Oklahoma Rock Newsblog

Several Oklahomans were nominated, but only two acts came away winners at The 52nd Grammy Awards last night.

Kings of Leon, which includes Oklahoma-born members Matthew and Nathan Followill, came away with their second, third and fourth Grammy Awards:

Record Of The Year - “Use Somebody”

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - “Use Somebody”

Best Rock Song - “Use Somebody”

The band was also nominated for Song Of The Year for “Use Somebody”.

Carrie Underwood won her fifth Grammy Award:

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals - “I Told You So” (with Randy Travis)

She was also nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Just A Dream”.

It was an honor just to be nominated for the following Oklahomans:

GAP Band founder Charlie Wilson:
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance - “There Goes My Baby”
Best R&B Album - Uncle Charlie

Oklahoma transplant Miranda Lambert:
Best Female Country Vocal Performance - “Dead Flowers”

Brooks & Dunn (Tulsa’s Ronnie Dunn):
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”

Alice in Chains, (Atoka’s Jerry Cantrell):
Best Hard Rock Performance - “Check My Brain”

Rascal Flatts (Picher’s Joe Don Rooney):
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - “Here Comes Goodbye”

Norman’s Yolanda Kondonassis:
Best Chamber Music Performance - “Takemitsu, Toru: And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind”

The Woody Guthrie box set My Dusty Road:
Best Historical Album & Best Album Notes

Co-producer Mason Williams for:
Best Historical Album - Woodstock — 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur’s Farm

Director and co-producer Alfre Woodard:
Best Spoken Word Album For Children - Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

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Over the next couple of weeks, we will be counting down the Top 100 Oklahoma Albums of the 2000s. Every weekday, we will unveil another ten Oklahoma albums that helped shape the way Oklahoma music is heard by the outside world.

We asked three dozen musicians, fans and journalists for their opinions on the top albums of the past decade. With their guidance and our own opinions, we compiled what we hope is a decent and fair list.

Hopefully, there’s a good bit of reflection, discovery and enjoyment when listening to these albums through Lala (when available). Enjoy!

40. Matthew Alvin Brown - Rainbow Around the Sun (2006)

Purchase: PayPal

DOWNLOAD: “New York City Girls”

“Regardless of what one thinks of concept albums, Brown’s first solo outing, “Rainbow Around the Sun,” is not pretentious. It is track after track of engaging and colorful pop songs that guide the listener through a story, rather than dragging them.” - Charles Martin (Oklahoma Gazette contributing writer and author of “The Dominant Hand”)

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Over the next couple of weeks, we will be counting down the Top 100 Oklahoma Albums of the 2000s. Every weekday, we will unveil another ten Oklahoma albums that helped shape the way Oklahoma music is heard by the outside world.

We asked three dozen musicians, fans and journalists for their opinions on the top albums of the past decade. With their guidance and our own opinions, we compiled what we hope is a decent and fair list.

Hopefully, there’s a good bit of reflection, discovery and enjoyment when listening to these albums through Lala (when available). Enjoy!

50. Ali Harter - Worry the Bone (2007)

Purchase: iTunes │ eMusic

“…an honest collection of ghostly sweet songs with old-timey inflections that betray the musician’s young age.” - Lucas Ross (Oklahoma Gazette)

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Nominees for The 52nd Grammy Awards were announced last night by The Recording Academy.

One-time Grammy winner Kings of Leon, which includes Oklahoma-born members Matthew and Nathan Followill, earned four nominations:

Record Of The Year - “Use Somebody”

Song Of The Year - “Use Somebody”

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - “Use Somebody”

Best Rock Song - “Use Somebody”

GAP Band founder and two-time Grammy nominee Charlie Wilson earned two more nominations:

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance - “There Goes My Baby”

Best R&B Album - Uncle Charlie

Four-time Grammy winner Carrie Underwood earned two nominations:

Best Female Country Vocal Performance - “Just A Dream”

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals - “I Told You So” (with Randy Travis)

Oklahoma transplant and two-time Grammy nominee Miranda Lambert earned one nomination:

Best Female Country Vocal Performance - “Dead Flowers”

Two-time Grammy winner Brooks & Dunn, featuring Tulsa’s Ronnie Dunn, earned one nomination:

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”

Alice in Chains, which features Atoka-resident Jerry Cantrell, earned one nomination:

Best Hard Rock Performance - “Check My Brain”

Rascal Flatts, featuring Jon Don Rooney of Picher, earned one nomination:

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - “Here Comes Goodbye”

Norman harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, along with flutist Joshua Smith and violist Cynthia Phelps, earned one nomination:

Best Chamber Music Performance - “Takemitsu, Toru: And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind”

The Woody Guthrie box set My Dusty Road earned two nominations:

Best Historical Album - My Dusty Road

Best Album Notes - My Dusty Road

Two-time Grammy winner Mason Williams co-produced a box set on Woodstock, which landed one nomination:

Best Historical Album - Woodstock — 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur’s Farm

The compilation album Singing Through The Hard Times: A Tribute To Utah Phillips, which features four-time Grammy nominee and Liftime Achievement Award winner Tom Paxton’s version of “I Remember Loving You”, earned a nomination:

Best Traditional Folk Album - Singing Through The Hard Times: A Tribute To Utah Phillips

Brewer and Shipley, featuring Oklahoma City’s Michael Brewer, landed their song “One Toke Over the Line” on the soundtrack for Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. The soundtrack’s album notes writers landed one nomination:

Best Album Notes - Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson — Music From The Film

Tulsa actress Alfre Woodard directed and co-produced a spoken word album, which landed a nomination:

Best Spoken Word Album For Children - Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

For a complete list of nominations, click here.

The 52nd GRAMMY Awards will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 31, 2010 and will air live on CBS.

Kings of Leon will be the musical guest on “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” (NBC, 10:35pm CST) tonight, playing songs off their current album, Only By The Night.

Bill Maher and Nick Cannon will also be guests on the show.

UPDATE:

Kings of Leon will appear on “The Today Show” (NBC) this morning. The show runs from 7-10am.

UPDATE: Listen for the “Boomer Sooner” at the 2:10 mark.

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Here is Kings of Leon’s music video for “Notion”, the third single off their latest album, Only by the Night.

The video was directed by Phil Griffin, who has directed videos for Amy Winehouse, Bon Jovi, Natasha Bedingfield, Kate Voegele and many more.

Kings of Leon put on a stellar performance of “Use Somebody” last night on the MTV Movie Awards. Check it out below:

Kings of Leon will be the musical guest on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (NBC, 10:35pm CST) tonight, playing songs off their recently released album, Only by the Night. Kevin Bacon and Julie Scardina will also be guests on the show.

UPDATE:

(Notice the band’s tribute to Wayman Tisdale!)

Angie Bruss of NewsOK.tv interviews Jeff Moore of the Oklahoma History Center about their rock and roll exhibit, Another Hot Oklahoma Night.

After the jump, check out a long interview with The Collins Kids, as well as video from their performance at the VIP opening of the exhibit.

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