For bassist and vocalist Bryson Heatherly<\/strong>, the band\u2019s story begins long before their evening sets at Proud Larry\u2019s<\/strong> – back in Room D-111 at Tupelo High School.<\/strong> For Heatherly and his bandmates, this isn\u2019t just a college-town project – it\u2019s the latest chapter in a friendship that began years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe started in Room D-111,\u201d Heatherly said with a smile, recalling those first jam sessions. \u201cThat\u2019s why we called ourselves D-111. It was just a bunch of hometown buddies messing around.\u201d Like many teenage bands, they split apart after graduation, each taking a different path at different universities. But fate – or as Heatherly put it, \u201cjust the grace of God\u201d – pulled them back together in Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reunion felt natural. Joined by Dylan Gray<\/strong> on vocals\/guitar, Aubrey Meredith<\/strong> on guitar, and Carter Maharrey<\/strong> on drums, the four friends slipped back into their old rhythm. They settled on a new name, Pinksheets – an inside joke and nod to the movie The Wolf of Wall Street<\/em>, since they all once happened to be accounting majors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pinksheets\u2019 music is hard to box in, which is exactly how they like it. \u201cI call it chewed-up bubblegum pop,\u201d Heatherly said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the pop elements that make people sing along, but it\u2019s got that Southern grit to it, that classic rock edge that keeps people moving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their playlists tell the story, and influences range from the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd to modern indie acts like Peach Pit, flipturn, and The Moss. \u201cWe love keeping it high-energy,\u201d Heatherly added. \u201cWe want the songs to appeal to a big crowd, but we also want people to dance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That balance came into focus in summer 2023 when the band played Ballard Park in Tupelo, opening for Sister Hazel<\/strong> at the city\u2019s Fourth of July celebration. For Heatherly, it was a turning point. \u201cI grew up hearing them, so just being at the show was cool,\u201d he said. \u201cBut stepping on stage before them and seeing that huge crowd – that was when I thought, whoa, maybe this is really happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in Oxford, The Pinksheets have carved out a steady home base at Proud Larry\u2019s. By Heatherly\u2019s count, they\u2019ve already played the venue over a dozen times, sharing the stage with both national touring acts and fresh local talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLarry\u2019s is special,\u201d Heatherly said. \u201cYou never know who\u2019s going to walk through the door, or what kind of band you\u2019ll be on the bill with. We\u2019ve co-billed with brand new local acts and even a band from Canada once. For us, it keeps things exciting – and keeps us on our toes musically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The band often curates their own lineups, bringing in groups like The Half of It<\/strong> and Golden Teacher Society<\/strong> to expand the scene. \u201cWe love helping other bands get in the door,\u201d Heatherly said. \u201cOxford has such a market for different sounds, and we want to be part of that bigger picture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For years, The Pinksheets leaned on covers in their live sets, but now, original songs are front and center. Their debut EP, My Old Den<\/strong>,<\/em> released in May, captures both their nostalgic streak and forward momentum. The title track is a fan favorite, recounting nostalgic feelings of the past while also being optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another staple, \u201c…Just a Friend,\u201d is a song that made Heatherly stop mid-performance and realize the crowd was singing back to him. The chorus – \u201cYou won\u2019t let me in to see who\u2019s knocking at the door again . . . You know I\u2019m always gonna be your biggest fan . . . I wanna be more than just a friend\u201d – resonates as both a love song and something more bittersweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These recordings began in Florida at a studio owned by Gray\u2019s uncle, but The Pinksheets have since built a home studio in Oxford. It\u2019s where their next EP is taking shape. \u201cWe\u2019ve finally got the gear we need,\u201d Heatherly said. \u201cThe best part is we can invite people in during the process – get fresh ears, new perspectives. It keeps us from getting stuck in our own heads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the band hasn\u2019t announced 2026 tour dates yet, they continue to play regularly at Proud Larry\u2019s and other Mississippi stages, including Martin\u2019s Downtown<\/strong> in Jackson<\/strong>. Their focus now is on shaping their next record, expected in the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Heatherly, the path forward feels both wide open and deeply rooted in where it all began. \u201cWe\u2019re just grateful we found our way back together,\u201d he said. \u201cOxford has been good to us. Tupelo raised us. And we just want to keep making music that reflects both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n by Davis Coen Oxford, Mississippi, has never been short on music. From the bars around The Square to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123909,"featured_media":155124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7887],"tags":[33563,33561,33564,33562,5,33565,7067,4,53,3,33559,187,33560,655],"class_list":["post-155123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-music","tag-aubrey-meredith","tag-bryson-heatherly","tag-carter-maharrey","tag-dylan-gray","tag-mississippi","tag-my-old-den","tag-ole-miss","tag-oxford","tag-proud-larrys","tag-the-local-voice","tag-the-pinksheets","tag-tupelo","tag-tupelo-high-school","tag-university-of-mississippi"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Pinksheets-2-scaled.png?fit=2560%2C1919&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155142,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155123\/revisions\/155142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Pinksheets-1.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>A Sound That Doesn\u2019t Sit Still<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Oxford Nights at Larry\u2019s<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Originals Taking Center Stage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"