Entertainment blogging from The Oklahoman's Brandy McDonnell

Graduation advice 2013: Kelsey Karper of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition

The full version of this story, which appears in Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman, was compiled by The Oklahoman’s Features and Entertainment Staff, including yours truly. To read graduation advice from other Oklahomans, go to NewsOK.com.

Thousands of Oklahoma students are graduating in the month of May; many this weekend. We asked some notable and interesting Oklahomans what they’d say to this year’s graduates, or what they wish they would have heard at their graduations. Here’s what one of them had to say:

Kelsey Karper, associate director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition: ‘Discover what you truly love’

“Congratulations, graduates! At this time when everyone is asking you what you’ll do next, take time to ignore the outside pressures and look within. Ask yourself what you want to do next. Follow your own passion. Pursue your own true desires. Don’t let the world around you make the decisions that will shape your life. Don’t worry if you’re not sure what you want to do with the rest of your life. Figuring it out takes time. Do whatever it takes to discover what you truly love, then go for it with all you’ve got!”

-BAM

Graduation advice 2013: Red dirt music star Jason Boland

The full version of this story, which appears in Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman, was compiled by The Oklahoman’s Features and Entertainment Staff, including yours truly. To read graduation advice from other Oklahomans, go to NewsOK.com.

Thousands of Oklahoma students are graduating in the month of May; many this weekend. We asked some notable and interesting Oklahomans what they’d say to this year’s graduates, or what they wish they would have heard at their graduations. Here’s what one of them had to say:

Jason Boland, red dirt music star, Harrah native, former Oklahoma State University student: ‘Do something with meaning’

“Go on to college. Go try to keep believing in something that’s a little bit greater than maybe just how we trade for food or buy a place to live. …

“I was going to college and just not really knowing what I wanted to do. That’s why I don’t really take lightly what (red dirt music pioneers) Bob Childers and Randy Crouch and Tom Skinner and Brad Piccolo and John Cooper and Ben Han and all those guys, what they meant. Because they said don’t be afraid and do something you love. … The rest will work itself out. Do something with meaning. …

“I do not want to wax Bill and Ted here, but have some fun but not too much fun, you crazy kids. … Enjoy it and don’t get lost in the enjoyment.”

-BAM

Graduation advice 2013: Toby and Krystal Keith

The full version of this story, which appears in Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman, was compiled by The Oklahoman’s Features and Entertainment Staff, including yours truly. To read graduation advice from other Oklahomans, go to NewsOK.com.

Thousands of Oklahoma students are graduating in the month of May; many this weekend. We asked some notable and interesting Oklahomans what they’d say to this year’s graduates, or what they wish they would have heard at their graduations.

First on our list are thoughts about college from a father-daughter team, Oklahoma country music superstar Toby Keith, who wanted his daughter to go to college, and his daughter, Krystal Keith, emerging recording artist, who didn’t:

Toby Keith, 51, Oklahoma country music superstar: ‘Be relentless’

“You just have to be really careful because some of these colleges are teaching such a political view in classes that have nothing to do with politics … but I still think it’s important. You just have to research it. Find your way. Have a game plan and carry it out.

“And be relentless. Don’t let anybody outwork you. I told them the day I signed my record deal, ‘There may be people out-sing or out-write me or sell more tickets than me or more records than me, but they’ll never outwork me.’ And they never did. There was no one that put in the time that we did. …

“So be productive, have a plan and carry it out. And give back.”

——————————————————————–

Krystal Keith, 27, emerging Oklahoma country music recording artist who just released her first EP, daughter of country superstar Toby Keith and University of Oklahoma graduate

“After high school, I was like ‘Nashville, here I come.’ And he (her country superstar dad, Toby Keith) was like, ‘No, I said college.’ I was like, ‘No you didn’t. You just said graduation,’ and he’s like ‘college graduation.’

