You’ve heard The All-American Rejects’ mythology before. Talented small-town Stillwater high schoolers’ album gets scooped from the trash by a record label intern: music videos, hit singles, major-label deals, high-grossing worldwide tours and dalliances with celebrities ensue. In short, all the stuff that constitutes the first half of an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music: […]
Music Features
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Kam they do it?
Oklahoma City rockers The Kamals recall many bands on first listen; some moments sound like Queens of the Stone Age, while others like vintage Black Keys or, even more old-school, Robert Johnson. If there’s one descriptor that ties it altogether, it’s sweat, and the five-man crew shed a lot of it recording its debut EP, […]
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Josh Sallee — Probable Flaws
Besides doing away with hooks that skewed frat-boy (“So Chill”), what were spitfire thoughtful lines on Sender have become genuinely compelling storytelling. “Lately wanna rage on the daily / Mainly ’cause the pain go away” is the most easily repeatable lyric on “Like Girl, Like Guy,” but it’s far from the most intriguing. The guy’s […]
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Just Joshin’
Like millions of young suburban teens at the turn of the millennium, Josh Sallee watched rapt as a man in his late 20s with dyed-blond hair, a baggy white T-shirt and a dour expression rapped about his severe emotional confusion on MTV’s Total Request Live. The guy was Eminem, and the album he was promoting, […]
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Doobie Doobie do
Classic-rock legends The Doobie Brothers couldn’t have foreseen all the highs and lows when they formed four decades ago. The California-born group is responsible for some of the biggest hits of the ’70s, including “What a Fool Believes,” “Black Water,” “China Grove” and “Listen to the Music,” all while undergoing dramatic stylistic shifts and persistent […]
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Hare hear
The 18-year-old from Oklahoma City recently released a full-length debut album through the online music service Soundcloud. Under the name Hare Tracks, Kennedy — now a freshman at the University of California at Santa Barbara — recorded and produced it almost completely by himself, while a student at Heritage Hall. “I tried taking guitar lessons […]
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Band of brothers
Oklahoma City alt-rock outfit Aranda has come a long way from its first gig, which saw brothers Dameon and Gabe Aranda playing air guitar and lipsynching for their grandparents. Aranda has been nearly a lifetime in the making, but it almost didn’t happen after a record deal with Sony fell apart in the early 2000s. […]
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Randy melodies
Now, the Oklahoma City man has completed quite the musical feat himself: writing 100 songs in 100 days. Songwriting has served as a stress reliever for him his entire life. After getting involved in drugs — “I could write a whole book on the effects of lacquer on a human being,” he wrote on his […]
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Kick it
“I work two jobs, and my car doesn’t have a front bumper,” said Oklahoma City rapper Jabee Williams. “I’m a real-life person.” But crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com gives musicians worldwide the opportunity to release the same quality product as major labels. “Basically, it takes the place of a record label,” said Brandon Lovelace, lead singer of […]
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Swing sets
Looking more like a folk troubadour, Dustin Prinz doesn’t fit the stereotype of a lounge performer. But his guitar skills, ability to adapt to the crowd, and litany of original ballads and unique covers — from INXS to Bon Iver — has charmed many a restaurant, bar and lounge owner. He has standing gigs at Bin […]