See it: New music from Stars Go Dim
11/18/2009 1:22:13 PM
Tulsa pop-soul act Stars Go Dim is already working up new tunes (its debut album, "Love Gone Mad" was released earlier this year). Here, they stake out a spot on the Electric Circus club stage in Tulsa and belt into never-before-heard songs.
Here, frontman Chris Cleveland and guitarist/songwriter Joey Avalos interact with the crowd before launching to an acoustic tune.
"Far From Over You":
Workweek mixtape: Random acts
11/18/2009 12:35:24 PM
It's time for another installment of "Workweek Mixtape."
This week, it's a random mix of covers, new stuff, old stuff ... weird stuff, cool stuff. Scroll down for the Blip player and hear all the tunes on this list.
Enjoy.
1. "Shock the Monkey," by Coal Chamber and Ozzy Osbourne. (cover)
2. "Imagine," by A Perfect Cirle. (cover)
3. "It's My Life," by No Doubt. (cover)
4. "You Shoook Me," by Led Zeppelin. (cover)
5. "Negative Creep," by Nirvana.
Video:
6. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," by William Shatner. (cover)
7. "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime," by Beck. (cover)
8. "Date Rape," by Fishbone. (cover)
9. "You Just Can't Win," by The Dead Weather. (cover)
10. "Running Up That Hill," by The William Blakes and Spleen United. (cover)
Video:
11. "Magic Johnson," by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
12. "American Woman," by The Butthole Surfers. (cover)
13. "Gone Daddy Gone," by Gnarls Barkley. (cover)
14. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," by Bob Dylan.
15. "Blinded Me With Science," by Heavy Pets. (cover)
You can also check out the full playlist at  Blip.fm/BarrelhouseBeat.
Wanda 'First Lady of Rock' Jackson still rolls in the fast lane
11/17/2009 10:58:00 AM
Wanda Jackson performs at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa in this March file photo. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World file |
A little more than 48 years ago, the First Lady of Rock made her first appearance at the 66 Bowl bowling alley in Oklahoma City. But she didn't sing. She didn't even pick up her guitar.
It wasn't rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, country or even gospel she wanted.
Wanda Jackson wanted a man.
"I don't remember much about that first date, but I remember I sure had eyes for Wendell," Jackson said about her first date with Wendell Goodman.
This weekend, the place of her first date with Goodman turns 50. Her marriage just turned 48.
To celebrate, on Saturday, she's having a party.
PLUS! Read the full story online at tulsaworld.com, here.
Jack White, Wanda Jackson to record together?
11/16/2009 2:56:10 PM
Multiple sources today report that Oklahoma native Wanda "First Lady of Rock" Jackson and White Stripes co-founder Jack White will record together.
Read the full breaking news story at tulsaworld.com, here.
PLUS! Read the Tulsa World interview with Jackson in Tuesday's Tulsa World. She performs at the 66 Bowl in Oklahoma City on Saturday.
In the meantime, here are some Jack White collaborations to tickle those earlobes:
The Raconteurs, featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe, "Old Enough":
Jack White and Loretta Lynn, "Portland, Oregon":
White Stripes, "Jolene" (live):
The Dead Weather, "I Cut Like a Buffalo":
Review: Electric Rag Band 'If You Got Some'
11/16/2009 11:20:00 AM
After nearly half a decade, Tulsa's Electric Rag Band is back with a new studio album.
As the liner notes for "If You Got Some" say, "Remember that speeding up and slowing down is a way of life."
This album does plenty of both.
The tunes are more complex than any three-chord rock ditty, and they combine a rich mix of blues, Americana, rockabilly, ragtime, country, folk and straight-up rock 'n' roll. Some call it "roots" music. Maybe it is.
ERB's intoxicating blend of sounds is fermented in the history of all American music, from Piedmont blues (also called East Coast blues) to punk rock. It's drinking music. It's dancing music. It's thinking music.
The title track for "If You Got Some" is a not-so-subtle curb-check to those cigar-smoking, shot-toasting, couch-hogging, girlfriend-stealing, cig-bumming, guitar-borrowing mooches of the world.