“I kind of thought that I would work my way out of having to go to college. I got to do ‘Mockingbird’ (a hit duet with her dad), and I had the fever. So I kind of didn’t really take school seriously the first year or two, and he did not give in. I thought that he would eventually be like, ‘OK, college isn’t your thing; let’s just go into music.’ And he held his ground and just was really firm on it. Finally, I was just like ‘You know what, he’s not giving in. I’ve gotta get this over with or I’ll never have a music career.’ And I literally did four years of school in 2 ½ years; I took every intercession, everything. …

“He definitely knew what he was doing. I can’t tell you how immensely important the experience of college was on my life, just finding out who you are and just getting life experience and being around other people. The whole experience matures you, so to have the life skills and life knowledge I have now, it helps me with my writing. It helps me with every aspect of my career. You know, I took business classes, so that helps me on the business side of it. If I would have gone into this industry at 18, there’s no telling where I’d be right now. No telling. It really gives you the opportunity to become who you need to be to survive in this world.

“I fought it, and I’m actually thinking about getting my MBA now. So to go from somebody that really fought having to go to college at all to somebody that’s considering an MBA just because I want it is a pretty big turnaround I would say.”

-BAM

What to do in Oklahoma on May 19, 2013: See Perpetual Motion Dance Company’s “Water Won’t Wait” (with video)

Today’s featured event:

See the final performance of Perpetual Motion Dance Company’s spring production “Water Won’t Wait” at 2 p.m. today at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at State Fair Park, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

“Water Won’t Wait” is a new and original production featuring the modern dance company’s signature blend of stunning visuals and technical ingenuity as it delves into the fear, despair, and courage inspired by the unalterable current of time. “Water Won’t Wait” emerged from conversations between Perpetual Motion’s Artistic Director Michelle Moeller and Aerial Arts Director Kimberly Kieffer, who both recently experienced major life changes.

“The idea is that our lives are like water, so even if there is a wall, we will go right through it,” Kieffer said in a news release. “If we are sharp water, the wall will move out in front of us. If not, we will get beaten up in the process of getting through, but one way or another, we are going through the wall.”

Moeller believes the universal struggle of change will give audiences a chance to bring their own life stories into the production. The choreographers are using classical elements, water, air, earth, to expand and explore the theme of change. More time has also been afforded to exploration during the rehearsal process than previous years because of the magnitude and introspection of the subject matter. In addition to the stage choreography, Perpetual Motion is collaborated with local filmmaker K Edward Van Osdol to create a series of dance films to be interwoven throughout the concert.

This presentation is supported in part by an award from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Through state appropriations and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council funds more than 1,200 events annually with an estimated total attendance of more than 3.5 million. Projects funded by the Oklahoma Arts Council generally account for more than $20 million in grants and matching funds distributed throughout Oklahoma’s economy throughout the state’s rural and urban communities.

Check out the videos previewing the show posted below. For more information, go to www.perpetualmotiondance.org.

For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.

-BAM

What to do in Oklahoma on May 18, 2013: Hear Sugar Free Allstars at Uptown Kids

Today’s featured event:

Hear local kindie rockers Sugar Free Allstars play from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. today at Uptown Kids in Classen Curve, 5840 N Classen Blvd, Suite 3.

For more information, go to http://uptownkidsstyle.com.

For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.

-BAM

Best Bets for May 17-19, 2013: Jimmy Webb, Jerry Seinfeld, The True Believers & Tulsa International Mayfest

Here are my picks for the Best Bets in Oklahoma this weekend, as listed in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.

1. Listen to legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb, an Elk City native, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Blue Door, 2805 N McKinley. Doors open at 7 p.m. both nights. Information: 524-0738 or www.bluedoorokc.com.

2. Laugh along with Jerry Seinfeld at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Civic Center, 201 N Walker. Information: 297-2264 or www.okcciviccenter.com.

3. Listen to Austin, Texas, rockers The True Believers with special guest Miho Kolliopoulos at 9 p.m. Friday at VZD’s, 4200 N Western. Information: 524-4203 or www.vzds.com.

4. TULSA — Take in art exhibits, a KidZone and live music from Monte Montgomery, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Will Hoge, John Fullbright and more during Tulsa International Mayfest in downtown. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Information: (918) 582-6435 or www.tulsamayfest.org.

-BAM

Album review: Jason Boland & The Stragglers “Dark and Dirty Mile”

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my interview with Jason Boland, click here.

