Reminder: Grammys live blog begins at 7 tonight!
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards take place live from 7 to 10:30 tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show will air live on the CBS Television Network, and it will be hosted by two-time Grammy winner and “NCIS: Los Angeles” star LL Cool J.
Look for my live blog of the show here on BAM’s Blog starting at 7 p.m.
Performers set for tonight’s Grammys include the reunited Beach Boys with Foster The People and Maroon 5, Adele, The Civil Wars, Diana Krall, Maceo Parker, Joe Walsh, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Tony Bennett and Checotah native Carrie Underwood, Chris Brown, Glen Campbell with The Band Perry and Tishomingo resident Blake Shelton, Coldplay and Rihanna, deadmau5, Foo Fighters, David Guetta, Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band, and Taylor Swift.
To see the list of nominees with Oklahoma ties, click here.
-BAM
Blake Shelton, Thompson Square, Carrie Underwood and other Oklahomans competing for Grammys tonight
Blake Shelton (AP file)
Several music stars with Oklahoma ties will be part of “Music’s Biggest Night” when the 54th Annual Grammy Awards air live from Los Angeles from 7 to 10:30 tonight on CBS. Follow my live blog tonight right here on BAM’s Blog.
Here are the Oklahoma nominees and performers to root for tonight:
Ada native Blake Shelton is nominated for best country album for “Red River Blue” and best country solo performance for the album’s chart-topping first single “Honey Bee.” The Tishomingo resident’s No. 1 hit “God Gave Me You,” written by contemporary Christian singer Dave Barnes, also earned a nod for best country song, an award presented to songwriters.
In addition, Shelton and The Band Perry will give a special performance with country legend Glen Campbell during the show, and Shelton’s wife and fellow country star Miranda Lambert will be a presenter, along with Chockie native Reba McEntire.
In the best country solo performance category, Shelton will compete against Checotah native Carrie Underwood, who is nominated for her emotional ballad “Mama’s Song.” The Recording Academy this year consolidated many Grammy categories, so solo country artists are longer separated into male and female competitions.
Underwood also is featured on legendary crooner Tony Bennett’s “Duets II,” nominated for best traditional pop vocal album. Underwood, a five-time Grammy winner, and Bennett, who has 14 golden gramophones plus a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, are set to perform together on the awards show.
Country duo Thompson Square, which includes Miami, OK, native Keifer Thompson, received its first Grammy nod for best country duo/group performance for its breakthrough hit “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not,” which earned songwriters Jim Collins and David Lee Murphy a best country song nomination, too.
Vince Gill earned his 41st Grammy nomination in the best country song category with “Threaten Me with Heaven,” which the Norman-born, Oklahoma City-bred star penned with his wife Amy Grant, Dillon O’Brian and the late Will Owsley. Gill already has earned the most Grammys of any male country artist with 20.
Four-time Grammy winners Kings of Leon, who have ties to Oklahoma City and Talihina, are nominated for best rock album for their fifth studio effort, “Come Around Sundown.” Plus, Stephen C. Mitchell’s rock documentary “Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon,” which opened 2011’s deadCenter Film Festival, will contend for best long-form music video.
Tulsa native Charlie Wilson, former frontman of the Gap Band, is nominated for best R&B performance for his hit “You Are,” from his 2010 solo album “Just Charlie.” In addition, Wilson, his wife Mahin Wilson and their fellow songwriters Dennis Bettis, Carl M. Days Jr. and Wirlie Morris share a nomination for best R&B song for “You Are.”
For the second straight year, Christian worship group Gungor, which is fronted by former Tulsan Michael Gungor, is celebrating a nomination for its new album. The group’s 2011 album “Ghosts Upon the Earth” earned a nod in the new best contemporary Christian music album category. Gungor’s 2010 release “Beautiful Things” was nominated last year in the now-eliminated best rock or rap gospel album division.
Best known as the frontman for pop band OneRepublic, Tulsa native Ryan Tedder is nominated for non-classical producer of the year for his work on several records, including Beyonce’s “I Was Here,” Jennifer Hudson’s “I Remember Me” and Adele’s “Rumour Has It.” Since he produced “Rumour Has It,” Tedder shares in the Adele’s nomination for album of the year for her smash “21,” too. (In addition, Tedder co-wrote “Rumour Has It” and another “21″ track, “Turning the Tables,” with Adele.)
