“When Jozette and I met, we bonded over our love of music and the fact that we had both struggled
with debilitating anxiety and panic attacks for much of our lives,” recalls John Vineyard, one half of
the husband-wife guitar/vocal duo that fronts San Diego band, The Oxen. Jozette agrees and adds,
“So with that in mind, getting up in front of people and performing original songs… that might
seem a little crazy to some people.” Crazy or not, The Oxen have been blazing their own trail in the
San Diego music scene and are set to release their debut full-length album on September 6, 2019.
“John and I had been writing music in our one-bedroom apartment for years, and he finally agreed
to get a band going provided we have loud guitars.” The couple started playing with other local
musicians, rented out the back room of a barber shop as a rehearsal space and makeshift recording
studio, and submitted a demo to San Diego CityBeat’s “2017 Great Demo Review.” Out of 102
submissions, The Oxen’s demo was one of only five that was given the “ExtraSpecialGood” designation
by the publication, and music writer Seth Combs wrote, “Three songs of excellent indie-pop that left
me clamoring for more and asking ‘where did these guys come from?’”
As it turns out, John grew up in Texas where he had some regional success with his band, El Gato,
and he later toured the U.S. and played the Meltdown Festival in London as a part of the Dallas
symphonic pop band, The Polyphonic Spree. Jozette has been playing the guitar and writing songs
since she was a teenage punk rocker in Omaha and has performed in San Diego bands for the last 15
years. The Oxen lineup now includes bass player (and ALF enthusiast) Kevin Shumway, and drummer
Greg Stone. Greg has played drums in several bands performing everything from thrash metal to
children’s songs, and he claims that The Oxen’s music is the halfway point between those two extremes.
The Oxen have twice been nominated for “Best Rock Band” at the San Diego Music Awards (2017,
2018) and regularly receive airplay on the 91X local radio show, Loudspeaker, in San Diego.