Oklahoma Rock Newsblog

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A second partial list of bands playing DFest 2008 was announced this morning.

More bands are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Oklahoma bands are in bold. You can view the previously announced bands here.

Headliners:
The All-American Rejects, The Roots, Ty England, moe., Phantom Planet, The Apples in Stereo

Regional & Locals:
20%, Acoustic Ross, Adam’s Attic, Alex Winston, Ali Harter, American Taxi, Angela Ortiz, Bait, Bangalore, Beau Jennings & The Holy Tulsa Thunder, BEN.BEN., Benji Kay, Black Swan, Black Wednesday, Blowing Trees, Born A Number, Brandon Clark Band, Brice Woodall, Bricolage, Carter Sampson, Cecada, Cheryl B. Engelhardt, Chris McLeod, Citizen Mundi, The City Lives, City Riots, The Cringe, Dance Robots Dance/Trash Yourself, Deas Vail, The Decomposed, Dick Sims Project, Drag The River, Ernie Halter, Galapagos, Ganem, Ghost of Monkshood, Gravity Propulsion System, Greg Reichel, Here Is There, Hey Hollywood, The Heyday, Hymns, I Said Stop!, Jabee, Jayne Doe, John Moreland & The Black Gold Band, Kawnar, Kendal Dean, Klondike5, Lords of the Fjords, Mando Saenz, Mayola, Mercy Street, Miniver Cheevy, Modern Rock Diaries, My Solstice, Noush Skaugen, Odis, of god and science, The Oh! Johnny Girls, Oxygen, Progress In Color, Quiet Company, Rainbows Are Free, Recorder, Salute, Sherree Chamberlain, Stanley Maxwell, State Bird, The Stock Market Crash, Sworn Against, Tech Tonic, Three Penny Upright, The Twenties, Vandevander, Vannadine.

Tickets are on sale now at okctickets.com and dfest.com.

Advanced two-day wristbands good for both days cost $30 online, and standard two-day wristbands cost $40 at the gates. Badges are valid for the conference as well as the festival. Early-Bird Advanced Badges cost $50 online and are available until May 30. Advanced Badges cost $100 online, and Standard Badges cost $150 the day of the event. Standard service fees apply.

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In celebration of Mother’s Day, eMusic asked indie moms about their favorite song(s) of their child’s band.

Charlotte Jones, mother of Josh Jones of Evangelicals:

I am Josh’s #1 fan so it is hard for me to pick a favorite! “Skeleton Man” has a wonderful rock beat and can be interpreted on many levels. This is a powerful song that generates lots of energy and gets me moving. It is a great work-out song!

Among those participating were the mothers of Adam Green, Beirut, Bishop Allen, Bon Iver, Headlights, Holy Fuck, Shearwater. Check out all their comments here.

Here’s an older video for The Hero Factor’s song “Breathe”.

Carrie Underwood will become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry tonight.

Underwood was extended the invitation by Randy Travis after she sang his song “I Told You So,” at the Opry back in March.

“I felt like I just won something amazing all over again,” she said. “The Opry has meant so much to me growing up, seeing people perform and wanting to do that.”

The Opry, established in 1925, is the longest continuously running radio show in the country. Legends such as Hank Williams Sr. and Patsy Cline were once members of the cast, and contemporary stars including Alan Jackson and Martina McBride are part of today’s show, which airs every Friday and Saturday night on WSM-AM.

Opry management says artists are invited to join based on their commitment to the show, as measured by the frequency of their guest appearances and their overall contribution to country music.

You can watch Underwood inducted live on Opry Live on GAC (Cox Channel 158) at 7pm (CST).

UPDATE:
Underwood was inducted by Garth Brooks and later duetted with Vince Gill. After the jump, some clips from the show.

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D.C. Minner, blues musician and co-founder of the annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival, passed away Tuesday. He was 73.

Born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma in 1935, Minner would later say he knew he was going to play music for living when he was a preschooler.

After serving as an Army medic in the Korean War, Minner lived in California, where he played bass for Larry Johnson and the New Breeds, which backed up O.V. Wright, Freddie King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Floyd and Bo Diddley. He would also meet his wife, Selby, while she was playing acoustic blues in northern California. D.C. switched to guitar and the couple toured as the blues duo Blues On The Move for 12 years.

In 1988, the couple turned Minner’s grandmother’s prohibition-era corn-whiskey hall, The Cozy Corner, into the after-hours club, The Down Home Blues Club. In 1991, they would start the annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival.

The Minners would later create the Blues in the Schools program through the Oklahoma Arts Council, performing music in classrooms and educating students about the blues. The couple won a W.C. Handy Award and the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award for their efforts.

D.C. Minner was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2003.

UPDATE:
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 17:
11am - Memorial at The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee
3pm - Funeral at First Baptist Church & Honey Springs Cemetery in Rentiesville
Later - Celebration at Down Home Blues Club in Rentiesville

“If you play blues to get rich, then you really are making a mistake. So we don’t do this for the money. What we do do this for is for the love of the music.”
- D.C. Minner

After the jump, tributes by friends and colleagues.

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Christmas on Mars, the Chinese Democracy of Martian Christmas movies, is expected to premiere this month. We’re serious.

There are only two showings scheduled (May 25 at Sasquatch! & June 14 at Bonnaroo), but more showings are in the works.

No word on the DVD release date or film score yet.

After the jump, the trailer and some outtakes.

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Tonight is the world premiere of ‘Le Corndog Du Desespoir’, a movie from the mind of Mickey Reece of El Paso Hot Button.

The movie is about Cops,depression and dating services. It’s not a comedy. More like a soap opera…

The movie will also show at the Vacant Era Film Festival this fall.

SHOW INFO:
• Where: The Opolis, 113 N. Crawford, in Norman
• Opener: Ali Harter
• Time: 8pm
• Cost: $3

Another trailer for your viewing pleasure after the jump.

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Here’s Rachel Shay’s video of her song “Magic of You”. The video was directed by Glenn Sweitzer.

Continuing with the Norman Music Festival recap. Not a lot of great performance videos, but here’s what we could find:

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The first ever Norman Music Festival was a rousing success. With an estimated 13,000 in attendance at the smoothly-run festival, hopes for an annual occurrence are being realized, with planning for next year’s festival beginning next week. Kudos to the Norman Arts Council, the Norman Music Festival committee, the bands and the volunteers that helped pull this all off.

“It far exceeded our expectations.”
-Rick Fry, executive director of the Norman Arts Council

Now, some pictures! (None of which are mine.)

(Photo: Christian Pitt)

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