A couple works all the angles to get state’s music in the spotlight

Tulsan Tom Green may be the best thing to happen to Tulsa music.

Heck, he and wife Angie DeVore- Green are likely two of the best things to happen to the Oklahoma music industry.

The pair’s history with this city goes back more than a decade, to a time when Green was banging drums behind his lead-vocalist wife for electrorock outfit Ultrafix.

That band pounded the pavement — and the skins — for years, building an aggressive do-it-yourself ethos and earning much-valued experience — and a tight contact base — in the regional music market.

“I can speak from experience from both sides of the music business,” he said recently over a vegetarian lunch in a small Greek restaurant in downtown Tulsa. The dreadlocks and dungarees of his early days have morphed into a stylishly moppish haircut and a suit and tie. He speaks with passion.

“Many new musicians are armed with untruths and rumors on how the industry works. I realized that we could really do a lot to help them.”

The pair disbanded its rock group for a much more demanding mission — supporting Oklahoma music and the burgeoning industry it fosters.

In fact, on Friday, Green will promote 18 of this state’s most promising, popular and talented music acts when he, DeVore-Green and local promoter Davit Souders (and a roster of well-connected pros) host a music showcase in Austin.

They’re partnering with the RedGorilla festival — which runs in

“I invite all of my industry friends out and we go nuts for Oklahoma music,” Green said. “We wave that Okie flag all over the place.”

Performing will be two Spot Music Award winners — hip-hop magic man PDA and hard rocker Congress of a Crow. They will perform sets from 3 to 6 p.m. in Austin, as will Oklahoma City’s ’70s art punk wildman El Paso Hot Button.

Each act also is included on a promotional disc from another Green-inspired organization, iROK radio. The CD will be given away at the showcase, and was produced with support from Tulsa Media Group, Dfest, Tulsa Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Oklahoma Film and Music Office, Nonzine and Armstrong Studios, he said.

Before it gets too confusing: iROK radio is Independent Radio Oklahoma, an online, allgenre, streaming music channel funded by a statewide nonprofit organization also cofounded by Green—the Oklahoma Foundation for the Music Industry.

OKFMI is a fledgling nonprofit that funds the enhancement and growth of live music artists and supports the music industry in the state of Oklahoma, said Green.

“You know, even if you’re a fantastic live act, at these festivals you can end up playing a great show to yourself if you aren’t networking and meeting the right people.”

Green knows. His former band played many South by Southwest showcases over the years.

Last year, he also helped host a sold-out SXSW showcase with Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne and Stillwater band Colourmusic. It landed both acts on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” he said.

Likewise, several years ago he and DeVore-Green also cofounded Diversafest, a growing local music festival and industry symposium established to help indie acts learn the ropes. Many bands also perform for some of the most influential people in the music business.

Originally started as a showcase to hype his band, the event soon took on a life of its own, he said.

He has since aligned himself with some of the most powerful people in this city — promoters, performers and politicians alike — to strengthen Oklahoma’s music industry.

The effort has helped the state earn its own brand of powerful “indie cred,” he said.

DeVore-Green has also joined hands with Scott Booker, who co-owns a successful indie music conglomerate named World’s Fair Inc.

Booker also manages popular psych-rock band the Flaming Lips.

From Edmond, Booker — and DeVore-Green — works with record labels such as Rough Trade and Warner Bros., and with national acts from El-P and British Sea Power to Stillwater’s own Colourmusic.

Green carries a slew of official- sounding titles: director of downtown relations for the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, co-creator of Dfest, co-creator of the nonprofit Oklahoma Foundation for the Music Industry and co-creator of Independent Radio Oklahoma (iROK).

But for the Sooner State, the pair might be best known as The Maestros.

Jennifer Chancellor 581-8346
jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com

IROK RADIO’S OKLAHOMA MUSIC SHOWCASE

during South by Southwest
at the Chuggin’ Monkey
219 E. Sixth St.
3-6 p.m. Friday

iROK radio will feature free CD compilation giveaways and live music from Oklahoma City garage rock one-man phenom El Paso Hot Button, Tulsa hip-hop artist PDA and local hard rockers Congress of a Crow as part of the RedGorilla fest independent music showcase, which runs in tandem with South by Southwest music festival. The CD features 18 talented Oklahoma artists, each handpicked by the iROK founders.

iROK radio online: www.tulsaworld. com/iROK