Ten years ago, Oklahoma City had no Criterion. The Jones Assembly hadn’t been assembled, and Tower Theatre was still an abandoned relic of a bygone era. There were still concerts that came to town, but the city has grown and hopefully with it, our appetite for shows. OKC concert goers are in for a busy […]
Music Features
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Straight in, no tricks
“I’m always fighting with it,” modern blues guitar legend Tab Benoit said about his now near-mythical 1972 Fender Telecaster, the same guitar he’s been playing practically every single day for over thirty years. “It’s not easy to play. It doesn’t play good, but I like it like that. You have to squeeze things out of […]
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Is your grass still blue in ‘22?
Well it’s just about that time of year once again when many a bluegrass bard, bone playin’ chicken pickin’ troubadour, and country-fied crooner will all be finding their way to Guthrie. That’s right folks, it’s almost time once again for The Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival. Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, The Grascals, The Kruger Brothers and […]
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Safe in sound
Legendary rock guitarist and composer Steve Vai relaunched his 54-city tour this fall — with an Oct. 7 stop in OKC — after it was waylaid by the omicron variant of COVID-19 earlier this year. He spoke with the Oklahoma Gazette over Zoom to discuss the upcoming tour and what it’s like playing for live […]
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Controlling chaos
Kicking off with a ringing, driving guitar, the newly released single “Yeah, I Like You” revs up scrappy rock ‘n’ roll, skewering meaningless internet and social media celebrity culture with its big choruses and pop hooks. “That song’s a lot of fun,” said singer/songwriter/goo John Rzeznik. “What I love about that song is it really […]
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Life during wartime
Adam Granduciel immediately apologizes for being a few minutes late to our call, explaining that he was folding laundry and listening to some brand new demos he’s been working on and just kind of spaced out, losing all track of time. That’s a well-known feeling for any fan of Granduciel’s band, The War on Drugs. […]
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Muling the load
As someone who cut his teeth growing up on the sounds of power trios like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Warren Haynes always knew the blues was as important an underpinning of that musical style as the hard-rock riffing of those outfits. Blues has been a major part of Haynes’ musical expression, whether it […]
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When PiGs Fly
“I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew,” Dylan Swindell says with a laugh, not overlooking the food pun for a second. “I can admit that.” Swindell is the co-founder and head organizer behind Wellston, Oklahoma’s very own new mid-sized music festival, PiGFest, a weekend-long celebration of homegrown music covering a […]
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As the Crowes fly
When Chris and Rich Robinson made the November 2019 announcement that The Black Crowes were reuniting, it represented a reconciliation between the siblings after the band was blown up in 2015. The plan was to launch a lengthy reunion tour in 2020 commemorating the 30th anniversary of the group’s 1990 debut album Shake Your Money […]
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Sounding off
While the lineup is comprised primarily of women for the Bans Off Our Bodies fundraiser show, it wasn’t by design. “We were like, ‘Is it weird that it’s all women? It’s fine. Let’s just do it,’” co-organizer Kris Dahlgren said. “That was not intentional, but it is all kind of very accessible, nice, fun, kind […]