Dirty Derringer is a
folk/rock/Americana/country/pop/rockabilly band in Ada, Oklahoma.
They consider themselves a melting-pot of music, since they normally
don't stick to just one genre. Each member has their own tastes in
music, and it shows in individual performances. Together, they find a
happy medium. They take songs from each genre that they all love, and
those are the songs they cover together.
Dirty Derringer features Tessa &
Joey House, and Thomas Rand, radiant up-and-coming singer-songwriters
blazing across today’s contemporary folk music scene. With a fusion
of purifying emotional sound and skillful delivery, they have been
compared to the likes of The Civil Wars. Making appearances all over
South East Oklahoma, whether together or individually, Dirty
Derringer delights crowds with their acoustic guitar twang and
wailing performances of classic and modern country, pop, red dirt ,
classic rock, Americana, rockabilly, folk and 90's rock, and some of
their own original songs. They have yet to enter the recording
studio, but there are hopes to do so in the near future.
Joey House was born in Texas in
1984, but moved to Ada, Oklahoma at around the age of 8. He grew up
on a fish farm right outside the small town of Connerville, Oklahoma.
He began playing instruments at a young age as well, playing in the
school band. He ended up being able to play almost any horn or
stringed instrument which lead to the acoustic guitar. He
attended ECU on a music scholarship in music education after he
graduated high school.
Before being a part of Dirty
Derringer, Joey was the front man for another local band, Youth
Uninspired, which was a punk rock band and covered songs by Blink
182, among others. Youth Uninspired recorded an album together, which
featured Joey's vocal and guitar talent. Other members included
Nathan Hurley. He was also a part of GoFreak, which was the first
off-campus band he was a member of. Other members included Justin
Lofton. Joey's musical influences- classic rock, punk rock, and rock
in general- include: Tenacious D, 90's rock bands, Foreigner,
Flogging Molly, and many more. Joey began playing solo at The
Statesman's Lounge in 2005, and played there for four years until he
moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After a year, he moved back and
began playing at the same bar again in early 2011.
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| Joe, playing with his band in 2006. |
Tessa House was born in 1986 in Ada, Oklahoma. She has been in Ada the entirety of her life so far. She has been singing publicly
since she was very young, and made her largest debut in her school talent show her sophomore year of high school. She cam in fourth place behind Shawn White and Leah Barbata. Since then, her vocal performances have progressed extensively, starting with the National Anthem at school sports games, music competitions, and for the Chickasaw Nation when they sponsor large events. She has been featured in The Colgate
Country Showdown, Ada Idol, Moore Love, and the McSwain Theater,
all of Ada, Oklahoma. She was also featured on a portion of 105.5
FM's local talent slot, where they interviewed her and played one of
her recorded tracks on the station. This was the first time she had
ever had a track played on the radio.
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| Tessa, playing at The Statesman's Lounge in late 2010. |
Tessa took guitar lessons when she was 15, but soon took on
learning on her own. She has written a few songs to her credit, but
doesn't deem them worthy of show performances. She began playing the
guitar with her uncle, Jimmy Tignor, around 2008, who taught her a lot about
performing live while incorporating the guitar and helped her improve her guitar skills. Along with
Jimmy, she played with Tom Schultz, and they formed The Red
Barn Band. They played around Ada at fairs, the Ada Elks Lodge, and
benefits, mostly. She was still playing with The Red Barn Band when
she started going out on her own and playing at local bars in early 2010.
She met her husband, Joey, when she began playing at The
Statesman's Lounge in early 2011, where he too was playing. They came
together musically when Joey began giving her guitar lessons and
teaching her to hone her talents. They became romantically involved
only a few lessons in. They were married on October 27th, 2012.
Tessa's musical influences- classic rock, classic country, red dirt,
folk, pop, contemporary country- include: Miranda Lambert, Jewel,
Journey, The Civil Wars, Heart, and many more.
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| Joey, the night he and Tessa met, plays Tessa's guitar during her break. The rest is history! |
With Joey's rock edge and Tessa's country swagger, Dirty Derringer has evolved into something truly incredible... folk-rock, or Folkabilly, as they like to call it. Pulling from all genres of music and weaving their own acoustic take on well known songs, they create a magical sound that can't be matched or imitated within the local live music scene of Ada, Oklahoma.
