Before playing the most high-profile concert of his career,Josh Meloyhad a routine to keep.
It created the bang out of chaos that can make an artist a nervous wreck.
But Meloy was unbothered.
Josh Meloy will open for Whiskey Myers on select dates of their summer tour.Lupe Ruiz*
I love you guys, Meloy told his bandmates.
Then Meloy took the stage and kicked off his biggest show in his home state to date.
He hails from Hennessey, a small town in north-central Oklahoma, and still lives there.
An hour to the south is Oklahoma City, the closest major city to Meloys home.
His last concert there happened in July 2023 at the 1,000-capacity Diamond Ballroom.
The crowd was strong, but the show did not sell out.
On this night at the Criterion, there was not a ticket to be found.
This feels like its full circle, Meloy says of the Whiskey Myers tour.
Its really cool to play with a band who inspired you so much.
The attention is also forcing Meloys hand.
But the others are leaning into it.
Southall and Butts tour relentlessly.
Flores does the same and has the backing of an Island Records deal.
All three write and release music consistently.
By comparison, Meloy keeps a light schedule, rarely touring longer than a few days at a time.
He opts to drive his band in a decked-out RV to shows rather than get a tour bus.
A record deal is out of the question.
His most recent album, last summersWhere You Came From, dropped with no fanfare or promotion.
Im not one of those guys who lives and breathes music.
But I grew up not even playing music.
I dont want to dedicate my whole life to just touring and playing music.
I like doing other things.
I couldnt be somebody whos just on the road all the time.
His fans, and his band, disagree.
Who wouldnt like this guy?
Hes a fucking Adonis.
And then you hear him sing, Baker says.
After high school, Meloy went to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, intending to study nursing.
He lasted a couple of years, but it was long enough for a full indoctrination into Red Dirt.
Meanwhile, it was blowing up, Meloy recalls.
I didnt know anything about music then.
I had just started playing.
I thought, Maybe I could do that.
We had started selling some tickets, Meloy says.
Maybe about a hundred a night, which was awesome, for us.
And then I dropped Porch Light and the rest is frickin history.
Meloy had a word-of-mouth hit, and the crowds exploded.
After Porch Light, Meloys streaming numbers soared.
Today, he has as many monthly Spotify listeners, 4.5 million, as Flores and Southall combined.
Last July, Meloy releasedWhere You Came From, his third full-length album and first since 2020sOklahoma.
The records 11 tracks are his strongest yet, lyrically and musically.
There wasnt like a crazy hit on it, Meloy says ofWhere You Came From.
Which is not true.
Im proud of that album, but what it did was give us more time.
It shows in the fact were still touring and the shows are growing.
I wanted something cohesive and respectable.
Everybody has that imposter syndrome, and this was me conquering that.
His own music is complemented by a tight band.
This is something Meloy encourages: I love watching Wyatt play as a front man.
It pisses me off when he doesnt do stuff like that.
The growth is the weirdest thing, Baker says.
When I first joined Josh, that itself was a huge step for me.
The past year, it just seems like were constantly taking these steps up.
Taking all that into consideration, the Oklahoma City show itself may have been Meloys best performance to date.
Wherever he went, the audience joined.
Meloy has two daughters.
The oldest is two and a half; his youngest is eight months.
That was my first identity, and I still love it.
