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 […]
Music Features
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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 […]
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Therefore he AM
There is another pandemic coming hot on the heels of the ongoing one we’ve all come to know and loathe. A pandemic of doubt. In addition to the tragic and continuing toll that COVID-19 has taken on our world, it’s also left a number of lingering and demoralizing questions in its wake, especially for artists […]
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Violent delights
The continually exploding guitar effects pedal industry – which has something of a surprising epicenter in Oklahoma City with some of the world’s biggest and most respected manufacturers based here – has a long and lucrative history of major artist collaborations. Superstar guitarists and aficionado heroes alike regularly partner with pedal builders to create loads […]
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Subculture sanctum
Like a flower blooming from a cracked sidewalk, Oklahoma City’s DIY scene has always found a way. The last few years have seen a pandemic decimate the live music world, and when compounded with the usual punk community struggles (house venue regulation crackdowns, threadbare economics, etc.), OKC has been a particularly inhospitable place for a […]