Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #76/250: Pieces by The O’Mys

This past weekend my wife and I attended a Celebration of Life for the husband of a dear friend and colleague of ours. The event was held at the family’s home. The man whose life was being honoured was named Steve. He took great pride in his landscaping and, in particular, his gardens. So not surprisingly, the actual event was being held outdoors on their property. The grounds were beautiful. A variety of gardens, both small and larger, were spaced perfectly throughout the property. Tree branches swayed gently in the breeze. A few butterflies fluttered. Bees buzzed. People gathered in small groups, here and there, drinks in hand. The family’s golden lab wandered up to each group hoping for a handout but most often settling for a rub, a pat and a friendly scratch or two. The event was so lovingly organized and presented to us that it could easily have been a day for a wedding. But instead, on this beautiful warm Fall day, it was a time of remembrance and of family and of love. We listened to speeches and stories about a life well lived as we helped Steve’s family prepare him for the afterlife. When the stories had ended, we were invited to explore a series of trails that Steve had painstakingly carved throughout the woods beyond the family home. We were told that he had created the pathways for children to explore so that they could imagine being in Narnia or Terabithia. My wife and I ended our visit that afternoon by traveling to Narnia, or was it Terabithia, and raising a glass in Steve’s honour. Even though Steve was no longer able to join us on the grounds that he so lovingly had curated, there were pieces of him everywhere. He will not be so easily forgotten, this man.    

One struggles at times to think of ways to properly commemorate the life of another human being, especially in this case, when my wife and I were better friends with Steve’s wife, Jan, than we were with Steve, himself. However, an avenue of opportunity presented itself to me immediately upon our arrival. After we had parked our car and were walking down the driveway at the front of the house, we were greeted by a man wearing a t-shirt and shorts. He reached out his hand to shake ours. We introduced ourselves. Immediately after that, the man turned to me and asked if I was the “music writer” that his mom had talked so much about? My wife groaned and rolled her eyes. I smiled and, after being initially taken aback, replied that I was. The man’s name was Michael and he turned out to be Steve and Jan’s son. We have never met before. But very quickly we launched into a discussion about the B-52s and Devo, who were touring nearby in Toronto. Michael thanked me for my stories and told me that his mother always forwarded them on to him so he could read them, too. Michael said that he enjoyed learning new tidbits about his favourite artists, bands and songs. I thanked him for his kind remarks and shook his hand again. He directed us to the back of the house where his mother was waiting for us. As I walked away, I felt a wave of guilt wash over me because, as regular readers of my blog will know, I have not written a music post in quite some time, focusing on family time during the Summer months and book reviews most recently. But on this day of days, in such a beautiful world created by his father, I resolved to write another music post. This is that post. I dedicate it to you, Michael and your family. Thank you for sharing the wonderful place that you call home with all of us who came to call. 

Being a so-called “music writer” as I apparently am, it seems fitting to talk a bit about that most cliched of music items, a band t-shirt. I actually don’t own many band t-shirts but I do own a few. In my dresser drawer and in my clothes closet on hangers, you can find shirts that represent The Tragically Hip, a-ha, punk bands Jawbreaker and NOFX, as well as a shirt by a band that no one seems to know called The O’Mys. That’s it! Five band shirts for this music man. But of those five band shirts, the one that I receive the most comments on is the one from The O’Mys. So here is the story of how I came to have that shirt and why I think The O’Mys are one of North America’s most underrated bands and why their song “Pieces” is what I thought about that day in Steve’s wonderful backyard.

I have told the first part of this story on Facebook before but it bears repeating here because, without it, I would never have discovered The O’Mys myself. This story began during the days of the COVID pandemic. If you recall, there was a time when we were all told that, for our own protection, we should create a “bubble” around a select four or five person group and stay exclusively within that bubble. So, me, my wife and our two daughters became our own family bubble. We walked around our town in a family bubble. We took drives in the car as a family bubble. But most often, we hung around our home because that was a safe space and the COVID virus would not find us there. We get along fairly well as families go but even a tight knit group such as ours started becoming a little loopy after a few weeks of being forced to enjoy our own exclusive company. As an example of this, one Sunday evening we started making out our grocery list for the week. For most of our marriage, my wife and I have planned out our meals for each day of the upcoming week and then shopped for the ingredients we needed accordingly. Most of the time, my wife and I made the weekly grocery store list together, without the involvement of our children. But because COVID had us all joined at the hip, we decided to do the weekly meal planning as a whole family bubble exercise, too. This is when things went awry. We had become so used to each other’s company that there wasn’t much left for us to converse about because we were all doing everything together all of the time. There were no mysteries or questions needing to be asked. We had all of the answers. This lack of variety got to our youngest child who began wondering aloud about strange subjects for songs. At this particular point, she wondered if there had ever been a song about making a grocery list. She had her phone on hand, as most teenagers today do so, she quickly did a search of the Interweb. To our collective surprise, she informed us that, indeed, there was a song called “Grocery List” by a band called Sidewalk Chalk. We had never heard of the band nor the song so we suggested that our daughter play the song for our amusement and entertainment. I can only speak for myself here but before the song began, I assumed it was going to be a school song made by singers who record songs about healthy eating for the education market. But instead, what burst out of our speakers was a glorious mixture of Hip Hop, Funk and R&B that surprised and delighted me to no end.

