Horse Thief

Listeners looking for a big and complex sound can find it with Oklahoma City’s Horse Thief.

From big themes to personal reflections, Horse Thief has distilled it all down into its first big studio album, “Fear in Bliss.”

The band formed in Texas but later moved to Oklahoma City to attend the Academy of Contemporary Music at University of Central Oklahoma. After graduating, it signed with the same management as The Flaming Lips and soon got to work on the songs that would become “Fear in Bliss,” a rock sound.

The band describes “Fear in Bliss” as an album focused on “finding yourself and what you believe in, and finding the comfort in acknowledging fear. … I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression which comes out a lot on the new album. But when everything gets rough, I think there’s always a way to fix it. The biggest thing for me is to give comfort to people, to shed light on the truth that someone is feeling the same way as them.”

Horse Thief played last year’s Center of the Universe Festival and toured extensively after their release. The band will play The Hop Jam second.

Jamestown Revival

Jamestown Revival put together an uplifting sound that brings a healthy dose of feels to the audience.

With a folk rock sound that is distinctly more folk than rock, the Austin, Texas-based Jamestown Revival includes childhood friends Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, coming together to make music that’s hard to ignore. Its folk and Americana roots added to an indie-rock vibe come together through compelling storytelling for a group that’s not just fun to listen to but fun to watch.

Their album “Utah” brings those elements together in a sweeping fashion.

“I think the outdoors serve as our muse,” Clay told the music website mxdwn.com’s Rachel Zimmerman. “So I think if we’re feeling maybe like we’re just numb to the world, I think when we get out into the woods, it awakens our spirit. It makes creating feel more natural and easy.”

Jamestown Revival played this year’s South by Southwest, playing a featured slot on the Pandora music stage. It takes the Hop Jam stage third.

Black Joe Lewis

With his wailing guitar, Black Joe Lewis has a funky fusion of blues and rock that has just enough grime to draw a connection from the contemporary artist to his vast musical influences.

Also hailing from Austin, Lewis has built a reputation with his dirty blues sound that is fun to listen to but not easy. It’s complex and exciting to see where the musician goes next.

Lewis formed his band in the mid 2000s with the name Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, though it performs now just under the name Black Joe Lewis.

He grew to be part of the Austin music scene, but his skills grew and more attention came calling. It opened for Spoon on tour in 2007, the same year as the band’s debut album.

The following year the band signed with a new record label and performed at a handful of festivals, where it started to gain more notoriety. In 2009, the band released its second album, which grew their momentum even more.

The band’s fourth album, “Electric Slave,” was released in 2013. Lewis and the band were featured at this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival.

The Polyphonic Spree

The sound that comes from The Polyphonic Spree is so big and uplifting, it’s hard to not smile.

And it’s hard to not be impressed. With about 20 members, the only sound level they know is full.

The Dallas-based band formed in 2000 and features a choir, as well as brass section, strings, flutes and all the instruments one would expect to find in a standard rock band setup.

Tim DeLaughter has led the band since its formation, guiding its big, inspirational sound for more than 15 years. And the band has had several lineups over those years. Tulsa-born Annie Clark, better known by her stage name, St. Vincent, is an alumna of the group.

The band, which will go on just before Hanson, has released four studio albums, as well as a holiday album. Its music has been featured in several films and television shows, and its New Year’s Eve concert last year drew more than 40,000 people to the Dallas show.

After about 30,000 people came to experience the first year of Hanson’s beer and music festival, The Hop Jam, the brothers are back.

This time, they’re bringing even more music and beer to downtown Tulsa for a celebration of the local crafters and artists.

It’ll be a day full of craft beer and great music. Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of your experience.

When: Gates open at 1 p.m. on M.B. Brady Street between Boulder and Boston avenues. Music starts at 3 p.m. with All About a Bubble. The beer festival opens to everyone 21 and older at 3 p.m.

Where: The festival runs north from Main and Archer streets nearly to Soundpony bar. The beer portion runs from Main Street and M.B. Brady Street north. The north-facing stage will sit at Main and Archer streets. The audience will fill in the parking lot and street area west of Main Street.

Tickets: The concert portion is free to attend and is all ages. The beer portion is restricted to those age 21 and older. Beer can be purchased by buying tickets for individual beers at the festival.

