Spring has sprung (we hope) as I noted in a mixtape recently, so get out there and do something music-related. There’s plenty to do this weekend.

OKS fave Ryan Lawson will be kickin’ it at Blue Note tonight with Bloody Ol' Mule and Aaron Barker. The acoustic scene has started to grow with the advent of Acoustic Oklahoma, and these three guys have gotten some well-deserved press because of that burgeoning movement/idea/showcase/thing. Check it out – it’s only five bucks.

If you like blue things and acoustic music, but don’t really like the bar setting of the previous entry, Greg Trooper releases “Upside-Down Town” Saturday at The Blue Door. Trooper’s true to his name, as he’s a troubadour and a touring man, originally from New Jersey. Kickstarter helped him make this record, which is a cool side note, as I’ve been addicted to that website recently.

 Jumping way across genres, “Red Bull Thre3Style” features DJs from Oklahoma competing against each other in a format that gives each one 15 minutes. The DJs have to make a set that combines different musical genres (with no mixing programs allowed). The judges will select winners based on “track selection, creativity, mixing skills, stage presence and overall crowd reaction,”according to the press release. OKC’s John Bourke, Mark Marino, DJ Diverse, DJ Switch, and DJ Boom will go up against Tulsa’s DJ Moody and DJ Kylie and Bartlesville’s Darku J. Show begins at 10 p.m. Saturday at Kamp’s Deli. Five bucks to get in.

And for the young’uns, or old’uns sporting young’uns on their hip, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is having a family day Saturday featuring OKS faves Sugar Free Allstars and Spaghetti Eddie. Both acts are quality musicians that won’t disappoint any age bracket. The show starts at 2 p.m., but the family day goes from noon to 4. It’s $12 for adults, $10 for students/seniors, $5 for military and free to members and children ages 5 and under.

Get out there and rock.

There aren’t a whole lot of local female musicians who are as talented as Sherree Chamberlain. Her debut album, 2009’s “The Wasp in the Room” was as lovely a work as you’ll find around these parts, and it’s most definitely in need of a follow-up. To the Internets!

Chamberlain has started a Kickstarter page in an attempt to raise money to record her sophomore album, which she’s already written, and titled “New Skin.” On the page is a really funny, candid video of her discussing the details of the disc, and what she’ll do if a baby donates money to her cause: “I will hunt down a mother, find some breast milk, and feed it to you in a bottle.”

Watch, then head to the site and pledge some money! She’s already $1,700 toward her goal, which she must achieve by the end of this month.  



Also, I just realized that for a $500 donation, she’d cover any song of my choosing. Never in my life have I been more sure of the fact that I want to hear Sherree Chamberlain record a version of “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You).”

We’re big fans of Kickstarter at OKSee, and the latest such project to cross our desk is certainly the funniest of the bunch.

Oklahoma City producer, Gazette theater review contributor and writer of really, really long reviews of prog-metal albums Eric Webb has partnered with Houston comedy singer Henry Dillard (better known as Without a Face) in hopes of shooting what could well become the best satire of TSA’s aggressive pat-downs in history, right here in Oklahoma City! I now give you, in full, glorious, ’90s slow-grind R&B audio, “The TSA Song”:



Pretty funny, right? Well Webb and Dillard are scrounging up some cash to do this video right, and your support is most certainly appreciated. If Dillard’s pitch video doesn’t convince you to give up a couple of bucks, then you probably shouldn’t be allowed to use the Internet.

Also of note: Henry’s Pedobear T-shirt makes me uncomfortable.

Another month, another flood of special-engagement films coming to a theater near you, but not necessarily the ones you expect. You'll be pleased if you're into shorts, documentaries and/or things that are free. Let’s get to ’em!

In chronological order, we have ...

The Dome of Heaven
6 p.m. April 5
University of Central Oklahoma’s Center for Transformative Learning
100 University Drive, Edmond
free

UCO alum Diane Glancy returns to campus tonight to show her new film, The Dome of Heaven, a chronicle of a dysfunctional family’s struggle for stability. The free screening concludes with a Q-and-A with the director, who’s also a well-known, award-winning novelist, poet and playwright.




Red Carpet Film Festival
7 p.m. April 7
Sam Noble Museum of Natural History
2401 Chautauqua, Norman
$5

Six short films will be screened at the fourth annual Red Carpet Film Festival on Saturday. What makes them special is that they are produced by students of the Moore Norman Technology Center’s digital video production and graphic design classes, with scores provided by music students at ACM@UCO. Clocking in at 10 minutes each, the shorts are “Restless,” “My Eyes Are Bigger Than Yours,” “Vengeance,” “The Chill,” “The Guardian” and “Bring Me to Life.” Get tickets — only $5 — and more info at redcarpetfilmfest.webs.com.




Introduction to Documentary Film
2:30-4:30 p.m. April 12
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
415 Couch
$35

Here’s a nifty idea: Take a class for the fun of it, especially when said sessions explore documentaries. That’s the intent behind a two-hour class for six Thursdays, beginning April 12, as part of the University of Oklahoma’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Kathryn Jenson White, an Oklahoma Gazette film critic and associate professor at OU, will lead the classes at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. On the syllabus are such acclaimed, accessible, influential and even revolutionary works as Nanook of the North, The Thin Blue Line, Roger & Me, Grizzly Man, Shut Up and Sing and Taxi to the Dark Side. To register, call 325-3488 or visit olliatou.org.




Blue Like Jazz
April 13
AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, Cinemark Tinseltown, Moore Warren

Having earned $345,000 in 30 days, Blue Like Jazz is the most-funded film in Kickstarter history, and it opens in three metro theaters on April 13. With a cast of unknowns and based on Donald Miller’s best-selling 2003 nonfiction book, the comedy is about a young man who flees his Bible Belt upbringing to attend college at “the most godless campus in America,” and struggles with keeping his faith. I suppose this is counterprogramming to Cabin in the Woods?




Children of War
April 15
Fambul Tok
April 22
Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business
2501 N. Blackwelder
free

OCU’s ongoing, free documentary series continues with Children of War, about former child soldiers in Uganda, on April 15 and Fambul Tok, about forgiveness following Sierra Leone’s brutal war, on April 22. Both are free. For more information, call 208-5472 or visit okcu.edu/film-lit.




Grateful Dead Second Annual Meet-Up at the Movies 2012
7 p.m. April 19
AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, Cinemark Tinseltown, Hollywood Spotlight 14 in Norman

You know how Deadheads follow the Grateful Dead from concert to concert? I wonder if that holds true when the concert is a film. I guess you could find out April 19, when three area theaters host a never-before-seen summer 1989 gig from the Alpine Valley Music Theatre. A slideshow of band photos will precede the feature, as will a previously unreleased live track from 1974. Grab info and tickets at fathomevents.com, man!




Switch
6 p.m. April 24
Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business
2501 N. Blackwelder
free

Screening on the OCU campus for free is the documentary Switch, about trends and the future of the energy industry, with an aim to encourage a balanced national understanding on the topic and its utter importance. Interested? Reserve your complimentary tickets at switchenergyproject.com. —Rod Lott