As often happens when I first hear a new song that I like, I wanted to hear it again and again. So after the actual MacInnes family grocery list was compiled for the week, I retreated into the world of my iPad and headphones and conducted my own search for this mysterious band called Sidewalk Chalk. As it turned out, Sidewalk Chalk was a band out of Chicago, hence the witch’s brew of musical influences on display. Needless to say, I played the Youtube video *(which you can watch here) multiple times. Needless to say again, YouTube caught wind of my sudden interest in this Chicago-based band and thought that I needed to see and hear other Chicago bands. So, a list of thumbnails appeared on the righthand side of my screen. Directly below “Grocery List” by Sidewalk Chalk was “Pieces” by The O’Mys. In time, I let my fascination with “Grocery LIst” wane and decided to check out what else the Windy City had to offer me musically. So I clicked on the thumbnail for “Pieces” and was equally blown away. Since that first viewing, I estimate that I have watched both videos (Sidewalk Chalk and The O’Mys) several dozen times each. I reeeeeeally like them both.       

The O’Mys are a two-piece band that consist of singer/guitarist Maceo Haymes and pianist Nick Hennessey. The duo often incorporate Jazz, Blues, Funk and Soul into their music. The first thing I noticed about “Pieces” was what a sexy, sultry song it was. You can feel the heat coming off of the screen. The second thing that I noticed was the vocal range of Maceo Haymes. When he first opens his mouth the sound that comes out borders on falsetto. It almost seemed too high to be real. But not too much further into the song, Haymes’s voice transforms! There is a richness to the timbre of his vocals in keeping with the deepening passions on display in the song. It is hard to believe that one person can sound so different within the space of a single song. I was so intrigued by this singing style that I sought out other songs by The O’Mys to see which version of Haymes is closer to the regular singing voice he uses. As it turned out, Haymes uses all manner of singing styles and is super talented when it comes to altering his vocal style to suit the mood and/or the technical requirements of the lyrics in any given song. I was really impressed. The O’Mys song catalogue is replete with very professional sounding songs of a sort that I am not hearing played on regular radio ‘round here. To me, The O’Mys were a breath of fresh air and certainly an undiscovered secret for me. 

Neither Sidewalk Chalk nor The O’Mys have broken in a national or international sense. Nothing wrong with that, either. Being a local legend is a fine thing to be as well. *(On a similar note, feel free to check out this post on local Philly legends, The Hooters and their one big moment in the spotlight). Sidewalk Chalk is going through some lineup changes at the moment. I hope that they manage to stay together as a band. I love their sound! Although “Grocery List” was a song that was nearly ten years old before my daughter stumbled across it as a joke, they have many other songs that are worth checking out on YouTube or wherever you find your music. The O’Mys, on the other hand, are still together and making great music. They have put out a collab. with Chicago legend Chance the Rapper and, in addition to that, they, too, have lots of excellent tunes waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. There was just something about both bands that spoke to me so I decided to reach out to The O’Mys and offer some support. I know that many local bands struggle to make ends meet and raise money for recording sessions and the production of merch. and so on, so I figured that the best way I could help them…beyond making a post such as this and leaving them a kind note of encouragement…was to put my money where my mouth was and buy something from them. The thing on their website that spoke most to me was a t-shirt. So I placed my order, left my kind note of encouragement, exchanged a few emails back and forth and then received my shirt in the mail a month or so later. I wear it proudly at home and around town. 

To my family and to anyone who has ever seen my shirt and wondered exactly who The O’Mys are well, now you know. I think they are terrific. Chicago has a long and deeply rich history when it comes to music. It only stands to reason that there would be a thriving local music scene there as you read these words. I encourage you to check out Sidewalk Chalk, as well as The O’Mys. If you like what you see and hear then take a chance, as my daughter did, and do a Youtube or Internet search of Chicago artists and bands in 2025. You may be just as delighted with what you find as I was when I discovered “Grocery List” and “Pieces”.  Regardless of that fact, if you know of a local band that you think are worthy of support then consider doing them a solid and buying some merch from their website or the front of their stage or the back of their van. Some of the best music out there is stuff you are never going to hear on the radio. So when you discover a real gem of an artist or a band, shine it up so that others may notice it, too. Wear a t-shirt. Buy a CD or download a song from their website. Leave a positive review. It is easy to be helpful to local artists.

The song “Pieces” is meant to be a sexy song about moments of passion and how we remember our lovers because of a scent, a touch or a sound that we hear when we least expect to. Life is filled with such memories. Sometimes we conjure them up on our own but often they appear to us as idly as a wisp of wind on our skin that just feels so right in the moment. By partaking in acts of remembrance, we honour the living as we honour those who have left us. Michael, I hope you and your family continue to heal and to carry on with the dignity and warmth that you all so evidently possess. I hope you like the songs I have chosen for you. They came to my mind the moment I left your side in the driveway and entered into a backyard that contained so many pieces of your father for us all to feel and share. As with music, your father left much beauty upon this world. Beauty that has made us all richer and better for him having been here. May peace be with you Steve. You have more than earned your rest.

The link to the video for the song “Pieces” by The O’Mys can be found here. A live version can be found here. ***There is no lyrics version (that I can find, anyway).

The link to the official website for The O’Mys can be found here.

The link to the official website for Sidewalk Chalk can be found here.

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