A VIP experience is also available for beer fans. The Hop Head experience is $45 and grants patrons unlimited beer sampling and early entry into the beer portion. Hop Head VIP entry starts at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at thehopjam.com. Also available is an unlimited sampling ticket for $35, though early entry is not included in that package. Both include a Hop Jam tasting glass and event lanyard, in addition to unlimited beer tasting.

Music lineup: Starting at 3 p.m.: All About a Bubble, Horse Thief, Jamestown Revival, Black Joe Lewis, The Polyphonic Spree, Hanson. The festival is set to wrap up about 9:30 p.m.

Beer: The list includes 14 breweries from Oklahoma, seven from elsewhere in the United States and nine international breweries. Beer tickets will be sold on site to be used to purchase beer from brewers.

Parking: A large parking garage sits at Main and First streets, one block south of the festival. Another garage is located at First Street and Cheyenne Avenue, and another is at First Street and Cincinnati Avenue. Surface lots are located at Archer Street and Boston Avenue. Additional parking will be available on the street throughout the Brady Arts District, where available.

Hop Jam guitar: Hanson has partnered with Fab Lab Tulsa to construct a playable version of The Hop Jam logo: a guitar with a body shaped like a hop. The guitar will be raffled off at the event Sunday, and proceeds will benefit the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. Tickets will be on sale Sunday.

Tom Gilbert, the Tulsa World’s What the Ale blogger, has been hosting a beer bracket online for fans to cast their vote for their favorite local beer — all of which will be at the festival.

So far, the top four beers in the bracket are Iron Monk Brewing Co.’s Milk Stout, Marshall Brewing Co.’s This Machine IPA, Prairie Artisan Ale’s Bomb! and Dead Armadillo Brewing Co.’s Amber.

Three of those four breweries are in Tulsa. The fourth, Iron Monk, is a new brewery out of Stillwater. It has led the voting from the beginning.

It isn’t too late to vote. Who will be champion of The Hop Jam beer bracket? Vote at tulsaworld.com/hopjam.

The Brews

Here are the beers in the competition. The Oklahoma brewers will be bringing these beers in addition to many others for you to try at The Hop Jam on Sunday.

Local

Hanson Brothers Beer Co. — MMMhops

Iron Monk Brewing Co. — Milk Stout

Willows Family Ales — Funk in the Trunk

Marshall Brewing Co. — This Machine IPA

COOP Ale Works — F5 IPA

Dead Armadillo Brewing Co. — Amber

Elk Valley Brewing Co. — Pale Ale

Roughtail Brewing Co. — Hoptometrist

Battered Boar Brewing Co. — LaPadite Farmhouse Ale

Mustang Brewing Co. — Rocket Fuel

Black Mesa Brewing Co. — Alexander Supertramp

Prairie Artisan Ales — Bomb!

Anthem Brewing Co. — IPA

CHOC Beer Co. — OPA

Here are the U.S. and International breweries that will be there.

U.S.

Abita Beer (Louisiana)

Big Sky Brewing (Montana)

Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas)

Jester King Craft Brewery (Texas)

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales / Anchorage (Michigan)

Lagunitas (California)

Brewery Ommegang (New York)

INTERNATIONAL

Baird Beer (Japan)

Ben Middlemiss Brewing (New Zealand)

Ca l’Arenys (Guineu) (Spain)

Coniston Brewing (United Kingdom)

Dieu du Ciel (Canada)

Mahr’s Bräu (Germany)

Mikkeller (Denmark)

To ØL (Denmark)

Yeastie Boys (New Zealand)

So who will you vote for? Iron Monk’s Milk Stout, Prairie Artisan Ale’s Bomb!, Marshall Brewing Co.’s This Machine or Dead Armadillo’s Amber?

Vote at tulsaworld.com/hopjam

The Hop Jam, which will have about 30 breweries pouring beers, is set for Sunday, May 17, in the Brady Arts District.

Last year’s event was huge but this year’s is even bigger with all the Oklahoma breweries and some international breweries with special beers just for the event.

The Hanson brothers are hosting the event and even have some new beers in addition to their Mmmhops Pale Ale.

Here is how they described their new beers:

They are on either side of the spectrum of flavor, a light-bodied farmhouse ale and an over-the-top coffee stout.

Hop Jam Festive Ale: We love a great farmhouse ale, because it has personality and depth of flavor, but it is refreshing and easy to drink. This beer brings together the characteristics of a traditional farmhouse, with a balanced malt character, and a dry earthy finish from the hops, but it finishes with a citrus nose which comes directly from the orange peel and coriander.

