For the purpose of this feature, let’s divide the album into three acts.

ACT 1

As exciting as collaborations like this are - and for as large in scope as this particular one is - the album commences calmly, somewhat somberly, with opener “To Remind” from singer-songwriter Grayson Hamm. A gentle 6/8 time signature with crunched drums and warm guitars and keys, the low-key lo-fi track already feels like a well-spun record; and Hamm himself, a well-worn face in the scene — the years of Oklahoma music experience present on this project should not go understated.

“Show Me Your Scars”, the subsequent piece from producer Sun Deep, is a moving and at times melancholic instrumental, featuring brooding synths and strings, and, at the halfway point, the type of boom-bap beat drop that stirs emotion into action — and the action these collaborators have taken is on behalf of teachers in Oklahoma, who have been overlooked, underfunded, and disrespected for decades.

Of the 50 states in the country, Oklahoma’s education system is ranked among the worst, including one of the lowest educator salary rates, and one of the highest student dropout rates; those are just some of the ways people’s lives are being directly affected by the choices made by those in positions of power. People with money and influence, who, time after time, have chosen to not just abandon but act against the interests of teachers, and therefore the students they shepherd as well - the ones that are often most vulnerable.

In the midst of this malfeasance, “Home” is a tender message of comfort to so many who are “holding tight to find the truth.” Not only is this airy acoustic ballad an interesting submission from The Branches, a six-piece dance rock band, but also an interesting sequencing choice from Coleman. Perhaps these distinctions hint at the intentions behind his decisions.

Within the modern media landscape, it’s not hard to see how or why one might generalize musicians as “detached” - irreverent fame-seekers who only stroll through your neck of the woods to drink the bar dry, or sell you on some promotional ploy… but that of course is not the reality.

These musicians are people who live here, work here; have grown up here, formed families here; and are deeply and personally invested in the well-being of their community. Beyond the stages and bright lights, the views and the likes, the grandiose soundscapes and larger-than-life images - is a person who still has to sleep, and survive, and find their way through life.

Help Oklahoma Teachers manages to reveal a slightly ‘softer’ side to many of these artists, and early on establishes a genuine emotional weight, which it carries through until its final moments.

Even bombastic rapper Huckwheat shows a sense of mellow contemplativeness, both lyrically and vocally, not-oft manifested in his music. “Downhill From Here”, an easy-going but down-to-earth hip-hop cut, embraces the contrasting nature of life’s experiences: “some days sunny, some days cloudy / I’ve been up shit’s creek, now we moving mountains.”

ACT 2

From here the record rolls into its second act, with four singer-songwriters delivering four equally sentimental songs across a range of styles — kicked off by Oklahoma country music mainstay Beau Jennings & the Tigers, with “May This Song Be In Your Heart”: a sunny country rock song centered around a firm backbeat and several layers of tight instrumentation, with both guitar AND harmonica solos.

“Don’t Wanna Pretend” by Chris Jones and The Flycatchers also features harmonica solos - though in a different context - as a bare, bluesy country ballad about those nights that feel hopeless, when we’re left “only holding out for daylight.”

The following track from singer-songwriter and guitar aficianado Stalling, however, seems content in the current; “Teach Me” is an indie folk tune breathing with the jangly saturation and slight crisp reminiscent of analog tape, seeming as if (and possibly wishing to be) suspended in a moment in time. 

Johnny Manchild’s “James, I Think I’ve Lost” is a stark sonic departure, but a fitting emotional reflection of where we find ourselves. The four minute piano and vocal ballad is steeped in regret; though not so much a bitter kind… the kind with empathy, and clarity.

Maybe the aforementioned emotional weight on this compilation can be attributed to not only the intimate effect that education - in all its aspects - has on everyone’s lives, but also the deep human connection between art and education, which goes beyond any music class, academic analysis, etc.

Both can introduce and allow us to hear, see, and understand new perspectives; learn about ourselves, or our city, country, community; and express ideas that go beyond the individual, allowing us to connect with one another across (and beyond) time and space. Perhaps the instinct that drives someone to create, to express — originates from a similar, if not same, source that drives someone to question, to learn.

