ABOUT

The Story of Orphium

Orphium is a rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma that has been performing live around the Tulsa area since 1999. Orphium is mostly a cover band but does have a handful of original compositions. The band name was taken from the character in Greek Mythology called Orpheus who was a great musician.

The Band

The band is made up of four members; Curt Brasel, Donnie Leland, Keith Birmingham and John Bernard. John is the fourth arc of the band circle and was added in 2007 not too long after he had moved to Tulsa. Curt, Donnie and Keith founded the band in 1998 and began playing shows in 1999. The guys in the band are good friends with almost a blood brother link through the music they have been playing over the years. Over the past couple of years Orphium has contracted their own sound man that has ten plus years of running live sound at venues all over the United States. The members of Orphium are all business professionals during the day but understand the importance of music in culture as well as music and it’s role in the promotion of business. Orphium’s ten year history provides an example to potential club owners and/or corporate party planners that the band is here to stay and can be counted on to deliver a great rock show.

The Performance

At the time Orphium was created, the music scene in Tulsa catered to cover bands that mostly played "dance" music. The band knew there were people who liked the same style of music they did and also knew there was some demand for a good “live” rock show. Orphium has played shows in Tahlequah, Tulsa, Stillwater and Oklahoma City. Orphium still believes there is a demand for live music that is not pre-recorded or lip-synced. . An Orphium show lets people escape from day to day stresses for a few hours at a time and allows the band and the audience to communicate through the medium of music.

The Music

The idea for the music of Orphium is to capture the energy of good rock music and send it to the souls and hearts of the listeners whether it was a cover song or an original. The spectrum of cover songs ranges from the 1960’s through newer rock songs released in the past couple of years. Orphium covers songs from groups like The Beatles, Aerosmith, Neil Young, Cream, Credence Clearwater Revival, Queen, and Jimi Hendrix to the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, The Black Keys, My Chemical Romance, Velvet Revolver and the White Stripes. This wide scope of cover songs offers something to all audiences with no regard to age. Orphium also likes creating original music. “Panic” was the first original to get radio play on 97.5 KMOD (Tulsa area radio station). Curt’s response to hearing “Panic” on the radio was “there is nothing like the spine tingling feeling of listening to a song created by a group of friends”. The band has also put a video together for the song “Don’t Get Me Down”. The video has two components; the band performing the song and the song’s story acted out by the students of the 2001 Union High School drama class. Orphium’s “Don’t Get Me Down” video can be viewed on YouTube.com.