In Toby Keith's town, fellow Normanites remember an unassuming Okie who loved to jam

It used to be that if you lived in, worked in or hung out in Norman long enough, eventually you'd cross paths with Toby Keith.

"That’s just how it was. ... We would often see him across the room at Othello’s," said Norman resident Chris Freihofer, an actor, casting director and instructor at the University of Oklahoma. "I had a few very brief encounters with him over the years, but never really met him."

That changed in April 2022, when Freihofer, who teaches acting for the camera for OU's School of Drama, issued his usual once-a-semester invitation for his students to do five minutes of original stand-up at Othello's comedy open mic for extra credit. After arriving early to get a good seat, he was working on his laptop when he realized Keith and wife Tricia were sitting nearby.

Once he closed his computer, Freihofer said the country music superstar asked if he was there for the comedy. After he explained his class project, the celebrity couple cheerfully chatted with him — Keith shared a story about a prank comedian Ron White played on him, while his wife reminisced about their son's experiences at Norman's Sooner Theatre — until showtime.

"The show was about to start, and he turned to Tricia and said, 'Should we stay for a couple?' And so they did. And they stayed for the entire show," Freihofer recalled. "Toby could tell which ones were the students, because I would take pictures of them. As each of my students left the stage, he high-fived them and called them by name, telling them 'great job.' He would laugh at their jokes and encourage them. It was so sweet and so selfless."

As word spread of Keith's Feb. 5 death after a multiyear battle with stomach cancer, stories of encounters with the hall of fame singer-songwriter in Norman started spreading, too, especially among his fellow Normanites.

"I can see him sitting at the bar wearing his cap," said Andrew Shank, another Norman resident, recalling his enounters with Keith at Othello's. "He was cool, and people were cool with him. ... He was an Okie, and Okies are friendly."

More: Toby Keith's family announces private funeral service; public memorial to be announced soon

Music superstar provided a local venue with Hollywood Corners

A businessman and stand-up comedian, Shank hosted a weekly trivia night at Othello's before the pandemic, and the chart-topping star often would be sitting at his usual spot at the bar. One evening in 2019, the comic approached Keith and pitched the idea of bringing a regular stand-up showcase to Hollywood Corners, the historic roadhouse in north Norman that Keith bought in 2015 and revamped into a roadside deli, bar and music venue.

"He was open to the idea ... and we had good success with it. I miss it, actually," Shank said, adding that he produced the showcase until it was discontinued by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"He was completely laidback and unassuming. If you didn't know he was a celebrity, you wouldn't know any better. He wasn't blinged out with an entourage or anything like that. He wasn't the guy you would expect for the career he had. Just kind of a cool cat."

Music icon frequented a family-owned Italian restaurant in Norman

Born in Clinton, raised in Moore and based in Norman, Keith lived in Oklahoma most of his life.

"This is home to me, and I'll never have a home base anywhere other than here," he told The Oklahoman in 2007.

"More so than anything, I'm just proud to be an Oklahoman. Everywhere I go … I hear people say, ‘You know, you're the face of the Sooner nation.'"

While it was widely known that the Sooners superfan could often be found on the sidelines or courtside at various OU sporting events, many locals knew that Keith also frequented the Norman location of the family-owned Othello's Italian Restaurants.

"Before I owned it, when I went to college there ... and worked there, I remember seeing him in there with his kids (when they were) really young. I don't remember him as often when I took over ownership in 2011. He started coming around a lot, and then after the fire was really when it became, 'OK, every week, you're gonna see Toby here,'" said Jennifer Dennis, owner of Othello's of Norman.

She recalled that Keith came to the rescue for her and her staff when the restaurant reopened on an OU game day weekend the year after it was badly damaged in an April 2017 fire,

"The kitchen was running behind ... and it was such a disaster. And then all of a sudden, Toby sings, and everyone just forgets about the time it's taking to get their food. And they forget about how crazy the restaurant is. They just listened to Toby sing, and it was incredible," Dennis recalled.

