The Okee Dokee Brothers
The Okee Dokee Brothers is a bluegrass children’s duo. The members are Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing. Mailander graduated from SJU in 2007, majoring in Spanish and Latin American Studies. Following graduation, Mainlander moved to Minneapolis and created The Okee Dokee Brothers with Lansing. Lansing and Mailander have been friends since they were three years old and have played together for a long time.
While Mailander was at SJU, he was in quite a few bands. Mailander was in a bluegrass group on campus called Wagon Wheels. Other members in Wagon Wheels were Danny Vitali, Jed Anderson, and Peter Frey, who went on after graduation to live together in Austin and create Kazyak. In 2007, Wagon Wheels won the Battle of the Bands and got to open for Cake at Pinestock. Mailander was also a part of a musical group called The Medicinal Strings, during the summers. The Medical Strings was a 501 c3 nonprofit organization that played at retirement homes and low-income daycares.
The Okee Dokee Brothers continue to work with former Bennies and Johnnies. CSB alumna Kelli O’Keefe creates the art for their poetry books and CD covers. The Okee Dokee Brothers have also played full shows with Johnnie alums such as two former members of Wagon Wheels Jed Anderson and Danny Vitali.
The Okee Dokee Brothers focus on community in their songs and shows, aiming to make the shows interactive. Okee Dokee Brothers made it in the top 20 kids CDs of 2008. Mailander returned to St. Joseph in 2010, as the Okee Dokee Brothers performed at the Millstream Arts Festival.
In June 2011, The Okee Dokee Brothers set out on a month-long canoe trip down the Mississippi River. They started out in Minneapolis and ended in St. Louis. Accompanying them was Bryan Sieh, who was the 2010-2011 environmental education fellow with the St. John’s Arboretum and SJU alumni Alex Johnson who worked as the photographer and videographer of this trip. In post-production, Jed Anderson was credited with being the Producer and Editor and worked through his Jed Edit It Productions. On the trip they camped, canoed, and most importantly composed songs for their next album for children. They did this because music draws on the experience of the artists, and they wanted to inspire kids to get outdoors. There was a series of vignettes and a documentary that was released with the album to document their trip. The album that resulted from this trip is, Can You Canoe? This was their first album in The Okee Dokee Brothers’ Adventure Album Series. Can You Canoe? won the Best Children’s Music Album at the 2013 Grammys.
In June 2013, The Okee Dokee Brothers played on a concert at the Alumni, Family & Friends Weekend. They also came back in 2014 to play at Family Fun Day.
In 2017, they received a Parent’s Choice Award for Saddle U! A Western Adventure album and were nominated for the Best Children’s Album Award at the 59th annual Grammy. The Okee Dokee Brothers most recent album is Brambletown, which came out on March 31, 2023.