The Great OKra
About
In the early Spring of 2012, Ricardo Cueva returned to his hometown of San Diego, California. Having acquired a taste for the East-Coast music scene, Ricardo was eager to create a new band founded on these principles. He contacted Neil Blackman, a guitarist from a former band they played in and asked him if he would take on the role of bassist in the band he was forming and Neil accepted the challenge.
Aaron Ramirez soon heard that Ricardo was looking for a lead guitarist and took up the challenge. After just a couple practices, Aaron eased into the sounds that were being made and soon joined the group. After countless attempts to find the right name the group settled with “The Great Okra”.
The group formed a sound that was as gentle as it could be raw while encompassing many influences. Self-proclaimed as a type of Acid Folk, “The Great Okra” created a sonic landscape of gale force. At times it’s a gratuitous destruction of logic and sanity and on occasion; as simple as a whisper.
After two years of shows, and the release of both The Great Okra Demo, and the Worried Man EP with the help of TicDaWest, two new members joined. In 2014, David McLaughlin was asked to join on trumpet and on March 2015 Cody Adams joined the badn on drums. With a new supporting, vibrant and filling trumpet sound, and drums that deliver a punch and resonance a new Great Okra was born.
Aaron
Ricardo
Neil
Photo credit: StrayShots.
