A guitar, a piano, a paint brush, a set of drums, a shop full of tools—the medium changes, but the instinct does not: make it honestly, share it generously, leave some feeling in the room.
Rooted in Oklahoma from Blair to Enid, Nate has built a creative life around songs, rooms, and the people who gather inside them. His public archive moves from Bricktown stages and small-town bars to brewery rooms, open jams, studio sessions, and the Enid Symphony Hall stage.
He writes and records under Nate Kelley and Nathanial John, sings, and plays guitar, piano, harmonica, and drums. Away from the stage, he paints and works as a carpenter. Earlier independent merch drops and a self-run storefront show the same hands-on approach: make the thing, put it into the world, and invite people in.
One chapter of Nate’s musical life: an Oklahoma folk, indie, and rock group whose nine-track album Greener Pastures arrived in 2020. The band’s public 2026 trail includes an Enid Symphony Hall appearance for the Harvest Wine Series.
Original songs, stripped-down demos, live arrangements, covers, open jams, and collaborative writing sessions all appear across Nate’s public archive.
02
Paint
Signed work · color · repair marks
His painted work carries the same direct language as the songs: visible seams, human marks, and the recurring instruction to choose more love and less ego.
03
Build
Carpentry · practical making
Nate identifies carpentry as part of his working life. Building is not a metaphor pasted onto the music—it is another daily practice of measuring, shaping, and finishing by hand.
04
Make it independent
Releases · storefront · local merch
In 2020 and 2021, Nate ran preorders and small merch drops, then placed shirts and other designs with a local Enid venue. The entrepreneurial work stayed close to the community around the songs.
05 / Field notes
Rooms hold memory.
“Sometimes you can stand inside of a space, and feel the energy that has been stored in its walls.”Nate Kelley, after performing at Enid Symphony Hall · 2026
At the Enid Symphony pianoSourceGuitar and harmonica at Enid Symphony HallSourceBehind the drum kitSourceAn intimate roomSource
06 / Public archive
A trail of songs & rooms.
Selected milestones from Nate’s public music pages—not a complete calendar, and not a claim of unlisted credits.
The visible trail begins
The earliest public music-page posts show Nate sitting in with Amarillo Junction at JJ’s Alley in Bricktown, returning to JJ’s Alley with Sean Bentley and Bethany Crow, playing Tulsa’s Tin Dog Saloon, The Union at SoSA, The Orient in Blair, and spontaneous sets downtown.
Southwest Oklahoma rooms
A Best in the Southwest Round-up appearance in Altus and a reunion billed as the original Fat Chance boys at Val’s Restaurant & Pub add another chapter to the regional live map.
Recording, releasing, moving
Nate announced work on a first album, released Petals on the Ground, Water from the Moon, and Emotionless Game, and played Enid, Medicine Park, Blair, Altus, Arcadia, and more. He also launched an early merch run and storefront.
One mic, one take
The year includes You Are It live at Enid Brewery, Fractured live at B&B Studio, the deliberately stripped-down Dad’s Song #2, writing sessions, and dates in Dover, Weatherford, Blair, Enid, and Lakeview, Texas.
Songs still travel
Public posts document Pickle Jar, an original sparked after a Mike McClure show, Bike Night in Altus, Fling at the Springs, and solo-acoustic New Year’s Eve work in Calumet across the turn of 2021–22 and again at the close of 2022.
A new direction, a storied stage
New demos—Who’s Driving This Train, The Key of Levon, and What’s on the Docket—arrive alongside The Peach Trees’ Harvest Wine Series performance at Enid Symphony Hall. Nate described adding his own energy to a room shaped by musicians before him.
