Hello and welcome to this Thursdays artist spotlight where I hope to introduce y’all to an artist maybe you’ve never heard before…if you haven’t after you learn who Dylan Moss is go check him and his bands music out so who is Dylan Moss?
Dylan Moss & The Middle Class is a band out of Stillwater, OK (Go Pokes). Dylan started playing guitar around 2019 when he was 17. He said “I started taking it seriously and playing shows in late 2020. COVID left me with a lot of time on my hands and not much to do when my senior year of HS got cut short so my buddies and I started writing songs to pass the time and i never stopped.” Red dirt music was a huge part of Dylan’s life growing up. He told me “I was raised on randy rogers, ragweed, and turnpike just to name a few. my parents were avid concert goers so I’ve always been drawn to music through them.”
When I asked how he’d describe the bands sound, Dylan said “I would describe it as a not your average country/rock n roll mix. we pride ourselves on our original sound and being able to slow you down with a sensitive banger, then rock your socks off right after. i try to take influence from the people i listen to, but at the same time you won’t find the same sound anywhere else! but ultimately i would say you’d have to throw us somewhere in the rock n roll genre with country/red dirt roots.” Dylan told me what inspired him to start making music was” just being in love with live music since i can remember. and when i started writing songs i didn’t ever want to do anything but play live music across the land to anyone who’s willing to give us a little of their time and listen.”
Some artists that have influenced him the most are “Merle Haggard, Ragweed, Randy Rogers, John Mayer, Parker McCollum, Brent Cobb, The Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams just to name a few. But the list is always growing with artists from all genres and generations.” I love the mix of genres in that answer, I think it’s good to have different sounds influence your music. Dylan said his favorite show he’s played so far is when he got to open up for The Great Divide at The Criterion in Oklahoma City. He told me “It was a sold out show, definitely the biggest crowd I’ve played for so that’s have to be my pick.”
Now as for his favorite to play he said it’s “probably a toss up between The Tumbleweed in Stillwater or The Blue Note in OKC.” His dream venue though? He said “Hands down would have to be Cains Ballroom in Tulsa. a close second would be Gruene Hall in Gruene, TX”
The main turning point for Dylan’s music career he said was “when I rebranded from my old group I was in (The Johnnie Thomas Band) after the band split up to start The Middle Class. I really dug in at that point in June of 2023 and hit the ground running with my own project (Dylan Moss & The Middle Class) and never looking back. It made me dive into all aspects of the business as aposed to just music and it’s been amazing to watch the guys and myself grow into what we are now with no sign of slowing down.” Something that he said he didn’t think we’d expect is that “Our bassist and myself were in a band before this together (Johnnie Thomas Band) and our drummer and lead guitar player were in a band together before we all came together to be The Middle Class.” Which as someone new to the bands music, I like to learn a little history of how they came to be. So, I love how he explains that a little right there.
Dylan said that when people here the bands music he he hopes that their “tunes make people happy, or make them feel something they weren’t feeling til they turned it on. There is no better feeling for me as an artist than to look out and see people vibing to our tunes. it shows us that no matter what is happening in someone’s life, we made them feel some joy and have fun for even just a little.”
When I asked what does success look like to you in the music business he said “I try not to think about that too much, you could say money or a certain amount of streams but to me success is being able to sustain your music career while staying true to what you are, in other words not selling out for any reason, staying true to what you do and maintaining that throughout your career. A good example for me would be BJ Barham of American Aquarium.”
Now how does one balance a music career and life? Well he told me “it’s definitely tough sometimes, I try to make it a point to take some weekends off to give everyone some time to step away from the shows and spend time how we please. sometimes it’s not that easy though because at the end of the day we’re trying to grow our audience play as many shows as we can. but luckily we don’t have any issue with being out on the road for a few weeks at a time, everyone is dialed in and ready to work for what we want. But i personally try to utilize the time i’m not on stage to have that kind of natural reset before getting back after it.”
If you’re trying to make a go at music get your list of advice you’ve been given out Dylans advice is “Write Write Write & Play anywhere that will have you. when you’re starting out you have to just get yourself out there and keep trying to perfect your craft and find your sound. my advice would really be just throw yourself into the fire and you’ll start figuring it out, meeting other artists and taking in all the advice and knowledge that you get and then use the stuff that works for you.”
Now as for what we can expect next from the band Dylan told me “We just finished our first Studio EP at Classen Recorders in OKC produced by Dwight Hamlin of the Wight Lighters. Be on the lookout for that either Late this Summer or Early Fall. we have multiple singles out right now under ‘Dylan Moss’ but they were recorded at my house in my office so we’re really stoked to have some Studio quality tracks out to the world.”
Where can you keep up with the band?
‘Dylan Moss’ on All streaming platforms
Dylan Moss & The Middle Class on Facebook
@tdylanmoss on Tik Tok
@tdylanmoss on Instagram
@dylanmoss.themiddleclass on Instagram
Thanks for checking out this spotlight on Dylan Moss from Dylan Moss & The Middle Class! I can’t wait for what we’ve got in store for y’all next week. Stay tuned and stay Western!
Get Western 
Leave a comment