The Familiar and nostalgic tunes wafting over Route 66 are the unmistakable sound of a band that calls Stroud, Oklahoma, home. Further Down the historic roadway students build their community with music. Headquartered downtown is the traveling Southernstyle classic country and oldies group: The Sugar Time Band.
Formed seven years ago, the band’s original name idea, “Country Roads Music” was already taken. Instead, they drew inspiration from the McGuire Sisters’ 1958 hit “Sugartime” “We make a lot of noise for three old men,” said Joe Navrath, the band’s vocalist.
Navrath has been writing and performing music since the 1970s. Danny Clements, one of two guitarists along with Jack Harris, has been playing since high school, 58 years ago.
Together, the trio blends Johnny Cash grit with a splash of Margaritaville ease, serving up their southernsweet-tea style cover band songs across the state. “We do a lot of retirement villages, assisted living and a handful of casinos,” Navrath said.
“That’s one of the reasons I think we’re pretty successful,” Clements added. “Because we play to people with similar interests or similar memories and close to our age.” He added.
“When you play a song that somebody recognizes, 9 times out of 10 they are not hearing you. They hear the original,” said Clements.
Their nostalgic tunes are in high demand. “We do anywhere from 10 to 20 gigs a month and we cover a lot of mileage. We play everywhere from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to Yukon,” said Clements.
But for the band, the music is more than a performance; it’s a time machine.
“Music is shared memories,” Clements said. “When you play a song that someone heard back when they were in school, dating, stuff like that, it brings back those memories. So by our music, we’re sharing their memories.”
Those connections run deep. In retirement homes across Oklahoma, the band has seen firsthand how powerful a few chords can be.
“There was this guy back when we were at an assisted living home, and this guy was stuck in a bed. Sheet from his feet to his neck. Never moved a muscle. He was sitting five feet from me and lay there the whole time. I started playing a song that had a good drum beat and his foot started tapping!” Clements said. “I guess the music’s just in a different part of the brain.”
That audience interaction is what keeps Sugar Time energized.
“We get a lot of interaction with the audience and that fuels the fire. The more they dance, the harder we play,” Clements said.
Sometimes, the audience even joins in. “They can rarely sing well,” Navrath said. “But the whole crowd claps and sings along with them. Just because that’s a member of their community and they’re proud.”
Further down Route 66, at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, 20-year-old Chandler alum Austyn Denmore has found that music helps build a different kind of community.
“I met my girlfriend and I’ve met a couple of my friends through music,” Denmore said. “We got put in the same touring group and the person leading it asked us what our majors were, and I said music performance and she said music production. So I looked at her and I went, ‘That’s funny… you should be my producer.’” For Denmore, music also carries personal healing power.
“I was just super sad for the longest time. I left all of my friends and I didn’t make a lot of friends here so I thought maybe I could use my guitar to be my own therapist,” he said.
On Oct. 11, 2023, Denmore was involved in a headon collision that left him in a coma and hospitalized for 99 days.
“Playing guitar helped me get my finger dexterity back. It helps heal my brain,” Denmore said.
“The original plan was to go to trade school and learn auto mechanics and then when I got into the accident and I woke up, it was like a switch flipped or something and I was like, nope, it’s musician time and I want to make a career out of this,” he added.
Denmore is working on recording his first album, “The Hundredth Day” His biggest musical inspiration? The Doors. Inspiring both his music and his wardrobe, Denmore ‘rocks’ Jim Morrison’s long black hair. “I even have the leather pants,” Denmore said.
Music remains a powerful force, connecting communities, reviving memories and healing hearts.
Driving down Route 66, whether in a roadside band or a college dorm, you’ll hear all kinds of people playing their music, bringing together their towns, reviving memories and healing hearts.