Oklahoma City musical duo Adam and Kizzie Ledbetter’s story is like something out of a romance. Classmates at Classen School of Advanced Studies, they went their separate ways after graduation, until 2011, when fate drew them back together. “We were both going through some pretty heavy transitions in life, going through our depressions, so when […]
Louis Fowler
Posted inMusic
Kali Ra — Electric Living
“Black Leather Demon” is a cranium-pounding opening that recalls a time when Marilyn Manson wasn’t a bloated joke, but the album really kicks things into gear with the second cut, the title track, a song so sweeping and beautiful that it would be on my playlist for traversing a futuristic wasteland of death and darkness, […]
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Nina Medley — Red Dirt Redemption
Well, I can say that I’m pretty sure she’s found it. Her smoky, soulful vocals slink around the archetypal blues riffs, but beneath every song is that homegrown, Red Dirt, roadhouse rocking ’n’ rolling that draw immediate comparisons to Janis Joplin. “Drive Right Through Memphis” has a down-and-dirty groove that’s as playful as it is […]
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Mountain Smoke — Roads Well Traveled
Maybe enough time has passed that I can enjoy this truly American art form once again. How can songs like the Brooks & Dunn cover “Brand New Man” or the redemptive “Wild Horses” not make you fall in love with this Oklahoma group? The original “American Dream” is a patriotic spiritual that isn’t cloying or […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Coming attractions
Photo: Mark Hancock One such business was the legendary Winchester Drive In Theatre, 6930 S. Western, made all the more poignant by it being one of the few operating drive-in movie theaters left in the country. Instead of shutting its doors, however, longtime owner and operator Lindy Shanbour chose to rebuild. “I opened this drive-in […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Greece is the word
I took my very first date to a buffet. Her name was Sarah, and I thought she was just the prettiest thing since ever. That night, I learned a hard lesson about women and buffets: They probably should not meet. At least not on a first date. Simply saying the word “buffet” can conjure images […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Beverly fills
Chicken in the Rough BY: Mark Hancock When I moved back to Oklahoma City after a decade-long absence, I was bummed to see that Beverly’s Pancake House, across from Penn Square Mall, was gone. I felt a longing in my heart that only the words of ’80s hair-metal band Cinderella could describe accurately: “You don’t […]
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Rock the Brick
Ali Harter Photo: Mark Hancock Friday nights this summer, the streets of Bricktown are louder — but in a good way, as the outdoor summer concert series known as Lower Bricktown Live returns to rock the public and, hopefully, drive more commerce to the area. That’s been the plan since the series’ inception in 2010. […]
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Maurice Johnson — Peace, Love & Jazz
“Hello My Brother” has a sweet flute interlude that, contrary to the title, leaves me wanting to say, “Hello, my lover,” as I lay her down on a down-filled bed. The Spanish-flavored “A Taste of the Sun” follows this idea up nicely with an aural frolic on a secluded Mexican beach, if only to […]
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Another Round — Just Walk Away
Norman band Another Round’s latest album, Just Walk Away, could be used on the next five National Guard ads, and in no way do I mean that as an insult. When I see those commercials, I admit to rocking out and all but walking out to sign up and defend my country. With impassioned vocals, […]