Special guests will include Mallory McAdams of The Roommates, Hunter Cannon of FIT, John Dufilho, Lydia Wells, David Forsyth, John Pedigo and Justin Anderson, Jacob Diewald and Joey Lopez of Baba Yaga Orkestar.
It's also been confirmed that the event's advertised “big secret guest” is none other than former Turks guitarist and current rising country star Joshua Ray Walker. Walker will play a solo set and will join the band onstage on lead guitar for the last time before officially parting ways with the band.
“The core of it all is that we love playing together,” says Wells of the band’s longevity. “We love the performance aspect of it. We've always loved putting on a live show and entertaining people in that way. So I think that was always a big driver for us to keep doing the thing.”
“I haven’t had the opportunity to play with them as much the past two years,” says Walker. “It’s just a lot of history coming together.”
The anniversary comes at an opportune time for Walker, who recently finished treatment for colon cancer.
“I’m excited that this is at a time where I could do it because of my treatment being over,” he says. “It would have probably been too hard to play an Ottoman Turks show while on chemo.”
The Ottoman Turks were founded by Wells while he was still in high school. The band would practice in his parents’ garage after school.
“Every kid starting a band in their parents’ garage probably has similar visions of being like whatever their favorite band is. The Strokes or something along those lines for us,” Wells says. “But I don't think it was really ever very fleshed out in terms of, like, how to realistically do this.”
Walker, who had grown up with Wells, joined the band two years in during their rowdy college years.
Animal House
“The guys all went to college at A&M and lived in a big house together that we deemed Turks Mansion," Walker says. “I slept on the couch at that house a lot during the years that they were going to school there. [...] Those times at the Turks Mansion were everything you hoped your college-aged memories would be. That was our Animal House, I guess.”Wells says that after college, adult responsibilities and the uncertainty of the music industry almost broke up the band “We weren't sure what we wanted from the band at that point,” he says. “We'd all just graduated college and were trying to find jobs and figure out just how to keep our lives on track.”
“It was just really hard to get together and play and at that point; we’d probably put 10 years into it,” Walker says. “We felt like we'd really made a go at it.”
The Turks decided to quit “the cowardly way,” as Wells describes it. They would play any well-paying show that was offered to them and when the gigs stopped coming, they’d be done. That never happened.
“We got our very first-ever gig at the Granada opening up for somebody,” Wells says. “And then around that time, we got introduced to State Fair Records, who talked to us about putting out a record. That just breathed new life into the whole situation.”
The Granada has held a special place in the band’s hearts ever since.
“Coming back to the Granada Theater is a big deal,” says Walker. “That was such a huge accomplishment for us the first time we got to play there.”
The Ottoman Turks are currently writing music for an upcoming third album, some of which will be played at the anniversary show. Wells’ long-term goal as an artist, however, is to become as ridiculous as possible over time.
“I hope our pants get tighter and we make everyone cringe when we’re walking around,” he says. “Mick Jagger seems happy. Keith Richards is alive somehow. That’s the way to do it.”
TURKATHON will take place at the Granada Theater on Saturday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $15 on Prekindle.
