Live Music: Ottoman Turks & Friends

Sharp, clawing chords backed by artillery percussion. Wry lyrics sung loud, often with close harmony. Energy erupts from the stage, flowing like a palpable wave through the audience. Before long, you’re stomping along, an arm thrown over a friend’s shoulder, heads tilted back in chorus. An Ottoman Turks show is akin to a religious experience. If you didn’t believe in rock and roll before, you will by the show’s end. The band was born in a garage 2009. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Nathan Mongol Wells was fresh off a high school study-abroad trip to the Middle East, which provided inspiration for a solo project. With ambitions quickly growing, the band came to include drummer Paul Hinojo and bassist Billy Law. In 2012, Joshua Ray Walker was called in as a stand-in lead guitarist for a single show - and has played every show since. Now, after ten years of earning their dues on the pockmarked floors of Texas honky tonks and bar, the band is in peak position to finally raise the stakes. After witnessing the band's triumphant midsummer show at the Granada Theater in Dallas, State Fair Records brought the boys into the studio with producer John pedigo (Old 97's, Vandoliers) to finally cut their debut. Due out in August, the record is every bit as loud, raw, rowdy and rocking as the band's live show. It is definitive Ottoman Turks, the distillation fo ten years of friendship and music - which means you better get ready to party.