Even superstars of country music need to find good excuses to come home. Trouble is, Norman-born Vince Gill can’t find enough of them. “My mom would probably echo that sentiment,” he said. “But you know, life’s busy: five kids and a career and life and all of that. It is hard to get back as […]
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Still lovin’ and learnin’
It was early 1972 when 13-year-old Tanya Tucker headed for Nashville to cut her very first record. By spring, “Delta Dawn” was a hit on every radio station in America. “I was in Las Vegas when I heard ‘Delta Dawn’ and myself on the radio for the first time,” Tucker said. “It was the beginning […]
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Slim chance
You might think that Denver alt-country act Slim Cessna’s Auto Club would have claimed Oklahoma City as a second home a long time ago, but in its two-decade existence, this show marks its first time here. “It makes sense really, for us to play more in Oklahoma City,” bandleader Slim Cessna said. “I can’t believe […]
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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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Harp dreams
It’s been a long music career for Oklahoma City songstress Camille Harp — one that’s lasted as long as she’s been alive, really. “I was born into it. It was never having to decide if I was going to do this or do that,” said Harp, born to country-musician parents. “I’ve been asked when I […]
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‘Some Hearts’ lack compassion
Touring to support her new album, Blown Away, Underwood told British newspaper The Independent that she supports gay marriage. “I think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love,” said the 29-year-old singer and Baptist-raised devout Christian. “It’s not up to me to judge anybody.” […]
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Horse, of course
Credit: Doug Schwarz Few bands have the sense of state pride as Horse Thief. The outfit’s sound is the perfect intersection of the dusty country-folk Oklahoma long has been famous for — presently encapsulated by Other Lives — and the quirky, psychedelic noise preached by the likes of The Flaming Lips, Starlight Mints, Evangelicals and […]
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Slumber party
When it comes to membership, country music group Asleep at the Wheel is like a revolving door. “I’ve had a hundred people through this band,” said leader and founding member Ray Benson. “It’s been 42 years.” Playing Sunday at the Blackout Block Party fundraiser at Grady’s 66 Pub in Yukon, the Texas outfit has been […]
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Turnpike Troubadours — Goodbye Normal Street
The 11 tracks traverse complex and emotionally rich terrain — Robert Earl Keen would approve — and so vividly that you can almost smell, as the first song coins it, “cheap perfume and gin and smoke and lies.” A definite honky-tonk sensibility is at work here, from Kyle Nix’s raggedly effective fiddle work to Evan […]
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Wish Me Away
Coinciding with OKC Pride activities, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art on Thursday screens Wish Me Away, a documentary on country music superstar Chely Wright’s decision to come out as gay — arguably the first in her genre to do so. While I’m no admirer of her music, I completely, wholeheartedly respect her for this […]