Steven Stark - himself both an artist and educator - simultaneously closes the first half of the album on a brighter note with the earnestly quirky and spacey synth pop song “Teacher: The Sun Hasn’t Gone Away”, while also more explicitly criticizing the actions of our officials:

“They yell and cover your voice

Cut all the options, call it a choice…

Take away your words, try to give you a gun

Take away the money and don’t even run”

The next song by artsy duo Love Seats, the first on the second half of Help Oklahoma Teachers, emerges as both an auditory and emotional recalibration - as the sound palettes are generally more expansive, and the energies a bit more lighthearted from here forward. “Goin Steady” is an indie pop jam that brims with nostalgic style, as reverb-drenched vocals entice behind a wall of electronic synths, guitar, and drums.

Another genre-blender, Challo continues with a more straightforward and reserved funk style, introducing a bit of soul in the grooving rhythms and falsetto melodies on their song “Love Hurt”, a danceable ode to the bittersweet — that which provides purpose and joy, but still can “hurt so bad.”

Themes of love emerge continuously throughout the album, but the perspective feels more specific; wrestling with the realization that although love can inspire us to persist, to extend or improve ourselves for those we love (sometimes even for strangers), it also sometimes requires us to do so — which can be quite difficult, often painful.

On the following “Not Waiting”, the eclectic Kyle Reid veers us away from that pain - into a honky-tonk piano jam with jazzy horns and swingin’ drums, complete with an organ-fueled double-time climactic end section - resolving in the refrains, “You could hang me out to dry / but I’m gon’ make it out alive / Beause I’m not waitin’ no more.”

ACT 3

On Help Oklahoma Teachers, Alex Coleman and newly-formed ‘outfit’ Coat unveil their second song to-date. “Woof” is an alternative rock slow jam, which paints in moody key and guitar layers, then another sliding guitar drags the wistful melody across like a brush on a canvas.

“Night Before Sunrise” by Big Weather - an indie rock trio fronted by Chase Kerby - plunges into each of its sections with huge drums and vocals, hurdling forward like a wave about to crash down just before we can escape; as Kerby proclaims on the chorus: “you can’t walk away from this.”

Adam and The Original Sin is a “cosmic collection of world-class touring musicians,” and their song “Ellie” is a swirling 6/8 rock ballad, which, similar to its creators, amalgamates multiple elements from the musical ecosystem, such as blues, psychedelic, and funk.

OKC indie darlings Chelsea Days dwell in their own swirling sonic haze on the following song “Cruel World” - its minor intervals and slight twinges of dissonance evoking an air of strangeness, while its delicate vocals seem somehow assured amongst the confusion, soothing with the gesture to “let me know if you need someone to help you through this cruel world.”

Teachers have often been expected to (selflessly) help others through a ‘cruel world’ - without being provided the funding, protections, or even acknowledgements for doing so. We cannot invest in and repair education properly until we recognize and reflect its importance on a systematic level; fortunately, there are organizations that aid educators directly.

Per distributor Catapult Recordings: all streaming royalties and Bandcamp purchases from the compilation are being donated to RestoreOKC, a nonprofit in Northeast Oklahoma City “building relationships of reconciliation for restorative justice.” 

The Kendrik McKinney Quartet snaps us out of our daze with the aptly timed and titled four minute jazz ensemble piece “Stick It to The Man” - complete with the anticipated furnishings: lively upright bass, piano, and saxophone set to an upbeat swing tempo anchored by ride cymbals and hi-hat chics.

NasGreen concludes the album almost as low-key as it began — “Acrobatics” is a laidback trance track; alluring vocals with subtle echoes, engulfed in cerebral synths, shimmer over a subdued house beat.

The variety of artists compiled onto this album, the amount of NEW (not released anywhere else) songs, as well as the years of experience perhaps not seen, but nevertheless felt here — demonstrate not only the breadth of effort required to produce something like this, but the willingness of the community to put forth that effort.

Help Oklahoma Teachers is a love letter (or love song, rather) to both Oklahoma teachers and Oklahoma music. Support the cause by streaming or purchasing the album - https://www.helpoklahomateachers.com

Roundup Rundown features standout singles, EP’s, or albums from the latest edition of Release Roundup - CLM’s monthly catalogue covering music in and around Oklahoma. Selections and writing by Roundup curator David Joachims.

Go here for the full list of releases from August 2023.