Okie Doke Band Homepage

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Okie Doke was started in the fall of 1975 as the Okie Doke Stringband, playing regularly for breakfast & tips at the infamous local Duvall eatery The Silver Spoon Restaurant. Although press coverage for our type of act was scant (we were kinda like High Noon, but more hillbilly - we called ourselves a Country-Western-Bluegrass- Ragtime-Rockabilly-Jugband at one point), we felt this comment in a review of the record by Trace Porter in Milkshake Mademoiselle was most apt: " Bob Wills meets Elvis and Dan Hicks at a bar in the Twilight Zone...". A very few copies of the original EP are still available, but the original picture sleeves ran out - we can only offer a nice photocopy on tan paper. $10 ppd. from Blue Suede News -with "Snake Charmin' Baby", "Coot From Tennessee", "Milk Cow Blues" and "Let's Boogie".

Dan Kersten, Quentin Rhoton, Marc Bristol photo by Brent Thorgren

Okie Doke still gigs, and our second recording was the LP "This Feelin'" by Marc Bristol with the Okie Doke Band & Friends (1982) - 11 tunes, 9 of which are Bristol originals in the country-folk-bluegrass-swing vein. The Valley Record said: "As comfortable as a well-worn pair of Levis". Includes local favorites such as "Seattle Zoo" and "Goin' Down To The River" and several hot NW pickers such as Orville Johnson, Pete Martin & Marty "Dr. Slide" Lepore. Only $6 ppd. in the U.S.A. from Blue Suede News.

The photo at right features Okie Doke's '90s four piece lineup:Top row - Marc Bristol (guitar, washboard, harmonica, kazoo, vocals), Gregg Glassman (bass, vocals, guitar). Bottom Row - Orville Johnson (dobro, banjo, guitar, mandolin, vocals), Doug Bright (fiddle, vocals, mandolin, accordion). The group works sometimes as a 3 piece, without bass, but also works with drums as a 5 piece band. The recording "Feel Like Flying" actually features Joe Anderson on upright bass (still an optional lineup person) and Peter LaPonte on drums. Peter has left the area and is currently managing a country music festival in Oregon.

Here's Okie Doke at our biggest gig ever, opening for Reba McEntire at the KMPS Listener Appreciation Day Picnic at the King County Fairgrounds in Enumclaw in 1984. there were 15,000 people there, and it's the year Reba won her first award for 'Promising New Artist' or whatever it was. Left to right: Dr. Q, Jim McLaughlin, Richard Shaw (drummer, hidden behind Marc), Marc Bristol, Mark Sanders.

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Here's an interesting promo shot of Okie Doke from 1978, taken by Tom Mathieson. It once ran right next to an ad for the movie "Jaws" to promote one of our Seattle gigs, and appeared several times in local Weeklies out in the Valleys where we lived and played frequently. Clockwise from Upper Left: Quentin Rhoton, Marc Bristol, Dan Kersten, Larry VanOver. Larry has recently revived the PH Phactor Jugband, along with John Brown and various players du jour! Dan and his wife Pam live on Bainbridge Island. We haven't heard from Q.lately, but believe he's still living on Mercer Island.