Paper Jams: Good vibes only with Mr. OK and his ‘love loop music’

FEATURE — Southern Utah’s live music scene is flourishing, and the Canyon Media crew is back to highlighting local musicians. So gather around for another session of “Paper Jams.”

Coming to you from Cloud 9 Studios at Canyon Media, this month’s edition features Mr. OK. His signature sound, which he calls “love loop music,” weaves diverse groove stylings of reggae, funk and folk into pop songs and originals that hold true to his foundations of thoughtful lyrics to render deep feels.

Watch (and hear) Mr. OK perform live from Cloud 9 Studios at Canyon Media in the media player above.

Mr. OK is the stage name of Charlie OlGrady-Kessner, who grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and relocated to Southern Utah in 2012. He’s also a photographer and rock climber and worked in wilderness therapy before deepening his exploration of music and art.

Most audiences will recognize the pedals and other looping technology Mr. OK uses to create his trademark sound, but he can also strip things down. For his first song, an original track called ”Muse,” he allowed only his guitar skills and vocals to shine.

Looping allows Mr. OK to create music while he’s also playing it. Using layered tracks of beatboxing, guitar, percussion and vocals, no two performances are exactly alike, as he demonstrated with a unique take on Bob Marley’s reggae classic “Waiting in Vain.”

“The organizational structure that you would have to actually pre-record things is more daunting to me than just building it from the bottom up every time,” he said.

Performing both as a one-man band and with a full band, The Last Light, Mr. OK played 132 shows in 2022. Most of his gigs are in the St. George area, but he also travels to share his talents with diverse audiences in other cities and states. See where he’s performing next and listen to more original music at charkessmusic.com.

If you’re a musician interested in playing on a future episode of Paper Jams, you can contact St. George News in the Facebook comments for this article or email paperjams@stgnews.com.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!