta and everyone who made the @ttthebears benefit happen. http://t.co/VAOf86ec45
- RT @Vanyaland617: FOR BOSTON benefit show tonight @ttthebears 100% of door $$$ goes to MGH @MeanCreek @thefieldeffect @endation ++++ ht ...
- RT @bostonemissions: #Weareboston RT @vMichaelv: FOR BOSTON: benefit show tonight @ttthebears w/ @thefieldeffect @MeanCreek + ... http:/ ...
- A common sentiment right now...we love you, Boston.
- @brewsterprod glad to hear it. Stay safe.
- RT @topshelfrecords: We're all fine — thanks for the concern, everyone. It's always a good time to give blood, but especially so today: ...
- Hope everyone is safe.
- RT @JimArmstrongWBZ: Boston PD telling onlookers to keep moving and that fear of danger is not over. #wbz #bostonmarathon
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Links
- The Okay Win can be found on:
Facebook
Bandcamp
Muxtape
Tumblr
Twitter
MySpace
Sonicbids
Related Links/Friends
Big Bullet Records (Label)
Big Big Buildings (Adam McElreath's project)
The Hookups (Other band of Ryan Ward and Dave Chardo)
Spindlebell (Website of Katherine Cota, who has helped us with artwork in the past)
The Demon Beat
The Plesiosaurs
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Press
- “A seamless transition from solo to full band, combined with the poetic lyrics that gave MacDonald his own identity, make for an excellent record. 8.6/10″ – Take Me To Your Music review of “We Are Bound”
“The music is pure, without a lot of effects, and it’s like a breath of fresh air…It’s fresh, smart and eloquent…[and] one of the top albums I’ve heard all year.” – IndieShows.Net review of “We Are Bound”
“It’s a brilliant record – the songs are well put together and strangely affecting.” – Artrocker.com
“Plymouth, Massachusetts’ Stephen MacDonald recruited a backing band this time around for his follow up to his solo debut. The album is abundant with rich folk influenced melodies and the addition of a backing band allows Stephen to evolve his sound even further, making this album one of the most authentic releases of 2009!” – The Music Box
“‘Could Gamble’ is a great, antsy way to kick off Stephen MacDonald’s We Are Bound…when he decides to try and break the mold, it’ll be good and broken, for sure. I’m looking forward to his next album.” – Rock O’ Clock
“Stephen MacDonald’s debut album, Building Hands, reeks of optimistic honesty that’s as refreshing as it is contagious. Simple lyrics and chords are married together in peaceful harmony that touches the soul and pleases the ear.” – Brooke Brunetto for SouthCoast247.com
“This year, he self-released a completely mind-blowing CD. The lyrics, the music, the voice… all perfect…Stephen MacDonald is the complete singer-songwriter package, thus earning title of Best New Act of 2008.” – Ryan Wood for Wicked Local
“Rock, pop, and hip-hop rule the mainstream, but the turn of the century has brought the birth of a new crop of singer-songwriters — Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst), Iron and Wine (Samuel Beam), and recently Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) and Devendra Banhart. Plymouth singer-songwriter Stephen MacDonald is part of the reemergence.” – Old Colony Memorial
“I missed a couple acts, and all apologies to those I missed, but the singer who closed out the three-hour show first reminded me of Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes. He was Stephen MacDonald…Brilliant work from a rising singer/songwriter.” – Take Me To Your Music blog