Muskogee native Ester Dean also has a share of an album of the year nomination as one of several producers on Rihanna’s “Loud.”
The 40th anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of Derek and the Dominos’ beloved 1970 album “Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs” earned a nomination in the best surround sound album category. The late Carl Radle, a Tulsa native, was the band’s bassist.
And, Oklahoma City kindie rock duo Sugar Free Allstars is among the various artists featured on “All About Bullies … Big and Small,” nominated for best children’s album. The Allstars collaborated with fellow kindie rocker Secret Agent 23 Skidoo on the compilation track “Cooperate.”
-BAM
Glen Campbell to receive Lifetime Achievement Award, perform with Blake Shelton and Band Perry at tonight’s Grammys
Glen Campbell, left, and Kim Woollen arrive at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Paul McCartney on Friday in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
Several Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are named each year by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and country-pop crossover star Glen Campbell will be one of them when the 54th annual Grammy Awards air live at 7 tonight from Los Angeles’ Staples Center on CBS.
Follow my live blog of the Grammys tonight here at BAM’s Blog.
Now on a farewell concert tour as he deals with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Campbell is part of an impressive Lifetime Achievement class that also includes fellow country star George Jones as well as Diana Ross, the Allman Brothers Band, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gil Scott-Heron and the Memphis Horns, according to the Associated Press.
“It tickles me,” Campbell said to the AP of his latest Grammy honor, after winning two for “Gentle on My Mind” and another two for “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” — all in 1967. “They’ve really been nice to me throughout my career. I just think you do your job, and you try to do it the best you can and try to think up some new things. That’s really what I’ve done.”
Campbell is set to perform on tonight’s show with Oklahoma country music star Blake Shelton and standout sibling trio The Band Perry.
“I guess when you get old enough, they lay all those accolades on you,” Campbell told the AP.
A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Campbell announced in 2011 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and released his swan song album, “Ghost on the Canvas.” Before he was the “Rhinestone Cowboy” hitmaker, Campbell was part of The Wrecking Crew, a group of top-notch session players who performed on myriad albums in the 1960s.
As part of The Wrecking Crew, Campbell played on Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” the Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville” and many other hits across multiple genres.
In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Campbell became a huge and influential country music star, and his country-pop sound helped usher the format into the mainstream. Several of his biggest hits in that era, including “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston,” came from the pen of songwriting star and Elk City native Jimmy Webb.
Regarding a song he agreed to do as a favor once, Campbell told the AP, “I don’t remember which one it was, but it wasn’t one that I really dug. From then on, I did songs I liked, and I sang them like I’d want to hear them. I’ve really been blessed to get songs from guys like Jimmy Webb.”
Campbell also made marks in television (“The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”) and movies (the original “True Grit”). In the AP interview, he deems country music’s current state “great. I don’t know if I’d call it ‘country rock’ or ‘crock’ or what, but if you put a song out there, people know whether it’s good or not. That’s the way I always did it.
Shelton, who is nominated for two Grammys on Sunday night’s show, and Webb, a past Grammy winner, performed “Wichita Lineman” in 2007 during the Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular concert.
It will be interesting to see if Blake will reprise this performance tonight with Campbell and The Band Perry:
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Feb. 12, 2012: Watch Oklahoma City Ballet’s production of “The Firebird”
Miki Kawamura in "The Firebird"
Today’s featured events:
Watch Oklahoma City Ballet’s production of Stravinsky’s stunning “The Firebird” at 2 p.m. today at the Civic Center, 201 N Walker. Information: 848-8637 or www.okcballet.com.
Read The Oklahoman Fine Arts Editor Rick Rogers’ feature on the production by clicking here.
For more information, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Video: Adele previews Grammy Awards performance for Anderson Cooper
Current Grammy nominee Adele will make her much-anticipated return to live performances on Sunday’s 54th Annual Grammy Awards. Poised to become of the biggest Grammy moments in recent memory, it will be her first time performing live anywhere in nearly five months since being forced to cancel a sold-out U.S. tour to undergo surgery on her vocal cords.
Hosted by two-time Grammy winner and “NCIS: Los Angeles” star LL Cool J, the Grammy Awards take place live from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show will air live on the CBS Television Network.
Look for my live blog of the show here on BAM’s Blog Sunday night.