COUNTRY

Jason Boland & The Stragglers “Dark and Dirty Mile” (Proud Souls Entertainment/Thirty Tigers)

Jason Boland & The Stragglers keep steadfastly walking the classic country road with “Dark and Dirty Mile,” the renowned Austin, Texas-based band’s seventh studio album.

Released Tuesday, the follow-up to 2011’s excellent “Rancho Alto” showcases the worn-leather baritone of singer/songwriter/guitarist Boland as well as the hard-earned musicianship of his road-tested red dirt outfit, which includes guitar, pedal steel and resophonic guitar player Roger Ray, bassist Grant Tracy, drummer Brad Rice and fiddler/mandolin player Nick Worley.

More than that, the album, which Boland coproduced with Shooter Jennings, son of the legendary Waylon Jennings, affirms the band’s dedication to its hard-core country sound, folk songwriting sensibilities and outlaw country attitudes.

A Harrah native and former Oklahoma State University student, Boland, 38, again proudly shows his deep Oklahoma music roots on the new album, which features a stellar rendition of red dirt pioneer Randy Crouch’s thought-provoking “They Took It Away.” Like the somber story song “Ludlow” and the snappy and sharply worded cautionary tale “Nine Times Out of Ten,” the cover expresses what the frontman considers a healthy suspicion of the powers that be.

Even the two-stepping ballad “Electric Bill” includes the timely and darkly funny lyric “When they need to take a closer look at what it means to love, they can watch with a drone from miles above.”

In classic country fashion, “Dark and Dirty Road” walks the line between topical and timeless. The gorgeous love song “Lucky I Guess” seems custom crafted for two-stepping, while the closing ode “See You When I See You” tenderly bids “happy travels my old friend.” The loping Tex-Mex anthem “Spend All Your Time” channels the elder Jennings while urging listeners to really live life.

The rowdy rocker “Green Screen” cuttingly jabs at our society’s lies and false fronts, but authenticity isn’t a problem for the new album. Recorded to tape at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin. “Dark and Dirty Mile,” like the title track that opens the 11-song collection, has a warm, live and real vibe.

The Stragglers will celebrate the new album with a home-state show Friday night at Tulsa’s legendary Cain’s Ballroom. For more information, go to www.cainsballroom.com.

IN CONCERT

Jason Boland & The Stragglers

With: Jason Eady.

When: 8:30 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Where: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, Tulsa.

Information:  www.cainsballroom.com.

-BAM

Interview: Jason Boland & The Stragglers take “Dark and Dirty Mile” to Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa

Call him a classic country torchbearer, a musical outlaw or an old-school folk singer, Jason Boland just wants to make sure his songs mean something.

“It’s just folk music is all it is. All folk music should have a little wink and nod to the salt of the earth, and that’s all it’s ever doing. It’s just trying to live up to Woody Guthrie on through Merle Haggard. Man, go listen to a lot of old Merle Haggard — it was all topical and about something. I think that’s one of the biggest problems with music is that it’s just lost talking about anything. It just talks about have a good time or cry over something,” or just pour salt in the wound or I don’t know,” the Harrah native said in a phone interview last week.

“Not every song has to be some world-changing protest song or some great history lesson. There’s time for dance songs, cry-in-your-beer songs. There’s time for everything. So I think we just try to keep a mix of it.”

That mix is evident on “Dark and Dirty Mile,” the red dirt musician’s seventh studio album with his band, The Stragglers. Released Tuesday, the album is already earning widespread praise for its old-school country sound, profound songwriting and Boland’s weathered baritone. The 11 tracks include the poignant funeral ode “See You When I See You,” the lovely ballad “Lucky I Guess” and the timely two-stepper “Electric Bill.”

That last one, a toe-tapping tribute to love in hard times, sneaks in the topical line “When they need to take a closer look at what it means to love, they can watch with a drone from miles above.” From the sobering story song “Ludlow” to the band’s cover of red dirt pioneer Randy Crouch’s “They Took It Away,” Boland often expresses what he considers a healthy distrust of the government in his music.

“Well, I guess that’s why they call us outlaws or something,” he said with a laugh. “I just think, isn’t that what patriots are called to do? Is just always question things, you know. I think that’s just part of our job is just being critical thinkers. Just to be aware of things.”

