Don’t label Todd Snider as a folk artist or a singer-songwriter. He’s got a specific title for his musical employment as a wandering troubadour. “My job is Ramblin’ Jack Elliott,” Snider said. “He’s the godfather of it. Woody Guthrie didn’t tour. He (Elliott) was the first to go out with an acoustic guitar, harmonica rack […]
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Griiin revolution
Known for raucous DJ sets as well as being the drummers for psych-rock legends The Flaming Lips, Brothers Griiin are bringing a new dimension to their sound with their first full-length record. The digital version of Joy City will be released May 2 with vinyl and cassette copies available May 13. Three singles from the […]
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Soundcheck: When the Clock Strikes – I Hope that You Feel Loved
“I’m not counting on closure,” frontman Daniel Basden sings in the opening seconds of I Hope that You Feel Loved, the new EP from Tulsa pop-punk outfit When the Clock Strikes. In context, the line refers to the aftermath of at least one broken-off relationship, but on a broader scale, it represents a prominent theme […]
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Trip with kids
Trip G is for the children. From noon to 4 p.m. April 16, his popular monthly Oklahoma City hip-hop gathering Trip N Friends will lend its platform to the first-ever Trip N Kids festivity. The free event will host an Easter egg hunt at a noteworthy multi-purpose neighborhood park in OKC’s Eastside, Riley Leroy “Pitts” […]
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Soundcheck: Sun Deep — Will Rap for Change
Sun Deep has skyrocketed in Oklahoma City music over the past year and Will Rap for Change is the proof. Featuring some of the biggest spitters in the rap and spoken word scenes, his first proper producer album is 15 tracks built around a common theme of change, whatever that happens to mean for each […]
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Indie overground
Some of the most up-and-coming artists in indie/alternative music have headlined Norman Music Festival since its inception, but that doesn’t stop naysayers from voicing unsolicited advice every year. While there has been an overwhelming fervor in comment sections over 2022’s big gets like The Drums, DIIV, Wet, and …And You Will Know Us by the […]
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Serendipitous Songs
When S. Reidy released “Abstract Gravity” as a single in the pre-COVID days of 2020, the longhaired, beanie-wearing Norman rapper didn’t know it would become the opening track to his new album. It was intended for a project called Open: Honesty, which he scrapped during the pandemic. The next year, following his well-regarded I Started […]
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Soundcheck: Beau Jennings and The Tigers – Heavy Light
There is so much life in Heavy Light. Musically, Beau Jennings’ band brings layers of bustling energy and bright tones, but it isn’t just that. Life at its fullest is colored with hardship and hope, trial and triumph. Jennings’ songwriting is at the crossroads of these opposing forces. While he sometimes uses these juxtapositions to […]
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Five years later…
In March 2017, my business partner Stephen Tyler and I had a dream to make Tower Theatre a world-class concert venue in the heart of our beloved Uptown 23rd entertainment district. We also had no money, an unfinished building, and an empty calendar. We were under intense pressure to open as soon as possible and […]
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Welcome to Beer City
While the original Beer City was a lawless and short-lived pre-statehood Panhandle town from which Beer City Music Hall took its name, the collective force behind the venue intends to bring the spirit of the town back to life in the form of a new 500-person music venue and survive much longer than the two […]