Live Music Previews

RJD2 can’t understand why people are so surprised that he’s made the move from sample-heavy hip-hop to atmospheric psychedelic rock with his new album, “The Third Hand.”   “In my mind, the two are inextricably intertwined ” joined at the hip,” RJD2 said. “The magical thing about hip-hop is when it’s done right, you feel […]

When not playing rock ‘n’ roll or classic country, you might find local musician Mark Lewellen at the tiny Christian Crusaders Academy in Purcell, where he teaches mostly high school students language, math, the Bible and ” if needed ” even mops the floors.   He’s been teaching, and loving it, for one semester. “It’s […]

While most bluegrass bands have a sound that is easily identifiable, Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band mixes elements of rock, pop, country and bluegrass with vocal harmonies and something that is inexplicably theirs.   “We don’t really have a term for it. It’s just the Yonder Mountain Sound. Elvis didn’t call it rock ‘n’ roll; […]

St. Louis-based experimental jazz quartet Bach to the Future is apt to perform Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” with an Afro-Cuban flow ” and the possibility of a laser zap thrown in for good measure.   “It’s an oddball group,” keyboardist Mike Silverman admitted, albeit one committed to pushing its own musical boundaries through […]

Among the speakers at The Beatles Weekend in Norman in February were author Andy Babiuk and collector Russ Lease.   Babiuk wrote the definitive book on The Beatles’ instruments, “Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four’s Instruments, from Stage to Studio.” Lease is one of the foremost collectors of the band’s memorabilia.   MUSICAL LEGACYWhile researching […]

Henry McMinn of Oklahoma City’s Audyssey Studios said the hardest thing about recording other people’s music is the people themselves.   “Everybody’s got the McDonald’s and Wal-Mart mentality: They want you to do it as fast as you can and have it sound as perfect as you can for the minimal amount of money,” he […]

Slava, the Oklahoma City International Folk Dancers’ performance group, has performed dancers from around the world since the early Eighties.   Joan Chambers, who has been folk dancing since 1968, said, “The folk dance group is a very close-knit group of people, and we’ve been sort of a family for years. I think of it […]

DJ Switch has spun his way out of the club and onto the radio with Friday afternoon’s “Beats for Lunch” program on KVSP-FM 103.5.   Program director for Perry Broadcasting Terry Monday said Switch’s weekly show is an outlet for local unsigned talent and gives airtime to good mixes.   INSTANT STREET CREDTired of the […]

Of Montreal’s latest album, “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?,” is among the most seductive and danceable of Kevin Barnes’ career, yet comes from the most painful period in his life.   “I was going through a really difficult time, and I was writing songs as a type of therapy to get through it,” Barnes […]

DJ Graham Funke has played parties for Marilyn Manson, Jack Osbourne and porn star Jenna Jameson. But Oklahoma City is no different.   “Honestly I’m gonna give the same level of performance for either party,” he said. “Alcohol has the same effect on everybody else. It goes for whether I am even in Oklahoma or […]