Event

OK Sweetheart at TreeHouse Point

OK SWEETHEART -- A group reminiscent of all the good things from mid-century pop, splits their time between San Francisco, Denton, and Brooklyn. Their well crafted simplicity pulls influence from classics such as Harry Nilsson, The Zombies, and Randy Newman. Formerly creating under the namesake of singer / songwriter Erin Austin, OK Sweetheart's uniquely pop sound is the result of an eclectic collaboration with members of Midlake, Elizabeth and the Catapult, The Polyphonic Spree, and Via Audio.

"The winner of the 2008 John Lennon songwriting contest for pop, Austin seems headed for the spotlight."
- SPIN Earth

"Erin Austin of OK SWEETHEART has the voice of Billie Holiday, but she dresses all that longing in a polka-dot vintage dress with a scalloped collar and croons to bouncy chords on piano. She sings about as many cities as she claims her project hails from â" bandmates McKenzie Smith (Midlake) and guitarist Jeremy Buller (Sarah Jaffe, Bosque Brown) connect Austin (ha!) to Denton, though she resides in San Franscisco and the project has ties to Tulsa and Brooklyn. I enjoy listening to OK Sweetheart much more than I do Regina Spektor, but the comparison is an easy one to make at a cursory listen, so you hear it often."
-Lyndsay Milne

With an ear to late 60's pop, Austin penned a battery of over sixty songs in early 2008. That summer, Rob Gungor and McKenzie Smith had begun experimenting with sounds and instrumentation, thoughtfully developing arrangements at Midlake's studio. By October 2008, Austin had arrived in Denton and completed work on her first single "You Let Me Down", winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Award for Pop as well as a Lennon Award. In January of 2009, Smith, Austin, and Gungor opened Retrofit Studios in Denton, Texas.