Joy Oladokun photo by Rachel Debb
Show Review: Joy Oladokun Fills The Ram’s Head with Purpose-Driven Music in Annapolis, MD | February 6, 2025
What happens when a self-described introvert—someone who has openly questioned their place in the music industry (“Sometimes I think that if I got lost and drowned out in the river / No one in this town would cry”)—finds themself playing to a sold-out crowd in one of America’s great listening rooms? The answer, at least in the case of Joy Oladokun, is an unforgettable night of raw, deeply personal, and powerfully resonant music.
Touring behind her latest album, Observations From A Crowded Room, Oladokun captivated the Ram’s Head audience for over two hours, delivering a show that was equal parts intimate folk storytelling and high-energy indie-pop performance.
Interestingly, the night opened with a 30-minute solo set—just Oladokun, her guitar, and a room full of listeners hanging on every word. Stripped of any backing instrumentation, songs like “Purple Haze” (“Sure there’s purple haze in the sky / And they say maybe we’re running out of time / But I don’t care ’cause you and I / Know that love is all we need to survive”) and “Someone Like Me” (“Can anybody say a prayer? / Can anybody light a candle? / For somebody like me”) took on an almost sacred quality.
One of the show’s most memorable moments was a cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah.” Given the sheer number of versions that exist, it’s hard to imagine someone finding a fresh way to interpret the song—but Oladokun did just that, offering a sparse, aching rendition that felt entirely their own. By the end of the acoustic set, I found myself wondering whether they even needed a band at all. But that was a question I would quickly regret.
When Oladokun returned with her tight three-piece band, she was a different performer. Where the acoustic set felt like an intimate confession, the full-band set had a dynamic, uplifting groove, revealing Oladokun’s versatility as both a songwriter, a singer, and a guitarist. “If You Got a Problem” (“If you got a problem / I got a problem too / If you’re standing at the bottom / I’ll reach out for you”) became a buoyant anthem of solidarity, while “I’d Miss the Birds”—a slow-burning meditation on her complicated relationship with Nashville—was one of the set’s most stirring moments.
Vocally, Oladokun was in complete control, moving effortlessly between registers and finding moments where words became unnecessary altogether. When emotion overwhelmed the lyrics, they leaned into cries, shouts, and howls, drawing the audience in rather than pushing them away. It was mesmerizing.
Between songs, Oladokun was modest and soft-spoken, dressed in cargo pants, a flannel shirt, and a baseball cap. She carries herself with a quiet humility, yet her presence is undeniable. As they put it in a recent interview, “I sort of think of myself as a carpenter of songs. I’m not making an art piece that you watch go by and don’t participate with. I’m building a table for people to use, that you interact with every day.” That ethos was fully on display at Ram’s Head, where they built something beautiful, something that every single person in the audience wanted to stay and be part of until the very last note.
I’ve seen plenty of shows at this venue, and there’s always a segment of the crowd that heads for the door early—especially on weeknights. But not tonight. Not for Joy Oladokun.
Find more details and show dates here on her website: https://www.joyoladokun.com/tour/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Newport Folk 2021 (Part One)
