Jeffrey Olson is ...

Jeffrey Olson is a musician living in Austin, Texas. He is the drummer for Austin-based bands Kinky Machine and Food Group. He also provides vibraphone and percussion for experimental performance group Lattice. 

Jeffrey has played, recorded and/or toured with a number of artists, including White Denim, Emily Wolfe, The New Maps, Dan Dyer, Buenos Diaz, Capyac, Bop English, Suzanna Choffel, Tapestry Dance Company, Interrobang, Aaron Lack, Elijah Ford, Craig Marshall and Balmorhea. Television, radio and festival work includes the Jimmy Kimmel show with White Denim, music for Fargo season 2 episode 7, KCRW, WXPN World Cafe, KDHX, KUTX Live at the Four Seasons SXSW, Austin City Limits Festival, BBC Music Festival Glastonbury, Treefort Music Festival, Okeechobee Festival, Forecastle Festival, UTOPiAfest.

As a teenager he studied drums with local legend Ernie Durawa (Texas Tornados, Sir Douglas Quintet) and vibraphone with Aaron Lack. He studied various forms of percussion with Wayne Salzmann (Bob Schneider, Eric Johnson) as a Jazz Performance Major (BMus 2015) at the University of Texas at Austin, playing and composing for UT’s Alternative Improvisation Music Ensemble (AIME), playing vibraphone and cajon as a guest artist for UT’s Jazz Orchestra, and participating in other ensembles and special performances. 

Jeffrey also pursues rhythm through dance. As a teen-ager, he performed as a tap dancer with Visions in Rhythm, the Austin-based Tapestry Dance Company’s youth ensemble. He still maintains his connection to tap dance through improvisational dance performances with Lattice. 

Jeffrey received a liberal arts degree (BA 2015) in Scandinavian Studies from The University of Texas at Austin, and enjoys creative writing, especially poetry. He won second place as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Poetry of Science contest (2015) for his poem "As Above, So Below". He also writes poetry as myk sjel.