“If It Wasn’t For Bad”, the first single from Leon Russell & Elton John’s upcoming album The Union (October 19) was leaked recently.
“If It Wasn’t For Bad” can be downloaded on iTunes tomorrow.
The Union was produced by T-Bone Burnett, with songs written by John, Russell and Bernie Taupin. Guest musicians include Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Booker T. Jones, Robert Randolph and Don Was. Tulsan Jim Keltner played drums on part of the album.
Hundreds of musicians and tens of thousands of fans converge on downtown Norman this Saturday and Sunday for the third edition of Norman Music Festival.
Leon Russell is on his way to being the newest Oklahoma musician to have a street named after him.
Tulsa World reports that “Leon Russell Road” has been approved and will be located on Second Street from Detroit to Elgin avenues, in the Blue Dome District.
The honorary sign proposal was submitted to the city of Tulsa by Charles Roden, who is fronting the cost for the creation of the sign. Supporters of Russell created a Facebook group several months ago to get the artist honored. The group has is under 3,000 members strong.
Tulsa currently has honorary signs for The GAP Band (Greenwood Avenue) and Bob Wills (Main Street).
See Leon Russell this Sunday at the Norman Music Festival. He’ll take the stage at 9pm on the Jägermeister Stage.
Details on a forthcoming official dedication ceremony have not yet been announced.
School of Seven Bells (features Lawton-native Benjamin Curtis), The Veils (lived in Oklahoma City for a short time in 2007), Daddy a Go-Go (featuring Tulsa native John Boydston), The Souls (featuring Medicine Park resident David Lott), Hot Club of Cowtown (featuring Tulsa-area resident Whit Smith) and Oh No Not Stereo (featuring former University of Oklahoma student Mykul Lee)
This is only a partial list. More bands will be announced in the coming weeks. Oklahoma bands are in bold. You can view the previously announced bands here.
Last week, Leon Russell announced as the second stage headliner and Jabee was added to the main stage
The free two-day festival will take place in downtown Norman on Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25. Saturday performances will take place at night inside downtown venues, while Sunday performances will take place all day on stages set up on Main Street and inside downtown venues. NMF is for all ages and FREE!
More than 30,000 people attended the 2009 edition of the festival, with an estimated $2.5 million being spent locally.
If you are a local band and have a music video, send it to NMF here! Deadline is March 25!
Leon Russell is set to join the Zac Brown Band on stage tonight at the Grammy Awards (CBS, 7pm CST).
Russell will make his Grammy stage debut tonight, roughly two weeks after surgery for a brain-fluid leak.
“I’m tired, but otherwise OK; it’s a pretty quick recovery. I’m going to be in the background, and I don’t have to walk a red carpet.” - Leon Russell
The Zac Brown Band, nominated for best country duo/group, new artist and country album, will be playing “America the Beautiful”, Russell’s “Dixie Lullaby” and “Chicken Fried”.
Urban Tulsa Weekly’s current issue features The Church Studio on its cover.
Feels Like Religion Jesus and Leon might have left the building, but almost 30 years later, the Church Studio resurrects its legendary music and religious past
BY MIKE EASTERLING
On the surface, there was little reason for anyone to recognize the night of Sept. 17 as a significant footnote in Tulsa’s popular music history. Only a month before, Paul McCartney had graced the stage at downtown’s glittering BOK Center, and two nights earlier, pop diva Britney Spears had jiggled her way through a sold-out show there.
But this particular Thursday night–overcast, muggy and somewhat gloomy–seemed better suited as an evening to take in a high school football game under the lights than an opportunity to experience a music event with historic resonance.
To be sure, there were few people who took advantage of what the evening had to offer. At an unusual-looking structure at 304 S. Trenton–across the street from the better-known Ranch House Café, a Tulsa institution–a couple of dozen visitors were getting their first look inside a building that for decades has epitomized music industry mystique in T-Town: the Church Studio.
OETA’s Emmy Award-winning documentary series, “Gallery”, will feature the Oklahoma History Center’s rock and roll exhibit Another Hot Oklahoma Night tonight at 8pm CST. (Find your local OETA station here.)
The episode will cover the opening of Another Hot Oklahoma Night, which features stories and memorabilia from more than 100 musicians from Oklahoma. The exhibit covers artists across various genres and eras (Wanda Jackson to The Nixons, The Collins Kids to Hanson, Leon Russell to Hinder), as well as Oklahoma radio, venues and rock and roll style.
The episode will also delve into the controversy surrounding making The Flaming Lips’ song “Do You Realize??” the official state rock song.
Encores of this episode of “Gallery” will air June 18 at 8pm and June 28 at 8pm & 11pm.
One day after the Cain’s Ballroom Music Museum was announced fund raising efforts, the Oklahoma Historical Society announced their plans for “Oklahoma Pop”, a museum about Oklahoma’s contributions to music and popular culture. The museum will also be located in the Brady Village District near downtown Tulsa.
“Tulsa is already home to great musicians who have worldwide success. The new museum will help us market Tulsa as a magnet for artists, tourists and conventions.” - Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor
Music, radio, television, movies and stage will be the focus of the museum. The museum will be 45,000 square feet, and will include a roof top café, a gift shop, 16,000 square feet of museum exhibits and 7,000 square feet for special events.
“Popular culture is all around us. It’s the image we think we know about our community. Popular culture is the creativity that emanates from our people. It helps create our shared memory.” - Dr. Bob Blackburn of the Oklahoma Historical Society
The building design will draw influences from Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood and Times Square. There will be a 50-foot by 80-foot LED video screen at the front of the building for video presentations and announcements.
The project will cost $33 million, with $28 million coming from the state and another $8 million from the private sector. The Kaiser Family Foundation has already donated a $1 million challenge grant to kick off the fundraising effort.
“I think ‘Oklahoma Pop’ will become a centerpiece for the development of the Brady Village. This museum not only will enhance Tulsa’s image as a center for the arts but also contribute to the economic development of the north-side district.” - Ken Levit, president of the George Kaiser Family Foundation
Leaders hope to open “Oklahoma Pop” to the public in the summer of 2013.
After the jump, more artist renderings for the museum.
