Writing lyrics with another person can be really vulnerable, says Tyler Ryan. But both collaboration and vulnerability have been key to Oh Dang, the New Orleans band anchored by Ryan, a singer and guitarist, vocalist Harper Browman and multi-instrumentalist Eric Anduha.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a long time to slowly develop that sort of comfort, to be able to share and change and put ideas out that either work or don\u2019t work with somebody else,\u201d Ryan says. \u201cSame with Eric. Eric, I\u2019ve been playing with since I was a kid. That sort of comfort has grown over like 15 years of playing together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 2021, Oh Dang<\/a> has operated as a trio, releasing a lo-fi folk EP and a full-length of engaging alt-country highlighted by Ryan and Browman\u2019s harmonies. Now, with their second full-length \u201cBig Dogs,\u201d<\/a> the band is growing both in size and in its sound.<\/p>\n \u201cBig Dogs\u201d is out Friday, March 13, on Strange Daisy Records, and the band plays a release show<\/a> at 9 p.m. that night at BJ\u2019s in the Bywater. Tonya & The Glue also perform.<\/p>\n Following the release of Oh Dang\u2019s self-titled album<\/a> in 2024, Browman, Ryan and Anduha invited drummer Eric Martinez and bassist Dylan Grove to join the band. Martinez is in a number of projects around New Orleans, including the country-leaning indie rock band Night Medicine<\/a>, and Grove plays with the alt-rock band Dumbster<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen those two came in, it just completely changed the dynamic of writing and playing,\u201d Ryan says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d bring a song to the band at practice, and then everybody puts in how they think things could be different or what should be added,\u201d Browman adds. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty open when we\u2019re starting a new song.\u201d<\/p>\n