You’d be just as likely to spot GRAMMY Award-winning musicians Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing hiking a backwoods trail through the Rockies as you would be to catch them playing a sold-out concert. Coming to the Center on April 21, The Okee Dokee Brothers' passion for nature inspires their lively original folk music for kids and their families.
“When we spend a long period of time outdoors, our thinking starts shifting. We slow down enough to notice the details in nature that can teach us little lessons about how to live life with more wonder, the Brothers note. "Maybe it’s how a stream sounds, or imagining how the trees are talking to one another, or what the birds are worried about. These details have full stories inside them, maybe a verse, or a chorus. Nature is also incredibly humbling with all its grandeur and power. So, it’s a nice setting for writing little tunes that try to shower it with some glory.”
Many of The Okee Dokee Brothers' albums are based around a specific outdoor experience they’ve had. The “Adventure Album Series” includes Saddle Up! with music inspired by their month-long horse packing trip along the continental divide; Through The Woods, inspired by camping along the Appalachian Trail; and Can You Canoe?, based on their trip down the great Mississippi River.
The Okee Dokee Brothers will perform two shows at the Center at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and the whole family is invited! Both performances will be sensory-friendly, which are designed to create a welcoming and comfortable arts experience for people with autism, sensory sensitivities, or other social, learning, or cognitive disabilities. For more information about the Center's accessibility options, visit the official webpage.
The Okee Dokee Brothers expand upon their concerts as a family experience, stating, “These experiences can break families out of a rut so they can open up, be more vulnerable, and remember why it’s so great to be part of a family. We can all forget that from time to time." After the show, the duo hopes families leave feeling "a little more connected to one another [and] maybe kids will have heard their parents singing along or seen them dropping their inhibitions to dance a bit.”
Buy tickets for The Okee Dokee Brothers on April 21 and in the meantime, step into warmer weather with "Walking with Spring:"