The Crouch cover didn’t just make the cut because it fit the theme. Boland and his cohorts make it a point to record great songs by their red dirt music forerunners, and they never have a problem finding plenty of options.

“We’re always lookin’ to do songs by the people that inspired us to approach music the way we do today. So, we always do (Bob) Childers songs, and we’ve done several Crouch and this was another one that just fit the record. I think we got a really nice take of it,” Boland said from the road in his adopted home state of Texas.

Boland, 38, co-produced “Dark and Dirty Mile” with singer-songwriter Shooter Jennings. who had helped on a couple of projects but had never taken on such an active producing role.

“It was just an organic thing. It wasn’t anybody, ‘Hey, we need to set this up in a meeting,’” Boland said.

“You know, producers help arrange the songs, so he was in the rehearsals with us and he helped arranged some of the melodic licks. “He was just what you need, just a good hands-on producer, an extra trusted ear in the room, another set of ideas, another person that’s not one of us in the band that’s locked into this that’s been playing ‘em night after night getting ‘em ready. The guys worked really hard on this record, too, just arranging their parts and getting their songs together. It was a big group effort of producing the music on this record.”

The band again recorded at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin, Texas, and he said Jennings understood the tone and sound they wanted for the album.

“We just got in there with the band and some buddies and cut it straight to tape and mixed it down to tape and tried to keep the computers out of the process and had a great time doing that. And I think anybody that was a fan of the tone and the sound we were going for on our first record, ‘Pearl Snaps,’ I think they’ll really enjoy listening to this record and hearing where we’ve gone,” Boland said.

“What we were going for again … was to capture a pretty live recording. We were still in the studio and we rewound the tape a lot, but it’s performances. It’s not put through ProTools or any of that environment, which anymore that’s pretty rare. It’ll probably be to our folly: Some people hear it and think ‘oh, that doesn’t sound right.’ But it’s what I enjoy hearing.”

The singer-songwriter recently returned from a European tour that included a solo show in Belgium, acoustic performances in Italy with Stragglers fiddler Nick Worley and a full-band gig at Mayfest in Pontivy, France.

“It was a lot of fun, good crowds and a lot of good sightseeing,” said Boland, who had previously played a 2004 festival in France but saw more of Europe on this trek. “They’re very attentive, they know way more of the material than you ever think they’re going to, and it’s just a great experience.”

He and his bandmates are playing a much more familiar spot Friday, when he will celebrate the new album with a home-state show at Tulsa’s legendary Cain’s Ballroom.

“Cain’s is truly one that rises to the top when we say our favorite all-time gigs. It’s just it’s special to us all in so many ways, really. However cheesy it may sound or nostalgic, if there’s any place that fires that up in us, it’s Cain’s,” Boland said.

“We’re rooted in the region. I don’t think any of us consider ourselves any kind of spokespeople or anything, but … if they hear it and they know it’s true, then we feel like we’ve done our job.”

IN CONCERT

Jason Boland & The Stragglers

With: Jason Eady.

When: 8:30 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Where: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, Tulsa.

Information: www.cainsballroom.com.

-BAM

Interview: John Fullbright hits the road following Grammy nomination, plays Norman’s Summer Breeze Concert Sunday

“Well, historically speaking if an artist debuts a record and wins a Grammy, that’s usually the last you ever hear from them again,” Fullbright said with a laugh.

“They never really live up to it after that.”

The Bearden singer-songwriter certainly has kept busy in the months since his first studio album, 2012’s “From the Ground Up,” was nominated for the best Americana album Grammy.

His album — funded through Kickstarter.com, released on his own Blue Dirt Records label and distributed via a deal with Nashville, Tenn.-based Thirty Tigers — competed alongside Bonnie Raitt’s “Slipstream,” Mumford & Sons’ “Babel,” The Avett Brothers’ “The Carpenter” and the self-titled debut from The Lumineers at February’s 55^th Annual Grammy Awards.

“I’m just glad Bonnie got it,” Fullbright said, still laughing.

After all, it was Raitt’s 10^th golden gramophone, so it’s safe to assume she is past the Grammy curse stage of her career.

‘Long endless road’

For Fullbright, 25, it’s safe to say that the acclaim for “For the Ground Up,” which he coproduced with Wes Sharon at the latter’s 115 Studios in Norman, has launched a hard-traveling stage of his career.

