Ramsey Thornton

Ramsey Thornton makes modern-day folk music for early mornings and quiet hours. It's a warm, rhythmic sound, fueled by intricate fingerpicking and the observational storytelling of a lifelong musician who's still discovering new horizons.

Long before he became an unsung hero of Tulsa's music scene — playing banjo in Ken Pomeroy's band, drumming for jazz combos, and collaborating with hometown heroes like Wilderado — the Oklahoma native began drumming at 6 years old. By his late teens, he was playing stringed instruments, too. Banjo came first. Acoustic guitar followed, with Ramsey developing a hypnotic, percussive style — including intricate rhythms and uniquely phrased arpeggios — that seemed to nod to the two instruments he'd already learned.

While backing up artists across Tulsa during his early 20s, Ramsey started writing songs of his own, creating a unique version of American roots music fueled by banjo twang and folky hooks. Later, while wrapping up a graduate program at Oklahoma State University, he began writing the music that would fill his full-length debut, I Called It!.

Ramsey recorded the record in Brooklyn, where he teamed up with Isaac Stalling and Sam Skinner (Pinegrove) in a Bed-Stuy studio. They anchored each song with a live performance of guitar and vocals, adding other instruments — from the interlocking layers of strings that sweep through "Tony's Song," a gorgeous duet with Ken Pomeroy, to the brushed percussion and keyboards that punctuate "Backyard" — for textural effect. Back home in Oklahoma, Ramsey tapped Chad Copeland (Broncho, Wilderado) to contribute synth, drones, and other atmospherics to tracks like "Fourth of July." Even so, I Called It generally unfolds like a one-man show, capturing Ramsey Thornton in his element: intimate, locked-in, and focused on the present moment.