Charles Martin

One hundred years is a long time to remain relevant in the rapidly changing world of retail. Kamp’s Market & Deli first nestled into Oklahoma City in 1910 as a grocery store, but the new ownership that shifted the site into a deli and grill is also testing the building out as a music venue. […]

Grease under their fingernails, beer on their breath and lust in their heart ” that is how Jeff Beck described the culture he fell for decades ago, a metal motor romance that blossomed the moment he laid eyes on a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air with a four-speed transmission and Cragar mag wheels. His love extends […]

Battle-of-the-bands competitions can springboard young musicians, helping them get a jump on credibility. Abilene, Texas’ atmospheric pop act Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys got a boost when they won last year’s “The Sound and the Jury” contest to earn a spot in one of the region’s biggest spotlights, the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival. […]

Divorces may result in scorched-Earth campaigns, while others resemble a relatively amicable truce. Mississippi alt-country act Blue Mountain crumbled in 2001 after its two guiding lights (Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirratt) separated, but the band recently reformed and is touring to support two new albums. Stirratt even convinced Hudson to release the albums on her […]

One of the metro’s storied bars, the Hi-Lo Club, 1221 N.W. 50th, suffered a blow when its longtime manager and current co-owner Jimmy O’Neil was hospitalized recently after a series of strokes. O’Neil established the club’s Tuesday “band night” 15 years ago, which attracted larger, mixed crowds and developed the Hi-Lo into an oasis for […]

Good money says that a majority of Graham Colton’s target demographic has already heard “Best Days” by now. They might not know it, but tens of millions of television viewers tuning into “American Idol” have already been exposed. “Best Days” is a prom-ready torch song, with little more than a guitar, soft atmospherics and Colton’s […]

Mark Burke first invaded America with his psychobilly group The Phantom Rockers back in 1993. The resulting tour with The Meteors introduced the U.S. to the UK hybrid of punk, rockabilly and heavy metal. With several years and albums behind them, The Phantom Rockers have settled into San Antonio’s small, but durable punkabilly scene and […]