Cole Diamond ⏤ Birthday Show with Cowboy Thoughts and Clayton Ryan at Turf Club

Mixing up an unlikely concoction of vintage rock & roll and outlaw country, Cole Diamond is, depending on when you ask, either the stage name for singer-songwriter Ryan Otte or the collective handle for Otte and his Band. For years, Otte spent most weekends behind a drum kit playing with too many bands to list. The idea for Cole Diamond came about as a way for Otte to step out from behind the drums and try his hand at the front of the stage. In the years since “Cole Diamond” was conceived, he has released an EP, a string of singles, received airplay on 89.3 The Current, and opened for national acts such as Corb Lund. Drawing on influences that range from Waylon and Willie to Brooks & Dunn, Cole Diamond delivers a modern take on a classic sound.

Cowboy Thoughts is a honky tonkin’ country band curated by frontwoman Kara Wilder. She has brought together current and former members of beloved Twin Cities bands (Müllet, Hot Freaks, Rupert Angeleyes, Suzie, Pleasure Horse, Black Market Brass + more) to make you two-step and/or break your heart.

There aren't many challenges of the music industry that Clayton Ryan hasn't met head on with his unique brand of angsty, twangy soul music. Raised in Iowa and South Dakota, his first successes in the industry came as a bassist and songwriter for Brandon Jones, opening for acts like Koe Wetzel, Jo Dee Messina, Flatland Cavalry, and Randy Houser. In the summer of 2022, his murder ballad "The Watchman of Spokane,” written for the duo Cottonwood Boys, was featured in American Songwriter Magazine, Americana Music Show, B Sides & Badlands, and South Dakota Public Broadcasting, and praised by both Grammy Award-Winning songwriter Marcus Hummon and William Fitzsimmons for its "compelling" and "emotional" songwriting.