Every year, Stillwater, Oklahoma hosts one of the largest music festivals in the state, Calf Fry.

As part of the celebration, Tumbleweed Dancehall hosts a battle of the bands contest leading up to the festival, known as the Road to Calf Fry. The winners of the competition are guaranteed a spot in the festival. This year's line up for the first battle has just been announced.

2025 Road To Calf Fry Round 1 Competitors Announced

Starting this weekend, several Oklahoma artists are performing at the iconic Tumbleweed Dancehall to earn a spot at the 2025 Calf Fry. For the next eight weeks, all 18 bands they've accepted for the competition will compete on Saturday nights to earn the prize. For the first round of battle of the bands, these artists will be taking the stage:

  • Boston James Band from Oologah, Oklahoma
  • Krislyn Arthurs & The Trainwrecks from Enid, Oklahoma
  • Alltown from Enid, Oklahoma

Although these artists do play similar styles of music, the Calf Fry committee does not prohibit any genre from entering. So each week can have totally different styles of music.

Battle of the Bands Artists Don't Just Win From Crowd Participation

Each artist will have a chance to take the stage and give the crowds their best performances yet. It isn't just how the crowd responds to them, though, that gets them a win. Bands who compete are scored on:

  • Crowd participation (sound meter)
  • Points awarded by three community judges
  • Advanced ticket sales and day of show ticket vote

The event organizers emphasize that the battle of the bands "is not just a popularity contest" and will depend on more than just how the crowd responds.

Get Tickets Now & Plan For The Next Round of The Road to Calf Fry

Tickets for the first round go live Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 10:00 a.m. and can be found here. This is just one round - remember we still have several weeks of other bands performing in regular rounds, the semi-finals and eventually the big finale.

Tumbleweed is a 21+ venue and tickets are required for attending shows. Doors will open at 8 p.m. on the nights of the Road To Calf Fry competition.

Artists competing in each round won't be announced until the week of, so follow the Tumbleweed Dancehall & Concert Venue to be notified when they're announced. This year's Calf Fry is happening May 1-3, 2025. For more information on the festival, click here.

Oklahoma's Best Live Music Venues, As Voted By Musicians

These are the places musicians have firsthand said they love to perform here in Oklahoma.

Gallery Credit: Dani

Oklahoma's Top 8 Best Live Music Venues

As voted by Facebook followers, we're looking at the best places to go for your live music experience in Oklahoma.

Gallery Credit: Dani

More From 1073 Popcrush