The tune's false start is punctuated with clinking bottles. Pat Cook's slide guitar reels with drunken irony. The mooches of the world may know this song's about them, but they're too vain to realize that it's a sarcastic kick in the pants.
Tunes such as "Pontiac Joe" and "Suck on Purpose" leave little doubt of the split-tongue compliments within.
"Go Baby Go" is a classic rocker in the vein of early surf-rockabilly classics. "Across the Sea" translates an Irish-tinged ballad of love and death.
"Government Rant" is a snarky proclamation of independence mixed with mouth-harp, harmonica and lyrics about jerky politicians.
Overall, the album's 13 tracks (plus a few hidden gems at the end) are about as Green Country as it gets.
So, yes, it's roots music in the truest sense that it exquisitely blends the richest of Tulsa traditions: great live music and inspired, quirky songwriting.
+++
PLUS! Read the full interview with the band at tulsaworld.com, HERE .
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IF YOU GOT SOME
Artist: Electric Rag Band
Available at: tulsaworld.com/RagBand, Amazon, live shows
Released: Oct. 16 on ERB Records
Rating: 90 (of 100)
Download: “If You Got Some,” “Mustard and Provolone,” “Pontiac Joe,” “Go Baby Go,” “Suck on Purpose”
See it: Eric & The Adams, 'Every Move'
11/16/2009 10:43:00 AM
Tulsa trio Eric and the Adams just made a new video for the tune "Every Move." It debuts today.
"Every Move" was directed and produced by two highly talented and well-established Tulsa photographers, Jeremy Charles and Kelly Kerr.
The new album drops Dec. 8, with a CD release party on Dec. 5 at Electric Circus in downtown Tulsa. Tickets are $12, available at tulsaworld.com/TicketStorm.
All ticket buyers for the CD release show will also get the band's debut disc free.
See it:
Learn more about the band at EricAndTheAdams.com/
Aqueduct returns to Tulsa in Decemeber
11/12/2009 12:12:10 PM
Aqueduct will perform Dec. 22 at the Marquee, 222 N. Main St., industry tracker Pollstar Pro reports.
David Terry, aka Aqueduct, is an oddball synth pop-rock amalgam inspired by musical mad-scientists like Brian Wilson and Beulah and even Black Sabbath.
Weaned on metal bands and prog-rock while growing up in Tulsa, he eventually recorded his own tunes in his bedroom, and self-released his music until signed by Barsuk records and relocating to Seattle.
He's opened for acts including Death Cab for Cutie, the Flaming Lips, the Postal Service, United State of Electronica and Modest Mouse.
He returns to his home town for a one-off show, just in time for Christmas!
Here's the video for Aqueduct's "Living a Lie," directed by Charles Spano:
The Marquee will host an array of alternative and indie bands through December, including:
Nov. 13: Gunfire 76 with The Becoming
Nov. 18: Between The Buried And Me with Veil Of Maya, Animals As Leaders
Nov. 24: 3 Inches Of Blood with Saviours, Holy Grail
Nov. 30: Marduk with Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack
Dec. 5: Vader with The Amenta, Decrepit Birth
Dec. 11: Jonny Craig with Sleeping With Sirens, Tides Of Man
Dec. 14: Rookie Of The Year with Backseat Goodbye
Dec. 15: Winds of Plague with Stick To Your Guns, Sleeping Giant, Oceano, Circle Of Contempt
Dec. 22: Aqueduct
For more information, visit The Marquee.
Album review: Everybody plays the Foo ... Fighters
11/12/2009 10:16:50 AM
Tunes like "Everlong" and "All My Life" exemplify the timeless rock elements of the Foos — pop-friendly lyrics with calls to hope and ruin in one breath. Lead singer Dave Grohl spurred a rock revolution in the early 1990s as the drummer in rock band Nirvana, then progressed into the grunge-rock, adding a distinctive pop punch. It was edgy and radio-friendly.
The Foo Fighters formed in 1995 on the heels of Nirvana's breakup, and there's a beauty in the minimalism of the band's earlier hits. Grohl credits his mentor and friend, the late Kurt Cobain, for that influence.
Grohl also plays guitar in the Foos much like he played drums in Nirvana. Chord changes and punchy riffs sync, hammer- succinct, with drummer Taylor Hawkins' huge beats.
