Making ‘sweet’ music

By Christian Price, News9.com INsite Team

NORMAN, Okla. -- Their sound is as unique and different as their name. Mama Sweet is a band from Norman who changes people's perception about the kind of music made in Oklahoma.

Lead singer Aron Holt is tired of trying to explain the band's eclectic sound.

"It's kind of getting to the point where I'm tired of trying to come up with an answer to that question," Holt said. "I have no idea what it sounds like because we're making it, we're not listening to it."

Mama Sweet's sound is a mixture of blues and country, with a dash of Floyd and Hendrix. They believe they sound more like outlaw country.

"It's an off shoot of country music and contemporary mainstream music," Holt said. "It was all just about drinking whiskey, shooting pool and chasing women and all that fun stuff."

The drummer for Mama Sweet, Giovanni Carnuccio, credits Holt with writing music that spans multiple categories.

"A lot of guys write songs that are the same style, and on and on and on," Carnuccio said. "I know he listens to a lot of different types of music and mixes it up with some blender in his head."

The band believes that if people outside of the state would give Oklahoma music a chance, they'd be surprised.

"I think if a lot of the country could get turned on to some of the sounds that comes out of Oklahoma, it be beneficial," Carnuccio said.

Mama Sweet believes Oklahoman's should get out and support local musicians more often.

"We've got a lot of things that people on the coast and the rest of the nation right now would die for," Carnuccio said. "We don't have a housing crisis. We're not hurting financially. We're growing leaps and bounds."

Whatever it is that Mama Sweet is doing, it's working. They have been nominated in TOSSM Radio's Listener's Choice Awards for "Favorite Texas and Red Dirt up-and-coming Artist/Band" and "Favorite Texas and Red Dirt male vocalist."

Visit their Web site for future show dates.