“I’m immensely proud to have been asked to perform at this year’s Grammy Awards,” said Adele in the announcement. “It’s an absolute honor to be included in such a night and for it to be my first performance in months is very exciting and of course nerve-racking, but what a way to get back into it all.”
Two-time Grammy winner Adele has six nominations: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Short Form Music Video for “Rolling In The Deep”; Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for “21″; and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Someone Like You.”
Adele recently sat down for an interview with Anderson Cooper, and in her first public performance since the surgery, she sang “Rolling in the Deep” for him. The performance was first broadcast Friday on “CBS This Morning.”
Cooper’s interview with Adele will air during “60 Minutes” at 6 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
Other performers set up for Sunday night’s Grammys include the reunited Beach Boys with Foster The People and Maroon 5, The Civil Wars, Diana Krall, Maceo Parker, Joe Walsh, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Tony Bennett and Checotah native Carrie Underwood, Chris Brown, Glen Campbell with The Band Perry and Tishomingo resident Blake Shelton, Coldplay and Rihanna, deadmau5, Foo Fighters, David Guetta, Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band, and Taylor Swift.
-BAM
Video: Reduxion Theatre Company offering a special Valentine’s Day package for tonight’s performance of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”
In honor of Valentine’s Day, Reduxion Theatre Company’s is offering a romantic “Couple’s Package” for its performance tonight of William Shakespeare’s beloved comedy “Much Ado About Nothing” at its Broadway Theater, 1613 N Broadway Ave.
The package includes preshow champagne and couple’s cupcakes at intermission.
Check out these NewsOK videos of the company talking about and performing selections from the play.
“We want to offer couples a fun and romantic alternative or addition to their Valentine’s plans on this romantic weekend,” said Managing Director Erin Woods in a news release. “An entertaining evening of live theatre provides a memorable, romantic experience.”
Reduxion opened its new staging of “Much Ado About Nothing” Thursday night, and performances continue at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through Feb. 25. A special Sunday matinee will be staged at 2 p.m. Feb. 19.
Billed as Oklahoma City’s fastest-growing theater company, Reduxion received much attention and positive reviews in 2011 with the opening of their intimate new venue, the Broadway Theater. Critically acclaimed productions of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Hamlet” and the American classic “Hair, the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical,” drew more than 2,000 fans to the Broadway Theater, near Automobile Alley and downtown.
“We love romantic stories and audiences love seeing them,” said Tyler Woods, Reduxion Artistic Director and “Much Ado About Nothing” director, in the release. “We push boundaries and challenge people on an emotional level, and we hope to make a name for ourselves as producers of plays that people enjoy sharing with a loved one.”
This season, Reduxion gets back to its roots by revisiting some of their first productions as a company. The company continues its successful, “Original Sins” season with the romantic comedy “Much Ado About Nothing” by Shakespeare, which was the first show independently produced by Woods in 2000. Woods directs this hilarious, touching and fast-paced romance with the same love and care he gave the first time around, on the show that started it all!
“Although we are considered a young company, this journey has taken many years,” said Woods. “From that first independent production in 2000, to this season, our fourth residential season in Oklahoma City, and the second year in our own performance venue – we must honor our growth and the support of the Oklahoma City community in fostering our development for over a decade.”
His version of “Much Ado About Nothing” is set in the swinging 1960s in Sicily.
For more information, go to www.reduxiontheatre.com.
-BAM
Video: “The Bourne Legacy” trailer
The first trailer for the upcoming sequel “The Bourne Legacy” has debuted, and it looks very promising.
If you’re going to continue the Bourne franchise without Matt Damon, I can’t imagine a much better situation than carrying on with two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, two-time Oscar nominee Edward Norton and Oscar winner Rachel Weisz.
Plus, Joan Allen, Albert Finney, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn are all back for the fourth film in the series.
“The Bourne Legacy” is due in theaters Aug. 3.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Feb. 11, 2012: Hear Kite Flying Robot at The Opolis
Kite Flying Robot
Today’s featured event:
NORMAN – Hear Oklahoma electro-pop bands Kite Flying Robot, Prix Teen and Mike&Mike at 9 tonight at The Opolis, 113 N Crawford.
For more information, go to www.starlightmints.com/opolis.html.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Concert review: Chris Young charms at Oklahoma City’s Diamond Ballroom
Chris Young plays March 12 at Oklahoma City Arena. (Archive photo by Nathan Poppe, For The Oklahoman)
From passionate balladeer to down-home party animal, Chris Young let fans hear his varied “Voices” Friday night at the Diamond Ballroom, where he played a solo show during a break from touring with country A-lister and Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert.
