Starting this Friday night, four Oklahoma NPR stations will re-air the first six episodes of Oklahoma Rock and Roll with recording artist and record producer Steve Ripley.
Ripley guides the listener through the music of Oklahomans such as Leon Russell and J.J. Cale and their direct links to people like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Joe Cocker. He explores the roots of rockabilly and Oklahomans such as Wanda Jackson and The Collins Kids.
“The picture starts to emerge of an art form that owes its heart to a mixture of hillbilly, gospel, blues, rhythm & blues, and jazz. Interwoven are Native American and African American influences. This is America’s music. Oklahoma Rock and Roll.” - Steve Ripley
The twenty-part radio series is a partner with the Oklahoma History Center’s rock exhibit, “Another Hot Oklahoma Night”.
Where to listen:
• KOSU (7pm Fridays) 91.7 Stillwater/OKC, 107.5 Bartlesville/Tulsa, 101.9 Okmulgee
Notable panelists include Bob Forest (Thelonious Monster, Bicycle Thief, VH1 “Celebrity Rehab”), Jeff Scheel (Gravity Kills, Box Talent), former DFest keynote speaker Ken Abdo (Grammy Foundation), MTV music supervisor Andrea von Foerster and Ben Spear (SmartPunk).
Below, watch Tulsa promoter Matt ‘Lip’ Stevens detailing how you can save money at DFest:
After the jump, check out some of this year’s panels and panelists.
After nine years as a band, Minutes Too Far has called it quits. The band was a notoriously hard working and self-promoting band. Behind a strong local following, the band toured across the country and, in 2006, signed with Band Recordings who released the album, Let It Roll.
I spoke with guitarist Blake Fischer about the end of the band, the final show and what he’s learned from the whole experience.
Minutes Too Far has been around for just shy of a decade. What made this the right time to call it quits?
It’s really just time. We’d tried just about everything to “make it” as a band, and really, we can’t complain because we got to do a lot of really cool things at levels that other bands don’t ever get the chance to reach. We were faced with a decision about a year ago about what to do with a band whose name had been around the business for several years, with a label release that didn’t go very far. We decided maybe it was time that we tried something new and fresh. People never believe that, though. So, the more exciting story is that Kris is addicted to crack. Kidding, of course.
In the meantime, take a tour of DFest 2009 with Jen Clark:
Also, pick up a free U.S. Cellular digital download card here. The card includes free downloads from Ra Ra Riot, Mates of State, Ian Moore, The Uglysuit, Stars Go Dim, Callupsie, Ali Harter, Kawnar and more. Check out the full listing after the jump.
Hear Me Roar Fiawna Forte’s been there done that. Now, she just wants to sing her lil’ heart out
BY G.K. HIZER
It’s Saturday night at Soundpony Lounge and the audience stands shoulder to shoulder, crowding around a band at the front of the club. As the evening wears on, the crowd grows, making it difficult to get in the door, much less reach the bar. Nevertheless, the audience continues to swell, mesmerized by a young, raven-haired singer who dances a fine line between passion, frenzy and anger.
The young lady in question stands barely over five feet tall, dancing barefoot, swinging a guitar and wailing with an authority twice her age. Commonly considered an indie-rock artist, her delivery crosses genre boundaries, tying together jazz-era torch crooning, classic rock swagger, folk intimacy and bluesy passion. Her name is Fiawna Forte; and although she’s only 21, she is quickly becoming the new female face of rock in Tulsa.
The two-act play, written by former Tulsa World entertainment writers Thomas Conner and John Wooley and directed by Vern Stefanic, imagines a world where the two most famous Oklahoma music figures of the 1930s and 1940s (Bob Wills and Woody Guthrie) had met - although they never did.
The play shows Wills and Guthrie on their way up, and again after their respective careers have peaked. Time Changes Everything brings to life the attitudes they held, especially when it comes to what their music could do.
Brad Piccolo and John Cooper (of the Red Dirt Rangers) portray the two musicians, and then join their band for a mini-concert pf Wills and Guthrie songs in the second part of the evening.
Purchase tickets by phone at 800.364.7111, online at myticketoffice.com or at the Tulsa PAC Box Office. Regular seating tickets are $20 and up front tickets are $30.
After the jump, a synopsis of the two-act play by writer John Wooley.
Aranda’s song “Whyyawannabringmedown” has been chosen as the official theme song for WWE’s upcoming pay-per-view event “The Bash” on Saturday, June 28.
“Whyyawannabringmedown” appears on Aranda’s 2008 self-titled album and was covered by Kelly Clarkson for her 2009 album, All I Ever Wanted.
