06/14/2026
In a world where it is becoming difficult to determine what is authentic and what has been produced by AI, there is something to be said about live music. Not only are you experiencing in the exact moment what it is being played and sung, but there is also absolutely no doubt that it stirs one’s soul. You feel the emotion that is being expressed.
On Friday night, when "Girl Named Tom" returned for the second time to perform at the The University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab since they became the first (and only) group to win NBC’s “the VOICE.” And those present had their souls stirred! The theme of the evening, as it is with every one of their performances, was harmony. The kind that is best done by familial voices and can only be honed by spending a lifetime of singing together.
When introduced, the Liechty siblings were compared to what would have happened if the Everly Brothers would have had a sister, that was as talented as Emmylou Harris! Raised in a Mennonite community, the group shared how instruments weren’t allowed during their early upbringing. In Bekah’s words, “the only instruments we had were our voices.” Although the trio has since added instruments to their arsenal (and Joshua can play almost anything), their three-part harmony remains their greatest asset.
The 100-minute set centered around tracks from their newest release, "Dust to Dust," sang intermittently throughout the show. GNT dropped in early, a cover of one of the songs they featured when they competed on “the VOICE” with their new take on Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind,” leaving the audience spellbound. The siblings also added several songs from, "Wilder Then," including “Locked In Your Love,” which was cleverly mashed up with Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” Several other VOICE covers were sprinkled in, including “Wichita Lineman” and “Landslide.” The group also treated listeners to a pair of unreleased singles, “Emma Rose” and “Lonely Planet.” However, the evening’s most powerful moment, for me, came with their encore performance of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Helplessly Hoping” (and two other folk songs) performed entirely ‘a cappella,’ without amplification or accompaniment.
By the end of the evening, I understood why Girl Named Tom has cultivated such a devoted following. Two couples had traveled from Colorado simply to attend this performance, explaining that Oklahoma City was the closest stop on the final leg of the trio's Dust to Dust Tour. One couple had remained on a waiting list for six weeks after the show sold out in February. When they received a call on Thursday afternoon that tickets had become available, they immediately rearranged their plans and made the 870-mile journey.
Being a trio is challenging, throw in sibling egos and one might understand that it could be almost impossible to perform, or ever perfect - but somehow, they manage to make every performance so connected and genuine. Their harmonies were as close to perfect as I believe I have ever heard, but what made the night even more memorable was the honesty and humility each member brought to the stage.
The UCO Jazz Lab provided the perfect setting for such a pure, stripped-down performance. There were no flashing lights, no theatrical gimmicks, and certainly no artificial intelligence used to counterfeit harmonies: just two brothers and a sister singing unfeigned emotional music, creating sibling chemistry, and three voices that didn’t need anything else. With tears in my eyes I found my soul moved, and my brain asking my heart, ...
“Wow, did I just hear that?”
In an age increasingly dominated by technology and artificial intelligence, Friday night's concert served as a reminder that some experiences simply cannot be synthesized. The goosebump-inducing familial harmonies of Girl Named Tom were authentic, heartfelt, and profoundly moving. Long after the final note faded into silence, the audience remained captivated by what they had witnessed.
Joshua, Bekah, and Caleb Liechty,
the Tres Amigos want you to please come back. ... Oklahoma will be waiting!
