 Newspaper View
 Print
 Email
 Comment
 RSS
 Bookmark
If you would like to bookmark this article you will need to Login to your tulsaworld.com account
close
Video: Salute from Sooner State
Underwood, icons of Tulsa Sound and Western swing inducted
Checotah native Carrie Underwood performs after her induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on Thursday. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World
By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Published: 9/18/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 9/18/2009 9:41 AM
Read more stories about Carrie Underwood,
see photos and watch her music videos.
MUSKOGEE — Thousands gathered at the Muskogee Civic Center on Thursday night as Oklahoma country music superstar Carrie Underwood, Tulsa Sound legend Rocky Frisco and Western swing songbird Ramona Reed were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
"I look at my life every day, and I'm in awe," the 26-year-old Underwood said during a press conference before the induction ceremony. "Everything that's happened has been a gift from God."
It's also been due to a lot of hard work.
Along with relentless touring, Underwood was recently nominated for two Country Music Association awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, and has won nearly 60 awards for her songwriting, videos and music since 2005.
The audience was star-studded, too. It included 2001 inductee Leona Mitchell; 2005 inductee Tommy Allsup; 2008 inductee Chick Rains; Gov. Brad Henry, Rep. George Faught, R-Muskogee; Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee; and Cherokee Nation first lady Bobbie Gale Smith.
"Truly, I don't know the words in the English language to express my gratitude," Frisco said as he took the stage, voice wavering, to receive his award.
Not too long ago, Frisco got a call from the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, he said. He was told, "By the way, we're inducting you," Frisco said, then laughed. "I said, 'But I'm not even sick!' "
In fact, Frisco, 72, still performs several nights a week with musicians in Oklahoma and beyond, as his career stretches into its fifth decade.
The piano man is a Tulsa Sound icon. He co-founded the music movement and is a 1955 graduate of Tulsa's Central High School, where he met singer-songwriter and future tour partner J.J. Cale. He performed on Cale's Grammy-winning 2005 album, "To Tulsa and Back."
Frisco has played piano for Cale, Eric Clapton, Flash Terry, the Gene Crose Band, Clyde Stacy, Danny McBride, and Tom Skinner's Science Project.
Skinner joined him onstage for his Thursday night show to perform originals and a song by Red Dirt music legend Bob Childers.
In a film montage, Terry was quoted as saying, "Rocky Frisco is the most colorblind musician I've ever met."
All of the inductees smiled broadly at a press conference before the ceremony, seemingly in shock. Levity flowed from the musicians.
"This is wonderful," said Reed as the petite icon reached over a podium to accept her award. "I'm so proud of this, and I'm still proud that I can halfway sing at my age whatever that is," she laughed. "This is a great night for me. Thank you."
Reed is perhaps best-known for her yodeling with Western swing act Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys, which earned fame when their shows were broadcast from Cain's Ballroom in the 1940s.
On Thursday, she yodeled classics, including the hit "I Betcha My Heart I Love You," to a standing ovation.
Raised on a ranch near Talihina, she's also known for her early stage name of Martha White and for her work at the Grand Ole Opry with Hank Williams, Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, among others.
Educator and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame board member C.H. Parker received the coveted Governor's Award, presented by former pupil Underwood and Gov. Brad Henry.
"It's definitely undeniable the impact C.H. has had on the music program at NSU and in Oklahoma," Underwood said. Parker was her teacher at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.
She then accepted her award before performing a set.
"I'm an emotional person, so forgive me if I tear up," she said, then paused. Then she giggled. "Oh, there it is. Whew!" she said as her voice cracked and she wiped her face.
"I love where I come from and to be a part of this amazing thing with so many talented people," she said in her acceptance speech. "Well, thank you so much."
Underwood then sang her hits, including "So Small," "Last Name," "Wasted," "All-American Girl," "Flat on the Floor" and "Don't Forget to Remember Me," and covered the Motley Crue hit "Home Sweet Home" as the audience hooted, stood, danced and clapped in appreciation.
At one point, in a rare moment of comfort and coziness, she took her 4-plus-inch-high heels off to perform barefoot. Dozens of cameras strobed like electrified glitter in the arena as she segued into "Jesus Take the Wheel."
A young girl in a white straw cowboy hat eased her way to the stage with a bouquet of flowers nearly as big as her. Carrie kneeled, without missing a lyric, and said softly to the girl as she reached out to her, "Thank you so much."
Slide Show
To see all of the Tulsa World slide shows, go to tulsaworld.com/photos.
Jennifer Chancellor 581-8346
jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com
By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Newspaper View
Print
Email
Comment
RSS
Bookmark
If you would like to bookmark this article you will need to Login to your tulsaworld.com account
close
 |
|
