One would think that Eric McDaniel, leader of Dirty Red & the Soulshakers, would be content with promoting the local blues band’s debut album around town. Instead, he’s also put together a supergroup of fellow Okie blues talents — including members of Miss Blues and Watermelon Slim & the Workers — to back blues progeny […]
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Wanda Jackson — Unfinished Business
Here she builds on the success of last year’s The Party Ain’t Over, her collaboration with Jack White, but unlike that effort, this album is raw, spare and constructed to showcase the Oklahoma-born-and-bred Jackson’s prodigious gifts. Ample credit goes to Justin Townes Earle, who produced this 10-song collection of blues, country, gospel and soul covers. […]
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Feathered Rabbit — Feathered Rabbit
After all, it wasn’t until August that the Oklahoma City act released even the subtlest sniff of recorded material: a three-song EP of quaintly crafted demos and early recordings titled Drunk Rabbit that, as anyone who’d seen the group in concert would attest, resembled the work of a band whose burgeoning brawn was begging to […]
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Crown Jewel
Arthur Hurst and Valerie Hart Credit: Mark Hancock An Oklahoma City landmark that entertained generations of moviegoers in the city’s black community is crumbling, but organizers of an upcoming music festival hope to help. On Saturday, the Jewel Foundation Blues Festival will feature Grammy-winning recording artist Clarence Carter and national blues act Mel Walters, as […]
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Book of love
Affectionately called a hillbilly bluesman, singer-songwriter and renowned guitarist Roy Book Binder has gone from star pupil to noted teacher. “I can’t say I was self-taught. Lots of people taught me,” Binder said. “I learned from old guys who shared their knowledge and skills with me, and it’s a good thing to do. You keep […]
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Chad Sullins and the Last Call Coalition — Incommunicado
With clear-cut single “Thank God for Jack Daniels,” Sullins positions himself somewhere between Stoney LaRue and Eric Church, executing the whiskey tribute with all the subtlety — and admitted fun — of a Michael Bay film after a charming, vintage-Western introduction. He leads into that some good-ol’-boy politicking in the blistering, if familiar “Straight to […]
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Black gold
When you are a three-piece band, the departure of one member — especially the lead singer — can be a killer. Luckily, for Dallas rock outfit Oil Boom, a lineup shuffle only made it stronger. “We’re happy with how things have progressed with this change,” drummer Dugan Connors said of the addition of bassist Steve […]
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Ox rocks
Making music comes naturally to Oklahoma City brothers Sam and Ray Ashford, who made it official by s tarting a band together in 2009. With big choruses and mellow verses, Oxford Town has been described as garage blues with a hint of grudge. A reflection of their shared musical taste, their band name is taken […]
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Jazz hands
The Bert Dalton Brazil Project Santa Fe, N.M.-based pianist Bert Dalton may not look like your prototypical Latin jazz musician, but he’s as experienced and talented as they come. Growing up in Chicago, he was exposed to the Windy City’s lively Latin jazz scene at any early age. It hooked him almost immediately, and he’s […]
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Beneath the Keith
Memphis blues and soul man John Paul Keith is wiser than most about the music industry. Clocking years in playing affords him a certain perspective. “We were coming back home from Baton Rouge on a Sunday afternoon. I was driving the van, and you think, ‘God, this is a long drive,’” he said. “It occurred […]