“I think I’m in Wyoming right now. I’m in America,” he said wryly in a phone interview last week from “a long endless road.”

“I’m running like a chicken with my head cut off, but I think otherwise I’m pretty good. We (musicians) cover a lot of ground.”

From the often understated Fullbright, that’s, not surprisingly, an understatement: Back in late April, his tour schedule boasted 53 dates in 26 states and two Canadian provinces. Of course, that was after he spent much of last month on a European tour that included stops in Brussels, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

“I don’t have a home base right now. You know, I haven’t been home since closing in on like a year now,” he said, adding he still lives in the Okemah-area house he and his father grew up in — it was featured on the cover of “From the Ground Up” — and occasionally wanders through and stays for a couple days.

“If I’m lucky,” he said. “I think it’s still there. I hope it is. I’d be very sad if it wasn’t.”

Fullbright returned to Oklahoma last weekend to play a three-night stand at the Blue Door in honor of the Oklahoma City listening room’s 20^th anniversary. He considers the Blue Door the launching pad of his now-burgeoning career: The venue’s proprietor, Greg Johnson, is his manager, Johnson’s extensive music library advanced his songwriting education, and he recorded his initial album, “Live at the Blue Door,” there in 2009.

The recently named Lone Star Music Awards Emerging Artist of the Year called Johnson and himself “extremely lazy ambitious people” who accidentally dragged each other into the music business.

“I never really wanted anything to do with the music business. I just wanted to write songs and be respected by my peers. Like truthfully, I always kind of saw myself having some other job … and it was not great but what I really liked to do was write songs and all that kind of jazz. Greg is kind of the same way: He didn’t want to be in the music business, he just wanted to support songwriters,” he said.

“But it started picking up really fast and we both kind of had to learn quickly about what we had to do to stay in it.”

Continued travels

For Fullbright, staying in it has meant not staying in one spot. After wrapping his Blue Door stand late Sunday, he kept his concert calendar clear for a few days before performing Thursday night at Tulsa International Mayfest.

He and fellow Oklahoma musician Terry “Buffalo” Ware are playing Friday and Saturday in Texas before crossing back to the proper side of the Red River to kick off Norman’s annual Summer Breeze Concert Series with a free full-band show Sunday night at Lion’s Park.

Fullbright plans to keep his touring schedule blank for a few more days before traveling to Kansas May 25 for the Chautauqua Hills Blues Festival. The pace only picks up from there, with shows planned every few days throughout the summer, including a June date at the prestigious Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee and a hometown gig in July at the Woody Guthrie Music Festival in Okemah.

“The bottom line is throughout all this stuff, it’s all about ‘Well, but are you writing songs and are they good?’ You can get really swept away in all this nonsense, and if you’re not writing well, then the rest of it really doesn’t matter. Which is burden for me ‘cause I’m always gone and I can’t really write. I’m always driving around in a car. But that’s the philosophy and I’m sticking to it,” he said.

Presumably, he will try to slow down enough to attend the Sept. 13 Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville, Tenn., where he was nominated this week for emerging artist of the year (alongside Broken Arrow retro rocker JD McPherson) and album of the year.

No matter where he goes, Fullbright is well aware he will be known for the rest of his career as a Grammy nominee.

“It’s nice,” he said. “I like it.”

IN CONCERT

John Fullbright

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Lion’s Park, Symmes Street and Flood Avenue, Norman.

For: Summer Breeze Concert Series kickoff.

Admission: Free.

Information: www.thepas.org.

When: 6:30 p.m. June 8.

Where: Coca Cola Bricktown Event Center, 429 E California.

For: The Peace, Love & Goodwill Benefit Concert, a benefit for Goodwill Industries of Oklahoma, featuring Tony Lucca, Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, Matt Duke, Shane Henry and Maggie McClure, and the Kyle Reid Band.

Information: www.stubwire.com.

-BAM

Interview: After 10 years, Toby Keith pleased with the progress on the OK Kids Korral

NORMAN — After a decade of dreaming, planning and fundraising, Toby Keith is pleased to see progress at the OK Kids Korral.