"Ever since then, he's like, 'Jen, you keep a guitar here, and I'll sing when I come.' So, we have a guitar hanging on the wall ... and it's just for when Toby wants to sing. He's just so selfless and shares his gift with us, and it's more than I could have ever asked him to do."

The restauranteur said it's hard to imagine that the seven-time Grammy nominee won't be coming in anymore to hop on stage with local acts like Jahruba, Bruce Benson and Mike Hosty.

"When I think of Toby Keith now, I don't think of him as this country music star. I think of him as a friend and a friend of the restaurant, a customer and someone who we've gotten to know," Dennis said, struggling to hold back tears. "Yes, he sings music, and he's this amazing star. But to us, he was just Toby, and he would just come in and sit at the end of the bar. ... So, the hit has been pretty hard on us."

Music icon enjoyed jamming with local performers

A local underground music legend, Hosty wistfully recalled chatting when he encountered Keith at The Diner in Norman and playing alongside him when the star joined him during a set at Othello's.

"Othello's is a dinner place, so you play quiet. And he came up to me one time, and he goes, 'Hey, Hoss' — and I love that he called me 'Hoss' — 'I can't hear you.' And I go, 'Well, they don't want me to turn up very loud.' He goes, 'I'll take care of that,' and he walked behind the bar. I guess he got Jennifer, the owner, and asked her to turn it up," Hosty recalled. "So, they turned up the house system, and I played like I usually do, which is loud. He sat and listened to the whole thing, but he wanted to hear the words because he was a songwriter."

He said the Songwriters Hall of Famer paid him one of the highest compliments he could ever give when he recorded Hosty's signature song, "Oklahoma Breakdown," for what turned out to be his final studio album, 2021's "Peso in My Pocket." Keith's cover of the beloved tune was one of his last singles, and he even invited Hosty to play guitar for the cover.

"One thing I admired about him is that he had his own label, wrote his own songs, he did his own business. He wasn't beholden to anybody ... and as an artist, that's a dream come true," Hosty said.

"And with Hollywood Corners, he gave a lot of bands a place to come in and play. ... We're all fighting for a venue: Everybody wants music, but every time you try to find a place for it, no one wants it. So, that's gonna be a great legacy as well."

Singer-songwriter Susan Herndon, a former Normanite now based in Texas, is another musician who recalled having Keith join her and her bandmates on stage at Othello's about a half-dozen times. After Keith died, one of her musical pals shared on Facebook a video of the superstar jamming with their trio Simple Sage.

"That particular time, he was so blown away that there was a chick on upright bass. He was like, 'Who would have thought in a little neighborhood bar in Norman, Oklahoma, there would be a girl on bass?' He was really sweet, and he was a great singer and a great entertainer," Herndon said.

After one informal jam session, Herndon said Keith gave all the players his cell number and invited them to come play at Hollywood Corners sometime, which she did with various musical friends. The experience showed her that Keith wasn't quite how he was often portrayed, especially after the release of his polarizing hit "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)."

"He was a musician. He wanted to play music. Even on his time off, he wanted to jam … and it was fun to jam with Toby Keith." she said. "It changed my opinion of him. ... You can't believe everything you hear."

OU instructor remembers superstar as 'sweet guy who gave of his time'

Freihofer, the OU instructor, recalled that his students were mixed in with other participants during that 2022 open-mic comedy night where he visited with Keith and his wife.

When one comic spent his set making fun of Keith, it angered Freihofer, but he recalled that the celebrity took it "with grace and calm."

At the end of the night, Keith wanted to get a picture with Freihofer's students. It was the last time he saw the star.

"We lost a great performer, of that there is no doubt. Many people will think of him as the patriotic, gruff, maybe prickly 'put a boot in their ass' cowboy," Freihofer said. "While I certainly didn’t know him, I will remember him as this sweet guy who gave of his time and his celebrity, encouraging a small group of college students who were doing something very scary for the first time."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: In his Oklahoma town, Toby Keith remembered for his love of jamming