North Texas Daily

Thursday night, Jessie Frye and her band took the stage for the Blood Moon Parties in the Great Denton Arts council. It was a late school night for Denton, but the festival was kicking up regardless. People were eager for some great live music, and Oaktopia’s first night had what they were looking for.

Jessie Frye is a four-piece, pop-rock collective comprised of Jessie Frye on lead vocals, Michael Garcia on guitar, Androo O’Hearn on bass and Chad Ford on drums.  The band, formed in 2009, has played all around Denton and elsewhere, including last year’s Oaktopia for a gig a Harvest House. The has been writing new material and will be for the next upcoming months, so this resurgence from a short hiatus was nice for the band and devout music fans.

“She has such an amazing voice and such a cool stage persona that was really fun to watch,” Caitlin Collins, a TWU alumna and choir teacher at Sanger High School, said. “I think she’s really unique.”

Collins and her friends were pleased with Jessie Frye’s performance and noted that it was something they hadn’t seen before.

Jessie Frye performs opening day yesterday for Oaktopia Fest at PAAC. Meagan Sullivan

Interdisciplinary English sophomore Sarah Carr was charmed by how Jessie Frye performed that night.

Carr, who used to be a waitress at Dix Coney Island on the Square, said Frye and her band were some of her regular customers. She liked what she saw out of Frye’s performance at Oaktopia.

“One day we had a this conversation and she told me she was a musician, so I’ve been keeping up with her for the past four or five months on Instagram, always seeing what she’s doing,” Carr said. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen her perform and she’s really good-like, fantastic.”

Carr said she loved everything about the performance, from Frye’s outfits to her style to her stage presence.

“Super unique, just like an angel baby,” Carr said. “She put on a show, she’s such a sweetie.”

Guillermo Ocampo, a 19-year-old music enthusiast, was at the festival with Carr and another friend, enjoying the sights and sounds. He said he loved seeing Frye’s performance and what festivals like Oaktopia have to offer. Even though Frye’s performance was a great way to kick off Oaktopia, Ocampo said he was excited that there was still so much variety of art and music for him and his friends to check out.

“The reason I love Oaktopia is because you get to see artists like Jessie Frye,” Ocampo said. “You get to see different sounds of music and people’s different stories that they have with their music. It’s good to experience all that.”

Featured Image: Jessie Frye performs opening day yesterday for Oaktopia Fest at PAAC. Meagan Sullivan