“I see it on paper, I see great graphics, I see the people working on it. I see our goal. … And then you actually drive down there and pull up in the driveway and look at it and go inside and walk around in there and you just go ‘Holy crap. Look at this big sucker. What a beautiful facility for the kids of Oklahoma,’” Keith told The Oklahoman last weekend at his fundraiser for the project.

The country music superstar believes that the donors and fellow celebrities that have supported his goal of constructing a home-away-from-home for Oklahoma children battling cancer and their families are excited about the progress, too.

The proof is in the numbers: The Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic, along with its Denim & Diamond dinner and auction, last weekend raked in more than $1 million toward the project. By comparison, last year’s fundraiser brought in $664,000.

The $8.5 million, 25,000-square-foot lodge on the south end of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is set to open in October.

Making a difference

“There was a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of red tape, hoops we had to jump through. And we had help from a lot of people and we had some resistance from others. Now that it’s up, it’s the buzz of the medical campus,” Keith said backstage May 10 at Riverwind Casino, where the Denim & Diamond dinner and auction kicked off the two-day event.

“It’s immaculate. It kept the lodge look of wood and rock, but it’s got the modern look of 2013 put into it. And I’m just completely amazed. It’s more than I could imagine and I’m very proud of it.”

More importantly, the OK Kids Korral will feature 16 guest suites, a gourmet kitchen, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, a movie theater, family resource room and more. It will offer overnight accommodations for families who must travel hundreds of miles from rural Oklahoma towns for their children to receive treatment as well as dayrooms where metro-area families can relax between appointments. It even will have a neutropenic wing designed for youngsters whose immune systems have been badly compromised.

“It doesn’t cost them a nickel to go. It’s just there as an offering of love to kids who are unfortunate. It’s just God shining his light through me,” Keith said.

The OK Kids Korral is the primary project of the Toby Keith Foundation, which makes its mission to “encourage the health and happiness of pediatric cancer patients.” The mission has been a personal one for the Norman resident since Ally Webb, the 2-year-old daughter of his former bandmate Scott Webb, succumbed to cancer in 2003.

Helping other families facing the same heartbreaking situation has made a difference in the superstar’s life. For instance, he got to attend the bell-ringing ceremony when Brock Hart, the 3-year-old Edmond boy who helped Keith break ground last year on the OK Kids Korral, was declared cancer-free.

“You ring the bell when you beat cancer and they check you out of the hospital, and all the doctors come in, the family comes in, your friends. He rang the bell and walked out of there. So, we hope he never needs the OK Kids Korral, but … we’ll always remember him. And he’ll always remember that we were there with him,” Keith said.

“As you get in and you start meeting these people, they become part of your life. … Brock’s amazing, man. Brock is a rock star.”

Continuing a mission

The Oklahoma native hosted his Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic just three days after returning from his 10-day United Service Organization tour. The superstar performed for hundreds of U.S. troops and their families as his 11^th annual USO tour took him to the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii.

“It was different because 10 years we’ve been in the desert. We’d do a week in Iraq and a week in Afghanistan. And a couple of years ago, they said no more Iraq, but do a week in Afghanistan and do another week in the Persian Gulf. So we started landing on aircraft carriers. And then this year … they said, ‘A lot going on in the southern Philippines nobody knows about, special forces guys down there in the jungle,’” he said.

“They were all big shows and great big bases and we surpassed our 200th show,” added Keith, who is already looking forward to next year’s USO tour. “It’s amazing. The USO does a great job. They’ve been doing it for years.”

Upcoming projects

Keith, 51, will embark on his summer “Hammer Down Tour” June 8 at the Thunder on the Mountain festival in Ozark, Ark. On June 12, he is due to receive the Songwriter Icon Award from the National Music Publishers’ Association in New York City.

“I’ve got boxes full of awards, even the People’s Choice and some of those crazy awards I’ve won over the years, the songwriting was the part of it that meant the most to me. It’s the bloodline … of the music,” he said.

“So when they honor me with something, I put it there with everything. I take a lot of pride in knowing they honored me.”

Although his tour continues into the fall, it’s a sure bet Keith will be back in Oklahoma when it comes time to celebrate the long-awaited opening of the OK Kids Korral.

For more information on the projects, go to www.tobykeithfoundation.org.

-BAM