PLUS! Read the full online review of the Foo Fighters Greatest Hits album at tulsaworld.com,  here.
Flashback 1986: 'Walk This Way," with Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith
11/11/2009 2:51:00 PM
With all the diva drama surrounding Aerosmith these past couple of weeks, well, a Barrelhouse Beat flashback is in order.
For four decades, Aerosmith has branded itself as The Band That Will Not Die, and that's not all bad.
But, perhaps, the band wouldn't have made it past its "toxic twin" days of the 1970s if it wasn't for the genius of a producer named Rick Rubin, a rap act named Run-D.M.C. and an upstart urban record label called Def Jam.
For people of my generation (I'm 35) this cover tune introduced two genres of music (hard/classic rock and hip-hop) as viable, powerful, legit forms of music. For me, it gave credibility to one genre that seemed "played out" and shoved me into another that was "inner-city."
(Not to mention the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, L.L. Cool J. and the other Rick Rubin-produced breakthrough acts of the mid-80s, and all the other hard-earned success Rubin garnered for music acts including the Cult to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Johnny Cash to Tom Petty to Metallica. ... But I digress. Sorta.)
As a pre-teen, the fusion of rap and rock, old and new, proved to me that there was more to music than Top 40, MTV and popular radio, which was a near mind-blowing realization for me at the time. (What? You mean to tell me that "The Next Time I Fall" by Amy Grant and Peter Cetera isn't the best song ever made?!? ... Heck no it isn't.)
The samples and rock song covers by hip-hop musicians weren't theft. Not to me. They opened a pathway for me to passionately discover a generation's worth of music that was -- until that point -- just "old people's record collections." (Ewwwww.)
... Even if I did wear sans-lace Adidas sneakers and carry around a huge, silver-colored boom box. So what. I also danced as my band-geek cohorts blared the Beastie Boys' tune "Brass Monkey" on their concert saxophones during school bus trips. That tune and the sample of Wild Sugar's "Bring It Here" introduced me to the much broader genre of funk. ... I was a sixth-grader. And I loved the Beastie Boys, Run-D.M.C., Metallica, Public Enemy, Elvis, the Beatles, James Brown, the Stones, Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. ... Didn't everyone? Shouldn't everyone?
Anyyyywayyyy ... Back to topic: Aerosmith members Steven Tyler and Joe Perry both performed on this 1986 cover version by Run-D.M.C., produced by Rubin and released on Def Jam. In 1999, the two music acts even embarked on a successful world tour together.
"Walk This Way" is a trademark Aerosmith tune, played today at nearly every live show it does. The song is from the 1975 hit album "Toys in the Attic."
Link: 
(*plink* My two cents.)
PLUS! Read the update on the status of Aerosmith at tulsaworld.com, here.
Top winners in CMA history
11/11/2009 1:10:00 PM
Vince Gill. Tulsa World file |
Garth Brooks. Tulsa Word file |
Did you know?
In advance of tonight's Country Music Association Awards show, here's a run-down of some of the top winners in CMA history, and their ties to Oklahoma.
Top five CMA Award winners:
22 wins: George Strait has the most CMA award wins (Strait will perform at the BOK Center with Reba McEntire on Feb. 20, 2010)
19 wins: Brooks & Dunn is No. 2 with CMA award wins. (Ronnie Dunn lived in Tulsa for years)
18 wins: Vince Gill is No. 3 in CMA award wins. (Gill is a Norman native)
16 wins: Alan Jackson is No. 4 in CMA award wins. (he recently performed at the BOK Center in Tulsa)
11 wins: Garth Brooks ranks No. 5 in CMA award wins. (lives in Owasso with wife Trisha Yearwood, who has won three CMA awards in her career)
Other top winners:
7: Roy Clark (lives in Tulsa)
7: Rascal Flatts (with singer-guitarist and Picher native Joe Don Rooney)
6: Merle Haggard (his parents were true Okies, moving from here to California during the Great Depression)
6: Reba McEntire (born in Chockie)
5: Carrie Underwood (born in Checotah)
4: Conway Twitty (lived in Oklahoma City)
PLUS! Read the rundown on tonight's CMA show: hosts, presenters, performers and more at tulsaworld.com, here.
