The linebacker with all-American good looks flexes his muscle in ballads and anthems alike, demonstrating a solid versatility over the course of the EP’s five tracks. Opener “Can’t Forget About You” is built around a standard pop-country hook, anchored by a rock earnestness and Adams’ rich, powerful voice. “Miss Me Whiskey” is a more interesting […]
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Disorderlies
While most of it is my fault, I like to take comfort in the idea that I was doomed from the get-go: • Blame a Depression-era father who forced me to clean my plate through shame and guilt.• Blame a public school free-lunch system that taught gravy as a food group.• Blame cable television for being so […]
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Bowlsey — Sleepy Weather
In a weird way, it does. The budding Oklahoma City trio released Sleepy Weather — a five-song demo of sorts — just a month after the band’s conception, each track abstaining from any semblance of formula. With a range of influences spanning from sultry lounge and folk jangles to Adult Swim hip-hop and chilled electronica, […]
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Roots radical
Bill Kirchen Bill Kirchen is a man of many titles. Some people call him one of the “founding fathers of Americana”; others, “Titan of the Telecaster.” He helped pioneer the Americana movement, as well as the “twangcore” and “dieselbilly” scenes. Many know him as the lighting-in-a-bottle guitarist behind country rock’s Commander Cody and His Lost […]
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Ready or not
The Ready Set Photo: Jared Thomas A 20-something singer-songwriter from the Midwest readies to play a few tunes Thursday night from his ever-growing repertoire of chart-topping singles, acoustic endeavors and previews from his upcoming third full-length album. As The Ready Set, Indiana native Jordan Witzigreuter has charmed national audiences — particularly the teen, female demographic […]
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Aisha Eustache — Love & Addiction
Where are the chanteuses who once graced the charts, like Betty Wright, Roberta Flack or The Three Degrees? Where are the beautiful declarations of love and fidelity? The soul-stirring rock-bottoms of heartache and loneliness? A return to honest, resonant emotion? Those questions are answered with the five songs of Love & Addiction, the debut EP […]
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Smith and lesson
Who is Frank Smith? According to Wikipedia, there are dozens of them, ranging from English footballers to daytime soap characters. In musical terms, however, Frank Smith isn’t any one person; he’s five of them. The Austin, Texas-based alt-country project — fronted by Aaron Sinclair — was, in a past life, a band out of Boston […]
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Look who’s Tonking
Like a local Zelig, Friedman — whose father owned Horn Trader Music, where many local musicians got their start — was the mastermind behind Inner State Studio, which produced such acts as The Reverb Brothers, as well as being the brains behind the Acoustic Oklahoma online series. But at the height of his success, he […]
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Speedy delivery
Sometimes lyrics are so good, they read like poetry. That’s certainly the case with Massachusetts alt-rock act Speedy Ortiz, although it comes with a simple explanation. When lyricist and front woman Sadie Dupuis isn’t onstage, she can be found studying or in class at Amherst College, where she is finishing her master’s degree in poetry. […]
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Western Residents — Sunlit Nights
Western Residents are an anomaly in that their first release, the earnestly delivered and judiciously crafted Sunlit Nights, sounds like the musical equivalent of a tattered wool blazer. They wear it well. The Oklahoma City outfit has existed in some form or fashion for more than a decade, undergoing a bevy of name changes and […]