Donny Vinn is in a celebratory mood, and he wants you to celebrate with him.
Sure, there’s the whole “USA turns 250” vibe, complete with red, white and blue covering basically everything. Vinn is feeling that.
The Tulsa-based R&B singer has embraced the patriotic colors for his new EP, “Boy Americana,” which he’s releasing Friday with a party at Belafonte, 306 S. Phoenix Ave. Tickets are $6.
“Here in America, we have a lot of stuff going on, and I thought it was very important to kind of take that on and relate it to my personal identity and who I am as a Black man in America,” Vinn said while hanging out at Guthrie Green, the site of his first live performance in 2020. “Oftentimes I’m feeling like I’m not the American dream, or I can’t achieve this cookie cutter life, and so I created this alter ego for ‘Americana,’ who is that cookie cutter version of myself.”
With his new songs, Vinn said he is exploring his feelings of insecurity. Listening to the EP’s songs in order tells a complete story.
It begins in a bedroom, with Vinn feeling “super overwhelmed and anxious with this thought I’m never going to be enough,” he said. Then, with the second track, he explores what it means to be in his mid-20s having never been in a relationship — and his desire to change that.
The third song — and his latest single — is “Test Drive,” centered around having fun. That’s followed by a tale about “a situationship that I had in which the person that I was with, I discovered they were also in a relationship, and that left me feeling helpless,” said the 26-year-old.
The closing track of the EP carries significant emotional weight for VInn.
“I wrote that song when I was in this really dark spot of my life, and I just kind of wrote it on the other side of experiencing happiness, experiencing what freedom actually feels like for me, and for me, freedom is music, music is freedom,” he said.
At Friday night’s release party hosted by Parker D. Wayne, Vinn plans to share insights into the music, inspiration and creative journey behind the project. Ali The Only will open the show, with a DJ showcase following Vinn’s performance.
For Vinn, the release party is the next step in his goal to reach pop stardom. It’s a dream he didn’t know he’d have when he was an elementary school student in Mississippi singing his heart out to Beyonce’s “Halo.” He remembers a classmate interrupting him.
“The friend literally was like, ‘You can sing!’ and I was like, ‘I can?!?’” Vinn recalled. “That started my musical journey.”
He soon started singing at church and, by 16, was writing his own songs. He was and continues to be inspired by Beyonce, Michael and Janet Jackson, Frank Ocean and Prince. But there’s one that tops them all.
“Donna Summer is my biggest inspiration,” Vinn said. “I love her so, so much. Just the fact she was able to be a trailblazer in the way that we experience music now, and especially electronic music, disco, dance, and she even messed around with country. I aspire to be that kind of artist, just to delve into different genres and experience different versions of myself.”
Vinn recorded his first song at 18 and, eight years later, is on the verge of releasing his third EP — and in the early stages of making an album.
He was born in Tulsa before moving to Mississippi as a toddler. He returned for his senior year at Union High School and enrolled at Oral Roberts University thinking he was going to get a journalism degree before switching to and earning a degree in communications. He credits his education with helping him build his music career.
The classes weren’t the only learning experience during his time at ORU. In early 2020, he was enjoying a late meal at Braum’s with friends when the conversation turned to sharing their secret desires and what they really wanted to accomplish in life.
“I told them, “I want to be a pop star,’ and they looked at me like I was crazy and they were like, ‘You can sing?!?!’” Vinn said. “We promised each other that we would pursue these hidden passions, these hidden desires that we had, which led me to booking Mayfest. Since then it’s been a ride. It’s been fun.”
When he steps on the Belafonte stage, Vinn is going to sing the latest chapters in his story. The next day, he will turn to writing new songs and singing them until he reaches his goal.
“I can imagine myself being a little boy growing up in Mississippi, and I can envision another little boy growing up in Mississippi that might want to pursue pop music,” Vinn said. “I just want to be an inspiration for that young boy, or even for my old self. The little inner child within me is definitely a motivator, and it just pushes me to keep on going.
“No matter where I am now, I know where I’m going to be. So just having that inner confidence in God and myself, I’m going to just keep on trucking.”
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