Stalwartly weathering bitter cold outside and oppressive heat inside, hundreds of fans in cowboy hats, boots and embellished jeans whooped wildly as the up-and-coming country star took the stage nearly 40 minutes after opening act The Lost Trailers exited with their new comeback anthem “Underdog” and a reprise of their raucous “Holler Back.”
Young made the wait worthwhile, launching his set with the playful party song “Save Water, Drink Beer,” which had people toasting with their cups and bottles and shouting out the chorus even before he got the crowd organized into a friendly sing-along contest.
“I can already tell this is gonna be one of those deals that I have to roll my sleeves up,” the rising star said, cuffing the sleeves of his dark gray plaid shirt and flashing his killer smile.
But Young charmed his audience — particularly the female fans — with relative ease whether offering up a countrified version of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” or making romance with “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” his first No. 1 hit.
With five chart-toppers to his name, the singer-songwriter’s hourlong set featured plenty of chances for the crowd to sing along. Young spiked his honey-rich baritone with ardor for “The Man I Want to Be,” “Tomorrow” and “You,” and the smash ballads got several couples slow-dancing around the ballroom. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native banked the fires of passion to a good-humored warmth for “Voices,” his tribute to familial advice.
But the 2006 “Nashville Star” winner – who will compete for single and male vocalist of the year at the April 1 Academy of Country Music Awards – really showcased his impish sense of humor and polished showmanship with the album cuts and covers in his set. For instance, the handsome singer suavely vowed to alter the lyrics of “Lost” to suit women of every eye color.
“I love my blue-eyed ladies, but I love my green-eyed ladies and my brown-eyed ladies, too,” he said, prompting squeals and sighs from his female fans.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band shout-out in the country love song set up a rock-solid rendition of “Fishin’ in the Dark.”
“Ladies, I don’t care if you came here with your man or if you came here looking for one, this song’s for you,” he quipped as he launched into “I Can Take It from There.”
He then paused midway through the twangy seduction to emphasize his admiration for Conway Twitty and lead the crowd in singing a snippet of “I’d Love to Lay You Down.”
“Not only did he possibly have the best perm/mullet combination in country music … he had a (expletive) of hits, so I know you know Conway Twitty,” Young said.
Fulfilling a request he received backstage, he also paid homage to military servicemen and women and their families with the moving story-song “The Dashboard,” although the fervent performance was unfortunately marred by feedback.
Occasionally pausing to wipe his sweaty face with a towel and comment on the overheated venue, Young got his croon on and showed off his lung power with the road song “Neon,” the title track of his 2011 album. He and his talented band got boots stomping with fun-loving fan favorites “Twenty-One Candles,” “Small Town Big Time” and “Who’s Gonna Take Me Home.”
For an encore, Young and his cohorts sent the crowd home with an energy jolt, courtesy an expended and amped up cover of the ZZ Top classic “Sharp Dressed Man.”
Even dressed in jeans and sweat-stained plaid, the rising star still pulled it off.
— BAM
Zac Brown Band to play April 26 at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Arena; tickets on sale Feb. 17
Grammy winners the Zac Brown Band have announced they will perform in concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at Chesapeake Energy Arena’s box office and all Ticketmaster outlets, including area Homeland stores. They will be available by phone at (800) 745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com.
Tickets are priced at $64.50, $59.50, $45 and $25.
Demand to see Zac Brown Band live is at an all-time high as the multiplatinum-selling Georgia-based outfit throws down every night with expert musicianship, hearty Southern rock, and an unparalleled fan experience that’s sold out arenas and amphitheaters from coast to coast on their 2011 tour.
Zac Brown Band will host the Academy of Country Music Awards’ televised Fan Jam in April at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and recently logged their historic ninth consecutive No. 1 radio single with “Keep Me In Mind.” The song topped Billboard’s Country Songs chart for four straight weeks, earning the band the longest reign atop that chart for any artist in more than two years.
The six-piece group has been lauded by fans and critics alike, winning seven Grammy, ACM, Country Music Association and CMT awards, along with earning more than 50 additional nominations over the last three years.
Zac Brown Band’s 2012 tour will be presented by Jack Daniels and Landshark Lager.
For more information, go to www.chesapeakearena.com.
-BAM
