Live Music Previews

Umbrellas play gorgeous music that is full and melodic, bordering on orchestral. The band’s latest album, “Illuminare,” was recorded in a defunct comedy club in downtown Tulsa and released by California indie label The Militia Group. The band will finish its current tour up with an all-ages stop Friday at the Opolis in Norman, before […]

Tuesday’s show at Norman’s Opolis marks the first time playing in Oklahoma for the Miami, Fla., indie pop band The Postmarks.   Yet the band has ties with Flaming Lips manager Scott Booker and the Edmond-based music label he co-founded, World’s Fair.   “We just sort of take each city as it comes along and […]

Danny Masterson, star of Fox’s long-running sitcom “That 70’s Show,” will DJ on May 9 at the Electro Lounge.   Masterson, aka DJ MomJeans, started DJ’ing in 2000 just for fun, but it eventually turned into a passion.   “I just had a lot of records. I started DJ’ing with a friend at a club. […]

  Twenty years ago, the most promising young alternative-rock band in the area wasn’t The Flaming Lips. It was the Norman-based Defenestration ” a loud, four-piece ensemble centered around Tyson Meade’s vocals and Todd Walker’s guitar.   At the height of its local popularity, the band self-released a seven-song mini-album, which led to a deal […]

Seattle punk band The Pharmacy  is in the midst of a sprawling tour that will hit around 70 venues coast to coast. They are stopping at the Opolis on the way through, in part to pick up a tourmate, Mickey Reece, the lone gunman of Norman’s El Paso Hot Button. “We met him in Ft. Worth […]

For many local musicians, it’s hard to keep a roof overhead. For Juan Santana, it’s no problem. When he’s not singing with the Mexican folk group Mariachi Orgullo de America or performing his own songs as a solo artist, he’s actually roofing houses. “He’s an amazing guy. He’s done a lot to grow Hispanic music […]

Wade Bowen‘s latest record didn’t come easily for the Texas country music artist. He felt lost during the songwriting and recording process. “I went through a lot of stuff, recording this record and writing it,” he said. “I was going through a lot of different emotions and stuff. I think the overall theme is being […]

Texas rock act Flickerstick won VH1’s reality show “Bands on the Run,” getting a deal with Epic Records. But with newfound stardom came a stigma: being scoffed at for getting signed without putting in the hard work most musicians have to in order to get discovered. The truth is, the members made a name for themselves all […]

Rock culture will be paired up with the bargain-hunting lifestyle Saturday at The Conservatory for the 5th Quasi-Annual Oklahomapunkscene.com Garage Sale/Show & Birthday Party. The idea for the sale came from Jenny Nickell of Norman, whose husband plays in punk band The Dwarves. They had movies, music, magazines and interesting memorabilia to get rid of, […]

Describing comedian / musician / performance artist Balthazar is not an easy task. You’ve got Jack Black’s manic mugging, Andy Kaufman’s unpredictability and Gilda Radner’s gleeful awkwardness, all strained through a marathon of “I Love the ’80s” episodes on VH1. “Who doesn’t want to be a rock star?” Balthazar, aka Leslie Hensley, said. “I have a […]