Lexi Onyango opens for Arlo Parks at Tower Theatre

Tulsa-based artist Lexi Onyango recently opened for English indie pop artist Arlo Parks at Tower Theatre on Sept. 15. 

Onyango started playing guitar when she was about 10 or 11 years old, said Onyango. She has been exposed to music for most of her life by her grandparents and her mom. She said it felt like it was the only thing she was good at. Onyango said she started playing live and writing music when she was 15. 

When she was 15 or 16, she started finding local bands and trying to figure out how she could play shows. She said her first show was at The Vanguard in Tulsa. She also started music by playing at her school in her choir class.

She said the people at Tower Theatre were the ones who reached out to her about booking her for the Arlo Parks show.

Onyango said she had never performed at Tower Theatre or a venue with that capacity. She said she is trying to play at bigger venues and this was the first time she had played a show at a venue with more than a 500 capacity. 

She said she was shocked that there was a local artist opening for the Arlo Parks show and that she is super grateful for the experience. “I feel like I made a lot of connections and made some new fans that night for sure,” said Onyango. 

Onyango describes her music as Indie pop. She said she feels like she has always been an indie artist whether it’s pop, folk, or singer/songwriter. She said artists like Faye Webster, Joni Mitchell, Beach House and SZA influence her music. She feels like her music has so many genres mixed into one, said Onyango.

She said the new music she has been releasing is about her childhood. “You know you grow up very fast and it’s kind of sad to think about maturing and the changes that come in and out of your life all of the time,” said Onyango. She said she wanted to slow down with the singles she has been making to tell her story as a person and as an artist. She said she is a writer and she connects with the writing aspect of music more than anything.

When asked about the support she gets at her concert from family, friends and others she says it helps a lot because it can be hard making actual fans. She said it takes playing for someone who is a big deal, like the Arlo Parks show, to be looked at as talented even though they are a local artist. She feels like local artists can be overlooked sometimes. 

She said that her family comes to almost every show, especially the bigger shows. She said her best friends often come to her shows and her band members are some of her best friends as well. She feels like there are so many people that support her that are at almost every show and she is super grateful for that, said Onyango. 

Her backing band who has been playing shows with her since 2019 includes Logan Bruhn who is also her producer, Jhakobi Harkey, Josh Fudge and Tyler Sexton. Onyango said they all make their own music and often help make music for each other. She said they even live within walking distance of each other and specifically moved into houses to be close to each other.

Onyango said her plans right now are to stay consistent with her music. She said for now she is trying to be consistent with releasing as much music as she can to keep her numbers up. She said sometimes when you take breaks it’s hard to keep your numbers up. People just listen more frequently when you are releasing often, she said. 

She said right now she is trying to build her team. She recently got a management team and she is trying to figure out how to do the funding side of music, Onyango said. She said she is trying to build her practice and her following and keep writing the music she wants to write and take it as far as she can while staying true to herself.