Source: CMAawards.com
Underwood's Grand Ole Opry gig will stream live via MySpace
11/11/2009 11:57:00 AM
Carrie Underwood speaks before her induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in this Sept. 17 file photo. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World file |
If you can't make it to Nashville on Saturday to see Carrie Underwood live at the Grand Ole Opry, well, head on over to MySpace.
Carrie Underwood's live appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday will also stream live on the social networking site, the Opry's official Web site shows.
The live show will begin 8 p.m. Saturday at MySpace.com/GrandOleOpry.
It will be the first time an Opry performance has offered as a live video stream. The Opry is also the longest-running radio show in America, claims the site.
Underwood will perform music from her just-released studio album "Play On," including the fastest-rising single of her career to date, "Cowboy Casanova."
Jake Owen also will appear video streaming video of the Opry performance from the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.
Underwood became a member of the Opry in 2008.
Leon Russell announces Tulsa tour date, possible NMF headliner gig
11/10/2009 5:17:00 PM
Leon Russell. Tulsa World file |
Tulsa Sound icon Leon Russell's tour will roll through Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino on April 24, 2010, tour industry tracker Pollstar Pro reports.
The longtime Tulsa musician recently added over two dozen tour dates, including a Dec. 19 show at the Wormy Dog Saloon in Oklahoma City's Bricktown district. He will also perform at the Norman Music Festival on April 25, 2010, on Norman's Main Street, the site shows.
He will also perform in New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, Hawaii, Texas and more, the site shows.
PLUS! Read the full breaking news story at tulsaworld.com, here.
Carrie Underwood charts 11th No. 1 hit
11/10/2009 1:58:00 PM
Carrie Underwood performs at an outdoor show in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday. Associated Press |
Multi-million album-seller and country music superstar Carrie Underwood recently earned the fastest No. 1 country single of her career as her single, “Cowboy Casanova,” sprinted to the top of Billboard's Country Songs chart in a little over 10 weeks' time.
The tune is also 2009’s fastest chart-topper by a country female.
Written by Underwood, Mike Elizondo and Brett James, “Cowboy Casanova” is now her 11th No. 1 single to top the Billboard country chart since 2005, and the first hit from studio album "Play On," released Nov. 3.
Tonight, the Checotah-raised Oklahoma native also will be featured on “In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: Bright Lights. Big Stars. All Access Nashville,” at 9 p.m. on NBC, Tulsa cable channel 9.
Tomorrow, she co-hosts the Country Music Association's 43rd-annual music awards show with Brad Paisley. The awards show airs at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ABC, Tulsa channel 8.
PLUS! Read the full preview of tomorrow's CMA show at tulsaworld.com, here.
Sesame Street turns 40: Vintage music performances
11/10/2009 11:54:27 AM
Children's variety show "Sesame Street" turns 40 this week. I'd like to celebrate with some old music performances from the show and from Jim Henson's "Sesame Street" creation, the Muppets.
Kermit the Frog sings Harry Nilsson's "Cococut":
Cab Calloway, "Jump Jive". Dig it:
Stevie Wonder, "Superstition":
Johnny Cash, "Five Feet High and Rising":
And from the Muppet Show: Alice Cooper, "School's Out." Totally digging his tail:
Saturday: Mastodon, Dethklok at Brady Theater
11/10/2009 10:30:00 AM
Progressive metal act Mastodon is full of meaty, hot-blooded manliness, much like the other bands on Saturday night's bill at the Brady Theater: Converge, High on Fire and Dethklok.
But Mastodon may just be the most fearless.
For this tour, co-headliner Mastodon isn't squeamish about leading its set with all-new material. In fact, it will play its entire new album "Crack the Skye" — start to finish — before pummeling into older tunes from albums "Blood Mountain," "Leviathan" and "Remission," news outlets report.
Here's why that's gutsy: "Skye" is touted as a "concept album." It tells a cinematic tale inspired by the suicide of drummer Brann Dailor's sister, Skye.
Read the full Tulsa World concert preview at tulsaworld.com, here.
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