Editor's note: This story is featured in OU Daily's Best of Norman Guide, which will be available in print beginning Sept. 10. Racks can be found around Norman and campus. Check out the other featured stories at the bottom of this article.
A Norman staple for decades, historic dive bar The Deli is attracting a new generation of music lovers.
On any given night, Normanites over the age of 21 can pop into The Deli and find a lively performance on stage, performers’ faces lit blue in front of a red curtain backdrop. Aside from the lights illuminating the stage and strung across the walls, the room is dim as strangers chat over $2 beers.
Open year-round, The Deli is Norman’s longest continuously running live music venue and the oldest bar on historic Campus Corner. The space first opened as a deli, called Deli City, in 1973 and would often welcome musicians to perform. It became The Deli in 1988, transitioning from a sandwich shop to a bar with daily music and has since seen generations of musicians enter its glass doors, including The Flaming Lips and Bowling For Soup.
Norman musician Mike Hosty has been performing at The Deli since he was an OU student in the early ‘90s. Now he performs in cities across the country but always makes it back to The Deli for a Sunday night performance.
“If I play Memphis on Saturday, I'm back to play Sunday,” Hosty said. “When (visitors) come in and say, ‘I've had the worst week and you made me laugh all night long and dance,’ that's the greatest feeling that you can get, and that's what The Deli provides.”
Hosty said since he started playing at The Deli, there has always been one night of the week that brings a crowd, changing as new generations become old enough to enter the establishment. Currently, he said, Tuesday night karaoke is when college students flock in.
Every Tuesday, brave musicians, from those who have never stepped foot on stage to performers used to the spotlight, put their name on a list monitored by karaoke host Cate Elerick Cheatwood, known as “Karaoke Cate.” Singers are provided microphones and a backup track to almost any song imaginable.
OU psychology senior Katie Lowe regularly attends karaoke night at The Deli, performing everything from country hits to Chappell Roan. She said The Deli’s crowd, as well as the stage and atmosphere, creates a “pop star experience” for performers.
“You get to sing your heart out to a crowd that's listening just to you,” Lowe said. “You're living out your child pop star dream, even just for a couple minutes.”
Lowe said she is a regular at The Deli and has visited on every night of the week, giving her a chance to see the range of musicians. She said the safe environment and friendly staff is what has brought her back.
“They really care about the people, they care about your experience, they care about your comfortability,” Lowe said.
The Aints band performs at the Deli on Oct. 30.
While karaoke makes for a classic night out for college students, The Deli, at its core, is a space to hear local and touring music professionals. Every Tuesday at 7 p.m., Norman musician Caleb McGee takes the stage for an intimate performance of country, blues and rock and roll.
“I like the old man regulars who come in early, and I like the way that early crowd kind of gives way to a more middle-aged crowd, gives way to a younger crowd,” McGee said. “It's cool to watch that happen throughout a night.”
Various bands play The Deli throughout the week, representing a range of genres from red dirt country to indie pop. While The Deli has stayed loyal to its older generation of performers, new groups have begun to make a name for themselves at the venue.
Indie pop band Wet Muscles is made up of five OU students and plays at several venues around Norman and Oklahoma City, including The Deli, Resonant Head and Legally Brewed. The band began playing at The Deli in 2023 and has been packing shows since.
Wet Muscles bassist Aiden Wilson said The Deli connects generations of music lovers as an accessible venue for college students and a staple for longtime Norman residents.
“I think it's almost like a bridge between the older and younger music scene in Norman,” Wilson said.
In October 2023, The Deli was purchased by Cason Hill, who had been visiting The Deli since his college years in the early 2000s. Since transitioning ownership, he said his goal is to bring OU students back to the venue and expand its social media reach. Hill also said he hopes to diversify the range of music genres featured at The Deli.
The Deli offers early shows at 7:30 p.m. and late shows at 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, as well as open mic night every Wednesday. Hosty said he advises visitors to find their night at The Deli.
“The Deli is a laid-back, fun, throwback college dive that needs to be nurtured and fostered, because there's only one,” Hosty said.
The Deli is open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily and is at 309 White St. on Campus Corner. Visitors must be 21 and up to enter.
This story was edited by Peggy Dodd. Matthew Moore, Sophie Hemker, Grace Rhodes and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
