Tom Russell has no patience for pigeonholes. Despite a penchant for rootsy story-songs about dust-blown, blue-collar characters, he scoffs at the Americana tag that’s been hung around his neck for years. “They always need a tag — progressive country, new country, altcountry — to put outsider writing in,” Russell said. “I don’t see my music […]
Chris Parker
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Ray of humanity
Ray Bonneville’s latest album is titled “Goin’ by Feel,” and there couldn’t be a better summation of the Canadianborn roots artist’s life and approach. Inspired early on by country music, blues and pre-Beatles pop, he remembers pressing his ear against his grandmother’s furniture-size radio in the 1950s upon hearing that oldfashioned twang. Soon, he got […]
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Astro boy
Astronautalis hails from what might be the last generation of indie hip-hop. The 29-year old Florida rapper came of age in the late ’90s as a bevy of underground artists emerged, seeking to redefine a mainstream style that’d become stuck in a locked groove of guns, drugdealing, bitches and boasting. Astronautalis, aka Andy Bothwell, honed […]
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Got milk?
And why not? The Austin quartet features three champion childhood fiddlers — Brian Beken, Noah Jeffries and Dennis Ludiker — who met as children competing at Idaho’s annual National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest & Festival. That early connection would bloom years later in Austin, Texas, where the trio reconnected. Two years ago, the three hooked up […]
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‘Dark’ horse
There’s a gentle reflective cast to his songs. Nimble poetry pirouetting around burbling acoustic guitar melodies. A limber baritone supporting arrangements that are spare and understated, even on record, providing ballast that keeps them from drifting away. John Gorka has established himself as one of folk’s finest writers, a master at walking the tightrope between […]
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The last Samurai
Not everyone’s comfortable sending out a photo of themselves in a Donald Duck onesie or that Halloween Catwoman costume as a 8-year-old. But this is the situation The Samurai Conquistadors found themselves when they returned from a yearlong hiatus. The jazzy, atmospheric rock quintet from Norman formed nearly four years ago when most of its […]
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’Pike psyched
Turnpike Troubadours front man Evan Felker may be young, but he ain’t new. His songs traffic in the kind of everyday moments and perpetual longings traced by artists like Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle. The Oklahoma quintet has been around for roughly three years, but it seems like a longer time. That’s the feeling of […]
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Ray’s way
Ray Wylie Hubbard and John Fullbright8 p.m. Friday-Saturday The Blue Door 2805 N. McKinleywww.bluedoorokc.com 524-0738 $25 advance, $30 door He received his big break via Jerry Jeff Walker, who turned his track, “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” into a hit in 1973. That inaugurated a 15-year stretch of good times and wild partying (or […]
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Bang on!
Bang Tango7 p.m. SaturdaySamurai Saki House3034 N. Portland “I moved to L.A. and then the rest is history,” Lesté said. “We were signed six weeks later, and we’ve been going ever since.” That’s not technically true, inasmuch as within three years of their 1989 glam-metal debut, “Psycho Café,” and its minor hit, “Someone Like You,” […]
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Willie do it?
Willie Stradlin with Hellcat SusieFriday Wormy Dog Saloon 311 E. Sheridan www.wormydog.com 601-6276 $5 Arkansas-based band Willie Stradlin makes no effort to hide its inspirations, taking its name from Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin and country music icon Willie Nelson. The act formed six years ago when front man Heath Molton was asked to […]