We plan for the Hop Jam Festive Ale to also be available on tap around Tulsa this summer on a limited release.

Okie Coffee Stout: This monster stout is made up of chocolate malt and oats, with expertly roasted Ethiopian coffee beans, giving it a roasted flavor and a full-bodied mouth feel. Additionally we have added rich vanilla and cocoa nibs, to drench the palate with smooth sweetness. Finally we add oak barrel chips, which bring all the flavors together for a beer worthy of the stout Okie spirit.

Looking forward to trying these beers as well as the other beers not even in the state yet.

But it was a tight race: Only 100 votes separated All About a Bubble from the nearest band, The Lunar Laugh from Oklahoma City. Tulsa-area bands Skytown, The Lukewarm and SocietySociety were also up for the spot.

Made up of Dustin Storm on vocals and guitar, Luke Chronister on vocals and guitar, Clinton Summers on bass, Fabian Robles on drums, and Jawn Vawka on guitar, All About a Bubble has been playing for more than four years. They’ve toured regionally and play around Tulsa regularly.

The band went on a tour last year that took them up the East Coast. In March, they played the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. They are also set to play during this week’s Mayfest.

All About a Bubble will open the festival Sunday in the Brady Arts District. They are set to play first before Oklahoma-based Horse Thief followed by Jamestown Revival, Black Joe Lewis and The Polyphonic Spree. Hanson will close out the night.

Gates open Sunday at 1 p.m., and music starts at 3 p.m. The shows are free to attend. For more information, go to thehopjam.com.

“Places are what you make them,” middle brother Taylor Hanson told the Tulsa World in a lengthy interview in their studio. “We decided a long time ago to stay invested here. We could be a part of the good things happening.”

Not only have they stayed invested in Tulsa and the growth of downtown — they were in this studio well before the empty warehouses around them were converted to parks and museums — but they continue to grow their investment. Proof of that will come Sunday when thousands flock to the Brady Arts District for the second The Hop Jam Beer and Music Festival.

The free music festival brings a wide variety of music from across the world, all of it free to hear. It shows Hanson’s commitment to be a part of Tulsa’s revitalization, to be a part of the growth so that all parts of the city rise together.

But working and living in Tulsa has also given them a unique view of their work.

While they still work on new music, they’ve slowed their pace since the release of “Anthem” in 2013. They release an EP each year to members of the Hanson fan club, and they have done more work recently with their line of beer and worked on collaborations with other artists.

“It’s been about trying to give ourselves the adequate time to focus on some other things that we’ve always wanted to do but never given enough focus to,” said the oldest brother, Isaac Hanson. “It always became something that is, oh yeah when we get to it as opposed to something we were really aggressively going after.”

Some of those collaborations recently included with Blues Traveler and Owl City. Those collaborations have helped the band find new sounds.

In this year’s EP, Hanson previewed a synth-heavy track that was a far departure from their normal pop/rock. But it still had what Hanson fans have come to expect and hope for with a strong chorus and catchy tune.

“Over the years it’s become something where we take a week or two and write and record and give it a name, give it a look and a feel and a creative vision,” said drummer and younger brother Zac Hanson. “It will be the everything bagel this year.”

Those Fan Club EPs give the band a chance to explore as well.

“It allows us to go, ‘We’re going to have fun with this little taster,'” Taylor Hanson said. “You do hear flavors of that. Sometimes you try something and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that was going to work out well. We should do that three or four times.'”

And the Hansons said that Tulsa provides them the best place to incubate that as they continue to grow.

Oklahoma musicians have a work ethic and authenticity that makes them stand out, Taylor Hanson said.

“If you look at all the musicians, from Wayne Coyne to Woody Guthrie to Reba McEntire to us to The Gap Band, there’s something about all the Oklahoma artists that is very authentic,” Taylor Hanson said. “Everybody that puts something out, there’s very little posing.”

There’s a heartiness, he said. The pioneer spirit continues in the state’s creativity and work ethic. And it’s more than just music, but an inspiration for the continued growth of the city across all parts.

Tulsa has a spirit that defines the city, they said. It’s a spirit of hard work and dedication that inspires them to work more and harder on a variety of projects as much as anything else.

“I think our job as artists is to see the potential,” Zac Hanson said. “There is a part in us that sees what we want Tulsa to be, what represents us and how we want to be part of making it that anthem. That same DNA that makes us want to write songs and create things also makes us want to be a part of the best version of our hometown.”