The Northeastern
December 6, 2005

My-Tea Kind combines unique musical talent
Andrew Winslow - TNE Writer
      “Absolutely amazing,” was overheard by a fan in the crowd as My-Tea Kind performed their eclec-tic mix of folk rock at Roxie’s Roost last Friday night. With over one and a half years under their belt as a band, My-Tea Kind is sure to be one of the best and most original live music acts in northeastern Oklahoma.

      My-Tea Kind was started in April 2004, in Tahlequah and has been evolving and shaping the live music scene ever since.

      Theme-based shows and a grow-ing fan base in this area seem to be fueling the desire and enthusiasm for the band.

      My-Tea Kind is made up of four ex-tremely talent-ed musicians that all have a multi-genre background playing music and perform-ing in front of a crowd.

      The mu-sic tends to be a blend of folk, rock, jazz and occa-sionally funk. Given these ingredi-ents the audience has the recipe for a full range of artsy thought provok-ing music.

      “We like to describe our sound as an obscure blend of folk root rock,” said James Townsend, lead guitarist and vocals.

      Townsend has been playing, writing, and arranging songs for years before uniting with his current band members.

      Other members of the band include three talented sisters, An-nie Paine (bass guitar), Sarah Garde (percussion) and Bonnie Paine (vo-cals, djembe and washboard).

      “We all grew up playing music together and we knew James was a genius so we started the band,” said Annie Paine.

      A lot of the bands energy and influence comes from Tahlequah’s own Randy Crouch. The three sisters are currently in a band with Crouch (Randy Crouch and Flying Horse) and will perform at the Dream The-atre with the Cate Brothers.

      “We wouldn’t be playing music if it wasn’t for Randy Crouch. Our dad is another reason we are play music,” said Annie Paine.

      One of the things that gives My-Tea Kind their unique sound and sets them apart from all other bands in the area is a washboard. That is right, a washboard.

      The washboard has historically been used as a percussion instru-ment and is used in many diverse genres of music including: Cajun, jazz, jug band and old time music.

      Bonnie Paine uses a unique hand rhythm style on the in-strument that is closely asso-ciated with the way it is used for jazz.

      The back-bone of the band, keeping the rhythm and conta-giously dance-able is Garde on drums and Annie Paine on bass. The com-bination of the two musicians brings out the full sound of My-Tea Kind.

      The name My-Tea Kind is as intriguing as the band it-self. The band thought up the clever and all original name during a phase of drinking a lot of tea.

      “We were all just joking around about it the name at the time and it sounded funny,” said Garde.

      My-Tea Kind has performed all over the mid-west including: Colorado, Tex-as, Arkansas and Missouri to name a few.

      They also are getting ready to record a CD with Mike West of the band Truck Stop Honeymoon and the CD should be out in January 2006.

      See My-Tea Kind live at Roxie’s Roost on Highway 10 on Dec. 30, where they will perform with Char-lie Horse from Fayetteville, Ark.

Courtesy Photo
My-Tea Kind is a unique band that blends the genres of folk, jazz and occasionally they add a little funk. The band has created quite a following in the last year.