The Morrison household was home to some of the rowdiest, loudest, longest and most memorable house parties in the San Francisco Bay area, but it wasn’t siblings Alex and Ben Morrison (leaders of The Brothers Comatose) behind them — it was their parents. The pair’s mom performed music professionally, and she’d invite her bandmates, friends, […]
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In the saddle
In high school, Zach Preston, Nathaniel Davis and Ryan Gilbert learned how to play music by covering their favorite bands, The Black Keys and Kings of Leon. Their interpretations of the songs evolved, and eventually, they started writing their own music. Buffalo Rodeo was born. The guys played battle-of-the-bands competitions and started college at Western […]
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Meant to surf
Photo: Chris Burkard The guys behind Switchfoot never think clearer than they do out on the ocean. Surfing binds the band and its brotherhood as much as music or faith. And on the eve of the ninth studio album from the defiantly relevant alt-rock group (after 18 years together and a decade in the national […]
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Yo ho ho and a flagon of rum
The band’s persistence resulted in a recording contract with Side One Dummy records (Irish punks Flogging Molly are label-mates) and a spot on Vans Warped Tour after a parking lot audition for Warped Tour owner Kevin Lyman. Its debut album, Forge & Flagon, came out in 2012. Band members went on to play their self-described […]
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Hell-bent
When Leroy Virgil heard a Hank Williams Sr. album as a child growing up in Washington state, his lifelong love of country music began. That love only deepened when he heard the voice of Waylon Jennings. “I developed this obsession with Hank Williams Sr.,” Virgil said from his home near Reno, Nev. “And the moment […]
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Luck of the Irish
Punk-rock legends Dropkick Murphys will kick off their annual St. Patrick’s Day festivities with a tour of the Midwest before touching back down in their hometown of Boston for an annual gig — or gigs — on the Irish holiday. Always on the road, it seems, the band celebrates with its town and its people […]
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Drummer porn
In a report from the news site Heavy, Meyering is “resisting extradition to California,” a state with strict antirevenge porn laws. What does that make us Okies? Oklahomans are tough on crime, and we’re tough on porn, but we’re not quite sure what to do when it’s a combination of the two. Also, if you […]
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Nativity scene
Artists find their truth in all sorts of places. For Tulsa alt-rockers Native Lights, it was an abandoned and forgotten mid-century-style cattle auction house in the sleepy farm community of Hominy. Seeking a special space to record its debut album, the four-piece — featuring Johnathon Ford (bass), Nathan Price (drums), Bryce Chambers (guitar/vocals) and Philip […]
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Devil’s advocates
Should the Satanist-proposed monument of goat-headed idol Baphomet make its way onto the Capitol steps, Oklahoma City has just the band for its unveiling. Norman’s own Rainbows Are Free calls its brand of doomsday dirges and post-apocalyptic poetry “the devil’s music,” setting stoner rock riffs to hellish tales of mind-bending torment. In the minds of […]
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Making it count
Photo: Fonald Photography Too often, instrumental music gets wrapped up in technical gymnastics, a jumble of exhaustive and endlessly intricate guitar riffs and complex percussion patterns that stack up like a failed game of Tetris. For every Explosions in the Sky or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, there are a dozen acts more suited for musical […]